Educational Innovations Beyond Technology: Nurturing Leadership and Establishing Learning Organizations

The text explores the concept of innovation, and analyse and compare different dimensions of innovation found in the various case studies; the transfer of innovation and the mechanisms of change; on an innovative online case study database on education innovations that has been designed to be used by education practitioners to support organizational leadership, international collaboration and reflective practice in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) eEducation Leadership initiative; on a project aimed to support the establishment of communities of practice for education practitioners facilitated through an extendable online database that can be used to contribute and share case studies of their own ICT-supported pedagogical innovations. It discusses roles of the teacher and the anticipated changes to the education profession at a system level, in the coming decade on the basis of emerging changes observed in the case studies, and leadership issues at the school level. The book analyses change mechanisms for different kinds of innovation and how different contextual and cultural factors interact to bring about the changes observed.

Dr. Nancy Law is the Director of the Centre for Information Technology in Education and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Law obtained her BSc and MPhil in Physics as well as her teaching qualification from the University of Hong Kong, and received her PhD in Science Education from the University of London Institute of Education. Her research interest include international comparative studies of pedagogical innovations and information technology, models of ICT integration in schools and change leadership, computer supported collaborative learning and the use of expressive and exploratory computer-based learning environments. Dr. Law has served on various advisory committees on IT in education within and outside of the University of Hong Kong, and is currently a member of the Steering Committee on Strategic Development of Information Technology in Education of the HKSAR government. She has served on the International Steering Committee of the Second International Information Technology in Education Study (SITES) and the Steering Committee of the APEC Cyber Education Consortium. She has conducted numerous evaluative studies as well as research and development projects related to Information Technology in schools.

Allan H.K. Yuen, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and Head of Division, Division of Information and Technology Studies, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. He has engaged in a number of research and development projects on information technology in education. His research interests include managing and leading information technology in schools, computer supported collaborative learning, and technology acceptance in education.

Dr Bob Fox, Prior to assuming his current position as Deputy Director, Centre for Information Technology in Education (CITE) and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong in December 2000, Dr Fox was an AssociateDirector and Senior Lecturer in the Centre for the Advancement of Education, Curtin University of Technology, Australia. He has a doctoral degree which focussed on pedagogical practice and change in education through the use of information and communication technology (ICT); masters and bachelor degrees in education and has worked in educational technology, instructional design and distance education for over twenty-eight years. At the University of Hong Kong, he is the Program Director of the Master of Science in IT in Education (MSc[ITE]) and is presently engaged with Dr Law and Dr Yuen in research into assessing the impact of ICTs on schools, curricula, teachers, and students in Hong Kong. His research interests concern staff development for educational change through the use of ICT. He has conducted national and international courses and workshops on a variety of topics including, information technology in and for education, elearning, online education, distance and flexible learning, staff development, instructional design and the selection, design and use of multimedia. He has been a course designer, coordinator and presenter for a number of international specialist programs and has worked in Australia, China, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Middle East, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain and Thailand.