Blog post 3 - MAKING CONNECTION BETWEEN YOUR ESE AND THE MASTERPLANS FOR ICT IN EDUCATION

Many desired outcomes from the implementation of the Masterplans were evident during my Enhanced School Experience in North Vista Secondary School. During my attachment, I have observed an E. Mathematics lesson and the topic taught was Linear Graph plotting. The students were brought to the computer lab for an e-learning lesson. Prior to the computer lab based lesson, a double period lesson was utilized to introduce the topic to the students in a powerpoint format.

During the computer lab based lesson, an e-learning site asknlearn was explored by the students. The usage of such an e-learning site has brought about more interesting and creative way of lesson delivery and has thus achieved the aim of Generating innovative processes in education as mentioned in Masterplan One. In addition, when dealing with the more uncontrollable Normal Technical students, the delivery of lesson in such a manner has allowed a more effective administrative and classroom management. Nowadays, students are greatly exposed to the use of Internet and hence, a computer lab based lesson would be more efficient in capturing the students’ attention.  

In North Vista Secondary School, there are four computer labs available for the teachers and students alike to fully utilize them for lab based lessons. This scenario observed is fully reflective of one of the main aim in the Masterplan Two, which is to have an infrastructure that supports widespread and effective use of ICT. During the lab based lesson, I have also observed that students were generally able to navigate the e-learning site without much aid. This indicates that the students have already started to accept the use of ICT as one method of lesson delivery and the success of this lab based lesson has indicated the achievement of the meeting another objective of the Masterplan Two, which is to promote effective and active learning through ICT.

In line with the objectives of Masterplan Three, self-directed learning was encouraged as students were prompted to make use of what they have learnt and this has enabled the students to reflect upon what they have learnt in the lesson. Other than students benefitting from the Masterplans, teachers have also benefitted from them. For instance, the delivery of this particular lesson through the use of ICT has enabled the teachers to gain experience to extend the students' learning beyond the classroom.

Blog post 2 - MASTERPLANS FOR ICT IN EDUCATION

Q) In your opinion, why do you think it is important for MOE to develop the three Masterplans for ICT in education?

Gone are the days when classroom teaching comprises only of blackboard, chalk and duster. In today’s classroom, the usage of ICT can commonly be seen during implementation of lessons and the true purpose of the Masterplan can often be neglected. In my opinion, the development of the three Masterplans for ICT in education is crucial and necessary. As mentioned in Masterplan One, one of the main objective is to inculcate creativity in the students. I feel that the ability to be vigilant and alert to new technological changes is very vital in today’s society. Hence, through the usage of ICT, students are given a chance to gain exposure to the world of technology and its latest development. 

In addition, another important value that is inculcated will be the encouragement of independent learning whereby students will have to source for the necessary information online. This is especially important in this knowledge economy. One of the main aim in the Masterplan two includes the usage of ICT as a tool to customise education to meet the needs and abilities of different students. This is essential as no forty students in the class can have the same learning pace. Hence, the usage of ICT allows the students to learn at a comfortable but yet a decent pace. 

Q) Has any of the Masterplans impacted you as a student? Share your experience of how ICT had been used in the classes you attended as a student (if applicable).

As a student, I have greatly benefitted from the usage of ICT especially during my secondary school days from 2001-2004. Within that four years, I experienced two years of lessons under the Masterplan One and two years under the Masterplan Two. I recall the frequent visits to the computer labs and one memorable lesson was the Art lesson. During the lesson, we were taught the basics of Adobe Photoshop and afterwhich, we were allowed and encouraged to explore the program on our own. After being able to grasp the usage of Photoshop, we were then presented with an assignment to design a postcard for an Anti-drug abuse campaign. I am greatly thankful for the chance I had back then to learn about Adobe Photoshop as it is a skill that is truly beneficial and applicable, especially when it comes to the designing or editing of aesthetic work.

Q) Based on your enhanced school experience, how do you think the current Masterplan 3 may affect your role(s) as a beginning teacher ?

Based on my enhanced school experience, it is evident that classroom lessons in schools have a shift in focus towards independent learning for the students. After the school experience, I have thus understood the importance of ICT during lesson implementation. Future designing and planning of lesson materials should then be skewed to encourage more independent learning of the students. In addition, materials should be designed to educate students about the reliability of the online sources.

Blog post 1 - Enhanced School Experience: Classroom Observations of ICT Use

I was at North Vista Secondary School for my ESE programme and the class I observed for this particular ICT lesson was 2T2 which is a normal technical class comprising of students generally weak in studies.

The subject that was taught in this lesson was E. Mathematics. The students were instructed and brought to the learning lab for a double period lesson and the topic taught for the day was Linear Graph plotting. Since this particular topic can be especially hard for students who just cannot visualize how the graphs drawn would look like, it would be really useful to allow them to do independent learning from learning websites. In this instance, a learning website known as asknlearn was used to facilitate students’ learning.

Generally, the students in this class have a limited attention span. Hence, in effort to enhance the benefits through the usage of asknlearn, the students were taught the basics of the topic of Graph plotting in a normal classroom prior to the computer lab lesson.  In this classroom teaching session, the lessons were delivered in a powerpoint format.

After ensuring that most (if not all) students were able to grasp the foundation, the students were then allowed to be exposed to the e-learning programme on asknlearn.

The usage of asknlearn first leads students to sit through a short animation to reinforce the knowledge they have previously learnt in class. After which, the students were then prompted to attempt a few questions which were stepwise guided. This component was crucial as it enabled the students to see the purpose and reason behind each step of the solution. Towards the end of the elearning lesson, the students were then asked to attempt a few questions on their own on the site.

At the end of the elearning lesson, the students were asked to provide and raise some summary points verbally when prompted by the teacher. This will enable reinforcement of new knowledge and will also allows the teacher to know how well and how much the students have grasped for the topic.

Upon interacting with the respective teachers for their views on the effectiveness of ICT in classroom teaching, there was a common consensus that the usage of ICT is crucial and necessary to teach the students in today’s society. This is because students nowadays are greatly exposed to multimedia and teaching with multimedia resources has aided in reducing the difficulties of introducing a brand new chapter/topic.

In addition, students with shorter attention span in a typical classroom setting would be able to focus more during an e-learning lesson. Furthermore, in a classroom of 40 students, it is almost impossible to expect all students to learn and grasp new concepts at the same pace. Hence, through the usage of multimedia, students who absorb concepts slower will be able to learn at their own comfortable pace. On the other hand, students who have already successfully grasped the concept, may now make full use of the e-learning program to further reinforce their learning by trying out new questions available online.