Chapter 3D

Four Key Tasks - Achieving Learning
to Learn

This set of 4 booklets (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D) belongs to the series of 15 booklets in the Basic Education Curriculum Guide - Building on Strengths. The respective titles of the 4 booklets are as follows:

3 A	Moral and Civic Education

3 B	Reading to Learn

3 C	Project Learning

3 D	Information Technology for Interactive Learning

Four Key Tasks - Achieving Learning
to Learn

Purpose of This Set of 4 Booklets

The CDC Report, "Learning to Learn - The Way Forward in Curriculum Development"(CDC, 2001), recommends Four Key Tasks to help students to develop independent learning capabilities within and across Key Learning Areas. The purpose of this set of 4 booklets is to help schools and teachers to incorporate the Four Key Tasks into curriculum planning, and put them into action to achieve the overall aims of the school curriculum. The Four Key Tasks are:

	Moral and Civic Education

	Reading to Learn

	Project Learning

	Information Technology for Interactive Learning

Relationship among the Four Key Tasks

The Four Key Tasks can be used as separate learning and teaching strategies to achieve particular learning targets and objectives or to develop students' potentials in other aspects. More than one Key Task may be put into action together to achieve a number of learning targets, objectives or unintended learning outcomes.

For instance, Project Learning almost always involves Reading to Learn, and probably IT for Interactive Learning if information has to be searched out and interaction among students or with teachers takes place on the Internet. Collaboration among students in such a learning context is conducive to the development of perseverance, self-management and other qualities promoted through Moral and Civic Education. The Four Key Tasks should also be flexibly used in the learning and teaching of different Key Learning Areas to enhance students' capabilities for constructing knowledge, developing generic skills and nurturing positive values and attitudes.

Rationale for Choosing the Four Key Tasks for Whole-school Curriculum Planning

	The Four Key Tasks help to promote independent learning capabilities among students so that they could achieve the various learning goals and objectives in the 8 Key Learning Areas and in other learning contexts.

	Moral and Civic Education is one of the five essential learning experiences. The development of positive attitudes and values provides the affective basis for students to learn more effectively.

	Reading to Learn is essential to promote a reading culture in schools. This helps students to develop their competence in and the love for reading which is essential for life-long learning.

	Project Learning is a powerful learning and teaching strategy that helps students to develop their generic skills, integrate and apply their knowledge within and across Key Learning Areas.

	Information Technology helps to develop the competency needed for gaining access to information and processing it effectively, and for developing closer interaction among different people in different parts of the world.

	The Four Key Tasks are inter-connected. Making use of one may help to strengthen learning in another, thus producing an overall beneficial impact on student learning.

Planning for the Four Key Tasks

It is important to adopt appropriate strategies when planning for the Four Key Tasks and when using them to facilitate learning. The focus of using the Four Key Tasks should not be put on organising the activities superficially, which may cause futile and duplication of efforts by different parties, without producing a positive effect on learning. Schools should identify their strengths and use any one (or more) of the Key Tasks as an entry point. It is unnecessary to insert all Four Key Tasks into each Key Learning Area all at once which would overburden teachers and students.

Information about the Four Key Tasks can be found at
http://cd.ed.gov.hk/4keytasks.htm

4 key tasks
(Screens captured on 28th May 2002)

iii

For Reflection and Action

	Has your school had any experience in the use of any of the Four Key Tasks? Which one should the school use as an entry point?

	In what context (Key Learning Area(s) or cross Key Learning Area projects) will the Key Task(s) be first introduced?

	What learning objectives / targets are to be achieved in the selected Key Task(s)?

	How should teachers and resources be coordinated?

Information Technology for Interactive Learning

This is one of the series of 15 booklets in the Basic Education
Curriculum Guide - Building on Strengths. Its contents are as follows:

3.1

IT Learning Targets across the School Curriculum at Different Key Stages

3.2

The Nature of Interactive Learning Using IT

3.2.1	Linking the Use of IT with Learning Targets and Objectives in Key Learning Areas and Other Learning Contexts
3.2.2	Enhancing Interaction and Collaboration in Class or Outside Class for Knowledge Sharing and Building with the Support of IT
3.2.3	Creating Time and Space for Thinking Processes
3.2.4	Enhancing Learning with the Use of Specific IT Tools
3.2.5	Using IT for Project Learning

3.3

Whole-school Curriculum Planning for IT

3.3.1	Dos and Don'ts of Using IT in Learning and Teaching
3.3.2	Creating an IT Environment for Interactive Learning
3.3.3	The Coordination of IT in the Curriculum in Schools
3.3.4	Protecting Students in Their Use of IT
3.3.5	Narrowing the Digital Divide
3.3.6	Assessing Students' IT Competence in Context

3.4

The Interfaces between Primary Six and Secondary One and between Secondary Three and Four in the IT Curriculum

3.4.1	Ensuring a Coherent IT Curriculum throughout Basic Education and Secondary 4-5
3.4.2	Catering for Learner Differences


Appendix	Some Suggestions Exemplifying How IT Can be Infused Into the School Curriculum

References

Information Technology for Interactive Learning

3.1 IT Learning Targets across the School Curriculum at Different Key Stages

The goal of using information technology (IT) is to harness its advantage to promote interactive learning to make students learn better, and not just for teachers to use IT to present the lesson in class. The guideline "IT Learning Targets" has described the IT knowledge, skills and attitudes that all students are expected to achieve at different stages of schooling by 2003, which include generic skills transferable to the workplace and conducive to life-long learning.

http://cd.ed.gov.hk/it/eindex.htm

photos

(Screen captured on 28th May 2002)

In designing the IT curriculum for students, we need to consider the development of students' cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills. Teachers can refer to related learning packages, including the eight modular Computer Awareness Programmes (CAP) produced by the Education Department. Different subject teachers should provide adequate opportunities for students to apply IT appropriately to enhance the learning of curriculum content.

The following approaches are recommended for different Key Stages to help students to make use of information technology for learning:

Junior Primary

To introduce some term-based or year-based IT programmes / modules for students from Primary 3 onwards, as formal IT lessons are not advisable for Primary 1 and 2 students.

To integrate the use of simple IT skills into the learning of languages and General Studies for Primary Schools, e.g. by encouraging students to express themselves by drawing simple pictures, to browse websites and search for simple information under teachers' guidance.

Upper Primary and Junior Secondary

To include content-relevant IT skills which are applicable to students' daily life. Avoid introducing application software packages which share the same or similar functions and repeating the skills already mastered by the more able students.

To incorporate IT targets into the various KLAs.

	To enhance more able students' IT competence by developing their logical thinking and problem-solving skills through simple programming.

	To encourage IT-rich collaborative project-based learning and subject-related activities, which are effective for consolidating and applying IT knowledge and skills learnt by students.

Some suggestions exemplifying how IT can be infused into the school curriculum have been included in the Appendix of this booklet.

3.2

The Nature of Interactive Learning Using IT

Learning is a knowledge acquisition and construction process involving interaction between teachers, learners, resources, and others. IT provides a favourable environment for more intensive interaction to take place both inside and outside the classroom. It can also have a very powerful impact on student motivation, including the low achievers, through providing interesting environments, sensitising students to different sensory modes which cater for different learning styles, and

enabling them to use related skills to acquire and construct knowledge through ways described in the following paragraphs.

3.2.1

Linking the Use of IT with Learning Targets and Objectives in Key Learning Areas and Other Learning Contexts

Teachers should ensure that when using IT as a tool of learning and teaching, (e.g. when doing electronic presentations), it is linked to clear learning goals, learning targets and objectives in Key Learning Areas (KLAs) or other learning contexts. It should help to enhance the teaching and learning effectiveness and efficiency, and thus, improve the interactions between and among students and teachers. Teachers should avoid using IT aimlessly, as excessive use of IT tools could become distracting and sometimes annoying with little or no educational value.

3.2.2

Enhancing Interaction and Collaboration in Class or Outside Class for Knowledge Sharing and Building with the Support of IT

The use of multimedia-enriched presentations can help to explain abstract concepts, which are difficult to explain in a traditional classroom.IT can also bring in authentic contexts outside the classroom to facilitate discussion. IT links students to the vast network of knowledge and information. It would arouse their interest in learning and drive them to shift their learning modes from passive to active through searching information, discussion, challenging views of others, sharing and building knowledge with peers, teachers, friends on the Internet as well as in daily life. There is evidence to show that learning is more effective when interaction and collaboration on the Internet are facilitated.

Example 1 - English Language Education KLA

To enhance students' capability to use English to acquire, develop and apply knowledge, teachers can make use of the Internet to find websites relating to a certain theme, e.g. Mother's Day, and put them on the Intranet. Students are asked to read stories, poems, gift ideas, etc. from these websites and work on tasks such as analysing the social context, cultural and historical background of individual countries, and comparing how people celebrate Mother's Day in Hong Kong and elsewhere. Creative / High achievers can be asked to create poems about their mothers, while others might write articles on Mother's Day and share with others.

Example 2 - Personal, Social and Humanities Education KLA

A Geography teacher makes use of a commercially prepared application software to set up a web-based discussion forum for students to inquire, discuss, comment and share their views among themselves on issues related to lesson topics in Geography during their spare time. This knowledge building process encourages students to take an active role in learning, helps them to deepen their understanding of the topics concerned.

3.2.3

Creating Time and Space for Thinking Processes

With the computer's high-speed data-processing function, students do not have to spend time on meticulous data manipulation. They can focus on the crux of a problem and spend more time on higher order thinking processes such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation, improving on and building up their ideas through interacting with teachers, peers and others.