NEWS: Pacesetting techies

Teachers at the fourth Worldwide Innovative Teachers Forum prove they have what it takes to stay relevant as they enthusiastically embrace change and jettison traditional classroom practices for new alternatives.

NEITHER a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”

If you had doubts about this observation made by Dwight Eisenhower, you need only look at the recent Worldwide Innovative Teachers Forum (ITF) held in Hong Kong to acknowledge the resounding truth of this saying. For at every turn, you would find the wise and the brave in the 250-odd teachers, school administrators and education policymakers, who flew in from more than 64 countries last month to attend the fourth annual conference organised by Microsoft Corporation.

Nur Ain and Maznah (third and fourth from left) gleaning ideas with members for the special collaboration project.

New pedagogies

What picture immediately comes to mind if you are asked to describe a typical learning experience? Students sitting in rows in their classrooms, furiously scribbling notes as their teacher talks and writes on a board ensconced conspicuously centre stage?

If teacher talk, reference books and notes on a big rectangular board are images that instantly float to mind, then you, or to be exact, your learning experience, must have surely missed the winds of change.

Chalk, talk and board may still be most educators’ essential teaching tools but to the participating primary and secondary school teachers at the three-day forum, emerging technologies are what set the pulse and pace of their classrooms.

Laptops, and other technological gadgets like Zune are the new tools of the trade for teachers today.

These teachers are aware that with more and more digital natives occupying classrooms the world over, the tried-and-tested chalk-and-talk method of classroom instruction is in need of enhancement, if not transformation.

Paving the way for such change is technology giant Microsoft, whose Partners in Learning (PiL) initiative has made it possible for 123 million teachers and students in 103 countries to keep up with the evolving learning environment. Incepted in 2003, the global initiative is dedicated to providing education communities worldwide with access to technology and solutions, as well as connected learning communities, through three key programmes – Innovative Teachers, Innovative Students and Innovative Schools programmes.

Collectively, these programmes offer a golden gateway for the three parties to employ, enhance and experience technology integration in classroom instruction and research.

“If, five years ago, we started out with a mission to set up a computer on every desk and in every home, now, we are moving towards enabling people and businesses throughout the world to realise their full potential,” said Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector vice-president, Ralph Young, in his opening address at the Asia World-Expo.

Waldon speaking to the participants at the forum. Looking on is Butler (far left).

That Microsoft has channelled massive resources and roped in support from public, private and non-governmental sectors is testimony to its commitment to seeing this education imperative take off. Indeed, there is urgency in the imperative as headhunters these days favour job candidates who possess skills vital for the smooth running of 21st century projects.

“The right skills,” as Young called them.

“The use of technology in education is the starting point for students to develop problem-solving, collaborative and other skills necessary to compete in the global community,” he added.

Echoing Young’s sentiments is Deirdre Butler, a faculty member at the Education Department of St Patrick’s College in Ireland and a staunch advocate for technology-integrated instruction.

“21st century learning should move beyond classroom walls and focus more on depth than breadth. We should prepare students for the future workplace which values critical thinking, creativity and communication,” she said.

However, Butler was quick to point out that digital learning entails more than just the incorporation of the use of computers in instruction.

Most students prefer to learn using technology rather than via conventional methods such as chalk-and-talk. — Filepic

“There is more to technology than just computers; mobile phones and portable media players are some of the gadgets that teachers and students can use,” emphasised Butler, a key speaker at the ITF.

Such alternatives were explored at the forum which saw teachers from Canada, the United States, Brazil, Finland, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand showcasing best practices of technology use in the classroom.

The four Cs

»The use of technology in education is the starting point for students to develop problem-solving and collaborative skills« RALPH YOUNG

Community, collaboration, content and challenge — these were the four themes highlighted at the fourth ITF, which recognises and rewards educators for their efforts in utilising technology to support teaching and learning.

As Microsoft Worldwide PiL team academic programme manager David Waldon put it, the forum was a “celebration of the work educators are doing” in the 21st century.

Given a booth each at the Asia World-Expo, participating teachers set up posters showcasing their pedagogies, strategies and learning outcomes. Poster format presentations aside, they also demonstrated their classroom projects to judges and other attendees through their chosen tools of trade – laptops and portable media players like Zune.

Representing Malaysia was Maznah Zaini, a Malay Language teacher at SK Sungai Rawang, Selangor. Her The Diamond in KIA presentation saw her incorporating technology to help her Year Five students master reading and writing skills.

The conference provides a platform for innovative teachers to form communities of practice, collaborate with global counterparts, access and share quality content as well as challenge themselves to take technology integration in education to a higher level.

“Actually, many teachers stand to gain from the ITF as participants go back to their home countries and share with their colleagues their experiences here,” said Finland’s representative, teacher Minna Perokorpi-Sulin.

This is especially true this year as participants will team up online with members and other teachers in a special collaboration project by March next year. Each team, comprising six members, is to come up with a learning project that connects students in their schools via ICT, from mobile phones to text and video. The winners for the special project will be announced in May next year.

The ITF has also boosted the confidence of teachers in using less conventional methods of classroom instruction.

“Teachers often lack confidence about using hardware and software. Many, in fact, know less than their students. Teachers need to change their mindsets and be open to change.

“Through this forum, the teachers get to network with like-minded practising teachers and will feel that they are not alone in implementing change,” said Butler.

Shaping tomorrow

Someone once said that “it is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

“We, the educators, must create our vision rather than have others create it for us,” expounded Butler who, in her keynote address, inspired participants with Gandhi’s philosophy that “we must be the change we want to see in the world.”

Malaysia’s Education Ministry’s Education Technology Division assistant director Nur Ain Wong Abdullah, Inspectorate and Quality Assurance principal assistant director Mohd Haliza Mohd Adnan, and Selangor Education Department’s assistant director of ICT and Computing in the Academic Management Sector Zahri Ramlan, were also present at the conference.

“This forum has been an insightful one. We get to look at how teachers from all over the world integrate different technologies into classroom instruction and see how students have benefited from the hands-on approaches. This enables us to share ideas and best practices with the participants,” said Nur Ain, who is also currently in charge of the Malaysian Smart School project.