Educational Studies and School, Los Angeles 2011

The table of contents

Educational Studies and School, Los Angeles 2011

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES

EDUCATIONAL STUDIES AND SCHOOL

Edited by

RICHARD KAHN SAWOMIR MAZUR

LOS ANGELES 2011 3

The table of contents

Reviewer: Edited by:

J. Cynthia McDermott, PhD Josef Valenta, PhD Richard Kahn, PhD Sawomir Mazur, PhD

Department of Education Antioch University Los Angeles, USA, 2011 Main entry under title:

Published by: Department of Education

EDUCATIONAL STUDIES AND SCHOOL

Includes index. 1. Educational-Research-USA-Addresses, essays. 2. Education-Social Sciences-Methods-USA-Addresses, essays. Richard Kahn, Sawomir Mazur.
37.01(082)

EDUCATIONAL STUDIES AND SCHOOL / edited by Richard Kahn and Sawomir Mazur - Los Angeles : Department of Education, Antioch University Los Angeles, 2011 ISBN 978-1-4507-7293-8 1. Kahn, Richard

Educational Studies and School, Los Angeles 2011

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS Boris Kouh ............................................................................................................... 9

GLOBALISATION AND REGIONALISATION. PARADOXES IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE ROLE OF EDUCATION Karel Rdl ............................................................................................................... 29

CHAPTER 3

ARE INDIVIDUAL PUPIL DIFFERENCES THE PRIMARY PERVASIVE INFLUENCES ON TEACHER EXPECTATIONS? Alison Kington ....................................................................................................... 51

CHAPTER 4

ARISTOTLES CONCEPT OF MIMESIS AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR EDUCATION THROUGH THE ARTS IN THE PRESCHOOL PERIOD Robi Kroli ............................................................................................................. 65

CHAPTER 5

EURO - ORPHANS: THE NEW PROBLEM IN POLISH SCHOOLS Anna Kouh and Grayna Mikowska........................................................... 83

CHAPTER 6

EARLY INSTRUCTION OF MATHEMATICS THROUGH HISTORY Mara Coti and Darjo Felda .......................................................................... 105

CHAPTER 7

THE CONDITION OF EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION PROGRAMMES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN VIEW OF THE CHANGES IN POLISH PUBLIC TELEVISION Joanna Aksman .................................................................................................. 115

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CHAPTER 8

USE OF TEXTBOOKS, WORKBOOKS AND OTHER DIDACTIC MATERIALS IN SLOVENIAN SECONDARY TECHNICAL EDUCATION Damijan tefanc and Jasna Magon .......................................................... 137

CHAPTER 9

UNCOMFORTABLE TOPICS AND THEIR APPROPRIATENESS IN ASIAN EFL CLASSES Svetlana A. Timina and Norman L. Butler ............................................. 157

CHAPTER 10

FORMS AND METHODS OF WORK WITH THE GIFTED PUPILS AT LESSONS AND OUTOFCLASS ACTIVITIES Elena Bocharova .............................................................................................. 167

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

THE GIFTED IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF CROATIA Ani Leburi, Maja Ljubeti and Zorana uljug Vuica .................... 175 THE CONCEPTION OF AUTHORITY AND ITS ALTERATIONS Alena Valiov ................................................................................................... 187 HOME-SCHOOL COLLABORATION IN PRESCHOOL: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY OF CHINESE TEACHERS PERCEPTION AND PRACTICES Eva Y. H. Lau and Hui Li ................................................................................ 199

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

TEACHING PRACTICE A BRIDGE BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE IN TEACHER TRAINING Jolanta Puka ....................................................................................................... 215

CHAPTER 15

PROCESS OF ACTIVE TEACHERS LEARNING FOR THE SAKE OF ENHANCING EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE Jelena Maksimovi ............................................................................................ 239

Educational Studies and School, Los Angeles 2011

CHAPTER 16

CONCEPTION OF THE RESOCIALIZATION PEDAGOGY BASIS OF THE SPECIALIZATION STUDY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC Ilona Moravcov ................................................................................................ 251

CHAPTER 17

SELF EVALUATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE IN EDUCATION Vesna Podgornik ................................................................................................ 261

CHAPTER 18

TEACHERS BASIC ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT: DISCREPANCY OR CONGRUENCE? Lilian Nga Lei Chau, Jessie Ming Sin Wong and Hui Li ...................... 273

CHAPTER 19

TEACHERS BASIC ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT: DISCREPANCY OR CONGRUENCE? Marjeta ari ....................................................................................................... 287

CHAPTER 20

THE HISTORICAL APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM OF SUPPORT OF GIFTED STUDENTS IN THE USA Inessa Babenko .................................................................................................. 301

CHAPTER 21
PROTESTANT SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SLOVENIA IN THE 16th CENTURY Tadej Vidmar ....................................................................................................... 311 INDEX .................................................................................................................. 323

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Educational Studies and School, Los Angeles 2011

CHAPTER 18
HONG KONG KINDERGARTENS IN THE WEB 2.0 ERA: PRACTICES, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Lilian Nga Lei Chau, Jessie Ming Sin Wong and Hui Li University of Hong King HONG KONG, SAR CHINA Introduction
The use of Web 2.0 applications as a Web-based environment for collaboration, sharing, and knowledge exchanges has been recognized as one of the important global trends in education by Hong Kong educational authorities (Education Bureau, 2007). Although Web 2.0 applications seem to fit well with the constructivist learning and progressive education promoted in kindergartens (Curriculum Development Council, 2006), they are relatively new to the early childhood practitioners in Hong Kong. Accordingly, they may have encountered some problems and challenges in incorporating Web 2.0 applications into their teaching. This study investigated how Web 2.0 applications had been used in the homepages of Hong Kong kindergartens and in actual classroom practices. The challenges, difficulties, and problems of such usage in classroom were also explored. The implications for policymaking and teacher education in Chinese societies and beyond would be discussed in the end of this chapter.

Why Should Web 2.0 Applications be Used in Education

The bursting of the dot-com bubble in the fall of 2001 signified the end of the Web 1.0 era and the start of the Web 2.0 era (OReilly, 2005). The Web 1.0 era was the period when the web tools which adopted a topdown, passive mode of delivery dominated the virtual world, whereas the Web 2.0 era is the time when interactive web tools, also known as Web 2.0 applications, become more influential than ever (Anderson, 2007; Selwyn, 2007). With characteristics like lightweight user interfaces, openness to participation, possibility of individual production, and generation of knowledge in an epic scale, Web 2.0 applications, for instance, Facebook,

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Flickr, Wikipedia, Podcast, YouTube, blogs, and social bookmarking, encourage collaboration, information sharing, and knowledge exchanges among users (Anderson, 2007; Law, Kankaanranta, & Chow, 2005; OReilly, 2005). With the help of these applications as the platform, users are no long passive recipients but have become the active participants of producing, organizing, and disseminating information on the Web. Web 2.0 applications have got the public more involved in knowledge building and sharing than ever; and all the societies have, accordingly, valued very much the skills of communicating, collaborating, analyzing, creating, innovating, and solving problems (International Society for Technology in Education, 2007). To equip the next generation with these skills, it is insufficient for teachers to instruct students simply by using didactic teaching approaches, where students can only participate passively in class. Teachers need to adopt more constructivist and interactive approaches to promote students active learning and prepare them for the learning in the Web 2.0 era. Not only does this bring about a paradigm shift from a teacherdirected to a student-centered way of instruction, but it also changes the roles of students and teachers. In this era, students are expected to become active problem-solvers and life-long learners, while teachers are considered as the facilitators, coaches, and guides of students learning instead of the sole knowledge transmitters (Lee, 2002). The user-friendly and interactive Web 2.0 applications offer technical support to teachers in the time of paradigm shift by providing them with suitable platforms for enhancing students collaborative learning and active construction of knowledge (Anderson, 2007; Education Bureau, 2007; Russell, 2009). They allow students to learn not only within their own classrooms, but also beyond their schools, by encouraging collaborative learning, information sharing, and knowledge exchanges among learners at their own pace and at the time they wish to (Anderson, 2007; Law et al., 2005).

The Usage of Web 2.0 Applications in Hong Kong Kindergartens

In Hong Kong, science and technology is regarded as one of the key learning domains of the early childhood curriculum. It includes the introduction and the use of various modern inventions, such as computers and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) that match with childrens daily experiences, so as to help them develop an initial understanding of technology (Curriculum Development Council, 2006). However, the situation of the early childhood sector is very much different from that of the primary and secondary sectors, where there are sufficient hardware and software to support teaching and learning. All the kindergartens in Hong Kong are excluded from the compulsory education

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system and are privately-owned, thus have to survive in a highly competitive environment (Leung, 2003; Rao & Koong, 1999). The major financial source for purchasing and maintaining ICT facilities in kindergartens comes from school fees, which are directly affected by the rate of enrollment. The dramatically falling birthrate and consequently decreasing rate of enrollment have forced Hong Kong kindergartens to suffer from substantial difficulties in raising funds to enable the construction of ICT infrastructure and the integration of ICT in teaching (Li, 2006). Today, even with the financial support from the Quality Education Fund (QEF)1 (Leung, 2003) and the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS)2, the situation has not improved much in a sense that many kindergartens are still not equipped with updated computers and related software and consequently, are unable to support the use of Web 2.0 applications in classroom learning and teaching (Leung, 2003; Li, 2006; Lui, 1997; Siu & Lam, 2003). Further, unlike primary and secondary school teachers who are offered tailor-made ICT modules and programs on the effective use of Web 2.0 applications in education (Education Bureau, 2007, 2009), in-service early childhood practitioners are provided with neither training courses nor guidance for integrating ICTs and Web 2.0 applications in classroom teaching. Even ICT modules are either offered as compulsory or elective courses in all training institutions for future kindergarten teachers (The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 2009a, 2009b), they are either too basic for any practical uses or relatively outdated. With limited technology education, it is questionable whether the early childhood educators in Hong Kong have sufficient knowledge and skills to utilize the relatively new ICTs and Web 2.0 applications as tools for meaningful learning. At the macro level, it is by-no-means for educators to stop the bewildering change and appearance of new ICTs and Web 2.0 applications in the world. At the government level, by stating a clear stance of support, new education policies with an emphasis on ICTs and Web tool usage in classroom practices have already been put forward. However, whether a policy can be successfully implemented depends very much on a number of contextual factors, for instance, support from school administrators, teachers, and parents, because these stakeholders are the important catalysts of change (Hargreaves & Lo, 2000). With the governments enthusiasm of promoting the use of new technologies in education but without sufficient ICT facilities and teacher training, early childhood educators are facing huge challenges in incorporating any of these technologies into the curricula and classroom practices. The aforementioned gaps led us to rethink a very fundamental question: can Web 2.0 applications actually be used in the field of early childhood education in Hong Kong?

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As children are exposed to computers and a vast range of new technologies in every aspect of their lives, it is impossible for early childhood educators to avoid technologies, especially when these new technologies may actually open ones up to new possibilities in teaching and learning (Yelland, 2005). Although a number of studies (e.g. Han, 2003; Leung, 2003; Li, 2006; Siu & Lam, 2005) did point out the lack of ICTs in classroom instruction, none of them specifically addressed the use of Web 2.0 applications in the Hong Kong early childhood sector. Therefore, this study employed a mixed-method design to address the following two research questions: 1. How common are Web 2.0 applications used in Hong Kong kindergarten homepages? 2. What are the challenges, difficulties, and problems early childhood practitioners encountered in the use of Web 2.0 applications in classrooms?

Method
A mixed-method approach was employed to collect quantitative and qualitative data to address the two research questions respectively. The quantitative study was an analysis of homepages of all the voucher-eligible non-profit-making kindergartens (NPMKs) (N = 761) to investigate the prevalence and availability of Web 2.0 applications on Hong Kong kindergarten homepages. The qualitative part was a case study of a kindergarten which had a high rate of enrollment and sufficient funding to implement ICT facilities for educational use. The rationale for this research design is based on the following hypotheses: First, in Hong Kong, kindergarten homepages are the main entrance for school information, online learning platform, and a channel of home-school communication. Analyzing their homepages will generate authentic information about their ways of interaction or non-interaction by using different Web applications. Second, a relatively affluent kindergarten was chosen for the case study because it was expected to encounter far less problems when compared to the majority of kindergartens in Hong Kong which have less funding and fewer ICT facilities. Therefore, most kindergartens, particularly those less affluent ones, would be likely to suffer from the same difficulties and problems, if any, found in the sampled kindergarten. Samples Quantitative study. The list of voucher-eligible NPMKs (N = 761) was obtained from the Profile of Kindergartens and Kindergartens-cum-Child

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Care Centers Website (the Profile) published by the Education Bureau. Only the homepages of the voucher-eligible NPMKs were involved in this study because those kindergartens which were not subsidized by vouchers were not obligated to report their information to the government. However, some of the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) available in the Profile actually linked to the Websites of the school sponsoring bodies rather than the official school homepages. In this case, Yahoo! Hong Kong (http:// hk.yahoo.com/) was used to search for the direct URLs of the kindergarten homepages by inputting the Chinese names of the kindergartens. If all the searches found nothing, the kindergartens would be counted as having no school homepage. If a URL was found but it was not accessible, the kindergartens would be categorized as having a broken link. All the URLs obtained were accessed using the same browser software (Internet Explorer 8), computer, and internet service provider. Qualitative study. The kindergarten involved in this study was located in a private housing estate in Kowloon, serving both local and new immigrant families in the district. With a high rate of enrollment, the kindergarten had sufficient funding to purchase enough ICT facilities for educational use. In each classroom, there were a computer with Internet connection, a digital camera, an overhead projector, and a visualizer. In addition, there was a computer area on campus where children were allowed to use computers before a school day started. There was also a technician to provide technical support to staffs. Compared with other kindergartens serving middle or lower-middle families, this kindergarten was well-equipped with ICT facilities. Moreover, this kindergarten had been using an online educational platform (the Platform) provided by a local computer company as a supplementary ICT resource since 2000. On the Platform, there were thematic stories, local news, and educational games to support daily teaching and learning activities. In the 2009/10 school year, the computer company updated and changed the interface of the Platform and added some interactive and constructive Web 2.0 elements, such as applications supporting mind-map construction and educational games with the pre-set templates and flash function. The sufficient funding, enough ICT facilities, and adequate professional support from the Platform produced a rather unique context, which made this kindergarten different from other local kindergartens (see Leung, 2003; Li, 2006; Lui, 1997). When infrastructures and technical support were no longer problems, other factors affecting the use of Web 2.0 applications would be more visible. All the 3 administrators (1 principal and 2 vice principals) and 19 frontline teachers in this kindergarten participated in this study. The principal had obtained Certificate of Education (CE), while the 2 vice principals both had obtained Bachelor of Education (BEd), and one of them was

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studying Master of Education (MEd) at the time of data collection. Many of the teachers involved were aged between 31 and 40 (48%) and between 21 and 30 (33%). Only 19% were 41 year olds or above. Most of them were experienced teachers, with 29% of them having teaching experience of 11 to 15 years, 19% having 16 to 20 years of experience, and 14% having more than 21 years of experience; although there were still 24% and 14% of the teachers having 0 to 5 years and 5 to 10 years of experience, respectively. 29% of these teachers were Qualified Kindergarten Teachers (QKT, 360-hour professional training), 52% obtained CE (2- & 3-year college education), and 19% obtained BEd. Preschoolers have limited cognitive resources and are still developing their fine motor skills, so it may be too challenging for them to manipulate any indirect input devices while executing learning tasks on the computer at the same time (Wood et al., 2004). Thus, it would be rather unreasonable to expect K1 children (3-year-olds) to be able to use computers to engage in active exploration and construction of knowledge. Therefore, only one K2 (4-year-olds) class and one K3 (5-year-olds) class (with 30 children each) were randomly selected by the school administrators to participate in classroom observation. These older children were presumably had more advanced cognitive and fine motor development and were potentially more capable to use ICTs for meaningful learning. Measures Content analysis. The types of Web applications available on the homepages of the 627 Hong Kong kindergartens were analyzed. The homepages were first classified as either Web 1.0 or Web 2.0. Web 1.0 homepages were those containing only descriptive, narrative, and noninteractive Web tools and adopting a top-down, passive mode of delivery which aim at broadcasting information from one-to-many (Selwyn, 2007). They did not involve any interaction, communication, and exchange of information among users. General information of the kindergartens, downloadable worksheets, photos of childrens work, and parents comments that were selected by the kindergartens are some of the examples of this group. In contrast, Web 2.0 homepages consisted of applications that allowed users to participate directly in the creation, refinement, and distribution of shared content, and thus were more interactive in nature (Anderson, 2007; Selwyn, 2007). Blogs and online forums were some of the examples of these applications. If a homepage was linked to an external Website, then the nature of this external Website, whether it was Web 1.0 or Web 2.0, was also analyzed. The term external means the Website had a URL domain different from that of the school homepage. If such external Website, however, required users to login in order to access its information, then it would be considered

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as unknown because the nature of the Website content, whether it allowed users to interact or not, was unknown to the public. This classification was also applicable to Web tools located within the school homepages which required user-login. Semi-structured interview. One of the researchers conducted semistructured interviews with the principal and 2 vice principals in individual sessions in the kindergarten. In the interviews, the participants were asked to describe the actual usage of ICTs and Web 2.0 applications in classrooms, express their opinions on the potentials and challenges posed by Web 2.0 applications as educational tools, and give the future developmental plan of the kindergarten in relation to ICTs usage. The interviews were video-taped and transcribed. Survey. All of the 19 frontline teachers and the 2 vice principals were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to tap teachers belief and actual practice on ICTs and Web 2.0 application usage. Since the principal was not directly involved in classroom teaching, she did not need to fill out the questionnaire. All the responses were returned to the researcher on the same day as the questionnaires were given out. The response rate was 100%. Classroom observation. The researchers observed the sampled classes in one day. Each observation lasted for three hours. During the observations, the researchers focused mainly on the time when computers, ICT facilities, and Web applications were used. The data obtained from classroom observation served as a means to triangulate the interview and questionnaire data. The processes of classroom observation were video-taped to capture any episodes of ICT or Web 2.0 application usage in class.

Results and Discussion

As the first empirical investigation on Web 2.0 applications usage in kindergartens ever conducted in Chinese societies, this study has collected both quantitative and qualitative data to systematically describe an authentic scenario of Web 2.0 applications usage in the Hong Kong early childhood education sector. The details are discussed below. How common were Web 2.0 Applications Used in Hong Kong Early Childhood Sector Our results show that 627 kindergartens (82%) had homepages, 117 kindergartens (15%) did not have any homepages, and 16 kindergartens (2%) had broken links. Among the 627 homepages, 610 of them (97%) were more of Web 1.0 in nature, while only 17 homepages (3%) contained Web 2.0 applications such as forums for online discussion of school affairs. Moreover, 26% of the kindergarten homepages were linked to external Web 1.0 Websites (e.g. homepages of health-care centers), but only 1%

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of kindergarten homepages were externally linked to Web 2.0 applications or Websites, such as blogs and photo sharing platforms. 16% of the homepages contained Web applications or were linked to external Websites that required user logins and were thus categorized as unknown. Some of the common examples of this category were school intranets, school library systems, photo albums, and homework pages. In brief, the majority of Hong Kong kindergartens used Web 1.0 applications in their homepages for disseminating information to the public, whereas the use of Web 2.0 applications was rare. The limited usage of Web 2.0 applications found in this study is in line with the existing literature, which states that very few school homepages actually display the interactive features of Web 2.0 applications (Brown & Hill, 2009). The prevalence of Web 1.0 applications might reflect the fact that Hong Kong kindergartens have not yet stepped into the Web 2.0 era. Also, the nature of their online platform is a one-way dissemination of information from the kindergartens to the public rather than an invitation of stakeholders active involvement. This view was validated by the administrators in the interviews. In the survey, the majority of respondents acknowledged the educational value and need of Web 2.0 applications, and thought that these tools could effectively support childrens exploration and construction of knowledge. However, in the classroom observations, we found no usage of Web 2.0 applications in the K2 classroom. Although the children were allowed to play with a non-interactive (Web 1.0) game on the online learning platform during free time, neither Web 1.0 nor Web 2.0 applications were used to directly support classroom teaching and learning. Furthermore and surprisingly, the K3 children did not have a chance to use the computer at all. The inability to arrange computer activities for the K3 children was probably due to the overloaded curriculum and a hurried teaching schedule (Han, 2003; Li, 2006). As a whole, neither Web 1.0 nor Web 2.0 applications were used in the period of observation in this K3 class. The above observational finding is triangulated by the interview data, in which the administrators admitted that their teachers usually used ICTs and Internet as a means to obtain information. The teachers only used computer software, for example, Microsoft Office, to make worksheets and PowerPoint for story presentation. In fact, the survey results also indicated that while all the teachers had the experience of using traditional teaching mediums such as story books and story DVDs in class, only 19% and 29% of the teachers had used online forums and other interactive Websites with the properties of Web 2.0 applications respectively during teaching. In sum, the integration of Web 2.0 applications into the curriculum was found extremely rare in the present study, and the finding that Web 1.0 applications were used more often is in line with the results of previous

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studies that ICTs were usually used as a means for presentation and were used in isolation (Han, 2003; Leung, 2003; Li, 2006; Siu & Lam, 2005). Challenges, Dificulties, and Problems in Using Web 2.0 Applications in the Kindergarten In the survey, 67% of the teachers reported that they had taken ICT course during pre-service training and the remaining 33% stated that they had not taken any ICT courses. However, while 95% of the teachers were confident in using story books and DVDs as a means to assist their teaching, only 29% and 14% of the teachers had the confidence of using interactive Websites and educational forums to teach, respectively. It is notable that as many as 95% of the teachers were confident in using the Platform, which had been used for nine years by the kindergarten at the time of data collection. In other words, this Web tool was as familiar to the teachers as the traditional mediums of instruction. This result is encouraging because it presented a successful case and a possibility to integrate ICT tools into early childhood education, given enough time and support. Nevertheless, the new Web 2.0 functions in the Platform, or other applications with Web 2.0 functions were seldom used. The administrators expressed their concerns about the use of Web 2.0 applications: The ability of the teachers is one of the keys to successful integration of Web 2.0 applications in early childhood settings. In general, our teachers are well-trained and are proficient in ICT usage. However, when it comes to those new technologies, such as blogs, not all teachers are familiar with them. Therefore, if Web 2.0 applications are really to be used, training will be needed to enhance teachers ability in this area. (Vice Principal B, Transcript # 3) Indeed, it was found in the survey and interviews that the kindergarten teachers actually lacked the knowledge on these new technologies. Thus, it is understandable why they did not know how to integrate these technologies into their daily teaching. It is also worth-noting that although a majority of the teachers had ICT training, they often felt uneasy in using the Internet and Web 2.0 applications in class. This might reflect that the current preservice ICT training courses may be too basic and not good enough to support teachers use of the more sophisticated and newer technologies. The insufficient ICT training received was a major obstacle which early childhood educators need to overcome. During the interviews, the administrators thought the use of some Web 2.0 applications, for instance, blogs and forums, was possible in early childhood settings. However, certain conditions had to be fulfilled before an implementation could become successful. Apart from the availability of more advanced teacher training on ICTs, parents ICT literacy would be an important factor to consider, because Web 2.0 applications were regarded

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by the administrators as an effective means to enhance home-school collaboration and communication: In general, we support the use of e-portfolio, blogs, and forums as means to enhance home-school collaboration because of its immediacy, authenticity, and environmental friendliness. However, the socio-cultural background of the parents in this district should be taken into account when these new technologies are to be adopted as a means of communication. Although we do not have the formal statistics on parents computer literacy level in our district, according to our observation, many of the primary care-givers are new-immigrant parents and elders. They usually have a lower level of computer literacy. Many parents in our district do not even know how to read text messages on mobile phones. Therefore, even though we may add the elements of ICT and Web 2.0 applications as alternative ways to support communication between families and school, we would continue to keep the traditional methods of communication, such as telephone communication and face-to-face talks. (Vice Principal C, Transcript # 4) The above transcript indicated that more attention should be paid to enhance the ICT proficiency of parents and caregivers. Apart from being able to support childrens learning through ICTs at home, where children are likely to spend hours playing and working with ICTs and various media (Vidaek-Hain, Kirini, & Duak, 2009), becoming proficient users of various ICTs and Web 2.0 applications could keep parents and caregivers updated of the latest information of the schools, and allow them to actively participate in their childrens learning. This result echoes the claim of Li (2006) about the importance of parents computer literacy in the implementation of ICT policies at schools. While the administrators regarded Web 2.0 applications as a possible means to enhance home-school communication and considered the presence of technologically-literate parents as the significant factor to the successful integration of these applications in kindergarten, the teachers had different perspectives. In the survey, 57% of the teachers thought that Web 2.0 applications would be effective in enhancing home-school collaboration while the remaining 43% thought that it would not be feasible. Among those 43% of the teachers, all of them believed they were hindered by heavy workload and insufficient time, and 56% of them blamed the inadequate technical support. Only 33% attributed the impossibility to the low frequency of computer use by parents. Such results are largely in concordance with the findings of Powell and Patrick (2006), who argue the unavailability of technical support and heavy workload are of more concern for teachers on whether Web 2.0 applications can be used in practice or not. In the administrators perspective, the use of Web 2.0 applications per se would be an even greater challenge to this kindergarten:

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Whether children can use Web 2.0 applications to learn depends on the availability of teacher assistance. Since children do not know how to type [Chinese], it would be likely for them to raise their opinions while the teachers help them do the typing. Typing Chinese is too much a skill for children to master and using computer at this age should not be focusing on drilling of skills. Actually, to encourage children to express their opinions orally has already been a key learning goal in our kindergarten, while Web 2.0 applications only provide us with an alternative form of expressing opinions. In fact, some days ago, our kindergarten has received an email from a kid from New Zealand who wanted to say Hi to us. With such a global trend, we would agree that in long term, this kind of ICT usage will be needed to open our children to the world and to widen their horizon instead of bounding their learning in classrooms. However, in the mean time, in a local kindergarten like ours, we cannot imagine how we can make use of these technologies to support childrens construction of knowledge and communication with other learners. If we have enough time, well-trained teachers, and most importantly good ICT infrastructure, like Web cameras in every classroom, this type of e-learning may be possible. (Vice Principal C, Transcript # 5) The above excerpt has provided a detailed description on the necessary conditions for the adoption of new ICTs and Web 2.0 applications. The factors she mentioned, such as teacher training, and availability of ICT facilities and time are also argued by many researchers to be the keys to the successful integration of ICTs in classrooms (Lee 2002; Li, 2006; Powell & Patrick, 2006; So & Swatman, 2006). The excerpt also highlighted a culturally-specific challenge in using Web 2.0 applications for learning and teaching, that is, the difficulty in using Chinese input methods. The input system of English is more direct and easy for young children because all alphabets, which are the basic units of English words, can be found on the keyboard by recognition. The existing input systems for Chinese, however, require higher level of mental processing as computer users need to either break down the character strokes or distinguish the initials and finals of the Chinese characters. Either way it is a very difficult task for kindergarten children. Using writing pads instead of typing on the keyboard may not be a solution to this problem, because childrens hand-writing might not be recognizable by computers. Worse, some of the Cantonese words used in colloquial speech cannot even be input onto computers. Cohen (2005) has proposed using an Internet platform, which contained some templates and lists of words for children to choose from, to solve this problem. We agree and believe that by providing templates, common phrases, and words, children as young as K2 may be able to make use of Chinese Web 2.0 applications in learning and communication on the Web.

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Conclusions
In general, the majority of kindergartens in Hong Kong was still using Web 1.0 applications rather than incorporating Web 2.0 applications to enhance interactive information sharing and communication between the kindergartens and their stakeholders. The case study found that even the usage of Web 2.0 applications was considered possible by the administrators and most of the teachers, the insufficient teacher training, lack of time, heavy workload, low ICT literacy of caregivers, inadequate technical support, and challenges of inputting Chinese had prevented them from putting such ideology into practice. Thus, apart from improving the quality of preservice training, the government should also invest into the investigation of a more user-friendly Web 2.0 platform with developmentally-appropriate Chinese character input systems to support young childrens learning. Only by providing sufficient training and technical support to early childhood educators, can the integration of Web 2.0 technologies in Hong Kong kindergartens become possible in the future. References
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Notes

1 In Hong Kong, the early childhood sector is allowed to apply funds to implement ICTs in their schools (Leung, 2003), and the QEF is one of these funds. Hong Kong government established the QEF by allocating approximately US$64 million in 1998 to support all innovative developments in schools (Li, 2006). With the funding support, early childhood institutes can establish ICT infrastructure and outsource software development so as to support the integration of ICTs to daily teaching and learning, as well as the school curriculum (Leung, 2003; Li, 2006). 2 The PEVS aims to provide financial support to children aged between 3 and 6 for early childhood education, on the condition that they are attending local non-profit-making kindergartens (NPMKs) that do not charge more than US$3,097 for half-day classes or US $6,194 for whole-day classes per student per annum (Li, Wong, & Wang, 2010). Thus the eligible NPMKs can redeem the voucher and use a part of the money to purchase ICT facilities for educational purposes.

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