Making Connection between your ESE and the Masterplans for ICT in Education

The school which I was attached to is currently in the first stage of the masterplan in ICT for education, perhaps a little of the second masterplan where students are also to make use of ICT in their learning process.

The use of ICTs by teachers is more often than not through the utilization of powerpoint slides, youtube videos and visualizers in class to better help students in the learning process. Masterplan one is still the predominant medium in engaging students as it is a more interactive and a more controlled method of teaching. The students are also more receptive towards such a medium as it is beyond the whiteboards and markers which they relate to being a boring form of learning. At the same time, such medium especially powerpoints and the internet provides a platform for interesting images, graphics and videos for students. It is also a good solution in dealing with students’ increasingly short concentration spans.



In the school, students are also encouraged to make use of ICTs in their learning through their Home Based Learning (HBL). On the day of HBL, students are not required to turn up in school for classes but rather, they stay home and access the subjects of that particular day online and download the necessary documents and to complete them online. After which, they are required to print it out and submit it in hardcopy the next day in school.

Personally, I see this exercise of HBL as a pre-exercise of the second masterplan and put it in between the first and second masterplan as this HBL or online learning from home is not completely done online. In addition, students are still required to submit their work by hand in hardcopy and there were no online lectures or virtual face-to-face engagement during this HBL. However, this exercise seems to be rather popular with the students as they are not required to be physically present in school and this is not due to the use of HBL as students being students, would rather there was no work to be done. The completion of homework has just changed in form, from writing it to typing it, not exactly engaging with it.

As compared to my undergraduate studies, I believe that the exercise of HBL was slightly further from what I had expected of the second masterplan as it was not as engaging and interactive as I had expected it to be. But having said so, it is a good pilot programme for students to slowly be engaged in ICT and for masterplan two to be fully implemented, paving way for the third one subsequently.

Masterplans for ICT in Education

It is definitely of great importance for our education system to develop the masterplans for ICT in today’s education system. The use of ICT is important in order to better engage our future generation as they live and grow up in the era where students are media controlled and media visual driven.

This interactive use of technology will definitely enhance both the learning experience of students and the teaching experience for teachers. As students are media controlled, the use of ICT to engaging them in the learning subjects will be a more effective way of garnering students’ interest, allowing lessons to be conducted smoothly and in a more conducive manner. On the other hand, students will be interested in the subject matter taught as the medium that it was delivered in is in a form which are familiar and of relevance to them.

As a student, masterplan one was one that I was commonly in touched with. Trips to computer labs were a luxury and we were usually excited about it as it was a rather new form of technology back then. However, the content that was taught in computer labs using computers were not teaching subjects but subjects such as National Education. The ICT used in our teaching subjects back then were overhead projectors and visualizers, with occasional use of powerpoint presentations to conduct lessons.

As times have changed, the masterplans need to move forth along with the social landscape and masterplan three would be important especially in the provision of infrastructure to facilitate the implementation of ICT and promoting its use to a larger scale. As a beginning teacher, it would be important for us to fully utilize the infrastructure provided and we would also need to be trained in using such software and hardware. Our lesson plans would then need to be altered to cater towards such use of ICT and to provide platforms for students to engage fully with the available infrastructure.

ESE ICT Observation

ENHANCED SCHOOL EXPERIENCE:

PREPARATORY TASK FOR ICT FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING

 

Enhanced School Experience: Classroom Observations of ICT Use

(I)                         Specific Observations

School Name:  Jurong West Secondary School

Class: Secondary 2E1

Profile of the class: (For e.g., the students’ academic abilities,  stream and other characteristics) Students are of mixed learning abilities but in general, they are fast learners who are outspoken and well-behaved.

Subject: English Literature

What ICT tools are used in the lesson? Powerpoint slides, visualiser, online videos

Describe how ICT is used for teaching and learning in the lesson. The visualiser was used to guide students through their worksheets or in-class assignments. Powerpoint slides were used to introduce students to the new topic of Drama. Youtube videos were also used to better evoke the interest of students in the subject and genre, at the same time making it easier for them to relate and comprehend the subject.

(II)                      General Observation:

How do teachers in the school feel about the use of ICT for teaching and learning? (For this question, you may want to speak to the HOD/ICT and other teachers you know in the school.)

They felt that it was a better way of engaging students as living in today’s world, students are no longer the same as the past. They are constantly engaged with the virtual world and their computers and hence, ICT makes it easier for to evoke students’ interest in the subject and also for them to relate to the subjects. However, it also means that more time is needed in lesson planning and the preparation of materials and also better time management in class.