Technology is really changing things up in the education sector in Singapore. From chalkboards, you got whiteboards. From whiteboards, you got projectors. From projectors, you now have visualizers. When iPads and smartphones were banned for pupils, now their kids are encouraged to use them in school.
Technology has made it possible for the teacher and the tutor to gain access to vast resources and materials. They use these to give your children a better learning experience. There are educational videos online that can be used for training sessions in the school. Tuition sessions aren’t restricted to paper and pen anymore. E-libraries are more in vogue now than ever before.
Some schools even give pupils access to the cloud, where they can continue to study their lessons even after school. Technology has even made online learning possible. Online learning gives you the convenience you need to study and attend classes from anywhere in any part of the world.
Education in Singapore has changed. As parents, you should recognize this and go with the trend. Your children are better equipped to learn on the go. All they need can be carried in a smartphone, on a laptop, or on a flash drive. Singapore has a goal of becoming a Smart Nation. Taking advantage of technology in the classroom is a step in that direction. Information and communication technology (ICT) has become very important in and out of the classroom.
As parents who learned the traditional way, you may be worried. Don’t be. Being ICT –literate is the way forward now. Already, your children have been positively impacted by technology in the classroom in various ways.
These include:
1. Mobile Learning
The classroom has gone digital. Many schools in Singapore no longer teach with textbooks or workbooks. Lessons don’t take place with chalk and pencils. Smartphones have taken their place. They are fuss-free, chalk dust-free, and easy to carry around. Students are allowed to download the necessary material they need for class work and assignments. Reading lists are assigned and they just search for the material online. Assignments don’t have to be submitted in person, in hardcopy notes, on the teacher’s desk. Just shoot the teacher an email. Mobile learning is a thing in Singapore now, as evidenced by these two schools:
• Ngee Ann Secondary
The music classes at this school have evolved. Teachers here have an app on iPad. They use it to create music digitally for their music lessons.
• Nanyang Girls High School
This institution has an investment of over 120 iPads. These smartphones are for the teachers and students to use to get books and other learning materials online.
2. Project Work and Collaborations
Carrying out projects and collaborations on school work has become easier, thanks to technology. Students don’t even need to carry a laptop around. They just need to load up their work on a flash drive or a hard drive, and they are good to go. Apps like Trello and Google Docs make it possible for teams to work together on a project remotely. All you need is an Internet connection. And when you are done, the information is safely backed up to the cloud. Many tertiary institutions, such as universities and polytechnics, use technology to collaborate on projects.
3. Changing Teachers’ Roles
The traditional role of a tutor or teacher was to provide the knowledge that the students learned. This is not the case anymore. With the advent of technology, the role of tutor giving tuition has become tutor facilitating the learning process. Technology has helped teachers and tutors alike to become better solution-providers. It has helped them to become better when it comes to thinking critically and logically. Now teachers don’t have to know everything: they just have to know enough to show students the way to go.
The Singapore University of Technology and Design is a prime example of this. They have a student research program, where the students create cyber-security programs for the eater treatment laboratory. They then proceed to test them so as to protect against cyber-attacks. The teachers are there to act as guides and to direct them to the right answers when they need them.
4. Changing the Way Teachers Teach
Technology has enabled teachers to teach differently. Even those who tutor at home give tuition lessons differently. The Internet gives them access to a host of resources. They share these resources with each other, making them better educational professionals. They identify useful material on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube with which to teach their students. they make effective use of social media platforms to connect and reach out to teachers and students alike.
A great example is what is happening at Ngee Ann Secondary. The teachers there use Facebook to interact with their students, getting them to generate topics for discussions in class.
5. Making Learning as Attractive as Gaming
Gaming is fun and addictive. This is because of the challenges in it, which, when you pass, you get an achievement or a level up. Learning can be made this attractive as well. In fact, the Fuhua Primary in Singapore uses gaming as a method instruction. Their pupils learn how to create programs and code using a program called Scratch. This knowledge will help them develop their own games. Making educational online gaming a part of the school curriculum is a great idea for honing pupils’ skills in problem-solving and critical thinking.
These are just a few of the changes technology is making in education in Singapore. As the nation gets closer to achieving its goal of becoming a Smart Nation, the possibilities of technology in the classroom will increase. The world is becoming increasingly technological. Introducing ICT in the classroom puts your children in a better position to be successful in the future.
There are seminars and workshops that educate parents and children alike on the benefits of technology in the classroom. Participate, and see all the opportunities that ICT has to offer you and your children.
Looking for more relevant articles? Here are some of them:
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