NEWS; Boosting ICT in schools

TO promote the usage of ICT (information and communications technology) applications amongst primary schoolchildren, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) recently organised a multimedia-based educational programme called Digital Story Telling.

The programme, organised in collaboration with the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), aimed to promote the use of ICT applications in learning and teaching. The first phase of the programme, which recently concluded, was held in 11 schools across Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Johor, involving a total of 160 participants.

TM executive vice president government sector Datuk Kairul Annuar Mohamed Zamzam, said: “We are impressed with the works that the students produced, considering that they are still at primary level.

“We are happy to see that the programme has enhanced the knowledge and skills of the students, and increase their ICT awareness. We really hope that they will continue to utilise the knowledge acquired in their learning environment, which in turn will help to improve their academic performance.

“It is also hoped that this programme will benefit the teachers equally as they can fully utilise the ICT knowledge in their teaching, which in turn will provide a more interactive and interesting learning environment in schools.”
Proud smiles: The winning group from SK Seri Belahan, Johor pose with their plaque.

During the programme, pupils and teachers were provided with trainings and classes on ICT peripherals, movie-making software such as PhotoScape, PhotoStory and Audacity, as well as multimedia applications.

The pupils then used their new skills in groups of four or five, to create a short movie on Malaysia’s culture, heritage, environment, tourism and social values.

At the end of the four-day programme, the short movies were presented to a panel of judges, and a winner from each state was selected.

Group 1 from SK Padang Sebang won the contest for Melaka while Group 3 from SK Amar Penghulu and Group 1 from SK Seri Belahan were the winners for Negeri Sembilan and Johor, respectively. Winners received an MP4 player each as well as an appreciation plaque.

The schools that participated in this programme were among the 25 adopted schools by GITN Sdn. Berhad, a TM subsidiary company which provides laptops, wireless access points, and training classes to adopted schools via its GSB TechnoGogy Learning in Schools (GTL Schools) programme.

The submitted movies can be viewed at the SchoolZone portal at
www.schoolnet.my.