Registration : The event has been posted on EMB Training Calendar. If you are a school principal or school teacher, please register through the EMB Training Calendar (Course ID of the event: EI0020070129). The deadline for online registration is 25 June 2007. For participants who are not teachers/principals, please register online at the event website http://mis.cite.hku.hk/events/default.asp?eventid=KBTN07-001 Background Teachers today are bombarded with information and much burdened with workload. Interestingly, many teachers are still trying out new approaches because at heart the greatest satisfaction comes from seeing our impacts on our students. While some important concepts such as critical thinking, assessment for learning have become cliche under the 3+3+4 (334) curriculum innovation, teachers are left puzzling what these concepts really mean. Are they really useful? How can we prepare ourselves for these changes? Teachers often feel being pushed from one change to another. Is there an approach that provides integrated principles and strategies so that teachers can master continuing new changes? Over the years, CITE, HKU, with the advance use of information technology, has been working with many schools on implementing a knowledge-building approach. Several successful conferences, workshops and seminars have been offered rendering substantial practical support for teachers' professional lives. This year we invite you to a seminar that highlights how knowledge building incorporated into the new 334 curriculum can help students achieve the new curriculum goals more effectively. Experience sharing from students, teachers, principals and EMB officers will illuminate how this approach can help teachers address the key issues advocated in 334 critical thinking, literacy, assessment for learning and multidisciplinary teaching, to name just a few. Knowledge Building, utilizing a computer-supported environment called Knowledge Forum, has been advocated by Professors Scardamalia and Bereiter in Canada since the mid-1980s and is now widely adopted in over 15 countries. Since its implementation in Hong Kong from 2000, many successful accounts have been celebrated among knowledge building teachers and students. Positive experiences include the reduction of teachers' workload; students learning to help one another; and improvement in students' public examination results. These achievements have laid the foundation of an EMB funded project on the establishment of a "Professional Development Network for Knowledge Building in Schools" since September 2006. With guidance and support from CITE, a team of expert knowledge-building teachers are seconded to mentor interested teachers in implementing the knowledge building approach. Their expertise covers different KLAs including Liberal Studies, Languages, Science and Humanities, in both secondary and primary schools. Through the online Knowledge Forum, some teachers are able to collaborate internationally with teachers and students from other countries to enrich their learning experience. In this seminar, you will see real life examples of students and teachers engaging in knowledge building work; meet teachers who share your questions about 334; and experience first-hand the award-winning Knowledge Forum. Teachers as well as students learn best when they interact with others in groups, supported by a networked community. We hope to provide you with an inspiring interactive workshop where you will meet like-minded teachers and educators. We believe that together we learn. Objective(s) This seminar aims to: 1) Introduce the knowledge building approach to attain the learning goals of the New Secondary School curriculum and carry out assessment for learning using information technology; 2) Demonstrate how to plan, implement, and assess students for better learning using knowledge building in classroom teaching; 3) Bring together different perspectives from students, teachers, principals, and EMB representatives on the learning outcomes and practicability of the knowledge-building approach; 4) Provide hands-on experience of the latest version of the Knowledge Forum and allow participants to try out knowledge building in groups. Program Rundown 09:00-09:15 -- Registration 09:15-09:30 -- Introduction: Knowledge-Building Approach and Knowledge Building Teacher Network (KBTN) 09:30-10:45 -- Planning, Implementation and Assessment of Knowledge Building: Classroom Examples 10:45-11:00 -- Tea break 11:00-12:00 -- Demonstration, Hands-On Activities, and Discussion with Students on Using Knowledge Forum 12:00-12:40 -- Experience sharing of Students, teachers, Principals and EMB representatives on Knowledge building approach 12:40-13:00 -- Questions and Answers;Information on Follow-Up School-Based Support in KBTN Speakers 1) Prof. Nancy LAW, Director, CITE, Faculty of Education HKU; 2) Dr. Carol CHAN, Faculty of Education, HKU; 3) Dr. K. K. CHAN, Principal Assistant Secretary (Curriculum Development), EMB; 4) Mr. C.Y. HUI, Principal, CCC Ming Kei College; 5) Mrs. Sabrina TANG, Principal, CCC Kei To Secondary School; and 6) EMB Seconded Teachers of the Knowledge Building Teacher Network (KBTN). Language mode Cantonese For inquries, please contact Ms Nicole Chan at 2241-5892 or e-mail wsnicole@hkucc.hku.hk