ABSTRACT
With the development and popularisation of information and communications technology (ICT), e-learning has become an important 21st-century learning and teaching trend. Over the last two decades, the developments made by Taiwan in various fields of e-learning, whether in research or practical applications, has received considerable international attention. This book chapter focuses on the development of e-learning in Taiwan schools as a school intellectual capital (IC) since e-learning involves teacher training, coordination of school policies, and external human resources. The framework for this chapter is laid out in three perspectives: (1) human capital, consisting of teacher knowledge such as technological pedagogical content knowledge and the structure/process of ICT-related professional development; (2) internal capital, including management structure, e-learning course development, and teacher employment; and (3) customer capital, which includes the school community in addition to stakeholders such as parents, staff, local businesses, and universities. Finally, the future development of schools will be explored from the perspective of future IC management.
Following the above framework, this chapter will involve an in-depth and detailed examination of an outstanding “information seed school” and discuss the promotion and facilitation of teaching and learning with technology at that school while considering what factors matter in student learning settings and work better to identify and solve problems using ICT with computers and other devices such as tablets and educational robots, all in an attempt to provide specific and feasible directions for managing IC in developing 21st-century classrooms of the future. In short, this chapter attempts to discuss e-learning as an innovative capital in Taiwanese schools and shed light on exactly how Taiwan is trying to deal with this issue through knowledge management and relevant support.
