Achievements Observed in My ESE School

Observation 1:

The school is equipped with the basic physical and ICT infrastructure for access to Intranet and the Internet for every classrooms. There is no wireless network available yet in the school. However, there are plans to implement wireless network.

Observation 2:

Majority of the teachers (around 80%) use ICT tools for teaching in classrooms. Teachers are proficient in the use of Microsoft office especially PowerPoint, emails and Internet. There is a ICT team in the school to look at ways to incorporate ICT into curriculum. Currently, the team is exploring on the use of interactive whiteboard for teaching of humanities subjects.

Observation 3:

Students are generally proficient in the use of the Internet. E-learning lessons were assigned to the students during the holidays for them to engage in independent learning. Students are able to master the use of basic tools such as Microsoft words and PowerPoint to complete the holiday research projects assigned to them.

For more information on the various goals of the Masterplans, please refer to the link below:

http://ictconnection.edumall.sg/cos/o.x?c=/ictconnection/pagetree&func=view&rid=665

MASTERPLANS FOR ICT IN EDUCATION

Brief Background of Masterplans for ICT in Education

Currently, Ministry of Education (MOE) Singapore is at its 3^rd Masterplan for ICT in Education. MOE has embarked on a ICT Journey since 1997. There are three stages for ICT in education. The rationale for putting these masterplans in place is to better equip our students with essential and critical skills to meet the needs of the economy. These masterplans aim to better prepare our students to face the future challenges and demands of the economy.

For more details of the 3 Masterplans for ICT in Education, do visit the MOE website:

http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2008/08/moe-launches-third-masterplan.php

Why is it important for MOE to develop the three Masterplans?

The world has entered into an information-technology era and globalization has been the norm. The global landscape has changed with these external influences. In this 21^st Century, Information Communication Technology (ICT) has increasingly become a central component of communication, information handling, collaboration and decision-making. As a government body, MOE is in the position to gear and implement an education system which is of the nation's best interest. It is agreed by many that the overarching purpose of education will be equipping the population with the critical skills to meet future challenges and needs of the economy. In other words, education is to help the nation to create or rather prepare a pool of skilled workforce to ensure the nation's competitive edge for continual success. Hence, given the current context where ICT will be the key competency required in the economy (now and also for future), it is important for MOE to develop the three Masterplans for ICT in Education to equip and prepare the students as well as the educators with the critical skill for success in this 21^st century for our nation's survival.

There are two important reasons for MOE to develop the three Masterplans for ICT in education that I wish to highlight.

• The most obvious reason why developing the three Masterplans for ICT in Education is important had already been mentioned earlier on, which is to prepare our population for future demands of the economy. These Master plans are implemented in school curriculum where they aim to equip the students with the 21^st Century competencies in order to survive in this knowledge-based and globalized economy for our own nation's survival. In our myopic view, we look at the Masterplans as a mean to equip only the students. In fact, in my opinion, this is not true. Developing the three Masterplans for ICT in education has positive externality to the society. As mentioned, many recognized that the primary role of education is to prepare our population for the demand of the economy. Hence, any changes or shift in the education system indicates the changing demands in the current and future economy for the population at large, not limited to students. This sent a signal for the current workforce on the needs for upgrading of skills and this applies to the educators as well. Hence, by developing the three Masterplans for ICT in Education helps to improve the overall quality of nation workforce .

• As an overseer of schools in Singapore, MOE functions as the brain of this body. By developing the three Masterplans for ICT in Education, MOE set the national framework and directions for the schools to execute the plans with clear objectives and guidelines in place. This will provide standardization across schools to ensure that the core learning objectives are being met without much disparity across schools. In the three Masterplans developed by MOE, it can be seen that the necessary infrastructures and resources to aid in the continual development of ICT in Education across all schools. The different stages developed help the schools to identify their own progress before moving on to the next stage. Hence, maintaining a dynamic and forward-looking education system which caters to the different learning needs of the students in the various schools.

My experience as a students with ICT in Education

In my secondary school days, PowerPoint slides and videos had been used in the classrooms for teaching and learning purposes. The use of PowerPoint slides and videos were able to engage students through our visual and audio senses which spiced up our learning in a way. Research projects were also part of my ICT experience as a student. We were tasked to do online research on the topic given and come out with our own PowerPoint slides for class presentations. These projects experience helped us to be more independent in our own learning which is very important when I come to realize in my university days.

How current Masterplan 3 may affect my role of a beginning teacher based on my ESE?

I think the main challenge with the current Masterplan 3 to my role as a beginning teacher is to infuse ICT into our lessons planning and curriculum so as to attain a higher level of engagement and reap the benefits that can potentially come from the more effective use of ICT in education. Many of the times, though ICT is used in classrooms teaching, I do feel that the tools basically are just add-on. The teaching method (pedagogy) did not differ much from the traditional teaching methods. In this today's school context, the students learners are very different from the past and hence the effective use of ICT in education is very crucial for engaged learning. Hence, the design of lessons that integrate ICT will be the trend and key for future schools. Therefore, I foresee the constant need to build up our capacity to deliver innovative and engaging lessons which tap on the various ICT resources as I begin my teaching career.

My Enhanced School Experience

Enhanced School Experience: Classroom observation for ICT use

School Name: Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School

Class: Secondary 1 Peace

Profile of Class:

The class is made up of students with mixed abilities from the two extremes (i.e. those who are very good in Maths and those are very weak). Students are more kinesthetic and visual learners with short attention span.

Subject: Lower Secondary Maths

What ICT tools are used in the lesson?

The ICT tool that was used in the class is an online lessons package (HeyMath) that the school had subscribed for the lower secondary students. HeyMath is an online lessons package where there are ready-made multimedia lessons on the various Maths topics with embedded audio. Teachers are free to record and add notes to the lessons to cater to their students’ needs. This ICT tool also allows teachers to assign online quizzes to assess the students’ learning and receive immediate feedback.

Describe how ICT is used for teaching and learning in the lesson.

In this lesson, the teacher utilized on the functions of this particular ICT tool for teaching and learning of the topic, Algebra, in Lower Secondary Maths. Using HeyMath lesson presentation (which is very similar to the commonly used PowerPoint), the teacher made use of the visual animations embedded in the lesson presentation to illustrate the mechanism at work for teaching of algebra concepts. Traditionally, Maths has been a subject taught using the chalk and board method. Hence, the mechanism at work behind the various concepts especially when dealing with the movement of different terms from one line to the next line might not be so easily captured by the students. With the help of ICT, such as HeyMath and even PowerPoint, teachers are now able to show the movement of terms from one line to another in a more visual manner. This aid the students to see the mechanism at work for the various concepts, leading to more effective teaching and learning for both teachers and students especially when the class is made up of more visual learners.

In this current setting of a knowledge-based economy, teachers are commonly sighted in classrooms using PowerPoint slides in explaining the steps and mechanism at work for various concepts to help students visualize better. For this particular lesson, even though HeyMath was used instead of PowerPoint, similar teaching and learning was observed. However, HeyMath was used in this particular lesson as the teacher intended to introduce this portal for her students' independent learning (i.e. E-learning). She hopes that continual learning will take place even outside school curriculum time. In order to facilitate and encourage the use of the portal for independent learning, the lesson was conducted in the computer lab. Hence, each student was able to have hands-on experience in navigating the portal after she had taught the various concepts. This enabled individuals to revise and reinforce the newly taught concepts at their own pace, leading to more effective learning.

Besides more effective learning by the students, using this ICT tool also enables more effective teaching as teachers are able to receive immediate assessment on the students' learning. This is because in HeyMath, there is a section known as ' Check your understanding' at the end of each lesson where students were given a short quiz. The results of each individual students were sent to the teacher. Hence, at the end of the lesson, the teacher could assess on her students' learning and at the same time plan for her teaching more effectively given the analysis of her students' results.

General Observation:

How do teachers in the school feel about the use of ICT for teaching and learning?

Generally, the school is supportive of the use of ICT for teaching and learning. Majority of the teachers are using ICT tools in their lessons. The two most commonly used ICT tools are PowerPoint slides and videos. Most teachers recognized that the learners today are very different. Students have been exposed to technology and are much more IT savvy with shorter concentration span. Given such students' profile, the use of ICT tools are seen as means to engage the students for more effective teaching and learning. The school is also looking into creative teaching pedagogy where ICT can be incorporated to better engage students' learning.