99 Section E

Task 1

(1) 30^th March,1999

(2) Mrs. S.Fan

(3) 10 Ho Man Tin Street

Kowloon

(4) Dear Mrs. Fan,

I am writing (5) in response to your letter dated 23^rdMarch, 1999, stating your opinions towards computers and the setting up of the Cyber Centre. Having read our letter, I hope that your attitude towards the use of computers and the Cyber Centre would change.

As your letter mentioned, the primal thing that (6) you worried about is the possible access to harmful materials like pornography, drugs, bad language and violent games through computers. A general solution to this problem is the provision of (7) supervision on students when using computers. The chairperson of our committee, Mrs. Au, has guaranteed that the proposed centre will be supervised at all times during opening hours by (9) teachers or (10) senior form students to ensure that students couldn’t get access to these harmful materials. In fact, (8) according to the Circular No.10 which is issued by the Hong Kong Education Department about the use of computer in schools, students who use computers in school will be supervised at all times to ensure that they are away from dangerous materials. Thus, we think the above measures can certainly help to block students’ access to these harmful materials.

Another point that you have mentioned is the (11) anti-social behaviour occurred resulted from the use of computers. You stated in your letter that as your brother’s son spent all time on computers, he lost all his friends and become withdrawn and anti-social. (12) Indeed, using computers encourage socialisation. (13) Hong Kong Education Department has reminded school heads that students must be encouraged to work in pairs or group to prevent the isolation that can otherwise arise. Thus, our school has proposed several measures to tackle this potential problem. On the one hand, (14) we will remind students to work in pairs or teams when they use computers in our information pack so as to eliminate loneliness that may occur. (15) Moreover, all of the HKC Cyber Centre software has been designed to encourage pair and group activities. Together with supervisors who will make sure they work with other students, students will not feel lonely when using computers or become withdrawn and anti-social. Thus, there is no need for you to worry too much about this issue.

Apart from chat, you also doubted our (16) teachers’ knowledge on computers and you are afraid that teachers will not be able teach their students how to make the best use of computers in their free time. A general solution to this problem is to (17) offer training. In fact, most of our teachers are knowledgeable on computers. (18) The Education Department’s IT Teacher Training Programme is now underway. On the other hand, (19) our principal pointed out that 40 teachers of our school had successfully completed the introductory 18-hour computer training course, and other 16 teachers were scheduled to begin the 30-hour intermediate-level training next month. She added that it is anticipated that most of our teachers would eventually complete all the IT courses offered by the Education Department and will be through to the advanced level. Teachers will then learn to train their students to use computers both in class and in their free time.

The final opinion that you have expressed in your letter is that (20) books already contained sufficient information in a library. Indeed, (21) a recent research indicates that computers can provide some knowledge and information that cannot even be found in the biggest and best-stocked libraries. In addition, since the published materials in libraries are not so frequently current and up-to-date, people are now changing to get the latest information through the Internet which is updated from time to time as a supplement to their traditional books. (22) In Hong Kong, even the libraries of the Urban Council of Hong Kong have installed computers with the Internet access and CD-Roms so as to provide up-to-date information to people. In our college, (23) these facilities are needed owing to the limited space of our library. All of our CD-Roms for use in the Cyber Centre are highly advanced and will include visual and audio material.

Mrs. Fan, we hope this letter can clarify your misunderstanding on computers and our Cyber Centre. (24) we are looking forward to your visit to our Cyber Centre when it begins its operation.

(25) Yours sincerely,

(26) Chris Chan

(CHRIS CHAN)

(27) Secretary

HKC Cyber Centre Planning Committee