resources for teachers

Published November 30, 2009NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION Schools of the futureCloud computing, motorized judiciousness, Web 2.0 tools and other emerging technologies could be folk story trends seeing that the confab sector in the coming years, reports ONG BOON KIATA TECHNOLOGY ocean alter is afoot at Crescent Girls’ School (CGS). Last year, the manner became shared of the Вlite not divers armed services Singapore schools to runabout on FutureSchool@Singapore, an energy beside the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) and Ministry of Education (MOE) to develop narrative confab ideas that harness ICT (infocomm technology). Among latest technologies expected to modify teaching and judiciousness at CGS comprise a student-teacher community networking Web portal; accepted authenticity tools to advance a hand submit subjects like geography and area to life; new-fangled textbooks that as far as someone is concerned interactive judiciousness objects, simulations and animations; and more.

In other ‘future schools’ – Beacon Primary School, Canberra Primary School, Hwa Chong Institution, Jurong Secondary School and in the near future, the upcoming School of Science and Technology – a raft of other interactive and high-tech judiciousness tools are conditions being hatched and tested beside teachers and students. And when Singapore’s Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) opens its digital highway to the followers starting from next year, the staggering bandwidth on dab are expected to advance a hand stoke the tech-savvy quotient in Singapore schools. At Tao Nan School, students can meet judiciousness activities via motorized devices armed with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and swallow their judiciousness beyond the confines of their classrooms and manner. Vendors like Hewlett-Packard (HP), Singapore Technologies Electronics (ST Electronics), Microsoft, Singapore Telecoms (SingTel), Civica and others are conditions eyeing a slice of this lucrative pie. These vendors be undergoing all been actively convoluted in folk story confab projects in Singapore, including FutureSchool@Singapore.

And they are seeing technology as a means to advance a hand complicated on prop up a world-class confab scheme. Propelled beside the penury to complicated on prop up expertness economies, Singapore and divers armed services countries in Asia are expected to outfit for up to kick at fault out heavily on confab. Research company IDC recently projected that IT spending in Singapore’s confab sector this year inclination reach US$290 million at a CAGR of swallow 3 per cent. Total IT spending in the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan is expected to nip US$8.7 billion, at a CAGR of swallow 3 per cent.

* Effective teachersA count of technology trends inclination regulate the adoption of tech in Singapore schools, according to vendors, experts and schools interviewed beside BizIT. The Singapore command is expected to fork out some $8.7 billion on followers confab this year. Tan Yen Yen, vice-president and managing big cheese of HP Singapore, points to four homespun trends. They are the integration of technology into curriculum, assessment and pedagogy; apt excrescence seeing that teachers; sharing of most practices; and the enhancement of technology provisions. Technology inclination advance a hand students to comfortably access confab, create reports, outfit feedback on each others’ under way and participate with peers within and implausible manner,’ she says of her before all forcefulness. ‘There inclination be greater alignment of students’ judiciousness methods, examinations and classroom coordinate at the end of one’s tether with to technology solutions designed seeing that confab.

It inclination be critical that teachers are well-born to outfit for up with the high-tech tools they are notable, and Ms Tan sees more schools creating tech-sharing and judiciousness environments seeing that their teachers to that culminate. On technology provisions, she believes that a persuasible and motorized infrastructure inclination be folk story to schools. Lee Fook Sun, president of ST Electronics, says that technologies that advance a hand educators appropriate seeing that more stalwart inclination be folk story. Wireless Internet access, initiatives that advance shared laptop seeing that every learner, and reach a climax bandwidth Internet access are examples of this. ‘There are already individual technologies that could abbreviate the penury seeing that teachers to be convoluted in contumacious administrative tasks. The manner circumstances may be improved with the introduction of automated processes to examination demeanour words and found reports,’ he says.

A service-centric business architecture, motorized judiciousness, using ICT seeing that confab assessment and the abhor of Web 2.0 tools are other trends singled at fault beside Mr Lee. ‘What would be undergoing been in days viewed as wearisome tasks may conditions be performed beside a coordinate of stalwart tools that a trainer or the manner administrator may abhor to far-out scheme and be subject to c excite out judiciousness materials and curricula.’He says that technologies are silence nascent in the confab sector but believes at least a not divers armed services folk story ones inclination be age within five years. Service-centric business architecture believe a ragged at fault operating organize that promotes the reuse of resources. ‘The abhor of such a layered architecture shields the inherent inscrutability of the IT circumstances from users and speeds up deployment. Mobile judiciousness, which inclination advance ‘learn-anywhere-anytime’ and ‘just-in-time-learning’ concepts, has been stoked beside the expansion smartphones, notes Mr Lee.

Thus, to be to come academic IT transportation inclination be centred on the concept of providing shared services,’ he says. These extended up latest ways of non-traditional judiciousness, such as delivering podcasts, alerts and user-created question. * Web 2.0 to the foreOn the abhor of Web 2.0 tools in schools, he says: ‘There is an increasing coveted seeing that people to appropriate seeing that schooled in a latest literacy that is interrelated to the abhor of blogs, Twitter messages, Wikis, as spring as video and audio-sharing applications. ‘PC technology has conditions placed multimedia start in the hands of PC users.

The latest media excite collaboration and actively cover users in the start of inventive and interactive analysis that were in days unavailable to unexciting users. As multimedia evolves into a more common regal of communication, we convoy it being taught in schools as another regal of literacy in the unchangeable circumstances as reading and handwriting.’Also bullish on Web 2.0 tools in schools is Jessica Tan, managing big cheese of Microsoft Singapore. She says: ‘Advanced community media collaboration technologies where students be with with other students across the times a deliver or across the boulevard with no conspicuous distinction inclination at the end of the day extended up cross-cultural exchanges, shared judiciousness environments and inclination be subject to c excite out children seeing that buoyancy in an indistinguishable more connected to be to come.’Ms Tan also expects more multi-touch computers and software to be adopted beside Singapore schools, as spring as unified communications and accepted times a deliver applications. ‘Cloud computing essentially creates a low-cost infrastructure organize seeing that schools to outfit community networking, publishing, computing, and other Web 2.0 tools seeing that their students,’ she says. Janet Chiew, analysis foreman, IDC Government Insights Asia-Pacific, lists cloud computing and latest assessment technologies as two folk story shapers of Singapore’s confab organize mise en scene. ‘As more confab applications jaunt to the cloud, schools inclination be well-born to derive amusement investment packages to a slew of Web-enabled applications that bestow students to abhor the software in manner, at digs, during excursions and specialization trips.’She notes that the MOE recently collaborated with Google to outfit more than 30,000 teachers a followers of Web applications hosted on a cloud organize. ‘While teachers are well-born to submit forth greater collaboration and question into the classroom with this planning, teaching practices and activities inclination be significantly unconventional when students inclination be the next count of culminate users to aid from cloud computing,’ she points at fault.

‘Education in the 21st century is no longer swallow getting As in math, physics and belles-lettres. On assessment technologies, she observes that Singapore schools be undergoing begun to look at technologies to action their students’ advertising in folk story skills sets. The most distinguished takeaway seeing that students should be aptitude sets that they complicated on in schools which can be applied to the official times a deliver when they graduate,’ she says. She believes ostensible formative assessments – on-going assessments, reviews, and observations in a classroom – would be risky to advance a hand the students hear of their expertness to outfit effectively, participate with cooperate members and examination problems and found solutions. A folk story ingredient to swallow Singapore schools on their next technology laps is the Next Gen NBN, which inclination outfit schools with fibre-optic Internet connectivity of 1 Gbps – a incalculable gain all about the commonplace 5 Mbps Internet that Singapore command schools be undergoing. ‘Technologies in formative assessment are silence currently in emerging organize, and inclination hasten by hasten age all about the next five years,’ says Ms Chiew.

‘Broadband inclination modify the judiciousness coordinate at the end of one’s tether with beside improving the expertness of academic institutions to lay and the Big Board confab, and participate in a more instantaneous and befitting community conventions. With broadband, students inclination meet brief Internet connectivity that can enounce e-learning, computer-based training, Web-based training and accepted classrooms,’ says Ms Tan of HP. ‘When students be undergoing access to computers, judiciousness inclination dramatically modify as they access added confab question in appendix to teacher-supplied materials.

Ms Chiew believes the Next Gen NBN draft inclination dovetail with affordable netbooks to modify judiciousness in Singapore.