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SOUPED-UP LESSONS: A pupil from Tampines North Primary shows Education Minister Ng Eng Hen an electronic storybook used during her lessons. Using a webcam, the pupils act out the roles in the book. -- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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STUDENTS will soon get to blog during class - their teachers will tell them to.
Meet the classroom of 2014, with tablet computers, podcasts and Internet surfing - all part of the third phase of the Masterplan for Information and Communications Technology in Education, also known as mp3, to be completed in six years.
Classrooms at Bendemeer Secondary and Radin Mas Primary have already begun the transformation and more will follow by the start of next year.
Art teacher Nur Ilyana Anwar, of CHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity, is familiar with what technology can do in class.
She has, for the last three years, used PowerPoint to teach drawing. The software's tools enable her pupils to create complicated art pieces.
The teacher said her pupils exercised their creativity with shading and shadow tools: 'When they see that they are able to create such nice art pieces, their confidence grows.'
More students here will soon benefit from a similar setting.
Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said at the start of the first two-day International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology (iCTLT) that technology would soon be used in all aspects of learning.
He unveiled the plan, which covers everything from learning to assessment, on Tuesday during his opening address at the iCTLT, which brought together 1,700 school leaders and educators, researchers and academics.
'We expect to see, at the end of Masterplan 3, a pervasive culture of innovative information and communications technology (ICT) practices across all schools,' he said.
To roll out these changes in schools islandwide, corps of specialist teachers will be assigned to each cluster.
They will demonstrate a deep understanding of how ICT can transform education.
The plan aims to equip students with the skills for independent learning, provide more computers for learning on the go and student-tailored ICT learning classes.
The cost of mp3 has not been confirmed, but it will build on the 11-year foundation of the first two phases.
Mp1, which lasted from 1997 to 2002, cost $1 billion. Teachers replaced overhead projectors with computers in classrooms and were taught basic skills such as using presentation software for lessons.
Mp2, the second phase, which began in 2003 and ends this year, received a budget of $470 million. Students could use technology such as podcasts to review their oral skills.
Baseline ICT standards were also set, ensuring that students acquire certain ICT skills at various milestones, such as basic typing skills by Primary 3.
To make the most of mp3, however, teachers must first learn to translate technology into effective lessons, not merely convert paper assignments into computer ones.
Also, the uneven nature of the quality of ICT teaching methods across schools must be addressed.When taught well, learners can develop more than just a skill.
Receptionist Martina Lee, 46, whose 11-year-old daughter Marcella has been Madam Nur Ilyana's art pupil for three years, said that her child's art interest had deepened so much that 'I think she will continue doing art for a long time'.
ameltan@sph.com.sg
caiwj@sph.com.sg
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