Task 2:

It is important for MOE to develop the three Masterplans for ICT in education in order to be on par with the ever changing demands of the world. Over the course of decades, Singapore has evolved from a developing city to a developed first-world country. Initially, Singapore’s economy depended greatly on Malaysia and after independence, the PAP has played a significant role in shaping Singapore’s economy. If Singapore is successful today, it is thanks to its predecessors and the efficient governance of the PAP. Today, our economy continues to flourish because of a highly competent, organized, talented and experienced government who has the foresight in predicting future outcomes and takes the best course of action to pave a better and brighter future for Singapore.
The fundamental criteria governing the success of a nation is its economy. What stratifies a country into a developed , developing or underdeveloped country is very much tied to its economy. The relatively high GDP per capita and profits made by the country is a testament to a country’s good economic progression. Casting the spotlight on Singapore, we observe that despite being a small nation where people and manpower are its only means of resources , nevertheless, we manage to stay on a competitive edge alongside Asia juggernauts like Japan and Hong Kong. Another success to highlight is our business and commercial industry that has gained international recognition as one of the best in the world. Of course, not neglecting other sectors such as music and fine arts , Singapore continues to flourish too and has drawn many international artistes over the past few years. Today, the fine arts and music scene , which used to be ‘invisible’ have taken centre stage and have produced many talented local song writes, musicians and artistes , ambassadors of Singapore who have brought Singapore to fame at an international level.
So how is this related to MOE’s 3 masterplans to the analogy above?
Very simply put, In order for Singapore to sustain its economical development, Singapore cannot remain ‘stagnant’. Success of the past does not guarantee success in the future. Hence, to ensure continuity of economic success at a micro level, Singaporeans should constantly seek to upgrade and enhance their knowledge and competencies in whatever sector they belong to. On a macro level, the government and major organisations must continually play an active role in promoting , implementing and overseeing new measures to enhance its workers by providing means and opportunities to workers to upgrade themselves.
MOE’s implementation of its first masterplan in ICT which was launched in 1997 was a pragmatic approach because in order to ensure that Singapore thrives in a knowledge based economy, the future generation of Singapore must constantly keep themselves informed of the latest events around the world. They must have access to a bountiful of resources which can serve as an indispensable learning platform for enrichment and acquiring knowledge beyond the scope of the syllabus in schools. Also, it aims to encourage and promote critical thinking, self-directed learning and more importantly, equip students with the fundamental IT skills that would benefit them when they enter the workforce. This can be achieved through the implementation of ICT in classroom teaching.
The 2 consecutive masterplans which are improvements to the first is analogous to the evolving nature of the world and Singapore. In order for Singapore to remain competitive and thrive in a Knowledge-based Economy, Singapore has to constantly improve itself and this is by no means reflected in the 2nd and 3rd masterplan respectively. The 3rd masterplan, in comparison to the second is a more sophisticated one with greater demands. As technology is evolving at such a rapid rate, we find ourselves moving inevitably towards a computerized nation. Today, it is ubiquitous to find students equipped with a 3G mobile phone or even Iphones. The majority of the students are IT savvy and should have at least mastered the basic skills of using IT tools at their fingertips. Hence, the masterplans have to constantly be reviewed and improved to cater to the demanding needs of classroom teaching in a class of IT savvy students. Equipped with a set of basic skills, the teacher can now tap further into ICT to bring classroom teaching to a higher level. For example, teachers can get students to do independent and collaborative learning via ICT. On another note, the role of the teacher is no longer merely delivering content to students. With ICT, teachers can go beyond the textbook and the whiteboard and broaden students’ perspective and knowledge on a particular topic or theme. ICT can also be an effective means of eliciting critical thinking. Creating discussion forums to encourage students to post their opinions can also be a learning platform for students to explore beyond the textbook.
To conclude, I advocate incorporating ICT in classroom teaching and am very supportive of the constant revising of the masterplans by MOE. ICT has been proven to make learning more interesting and engaging for students so it is definitely worth tapping into ICT in conducting my lessons in the future.

Using ICT was probably in its infant stage of implementation during my years as a student. What I do vividly recall is that most of my teachers rarely incorporate ICT in classroom teaching. The only 2 subjects where ICT was often incorporated was History and Mathematics. For Math, my teacher would usually reserve a computer lab for us during the weekly 3 period lesson so that we would have hands on approach in exploring the different types of quadratic and linear graphs. I remembered being introduced to the programme Graphamatica where we were given the opportunity to plot different graphs by changing the coefficients of the equation. I found that truly entertaining and at the same time engaging. During History, the teacher would usually use Powerpoint to deliver content to the class and at the end of the lesson she would usually flash pictures on a projector or play short video clips to illustrate certain real life events to us. This makes learning of History more interesting when we were given the opportunity to see real-life footages of the sufferings and the cruelty of the Germans troops during World War 2. ICT enabled History lessons to come to life and I recalled enjoying History classes in secondary school.

As a soon-to-be classroom teacher, it is comforting to know that MOE is very supportive of implementing ICT in classroom teaching. I, on my part am very keen on exploring different approaches and avenues in conducting my lesson and preparations such that my students will benefit from my lessons and learning will be maximised. As a future English and Music teacher, I am very convinced that ICT is going to be one very essential tool in conducting lessons. Teaching can be made more interesting, fun, enriching and engaging through the use of ICT. With a multitude of resources and complimentary videos online, the teacher is spoilt for choice. On another positive note, the masterplan 3 is going to be beneficial for me as the new skills and knowledge that I am going to acquire is going to contribute greatly to my professional development .I am looking forward to discovering new tools and programmes that could enhance classroom teaching . Lastly, as a future teacher, I envisage promoting independent and collaborative learning in my class and this can be achieved by through the use of ICT tools.
Although ICT has created much hype in today’s classroom teaching because of all the wonders it can do, ICT has it s limits too. Where teaching of moral values and character development is concerned, nothing beats the classroom teacher. Moulding our students to be good and loyal citizens depends very much on the teacher and not so much on ICT. Good moral values should not be neglected in classroom teaching and this is where teachers role dominate that of the computer or any technological device. Teachers are constantly there to guide the students and impart good values such as honesty, integrity, respect etc. If the teacher is not present to guide and shape students character, it would be worthless to produce a bunch of talented and knowledgeable citizens who do not uphold good moral values and practices. Using ICT is thus, limited in this respect.
Task 3
In Si Ling secondary school, many of the subject teachers do incorporate ICT components in delivering their lessons. This is more evident in the younger teachers who have just graduated from NIE last year. Most of them, who were my friends, actually welcomed me to observe their classes and I must say that these new teachers are very fond of using ICT in classroom teaching and learning. One particular teacher for example taps on facebook to stimulate learning out of classroom. She would post video clips on the facebook page and will occasionally pose questions to her students. The students are all given the opportunity to contribute to the link. Another colleague actually set up a blog where he posted his own model essays for students to view so that they could have a glimpse and an idea as to how to go about writing a narrative essay. A humanities teacher whom I have met actually added her students as friends to her facebook account where she actually posted photos of her trip to illustrate certain geographical concepts to her students.
However, I noticed that the more senior teachers are not that enthusiastic about adopting ICT into teaching. Some of them are still quite doubtful and conservative about the use of ICT in classroom teaching perhaps because they have been very used to their methods of teaching. In addition, what could discourage them from using ICT in classroom teaching is perhaps the amount of time needed to set –up the equipment or the reserving of computer labs. Also, technical glitches which occur very frequently may disrupt learning and the amount of time spent on repairing the problem may eat into precious curriculum time ,especially when the teacher is pressed for time for time to cover the syllabus.
In conclusion, I can see that the goals of the 3 masterplans have been achieved to some extent. However, it is crucial to note that the degree of success is dependent on several factors such as teachers’ competencies in IT, teachers willingness to upgrade their IT skills, IT infrastructure and facilities of the school (independent schools definitely surpass that of public schools), the management of the school , profile of the students etc. Some schools have or may be embarking on a new phase in its IT development while others may be hindered from progressing as a result of other factors.

Task 1
School Name: Si Ling secondary school

Class: 4e1

Lesson observed : EL

Profile of the class: 4E1 is the only express class in Si Ling secondary school. The majority of the students belong to the Normal Academic Stream. Thus, the 4e1 students are the cream of the crop in Si Ling as these pupils, have been promoted to the Express stream over the course of 3 years according to academic merits. Academically, these students are considerably weak in all the subjects they take. This is not surprising given that many of the students in 4e1 entered the school with a relatively low PSLE score. In addition to that, many, if not all, of the students were not eligible to be placed on the 4 year Express course.
Just a side note to this, the principal have informed me that Si Ling secondary is one of the very few secondary schools which annually accepts students with the lowest PSLE T scores in Singapore. On another note, the general profile of the students is such that the majority of them come from families whose socio-economic status is much inferior compared to the average. Hence, the large number of students placed under the financial assistance schemes. Moreover, it is not uncommon to find many students coming from families where discord and conflicts are the main causes affecting the child’s mental, physical and emotional well-being.
Yet, despite the students’ profiles, I was impressed by the way the students behaved. It never once occurred to me that the students were in any way insolent or disrespectful towards their teachers. Yes, indeed, there are a few black sheep, but this is by far more impressive than any other schools that I have visited. The students will listen to the teacher and greet the teachers warmly .It is very heart warming to see them exuding respect towards their seniors.
I was very fortunate to have observed 4e1 on the very first day of my 4 week attachement. The following week, I was assigned to be their co-form teacher where I was involved in taking morning attendance and bonding with the class during life-skills lessons. I was to sit in and observe a 2 period English lesson which was taught by the HOD of English. A patient, amiable and helpful colleague, I was very fortunate to have him as my CT. He introduced me to the class and made the students greet me and was able to manage the class very well. No form of shouting nor reprimanding was required as the students were extremely disciplined. I was amazed by the students’ maturity. They followed the teacher’s instructions without making too much noise and listened attentively during class. It was truly stunning. Never have I stepped into a class of 30 pupils where every single pupil showed their cooperation by following instructions without creating any problem.
That day, Mr Lim conducted his lesson on strategies and tips on answering comprehension questions, a section where many students often fail to excel in. Comprehension questions of today are no longer the same as those of yesteryears. Today’s questions require more inference, critical-thinking and tests vigorously on the understanding and interpreting skills of the students. If my CT was going to teach students the strategies on how to tackle comprehension questions, that must be a very arduous task! While I sat at the back of the class questioning myself how he was going to cover that in 2 lessons, my attention was instantaneously drawn to the colourful powerpoint slides that my CT had done. So my CT was incorporating ICT into his classroom teaching!
One of the observations I made was that, upon flashing the slides on the screen, the students immediately focused their attention on the humongous screen staring before them. Nothing could probably garner more attention than the use of multi-media.It certainly is one way of grabbing attention from the class! Power slides that are nicely designed with colours and pictures enhance the aesthetic qualities of the slides which could be also very useful in eliciting attention from students.
As Mr Lim went through the slides, I noticed that his slides were very organized and the presentation was very concise and clear. For example, when Mr Lim proceeded to teaching students how to identify keywords in a question, he would illustrate to students first by bolding the keywords of each question in red. After that, there would be a slide with additional questions where students are required to identify keywords in questions. For different components of comprehension questions, he would adopt the same procedure : First, the explanations with clear illustrations done graphically and followed by supplementary exercises for students to practice.
ICT is very effective here because I realized that many students in the class happen to be visual learners and thus learn quicker with visual aids. In this respect, the use of Powerpoint in illustrating the steps involved in tackling comprehension questions was a fruitful one for the students. On the one hand, they are more engaged while on the other hand, being able to see what is happening concretely can actually be more effective than solely verbal explanations.
Many teachers whom I have spoken do support the use of ICT in classroom teaching and believe that ICT can broaden classroom learning and encourage independent learning however it is also important to take note that in a school like Si Ling secondary, where many of the pupils come from less well-to-do families, having a laptop or a personal computer may be considered a luxury. Thus, this can impede their learning should ICT become main tool of delivering content and resources.