Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wk 6: Creating digital info 1
Yes, I agree that we cannot ignore cultural and linguistic diversities in the classrooms or treat them as incidental to the core business of education. Having read Tan & McWilliam’s case study of the 2 Australian schools, I do wonder how much different is that from the real situation in Singapore schools? I think MOE and schools have the commitment – time, effort and pedagogical skills - to implement this ‘new’ framework but how much of a fundamental cultural shift in traditional school settings have we made? I think our IT masterplan caters to the educational objectives as spelled out in Tan & McWilliam’s paper too but somehow I can relate very closely to the first school where technology is put in place more to supplement and support learning. I think our Singapore culture has yet to ‘let go’ of its high emphasis and value on academic performance and achievement. How then can teachers and students fully use digital technologies in the school context? If I have to make a choice, like the Australian students who are fully aware of what CAN contribute to their life success, I too would make the same choice they did!! What about you?
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I think, both academic performance and digital literally requires equal attention in Singapore, knowing that Singapore has only her (or his?) manpower to survive. I believe, no one should afford to ignore the importance and relevance of technology here, not even the older generation. Else, the latter would have to rely heavily on the digitally literate people and may be easily manipulated by those with bad intentions (like, use of internet banking or CPF). In all fast-pace cities like Singapore, technology does have a role and we need to have a paradigm shift in our mindset. If we remain in the box, whatever effort the authority does to boost technology is to no avail.
ReplyDeleteAdding to that, I believe we need to acquire the basic literacy skills to help us advance towards the use of 'futures' content.On hindsight, I suppose the high regards for academic performance fundamentally stems from our obsession to achieve excellent results in the traditional mode of assessment. If only we could do away with examinations....hmmmm, well what then would the impact be? There's always a flipside to it, though.
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