| Creating The Borderless Classroom |
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Is the concept of the "borderless classroom" just an ideal, or an achievable reality? Two projects featured in "Innovating with Technologies — Creating the Borderless Classroom" on 25 April 2002 confirm that it is not only feasible, but also valuable in enhancing the learning experience. |
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The event marked the successful completion of the "Mesocyclops as a Biological Control Agent" project and the launch of the Sea@venture Learning Series. These two projects illustrate how IT can be used to expand the learning environment beyond the boundaries of the classroom.
Said Director-General of Education, Mr Wee Heng Tin, who officiated at the event, "The emphasis placed on interdisciplinary research and the innovative use of technology in these projects supports MOE’s goals for education and its vision of Thinking Schools, Learning Nation. Students apply and transfer knowledge to real-world situations with the aim of benefiting the community."
Comparing the way project work was
carried out in the past with the present, Mr Wee said, "Changes in
curriculum and developments in the area of information technology have opened up
a wider scope for learning within and between subject boundaries. Today,
students can participate in research work beyond the confines of their
classrooms."
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Mesocyclops as a Biological Control Agent Between January and April this year, 160 students and teachers from 20 schools, armed with Geographic Information System (GIS) in hand-helds and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, digital cameras and dataloggers, scoured Singapore and scooped water from canals, ponds and reservoirs. They were looking for mesocyclops, a copepod which could help to control the breeding of the aedes mosquito. If successful, this research could help to reduce the incidence of dengue haemorrhagic fever in Singapore. Initiated by the Educational Technology Division (ETD), the project was jointly organised with the Ministry of the Environment and supported by the MOE Innovation Fund. Several local companies were also involved in providing the equipment and technical expertise.
The students involved had the opportunity to work with experienced researchers on an actual research problem, and to handle technologies that are used in the real world. Said Ms Ho Soh Tin from ETD, the project manager, "An interesting task in an authentic environment makes learning meaningful for the students. Our introducing IT and a new learning approach in this project helped teachers discover how their students are learning." In the process, the students also learnt to
think out of the box. "The project created many opportunities for
students and teachers to be creative and to discover things for
themselves," said Ms Ho. "Bringing in the experts to train the
teachers together with their students further boosted the value of this
project. Teachers became partners in learning, and learned how to
facilitate and support their students’ learning." |
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Sea@venture Learning Series Students of 10 schools have been learning about marine life in Singapore waters without stepping out of their schools’ computer labs. Using broadband webcasting technology, the underwater explorations of a diving team stationed at a remote location around Singapore’s Southern Islands are transmitted live into schools.
A total of five interactive underwater explorations have been planned as part of the Sea@venture Learning Series, which began in March this year and will last till August. Through the webcasts, students from the participating schools can experience the underwater world vicariously, and get a chance to ask the experts questions through an interactive chatroom. Students from two participating schools can also ask the dive team questions via phone about the underwater world they are seeing, and receive a personalised response back in real time. The webcasts are also supported by a website which provides pre- and post-viewing activities for all Singapore schools. Said Ms Connie Ng, one of the project team members from ETD, "Through interaction live with the divers, as well as with field experts from the National University of Singapore via phone and chatroom during each webcast, teachers and students are able to learn together with experts in different locations." Log on to www.venturelearning.com.sg for a treasure trove of information and teaching resources. The
team also plans to archive the live webcasts, website activities and
students’ work on CD-ROMs when the project is over, and distribute them
to all schools as teaching and learning resources. |
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