Educating teachers in Hong Kong for leadership in the age of the internet: a re-conceptualisation

• Published in: Asia-Pacific journal of teacher education Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 273 - 284
• Main Author: Katyal, Kokila
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 01-11-2010; Routledge; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: autonomous learning; Classroom communication; Computer Literacy; Computer mediated communication; Educational Change; Educational Technology; Foreign Countries; Hong Kong; ICT; ICT in education; Independent study; Information technology; Instructional Leadership; Internet; Leadership; Learning; Learning processes; Pedagogy; Postsecondary education; Preservice Teacher Education; Qualitative research; Student teacher relationship; Student Teachers; Study habits; Teacher education; Teacher Education Programs; Teacher Leadership; Teacher Role; Teaching Methods; Teaching process; Technology education; Technology Integration; Web based courses; Hong Kong; Hong Kong China; China
• ISSN: 1359-866X; 1469-2945
• DOI: 10.1080/1359866X.2010.515938

There is very little argument that one of the major developments to have impacted in schools in the past decade is the rapid and world-wide development of information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly the Internet. In Hong Kong, reforms in the ICT teacher training policy, and the fact that Hong Kong is a 'wired' city, has resulted in pre-service teachers being well versed in the technical competencies of computer usage and its pedagogical manifestations. However, there has been scant attention paid to the fact that students are actively engaged in large-scale autonomous, teacher-less learning via the Internet. In this paper, it is argued that for teachers to be leaders in contemporary classrooms, teacher education programs need to focus more on the deeper and wider implications of ICT and the Internet in education than has hitherto been the practice.