The application of free web tools to e-learning platforms for integrating cantonese opera into hong kong chinese language education in the era of Web 2.0

Abstract

This article presents the application of weblogs as e-learning platforms to the new curriculum for integrating Cantonese opera into Chinese language education in Hong Kong. The application is outstanding because it is applied to such a unique curriculum which contains rich and varied learning content from language to literature and from culture to performing arts. The richness and variety of the curriculum in turn favour the trial of choosing and integrating free web tools into weblogs as elearning platforms. Apart from setting up weblogs for learners by the authority centrally, learners can scaffold their own weblogs as learning outcomes. It is found that weblogs embedded with web tools as e-learning platforms can enrich the curriculum, and the learners can acquire new literacy on the top of learning content. As other explorations of this kind are mostly confined to a smaller scope (such as a particular course by an individual teacher), it is hoped that the empirical study reported in this article would be a significant reference to applications of Web 2.0 in education. © Common Ground, Fung Ping (Dorothy) Ng, Wai-ip, Joseph Lam, Kai-kwong Choi.