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

I suppose as a beginning teacher, I would be expected by my colleagues and students to be familiar with basic ICT such as PowerPoint, using YouTube as a learning tool in class, planning class activities around ICT (research on the internet, using basic programmes such as photoshop, music editing technology, Microsoft Frontpage), GoogleApps, the various platforms MOE has available for teachers such as Audacity and so on. To an extent, I would also be expected to keep abreast of developments in ICT. Given that the internet disseminates information at such an incredibly fast speed these days and everyone is exposed to so much information and new technology at least almost every week, there is not much excuse to lag behind.

As mentioned several times before, a teacher no longer imparts knowledge but facilitates the gaining of knowledge. Based on how we are in the middle of the third ICT Masterplan, the facilitating of the gaining of knowledge goes hand in hand with utilizing ICT as a sophisticated learning tool in the classroom.

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

In 1997, I was in upper primary school. Prior to that, there were no classes I can recall of that used ICT except the old-school projector. 1999 was also probably one of the first times I entered the computer lab quite regularly - which was new - to do an animated NE quiz and to attend typing lessons after PSLE ended.

In 2000 when I entered secondary school, I had computer lessons in Secondary 2 which further introduced me to the use of ICT. I was taught how to use Microsoft Excel and to build webpages using Microsoft front page. The use of Microsoft PowerPoint in class by teachers was also slowly becoming more pervasive.

Though NUS is independent of MOE, I should probably highlight that when I entered uni in 2006, technology was part and parcel of life. NUS used the IVLE system - which was about seven years old the time we matriculated - which ensured a lot of our academic lives was tied to the online world. It is like Blackboard in NIE but much more sophisticated and streamlined.

There are no particularly creative lessons using ICT I can remember as a student. However, I've watched online how teachers have used ICT in a creative and entertaining manner in recent years (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blOrY-nEGaE&feature=relmfu, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKviYiZhtZY) and have been introduced as a contract teacher to more sophisticated ICT that I can use in class - such as a MCQ quiz that can be carried out as a class with students using an easy-to-understand hand-held device to key in their answer.

In your own opinion why is it important for MOE to develop the three masterplans for ICT in education?

In summary, the first ICT masterplan focused on introducing ICT into the education system and focused on equipping teachers and students with the competency to use the tools. In effect, it was a way for MOE, teachers and students to test the waters and giving everyone a taste of what was to come. The second ICT masterplan focused on establishing a baseline - a standardization process that ensured everyone not only had a basic level of competency but had access to ICT and integrated these tools into part of everyday life. The last ICT masterplan built on the fact that ICT was no longer near and focused on using ICT tools in a more sophisticated manner; such as for teachers to use ICT as a way to streamline and enhance the lesson planning process and the way teaching is carried in the classroom or for students to use it not merely as a word processor but as a tool that hones their higher order thinking skills.

Evidently, the three masterplans were conceived of as a forward-thinking continuum. Given that back in 1997, commercial trials for a home internet connection were only beginning (ref. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Singapore), introducing the use of ICT to students for the next five years made sure students and teachers at that time didn't feel like fish out of water and could at least approach the technology as novelty and wonderment instead of an unfamiliar monster. Giving teachers the next 5-12 years to integrate ICT into their teaching methods and to hone their skills in the use of ICT was also a realistic expectation.

In short, introducing ICT in three phases ensured that the process was smooth for everyone and also allowed everyone to see clearly as an entire ministry in what direction education in Singapore and where society in general was headed.

ENHANCED SCHOOL EXPERIENCE: PREPARATORY TASK FOR ICT FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING

Enhanced School Experience: Classroom Observations of ICT Use

(I)          Specific Observations

School Name: St. Margaret’s Secondary School

Class: 1E4 Express

Profile of the class: (For e.g., the students’ academic abilities,  stream and other characteristics) The students from 1E4 are in the express stream and have PSLE scores ranging from 200-220. They are considered one of the rowdier classes in school. However, this being a girls’ school, the rowdiness is more manageable compared to perhaps a mixed school where students have the same PSLE score. For Secondary 1 General Music in SMSS, students who belonged to choir, band and string ensemble and students with a certain standard of background in music (minimum Grade 5 theory + Grade 5 in any instrument) attended a separate instrumental scheme.

Subject: Music

What ICT tools are used in the lesson? The HOD of Aesthetics, Mr Tan used this website (http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/10) to conduct the second music lesson where students were to learn how to read notes on the treble clef. The website was projected onto the whiteboard in front of the class which was from where Mr Tan conducted the lesson. I was seated behind the piano to assist with using the software which operated like Microsoft PowerPoint. The second part of the three-part lesson was conducted using this resource (http://www.musictheory.net/exercises/note/bg1yyyy) which allows the user to customize settings for a note identification exercise. The last part of the lesson involved the students physically in a game. Putting aside how the games work, ICT came into play here where several instructions for the game were flashed on the screen so students could continually refer to it if they forgot any.

Describe how ICT is used for teaching and learning in the lesson. While the instrumental scheme sought to limit the range of pre-knowledge students brought to class, there were still students with a higher degree of musical knowledge because they had music lessons when they were younger or were in class because they were just slightly short of the minimum requirement to attend the instrumental scheme. Despite some students being more familiar with musical notation than others (which usually makes them more distracted as what is heard in class is a repetition of what they already know), the use of ICT made sure that most of the class were engaged in learning and/or revising. Using the first website, students were introduced to musical knowledge in a systematic manner (staff – treble clef – notes) and this was done effectively and efficiently with technology as a visual aid. Furthermore, the use of technology enabled the teacher to deliver the lesson very smoothly, giving an illusion of ‘magic.’ The teacher came to class extremely well-prepared and is knowledgeable and professional and the use of technology communicated those aspects of the teacher to the students. With me assisting with operating the online programme and seated out-of-view from the students, the teacher conducting the lesson could also concentrate on engaging the students even more as the visual aids to the lesson unfolded on-screen. The second part of the lesson using the second website was a useful online resource that allowed students to revise what they had just learnt in the first part of the lesson. As mentioned above, the second website allowed the user to customize the range of notes to be identified and in what key signature and clef. The programme was interactive and students could choose any of the seven notes from the C-major scale as their answer. The correct answer was revealed immediately after.

(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.)

I think teachers in SMSS view ICT as a useful tool that enables a smooth delivery of a lesson. It is less cumbersome and time-consuming than carrying certain parts of the lesson out on a whiteboard or simply 

conveying the information to the students via speech only.

As seen in the lesson above, the world of ICT is also a treasure trove of useful resources that can streamline lesson preparation and allow the teacher to focus more on how s/he can deliver the lesson.