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The next post will be about the use of ICT in primary schools; how the schools and individual teachers are using ICT in their Science and Mathematics teachings. Here it goes...
My colleague and I were supposed to go to Sekolah Rendah Tumpuan Telisai but we had to change direction to Sekolah Rendah Pengiran Kesuma Negara Bukit Beruang since our chosen school was having a spelling competition. We arrived before 8:30 am and discussed with the teacher in-charge to select either Science or Mathematics subject that we could observe. So we were given a Year 4 class of a Science subject. We talked to the subject teacher and made an appointment. The observation took place in the Science Laboratory. Below are some pictures of the lab.
The class started at 9 o'clock in the Science Laboratory, therefore, there was no teaching using ICT. However, the teacher used a projector to deliver the content of the lesson and here we found that the learning was still teacher-centered. The topic taught was about 'Personal Health and the Environment (Lesson 2)' and there were 17 pupils present out of 19.
How was the lesson carried out?
After the teacher had set up his projector and laptop, he began by reviewing the previous lesson and elicited all the information from the pupils. He wrote down all the responses on the whiteboard. Then he started the new lesson using the projector, he only used a little reference from the textbook, even so, he delivered the content quite smoothly. When he finished with the content, he distributed some pictures and a pyramid. The task was to cut and paste the pictures into their positions of “the least food” and “the most food” (pictures below). The pupils did the activity in groups of 4 and 5 pupils in each group.
As Science education is more focused on inquiry learning, ICT does not really help pupils to discover new things but it does help in enhancing learning or we can say it as an enrichment exercise. Pupils are encouraged to learn new things from educational websites, softwares and other created activities. however, the reasons why some teachers do not favour to use ICT in their teachings are as follows:
- There is only one computer lab in a school, even in a big school as SR PKN Bukit Beruang. Teachers have to take turn to use the lab otherwise there will be a clash in using it. This situation sometimes hinders teacher’s interest to teach using ICT.
- Some teachers are not capable in handling computers, surfing the internet websites and others. There is not enough training for teachers especially the senior teachers. Not even during staff development there is time to train every teacher in using the technology because most of the time is for updating on school administration.
- When teachers take their pupils out to the computer lab, the problem is of insufficient materials for each. Most of the time they sit in pairs and this situation happens at my own school. The disadvantage of sitting in pairs is when only one of them conquers the computer and doesn’t allow the other to give a try on whatever activity is assigned for them.
- One teacher told us that there is no longitudinal studies to find out whether ICT can enhance pupils’ understandings. Say it is true, I would agree to it because our curriculum is still exam-oriented. Teachers are still rushing to complete the syllabus for the end of year examination. So frankly speaking that ICT is only for an alternative to attract pupils’ attention in learning.
According to Piaget, there are 4 stages of cognitive development:
- Sensorimotor stage (birth - 2 years)
- Preoperational stage (2 - 7 years)
- Concrete Operational stage (7 - 12 years)
- Formal Operational stage (12 years onwards)
Most children in the primary schools are in the second and third stages, where they need concrete materials to help them learn better. Teachers in schools nowadays are always reminded to provide teaching aids to help their pupils understand better, not just depending on the textbooks themselves. Teachers need to have the creativity to create alternative teaching strategies. It always works when teaching using concrete materials to introduce certain concepts then we can move on to diagrams and symbols.
For example, teaching the introduction of fraction. We can use the most economic material which is paper folding to show fractions such as halves, quarters or eights. Then we can ask pupils to identify parts of fractions using the same paper. For more parts, we can use other materials provided by the Ministry of Education and allow them to explore what they can find with those materials.
Assalamualaikum everyone..
This is my very first time blogging, if its not for the coursework, I wouldn't have started at all. I actually wanted to do this during the long semester holiday but just didn't have the courage due to some reasons ;)
So here I am,I hope I'll do just fine and fulfill the requirements for my coursework.
As we all are concerned, we are asked to create our own blog to fulfill the requirement for PS 2206 by Dr Leong Yong Pak. It is quite tough at the moment since I have no tutor beside me so I'll try my best to complete it before midnight tonight to get an A (as promised :)). The next coming pages will be all for my coursework and I hope everyone enjoys reading, leave comments if you feel want to and I hope to improve in the near future.. Thank you!
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<As far as we are concerned, the teaching and learning of Mathematics nowadays are way different from what we had in the past decades. The old way of teaching and learning Mathematics were using blackboards and textbooks almost the whole time without engaging the pupils to participate. This showed that the pupils only sat on their assigned seats, listening to the teacher in front of the class and did the task as planned. They didn't usually ask questions as pupils back then were sort of afraid of a person called a "teacher". I also had this kind of experience but I would admit that pupils in the past had better disciplines and excellent in their academic achievements. As for using technology in teaching and learning Mathematics, I would say that we never had that experience in using technology because computers, for instance, were very hard to get since they were very expensive. Most teachers were not literate in using ICT as well due to lack of resources.
Nowadays...
Both teachers and pupils have changed over the years; the changes can also be seen in the teaching and learning. There are also changes in a way of communicating between teachers and pupils. Parents are also involved nowadays to get along with their children academic achievements and improvements and teachers are able to interact with them face to face.
Sistem Pendidikan Negara Abad ke 21 or SPN21
- to meet the social and economic challenges of the 21st Century
- to realise the Ministry of Education's vision and mission
- to equip students with 21st Century skills
- to fulfill the Strategic Themes as outlined in the Ministry of Education’s Strategic Plan (2007-2011)
- Greater emphasis on 'character building'
- No retention from Year 1 to Year 10/11 (except for those with less than 85% attendance
- Multiple pathways to higher education
- Multiple choices of educational programmes based on students' interests, needs and abilities
- Opportunities to pursue 4-year or 5-year programmes before sitting for the Brunei- Cambridge General Certificate of Education 'O' Level examination
- Continuous and seamless curriculum from Years 7-10/11
- Acquisition of basic technical, vocational and business skills that is useful for self-employment and other career opportunities
- Opportunities for technical and vocational education in higher institutions
- Special Educational Needs Programme for students with special needs
- Specialised Education Programme for the gifted and talented
- Opportunities for acquisition of valuable and marketable skills
- Improvement in students' achievement
- Improvement in national standards with benchmarking against international standards
- Improvement in teaching and learning standards
