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Editor¡¯s Notes
It is with pleasure that I assume the challenges of serving as Editor-in-Chief for this third edition of APCJ. I am a Professor in the department of Instructional Systems Technology (IST), Indiana University, USA. For over three decades I have worked in the areas of preparing teachers and administrators to design, implement, evaluate, and provide leadership in educational innovations. Much of my work has impacted individuals and organizations in the Asia-Pacific rim. Through teaching in the IST graduate program and consulting with government and private sector organizations, I have helped with education and economic development initiatives in a number of countries including China, Republic of Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Chile, and Mexico. My research and teaching interests focus on needs assessment, evaluation, and research methods. I am strongly committed to the principle that both soft and hard technologies are keys to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of education and training at all levels. And I believe that technology is a great hope to lessen the inequities that exist between and within nations. I hope to help APCJ to continue to play its role in pursuing the mission of IACE and its partners to reduce the digital divide that too often separates the people of our world.
I want to thank Dr. Michael Molenda for introducing me to this journal and for his leadership in launching its publication. He did a masterful job of setting in place the organizational infrastructure for editing the journal and the first two issues are testimonials to his expertise, talent, and hard work. He has been extremely helpful in his role as Editor Emeritus in partnering with me to produce this third edition. Both Dr. Molenda and I want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the journal¡¯s Editorial Associate, Mr. Sung Pil Kang. He works very hard at keeping the journal on track and in serving as a liaison with our authors and publication staff. He also excels at editing tasks and has deep and useful insights into the overall mission and goals of the publication. Mr. Hee Tae Jeong, our Technical Editor since the origin of the journal, has continued to enhance its readability and accessibility. The journal is also fortunate to have Professor YoungHwan Kim, the father of APCJ, as the Publisher¡¯s Representative. As the chairman of IACE,Professor Kim is in a unique position to guide the journal on a fruitful path. Whatever success the journal achieves is due to his caring leadership.
About this issue
Most of the articles in this issue of APCJ relate to the theme of implementing information and communications technologies (ICT) in educational institutions. Improving the quality of instruction is a critical issue for schools seeking to prepare students to be competitive and successful in today¡¯s world. Many governments, teacher preparation programs, and school systems have established goals and programs for integrating ICT in education in order to improve quality and to expand access to education. Implementation of ICT at the classroom level is deeply dependent upon the readiness, competencies, and attitudes of instructors. They and their students are the end-users of ICT. Consequently, pre-service and in-service teacher preparation and support are linchpins if the implementation of ICT in classrooms is to come to fruition. In this issue, several articles directly address teacher preparation and readiness related topics.
In the first article, Rosnaini Mahmud, Mohd. Arif Hj. Ismail, Ruhizan Mohamad Yasin, Ramlee Mustapha, and Rosseni Din provide a picture of ICT knowledge, skills, and attitudes among Malaysian secondary school teachers. They found that teachers had varying levels of skill in using generic sorts of computer software, with skills being highest with applications that are most commonly used outside the classroom. This is consistent with earlier research on audiovisual media in the classroom; teachers were most comfortable with media that they had already mastered at home.
Insook Lee provides a tantalizing look into the future of ¡°mobile learning¡± in an article based on one of the highlighted sessions at the 1st APEC Future Education Forum in Pusan, Korea in September 2005—how might education be affected if and when computing capability becomes truly ubiquitous?
Kin Ping Leung, James J. Watters, and Ian S. Ginns report on a study of the effects of an in-school professional development program on teachers¡¯ acceptance and use of ICT in their teaching. The study, focused on Hong Kong primary school teachers, addressed factors such as teachers¡¯ perception, self-efficacy, and incorporation of ICT in teaching. The school-based, on-site, and ongoing professional development program with peer-tutoring and participatory action research activities was effective in enhancing teachers¡¯ incorporation of ICT in their teaching.
A second article focusing on strategies for teacher training, by Morris S. Y. Jong, discusses the effects of various new information technology (IT) training strategies in Hong Kong such as integration of IT across the curriculum, tutorship on student portfolio development, and optional competency enhancement training. The findings show that all of these strategies provide positive and valuable insights into IT integration and help with the challenges of integrating IT within school settings. The respondents were most positive about the learner centered approaches adopted in face-to-face competency enhancement workshops which included highly interactive activities like discussion, case studies, and instant responses from peers and the instructor.
In the final article related to the theme of classroom implementation, Chen Geng, Zhang Huiyu, and Huang Ronghuai report the results of research on higher education faculty members¡¯ awareness, use, capacities, and attitudes about educational technology (ET) and ET training in China. The findings indicate that integrated ET skill and knowledge development are needed for effective teacher preparation in higher education and that blended ET training, including both face-to-face and online training is the preferred delivery method.
In the final major article, Ronald Mellado Miller and Clayton Hubner share their experiences implementing distance learning in Tonga, where they had to confront social and cultural as well as educational issues, such as computer literacy, teaching and learning styles, language barriers, and social protocols related to distance learning media, including issues of security. They describe conflicts between new learning styles and patterns as well as extant social structures and values in dealing with these numerous issues and they share valuable lessons they learned.
The Field Report for this issue tells the story of the ALCoB online learning community, known as the ¡°APEC Learning Community for Shared Prosperity¡± or ¡°ALCom,¡± detailing the critical success factors that have enabled this international venture to grow to impressive size in a short period of time.
The Book Review of Malcolm Gladwell¡¯s The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference summarizes the main ideas in this seminal work and indicates points of special interest to those working in educational technology.
Call for manuscripts
This journal belongs to you, its readers and contributors. Its future is very dependent upon a willingness of practitioners and academics to share their experiences, research, and insights through the printed word. Please refer to the Call for Manuscripts at the back of this issue to find out how you can become a contributor.
James A. Pershing
Editor-in-Chief
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