NEWS: Online education: Empowering students

NST

By : J. THEEBAN

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Abdul Halim (left) and Noh at the launch.

STAMFORD College, Malaysia’s pioneer of distance education, recently launched StamfordOnline — Education Beyond Borders.

The educational portal is aimed at creating autonomous learners in line with building a smart nation.

"It is a move that we had to make or we would be left behind," says Stamford College executive chairman Datuk Abdul Halim at the launch.

For three decades since the 60s, Stamford correspondence courses have helped thousands of students complete their public examinations such as Senior Cambridge, HSC, SPM, STPM and enabled many adult learners to complete their studies to advance in their careers.

"Stamford’s new online venture may be seen as a continuation of the role it has played in taking education to the far reaches of our country and to students of all ages," says Education Deputy Minister Datuk Noh Omar who launched StamfordOnline.
Abdul Halim says it is imperative for Stamford to incorporate the Internet into its delivery system as it has become indispensable to education.

The new educational portal is set to bring about important and beneficial changes to the way courses will be offered, taught and learnt. The portal makes available everything from online registrations to timetables, course planners, lecture notes and interactive avenues to Stamford students and staff. It is also positioned to attract a new class of learners whose access to higher education has been restricted by work, place and time.

Stamford academic director U.K. Menon says that online courses for staff and lecturers ensure their continuous self-development. "The portal should ultimately serve as a platform for research, innovation and publications."

The portal will also engage students and teachers in primary and secondary schools across the nation.

"Apart from providing curriculum-based information in science, mathematics and the English language, the move is for Stamford College to establish connection with schools, teachers, students and parents," says Menon.

Currently, some 10,000 schools in the country which are connected to the Internet have already begun to go online to enhance education.

"It is only a matter of time before its five million pupils and 300,000 teachers rely on the Internet as their primary source of information."

Perhaps what is particularly significant to the idea behind the portal is the empowerment of students.

As Abdul Halim aptly puts it: "The launch will go a long way towards creating a community of autonomous learners. We will guide students towards this ideal not only to enrich them but the nation as a whole."

NEWS: EDUCATION REFORMS: In tune with realities of the classroom

NST
2007/10/27

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Teachers need to be empowered to decide what they should do in class as they would know their students best

CONFERENCES bring minds together for proactive measures.

The recent Taylor’s Second International Conference of Educators saw a number of interesting suggestions by 450 school principals and educational professionals from Malaysia, the United States, India, Maldives and Singapore.

Organised by Taylor’s University College in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, this biannual conference was aptly themed Change Forces In Education: A Global Perspective in light of current metamorphosis of education trends. The plenary sessions featured three world-renowned experts in the field of educational change and leadership, namely, Professor Brian Caldwell from Australia, Dr Ann Lieberman from the United States and Professor Cheng Yin Cheong from Hong Kong.

The conference saw a call for a serious need for reform to empower educators to become “teacher leaders” without being concerned about “red tape” in education. In order to have excellent teachers who can be benchmarked against global standards, there is a need to review the selection criteria for teachers where only the best and those with the right attitude and aptitude are selected. The importance of networking, capacity building and the growing of a knowledge-based society cannot be understated.

An active network between schools, individuals, organisations, institutions and agencies should be created to share knowledge and enhance the learning experience. This includes the corporate sector’s role in helping schools meet the needs of adequate facilities and resources.
Besides that, external organisational change experts and facilitators could be brought in to aid the school in areas of leadership and transformation. There needs to be a change in the school climate whereby staff professional development and lifelong learning are encouraged. Teachers should be allowed to make study trips to successful schools, both locally and internationally, to benchmark their teaching and embrace new practices.

Communities of learning should be created between novice and veteran teachers so that they can be encouraged to share ideas, strategies and practices to be incorporated into their own teaching methods.

Teachers need to be empowered to decide what they should do in class as they would know their students best in terms of what is suitable for them. Even the principals’ role must change in order to play a more crucial leadership role in the development of the innovative capacities of schools. They must go from top-down — supervisor/manager to a facilitator, architect, instructional leader, coach and strategic teacher.

Ethics, morals and values should be inculcated in staff and students, and principals should take the lead in emphasising respect and tolerance for all religions and intercultural sensitivities.

Finally, feedback from implementers and the wider community should be obtained prior to any policy implementations that relate to education, teaching and learning. This could be done through discussions with teachers, principals and every strata of the wider community. In doing so, state and national policies to reform education are more in tune with the realities of the school and classroom.