Report No. 32, March 1999

Chapter 10

Use of information technology in schools

Summary and key findings

A. Introduction. Information technology (IT) has tremendous potential to improve the efficiency with which schools are run and the effectiveness of teaching and learning. IT is being used in schools in two areas, namely the administration of schools through the implementation of the School Administration and Management System (SAMS) and the use of IT for learning and teaching (paras. 1.1 and 1.2). B. Audit review. Audit has conducted a review on both the SAMS and the use of IT in education. The audit findings and recommendations are summarised below. The School Administration and Management System C. Background. In September 1993, the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved the implementation of the SAMS at recurrent and non-recurrent costs of $224 million over a five-year period (revised to $298 million in December 1995). The system aimed at providing all public sector schools with a network computer system to assist in their administration and management processes, and to enable electronic transmission of information between schools and the Education Department (ED). The project was estimated to achieve benefits of $593 million (from 1995-96 to 1998-99). Upon full implementation, the benefits were estimated to be $222 million a year (paras. 1.3 and 2.3). D. Audit observations on the SAMS. Audit noted that the SAMS had fallen short of its objectives of effectively supporting schools in management and financial planning and of improving transmission of information between schools and the ED. The expected benefits of the SAMS were not fully realised (paras 2.37 and 2.39). In addition, Audit noted that:    (a) the system received mixed user satisfaction and its usage was low (paras. 2.13 to 2.17);  (b) it was necessary to establish clearly at the outset the ED targets of SAMS usage in schools and to evaluate the results to be achieved from the SAMS (paras. 2.20 to 2.22);  (c) because of the "one size fits all" approach, the ED could not cope with the varying requirements of schools, in particular, in areas of application capabilities, training and supporting needs (paras. 2.23 to 2.32); and  (d) IT resources in schools can be used more cost-effectively if teachers use the same set of computers to access the SAMS and to support IT in education (paras. 2.33 to 2.36). E. Audit recommendations. Audit has recommended to the Director of Education that the ED should conduct a critical strategic review of the SAMS to determine its future direction. In its review, the ED should strike a balance between what it considers should be the objectives of the SAMS against the resources which may need to be further invested. In particular, the ED should:    (a) based on the lessons learnt from the management of the SAMS project, improve project management in future IT implementation (para. 2.40(a));  (b) take effective actions to increase the SAMS usage in schools (para. 2.40(b));  (c) establish clear, measurable and realistic targets which are expected to be delivered by the SAMS and communicate these expected targets to schools (para. 2.40(c));  (d) identify and prioritise all improvement areas for the SAMS and formulate a strategy to provide schools with necessary enhancements to the SAMS (para. 2.40(e)); and  (e) critically examine the feasibility of integrating the IT resources required to support the running of the SAMS in schools with those required for supporting IT in education (para. 2.40(g)). F. Response from the Administration. The Director of Education welcomes the audit recommendations. She agrees that there is room for improvement in the implementation of the SAMS (para. 2.41). Information technology in education G. Background. The Chief Executive announced in his October 1997 Policy Address: "We will launch a five-year IT education strategy to promote the use of IT to enhance teaching and learning?. Within five years, we are aiming to have teaching in at least 25% of the curriculum supported through IT." In the 1998 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced further initiatives to enhance the use of IT in education. In November 1998, the Government issued a five-year Strategy (1998-99 to 2002-03) on IT for Learning in a New Era. As at January 1999, the Government financial commitments to promoting the use of IT in education amounted to $3.2 billion in capital costs and $261 million in recurrent costs a year. The implementation of this Strategy is a challenge for the Government in the coming years (paras. 3.4, 3.7, 3.8, 3.11 and 3.36). H. IT planning. Audit survey indicated that many schools had not yet started IT planning and the IT plans developed by a small number of schools were not very comprehensive and lacked some crucial elements (paras. 3.18 to 3.20). I. The 25% target. Although the IT Strategy published in November 1998 has defined, in general terms, the schools' role and provided examples to help schools interpret the 25% target, there are still some issues which need clarification (paras. 3.24 to 3.28). J. Project monitoring. Based on lessons learnt from the implementation of the SAMS, and to ensure the success of the IT Strategy, it is necessary for the ED to focus on the management of results; to monitor the progress of schools in the actual application of IT in teaching/learning; and to make necessary timely adjustments to the level of support provided to schools (para. 3.32). K. Audit recommendations. Audit has recommended to the Director of Education that the ED should:    (a) urge schools to start IT planning and monitor their progress in developing and implementing the plans (paras. 3.38(b) and 3.38(c));  (b) provide specific definitions to help schools interpret the 25% target of the IT Strategy and monitor their progress toward the achievement of the target (paras. 3.38(e) and 3.38(f));  (c) consider requesting those schools which are more advanced in IT to set more ambitious targets for them to achieve in the medium and longer term (para. 3.38(g)); and  (d) set up a mechanism to monitor the progress of project implementation and assess the results of the various IT projects in education (para. 3.38(i)). L. Response from the Administration. The Director of Education welcomes the audit recommendations on the use of IT in schools (para. 3.40).