| A parade of cartoon figures was followed by a | | | | said. "The platform contains learning materials ... videos |
| matching game about English vocabulary. Students | | | | of English cartoons, pronunciation exercises containing |
| took turns poking the screen with an electronic pen | | | | teachers' recordings and games." |
| and, a short while later, the dozen adjectives on the | | | | School principal Wong Yin-lay said there was IT |
| screen had been learned by heart. | | | | training for teachers to acquaint them with e-teaching. |
| Amid all the hullabaloo about e-learning, Kei Wa is one | | | | "In the past, there were teachers who voiced worries |
| of few local schools that have successfully turned the | | | | that IT learning might increase their workloads," she |
| virtual medium into an effective and economical | | | | said. "But once they familiarised themselves with the |
| learning tool. It advocates the use of electronic | | | | medium, they found the new tool offered more |
| materials to complement traditional teaching through | | | | teaching opportunities ." |
| books. | | | | After observing an English class at the school, |
| Using IT as a complementary tool to traditional | | | | education undersecretary Kenneth Chen Wei-on |
| chalk-and-board teaching, Kei Wa Primary School got | | | | agreed proper use of IT could lessen teachers' |
| around the many problems associated with e-books - | | | | workloads. "Instead of preparing all the little cards |
| such as poor eyesight resulting from prolonged | | | | manually, teachers save a lot of effort with the use of |
| exposure to computer screens and the high cost of | | | | electronic matching games," he said. |
| the IT infrastructure. | | | | The leader of the working group examining e-learning, |
| English panel chairwoman Or Yin-man said the | | | | Mr Chen said the use of IT in education had gone far |
| e-learning platform had spiced up classroom learning. | | | | since it was first launched in 1998. |
| "We have been using the school-based learning | | | | However, Mr Chen stressed that schools should |
| platform spanning various subjects since 2002," she | | | | implement IT teaching in a step-by-step manner. |