Some innovative applications of IT in teaching Chinese language in primary classrooms

Using IT for teaching and learning at schools is not only a hot issue nowadays, but it is also a threatening demand of all the school teachers in Hong Kong. The most common way is to present the lessons using presentation software. Under the limitations of the functions available in common presentation software, and the average IT competence level of school teachers, the majority of the products are no more that reproducing the content of textbooks using those presentation software. Not too long ago, expecting an IT amateur, such as a primary teacher, to produce full multimedia teaching materials with attractive animation was generally considered as unrealistic, if not impossible. For most school teachers, reproducing the content of textbooks using presentation software is already a daunting task. Most recently, more and more software tools which are powerful, yet very user-friendly, are available in the market. With those tools, an average IT competent school teacher, with reasonably short period of training, can produce innovative multimedia teaching materials with attention-drawing animation. This paper demonstrates how this kind of tools can be applied innovatively in teaching Chinese Language in primary classrooms. Since this paper is not a tutorial note, it does not teach how to use a specific software. Rather, it suggests various ways the elements of the subject can be taught in the teaching materials, making use of the powerful functions of the software tool. Copyright © 2000 Hong Kong Institute of Education.