ESE ICT Task 2

In your opinion, why do you think it is important for MOE to develop the three Masterplans for ICT in education?

What was avant garde a decade ago would be common today, and passé a decade later - such is the nature of the evolving world, and the cliché of keep up or be left behind generally holds true. Globalisation is a keyword today, and the flattening of the world can be mainly attributed to technology, and in particular, the internet. Offline transactions, such as banking and mail are increasingly shifting to the online world, and a person unfamiliar in the use of ICT would be in a disadvantage.

Thus the Masterplan for ICT is important in exposing students from all socio-economic backgrounds to ICT and familiarising them with it in prepration for a future where the internet will no longer be just a luxury, but a necessity.

Secondly, the internet is a treasure trove of knowledge where almost every question can be answered. However, not everyone can access this knowledge with the same ease; those with some knowledge of the search syntax, for example (what the online community terms "Google-fu") would fare much better in their pursuit of online knowledge. Furthermore, much of the information must be taken cum grano salis - some of the information are simply inaccurate, while some may be tained by the authors' personal prejudices. In a world where students are easily exposed to disparate, polarising world views, it is vitally important that they are equipped with the ability to discern between the mainstream and the extreme, and the factual and the inaccurate.

Thirdly, the Masterplans also incorporate the principles of Self-Directed Learning and Life Long Learning, which are in a sense life skills reaching beyond ICT and technology. They are especially pertinent for ICT though, and I believe that a focus on this area would be benefit the students for life.

Finally, ICT can be used as an effective pedagogical tool. From youtube videos to interactive white boards, the lesson can be made much more fun, interesting and engaging compared to the days of yore. Visual learners would benefit especially from this, and educational games are of a certain value. However, I feel that we must always keep in mind that ICT is a tool, and the ultimate "entertainer", motivator and adjudicator in a classroom is still the teacher.

Has any of the Masterplans impacted you as a student? Share your experience of how ICT had been used in the classes you attended as a student (if applicable).

The first Masterplan was implemented in 1997 when I was in Primary 5. I remember that at that time, there were no visualiser/projector/computers in classrooms, and we were still using blackboards instead of the whiteboard. I suppose the only piece of ICT in the classroom then was the OHP and radio set. Whenever we went to the computer labs the focus was on computer literacy - we had lessons on how to use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint - and on searching for information online via "web portals" for there was no really good search engine then.

When I moved on to secondary school, my school was one of those in the forefront of the change, and I learnt QBasic programming in Secondary 1. Swiftly afterwards, there were computers in the classroom with projectors, and technology was swiftly implemented in all the classrooms as per Masterplans 1 and 2.

Based on your enhanced school experience, how do you think the current Masterplan 3 may affect your role(s) as a beginning teacher ?

I think that Masterplan 3 will greatly affect my role as a beginning teacher. It will no longer be the "chalk and talk" type of teaching when I was a student. It will be much more interactive, and it will be another type of teaching on a different paradigm.

Teachers would be expected to be proficient in ICT, beyond the basics of the Office suites. In addition, the Masterplan's emphasis on self-directed learning and life long learning would mean changing the lesson focus to something more holistic and inclusive.