Green - Interview Report

Country Case Study Interview Report: Hong Kong, China

Ruchel Green
EDTC 645 Dr. Joseph Wieczorek
4/5/2016

Green - Interview Report

Country: Hong Kong

City: Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong
Interviewer: Ruchel Green

Introduction
Over the course of this semester, much information has been presented on the
infrastructure and the implementation process of Information and Communications Technologies
(ICT) globally. I have focused my research and interviews on the ICT implementation process in
Hong Kong, China. It is incumbent on any person trying to implement a large-scale technology
integration program to see what has been done elsewhere in order bolster ones likelihood at
success. Comparing responses from my subjects to what was expected based on a literature
review has been informative. In this instance, the vantage point gained from the interviews
matched that of the macroscopic view presented by the literature.
Just as the interview subjects responded (D. Yishay, personal communication, February
14, 2016), Gary Wong (2015) states that the adaptation of educational technology depends
primarily on the teacher's willingness to change their classroom to incorporate technology.

Strategy
I spoke to colleagues in my Professional Learning Network (PLN) and asked if they have
connections to anyone that teaches in China. I used social media, and made phone calls. I
found a colleague that had a friend, Desi Yishay, teaching presently in Hong Kong. I initially
reached out to Desi, and then we communicated by several online mediums. We used primarily
Voxer, WhatsApp and Skype. We teach the same grades and subjects. She is bilingual, allowing
for easy communication and the ability to interview other teachers in Hong Kong with her help.

Initial Letter
Mrs. Yishay,
Here is information on the work that I am doing for a project for
graduate school. I am enrolled in the University Of Maryland,
University College program, and I appreciate you taking the time to
hear briefly about what I am doing. If you are able to work with me, I
will be honored.
I am completing an interview regarding the role of technology
in your local schools to complete a county case study assignment
for my course Integration of Technology: Global Perspectives.

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Thank you again for all help. Your K-5 school fits perfectly in the
data set that I am searching for. Please find initial interview
questions attached, and we can communicate more through Voxer,
WhatsApp or Skype as you have availability.

Interview Questions and Rationale

1. How many years have you been teaching?

- A new teacher may not have the sensitivity to the overarching issues surrounding
technology integration. I am looking for a teacher with over 7 years experience ideally. This
also gives them the ability to see ICT integration for themselves.
2. How many years have you been working in your current school?

- This is a followup question to the above question.

3. What is your educational background? Degrees?

- Depending on the degrees held of the teacher, I can establish if there is a correlation to
technology use.
4. What instructional technology is available in your school?

- If technology is not available, it is an indication of economic issues. If technology is

present, and not used, it indicates a ICT implementation issue such as PD.
5. What instructional technology is available in your classroom?

- I am looking to see if there is congruent technology available in each classroom throughout

the school. If technology is available in the school, but only for certain grades (high school
but not elementary school) it would lend itself to more of an economic issue versus an
implementation issue. I am trying to hone in on their implementation from both acquisition
and implementation.
6. Is there a big difference between the technologies being offered in the Kindergarten
classroom verses the older grades (1st-5th)?

- This is a followup question to the previous question.

7. How similar is this to other schools in your district?

- As it is difficult to interview a variety of teachers from different locations in this short timeframe, I am trying to gain information on regional ICT as well.
8. Are most teachers comfortable using thetechnology available? Do most teachers use the
technology they have available to them?

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- It seems that there is literature that many Chinese public school teachers do not want to
learn how to integrate technology - and the students are pushing for integration? I want to
see if this is accurate in her experience.

- This question also begins questioning on PD, and the familiarity of the teacher with ICT.
9. Does your school offer tech based professional development? How often? Is IT
MANDATORY?

- Literature suggests that since not all areas can afford the technology, there cannot be a
national regulation for PD. Thus, there is a lack of continuity, and a lack of mandatory PD.
Depending if I interview someone in the public school system, or the private school (or
international school system) my response may be different.
10. What would you like to see added in terms of hardware to your classroom? Software?

- I am curious if they are interested in the same hardware and software that we might be
interested in. Is there something new there that is not here? Do they want something is
now ubiquitous here, like Smartboards?
11. What barriers to technology integration do you have?

- I am curious to see from their vantage point, what they see the impediments to be.
12. How do you see technology in your school changing in the next 10 years?

- I am again curious about the trajectory they see. This will likely be based on what they saw
in the past, and it will clue me into how fast ICT is being implemented. If things are
remaining status quo than it speaks to the previous lack of implementation and as a
prediction of future implementation.
13. How is your private school different vs public schools in regard to technology

- This question was added on a second email after I could not interview a public school
teacher directly. I hoped to gain insight into that school system as well.

Persons Interviewed and Overview of Responses

Desi Yishay was the primary interviewee, though responses also came from M. Mirapuri,
and S.Y. in the same school and were reported by Mrs. Yishay. Mrs. Yishay is a teacher in Hong
Kong with 11 years teaching experience. She holds a Bachelors degree in Psychology and is
licensed to teach in Georgia and Hong Kong. Her classroom as well as her coworkers
classrooms have ample technology including Laptops, iPads, SmartBoards, and iMacs with
printers, peripherals and high speed Wifi. Her school has a robotics lab as well (D. Yishay,
personal communication, March 17-21, 2016).

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As indicated in the report, she feels that teachers have ample technology available to
them in her region, but they lack the training necessary to use it effectively. This causes the
teachers to fall back on teaching strategies and activities that they are more comfortable with.
Her school does require PD in ICT, but this is not typical in public schools to her knowledge.
Private schools and international schools are typically more well funded in her experience, and
have more technology than public schools. In her school every child has their own iPad. Tuition
is over $11,000 USD per year for k-6th grade. She also finds it interesting that students are
doing less writing and more typing rapidly, and the school is going to likely progress to e-books
in the next year (D. Yishay, personal communication, March 17-21, 2016).

Findings
The interview has allowed me to identify the main issues involved with technology
integration in her school and local community. The issues is very similar to our issues here in
the US. Technology is present, yet the resources for training are not adequately allocated. The
answers to several questions were extremely valuable in assessing Hong Kong Islands ICT
implementation. There were consistent findings between my interview answers, and what was
found in the scholarly articles. One must keep in mind that China is a vast country, with many
different providences that have many different economic climates. These directly affect ICT
implementation. S.Y. (personal communication and email, April 1, 2016) relates that, regardless
of the economic status, impediments were chiefly due to professional development and
education of teachers, as since schools are government funded, they have the technology
present for the most part.

Perception Changes
My initial perceptions were accurate, and confirmed by this case study and interviews. In
order to further my own understanding of best practices in ICT implementation, I plan on
pursuing these contacts in Hong Kong in the future. Mrs. Yishay states that she has all
necessary applications to interact on the VoiceThread application in a joint-class module
(personal communication, March 22, 2016).

Conclusions
The findings of my interview matched the article by Wong. Wong (2015). They both
demonstrate that computers, as well as other technology resources are available in Hong Kong
classrooms. Both show that teachers must be driven to implement technology, and that this is
the main hurdle (D. Yishay, personal communication, March 17-21, 2016). Hong Kong Island

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has advanced their computer network infrastructure with support services and provided a nearly
1 to 1 ratio of tablet computers to students. Students report finding it easy to incorporate this
technology, however, teachers found it difficult to teach technology, partially because the
teachers are often teaching with outdated technology, including computers and projectors that
would fail and disrupt lessons (Wong, 2015).
Wong states that there are three benchmarks to determine the success of ICT
integration. My interview findings (D. Yishay, personal communication, March 17-21, 2016)
match each of these observations from the literature. First, hardware is present in the
classroom. Second, habitual use of computers is increasing, but is still not widespread
nationally. Third, there is a tremendous need for mandatory professional development to ensure
teachers are capable of incorporating ICT.
As Wong (2015) stated, China has cities such as Hong Kong where the technology is
present, but the teachers are reluctant to use it. It occurs largely due to their lack of mandated
training. Mrs. Yishay notes that an increasing number of her colleagues are taking professional
development focusing on ICT, and this is driving increased implementation among the private
and international schools in China (D. Yishay, personal communication, March 17-21, 2016).
The research done by Fan & Ho in 2012 remains accurate as well in the sense that the manner
of educating students will only change when the teachers are taught how to use the resources
they are provided with.
It would be helpful to have a better picture of what other providences in China have in
their classrooms, as well as what level of PD the teachers are receiving in order to have a better
sense of ICT in China overall. China is very diverse economically, and this interview was
focused on a very limited geographic region. The respondents did convey that the facts stated in
the research by Wong (2015) regarding the need for teachers to be better trained on the
absolute imperative to incorporate technology into their classrooms (D. Yishay, personal
communication, March 30, 2016).
The literature published by Wong (2015) and Fan (2012) on the integration of technology
in China is accurate and relevant compared to the interviews conducted in a private school on
Hong Kong Island. The US and China face similar issues with ICT integration. There is certainly
a large divergence of ICT integration in the country based on the available resources. It is
noteworthy that we see a very similar challenge in the US, and increased professional
development has helped our implementation process significantly.

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Appendix 1 - Interview Questions

1. How many years have you been teaching?
2. How many years have you been working in your current school?
3. What is your educational background? Degrees?
4. What technology is available in your school?
5. What technology is available in your classroom?
6. How similar is this to other schools in your district?
7. Are most teachers comfortable using thetechnology available? Do most teachers use the
technology they have available to them? It seems that there is literature that many Chinese
public school teachers do not want to learn how to integrate technology - and the students
are pushing for integration? Do you find this to be true?
8. Does your school offer tech based professional development? If yes, how often? Is IT
MANDATORY?
9. Is there a big difference between the technologies being offered in the Kindergarten
classroom verses the older grades (1st-5th)?
10. What would you like to see added in terms of hardware to your classroom? Software?
11. What barriers to technology integration do you have?
12. How do you see technology in your school changing in the next 10 years
13. How is your private school different vs public schools in regard to technology
14. DO you have any barriers for implementation of technology?

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Appendix 2 - Interview Responses

Interview responses were through phone, Whats App, email, Voxer and Skype.
Here are the written interview responses. They are by no means inclusive of all the information
received from each person.

SY - from Mrs. Yishays school.

He sent a summary of what he discussed with me this past month on 4/1/16


:
1. 10
2. 5
3, , .
4. .
5. .
6. .
7. . .
.
8. ' ...
9. .
10.
.
11. .
12.
.
13.
.
14. .

Initial Answers From Desi Yishay on 2/14/16, received by email.
1. 11 years (2 informally)
2. 5 years
3. Bachelors in Psychology and teaching certificate
4. Laptops, Ipads, Smart boards, IMacs (printers and tech lab on site, with a special
robotics program once a week) - all connected via wifi.
5. Ipads, laptops, smart board, Imac.
6. Standard situation on Hong Kong Island.
7. Teachers do feel fairly comfortable using the technology. Not everyone uses
everything, for example smart boards, Some use them as a mere projection tool. I cant
speak about what goes on in the Public school system in Hong Kong, but the pritvate,

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international schools here are pretty integrated when it comes to technology. My guess
would be that the public school system is pretty "old school" and tend to stick with what
has always worked when it comes to teaching.
8. Yes. at least once a year.
9. No. Each of our classes has a fully integrated technology system in place with
constant input from the IT teachers each week. There is a 1-to-1 ratio of Ipads in almost
every class.
10. More use of the available apps in my specific subject.
11. none that I can think of.
12. Im sure we will be doing less and less writing and more typing. We will move to
ebooks in the next year. homework will probably be done digitally.

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10

References
Fan, C. W., & Ho, K. K. (2012). A Tale of Three Cities: Review of the Development of
ICT in School Education between Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore. New
Horizons In Education, 60(1), 70-82.
Wong, G. W. (2015). Understanding technology acceptance in pre-service teachers of
primary mathematics in Hong Kong. Australasian Journal Of Educational
Technology, 31(6), 713-735.