Masterplans for ICT in Education

The Minitry of Education at North Buona Vista Drive

It is imperative for MOE to develop the third Masterplan for ICT in education as our students requires IT skills for work and play.

Having served as an assistant editor and sports journalist for ESPN STAR sports and served an internship at Mediacorp at 938LIVE's Sports Desk, I have come to learn that the ability to pick up and use new technology is highly valued. I recall, in a video, that the top ten careers at present did not exist in 2004.

This is because jobs such as social media analysts, apps developers and professional bloggers (the irony!) weren't in existence.

The task to equip our students with a plethora of know-how in the latest of technologies is now a need, and no longer just a luxury.

Our children do not only need technology to succeed in their future professions, ICT is the way to expose themselves to more ways of consuming information, entertainment and interacting socially. 

The ability to communicate with family, friends and acquaintances without the restriction of geographical boundaries allows access to new trends, giving them an advantage in staying current in this postmodern world.

I have to be honest that the MOE's ICT masterplans did not impact me till my enrollment at a Junior College. My secondary school did not subscribe to IT technology use till my Secondary 4 year (1998), when they did bring in computers as I was preparing for a certain national written-based exam. Junior college curriculum did expose me to ICT tools, with school and personal endeavors requiring me to pick up word processing and sound editing skills; serving as a launch pad for a future career in sports media, and subsequently, a teaching career.

We were given access to computer work stations during our General Paper and Project Work periods, enabling us to immerse ourselves in what was then known as the "worldwide web", the "technological super-highway". Research needed for projects in Geography and Literature required us to learn the concepts of intellectual property and citation, staples in these times.

The good ol' days at Malan Road

Teachers at my JC readily accepted change in their job scope, playing the role of facilitator of lessons, rather than an information provider. My teachers also inculcated an invaluable skill, at least in me - the common sense in sieving out rubbish from the information that is critical. In other words, filtering.

Ms. Kalyani Kausikan, my Literature teacher, once said to me, "Google is your good friend. But without your other good friend, common sense, Google is just a loudmouth that spews forth whatever comes to mind."

Good advice, if you ask me.

I believe my role as a beginning teacher in the near future will be also one of a facilitator in the classroom. In addition to preparing my students for the secondary school national exams, it will be important to equip them with writing techniques for the various platforms, research skills to separate important information from the redundant and respect for other people's ideas and innovations.

In my stint as a contract teacher, I was assigned to help my mentors, specialists for writing and oral skills. I was tasked to teach my students journalistic writing skills (to some extent, reporting as well) and presentation skills, as well as the technologies that went along with it (web publishing, video and sound editing). These competencies are integral in the information age we are living in at the moment.

In the century when technology progressed at a pace of 20,000 years worth of growth, I believe that besides the rudimentary skills of reading and writing, we have to equip students with the necessary strengths to survive well in the virtual era.

There is the other aspect in the current master plan: teacher development.

I believe that, as a beginning teacher, it is absolutely important to learn from the veteran teachers, fellow peers in the teaching line and other industry professional. This is where ICT comes in. It is impossible for teachers, in their day-to-day job scope, to find time to consistently cultivate new skills and improve old ones. Access to stored beacons of information online in the form of manuals and videos helps in that area. This, as well as, professional development periods, department best practices presentations and cluster sharing aid in teachers further develop their skill sets.

As a beginning teacher, I know that I will have to be consistently involved in upgrading my technological competence and sharing what I know with fellow education professionals.