BLOG 3: MAKING CONNECTION BETWEEN YOUR ESE AND THE MASTERPLANS FOR ICT IN EDUCATION

Actually I wasn’t aware of the achievements that are evident in terms of the value-add or awards that the school has achieved. However, there was this incident which I feel portrays the outcome of a student under the implementation of Master Plan 3 (MP3).

There was one particular lesson where my mentor assigned some of the students in the class to prepare powerpoint presentation slides to teach the class about periodicity and properties of group 1 metals. The student came up and gave a detailed presentation of the lesson. At times, my mentor would step up and encourage students to ask questions regarding certain important parts of the lesson, prompting the students to think about the concepts and principles used in the reasoning of the lesson. The role of a teacher now becomes a facilitator to ensure that the lesson and discussion are carried out smoothly. He would also throw in a few pointers, explain thoroughly and summarize the points if the student is unable to teach clearly. Beside delivering a great presentation, the student actually said that he consulted a friend who is currently studying chemistry in the university and had provided him with a video of the different type of group 1 metals being cut and used in the laboratory. The student even thought of bringing some of the less reactive metals to school but it was a tricky thing to do and hence he did not. Within the one hour and ten minutes lesson, my mentor and I were really glad, that the required knowledge for the syllabus was successfully taught to the students in an engaging manner.

Yu Tan teaching the class about Group 1 Metals

We decided to treat the student to lunch as a reward and at the same time, encourage the others to also do their best when preparing for class. When the students have to teach the class, they have to understand and break down the information into segments that are easy to deliver and be understood. Hence, this aids them in learning and reading up more about the topic. As for the development of skills in ICT, students become self-directed and independent learners who will research for information from different sources of media and come up with creative presentations that demand the innovative input of the students.

After the class, the presentation slides and links to various videos were uploaded to a sharing folder where interested students may access and learn more about the particular topic. Students may also post questions in the forum to discuss in depth under the supervision of the teachers, who will rectify if required. In this way, students learn more, in and out of the classroom, which is highly beneficial for them, in recognizing the usefulness of ICT in the education of their lives.