enhancing teaching and learning through community approach ... · enhancing teaching and learning...

858 1st International Malaysian Educational Technology Convention

ENHANCING TEACHING AND LEARNING THROUGH COMMUNITY APPROACH BY USING INTERNET TECHNOLOGY

M Amin Alias, 1Terence Chung

Fakulti Kejuruteraan Elektrik Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

81310 Skudai, Malaysia [email protected]

1 Professional Education Solutions

EduMy Corporation Sdn Bhd 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [email protected]

ABSTRACT SMART School that emphasizes ICT approaches in teaching and learning has always been a centre of global attention especially in our country. The Ministry of Education has been allocating plenty of resources to realize this vision to make every school SMART. The paper will highlight the current challenges, steps taken so far, and feedback gathered from different levels of society who are involved directly and indirectly in the education sector. The paper will also discuss the realistic approaches and strategies of how to speed up the ICT Enrichment Drive in the Government Schools by applying current technologies such as education platform, digital media, digital contents, resource sharing and so on in moving one step forward to teach, and learn smart using technology. INTRODUCTION The Smart Schools Since the late 1990s, the Ministry has been putting in considerable amount of efforts and resources to develop the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities in Education. Minister of Education, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, mentioned about making the School SMART through five key criteria namely:-

a) Computer in Education (KDP) b) Smart School Project c) School-Net d) Teaching & Learning Science, Mathematic in English e) TV Education

As a result, several developments are implemented over the past few years. They include hardware infrastructure of broadband, access centers, purchasing of PCs, servers, projectors and other IT gadgets as teaching and learning aids, software systems such as Student Information System (SMM), Examination Analysis System (SAP) and Student Discipline System (SSDM) for School administrative aids. However, from researches, all the infrastructures given as a push factor were not fully utilized. The Need For A Different Approach There is a need to create a pull factor, a common platform which is able to effectively influence the educators and students to fully utilize the current infrastructure. This will provide the first step towards the adaptation of ICT in Education. Eventually, the objective is to form an e-Community which effectively connects the teachers, students and parent together, through internet. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and propose the e-School Program (e-SP). This initiative aims to drive the implementation of ICT in Education and more importantly, develop an e-learning culture within the Education System. The Program is fundamental to the formation of the e-Community and consists of the following core elements (Figure 1):


a) A uniquely designed Portal for individual School b) A Learning Management System for e-Learning (LMS) c) A centralized School Management System (SMS) d) A discussion board for community to interact and interest group e) An online technical consultant team for continuous supports

Figure 1: e-School Program Core Elements BACKGROUND Issue Surrounding the Problem New Direction for Education – Embracing Technology As the speed of internet access gets faster, many information and knowledge can be effectively and efficiently acquired online. This, to a great extent strengthen the ideology of self-learning and e-learning, compared to the conventional spoon-feeding approach, and pave the new direction of Education. Heavy Administrative Workload On top of teaching duties, teachers are often loaded with administrative work such as form processing, student information updating, attendance, and so on. Lack of Consultancy Interviews conducted with Principals and Teachers revealed that efforts are constantly put in to improve the ICT development phase. However, they are not aware on how to manage and execute the plan most effectively. This lack of guidelines has significantly slowed down the Ministry’s efforts to develop ICT capabilities in Education. Lack of Professional School Image and Awareness Schools are beginning to recognize the need to build a good relationship with the community, and this often starts from good publicity, informing the community about the Schools’ achievements, news, happenings and upcoming activities. Principals have often challenged the media teacher (guru media) to take charge and design an appealing and interactive web portal to uphold the School professional image. However, the guru media or ICT coordinators are not well trained in web design and hence do not have the expertise required to perform the job. A badly designed website does not contribute to the cause at all.


Redundancy Works There are numerous redundancies and double jobs done over the past few years, especially in the areas of data entry and data collections. Currently, teachers and clerks will need to re-enter data whenever they need to retrieve them. In addition, individual teacher has to re-compile and re-type questions when they set the exam papers. There is a lack of a common databank to store their work based on Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM). Reports Generation Another heavy workload identified on the teachers is in the generation of reports. To give an illustration, let’s assume a School with 1000 students holding examinations twice a year, and 200 students graduate every year; the teachers will need to fill up 2000 times records book (penyata murid) manually by hand (2000 examination records). The administrator on the other hand, will need to manually prepare 200 School leaving certificates, 200 ECA record certificates, only after the teachers have completely gathered the necessary information manually from the graduating students. For Schools with more students, the workload increases proportionally. Yet, all of these data that has been processed with tremendous efforts are not archived electronically. These repetitive efforts have been troubling the Schools and their teachers for years, wasting a lot of time which could have been channeled to more beneficial activities for the students.

PROPOSAL CONCEPT This paper seeks to address the issues mentioned in background by introducing the following concept: A subscription-based Community-Centric e-School Program (e-SP) which consists of an Education Portal (ExcellearnTM) as the platform. About e-School Program (e-SP) The e-School Program (e-SP) is an initiative which revolves around the concept of Community Development being inculcated within the Schools, with the objective to connect the Schools, Teachers, Students and Parents into a Community and embrace ICT in Education.

Figure 2: e-Community Key Values of e-School Program The e-School Program offers three key values to all Schools who subscribe to this program.

a. Shift of culture – Users (teachers, students, parents) who are connected into

this Community will experience a new means in teaching, learning, and obtaining information online in an e-environment, which is available anytime, anywhere.

b. Real-time access– Being a web-based system, it provides an environment where users can come online, login and engage the related functions or services.

c. Security – The user login functions allows School to track the users such as students and teachers making the amendments on the system itself. This prevents any discrepancies in the future unlike a shared folder within an extranet.


Framework of e-School Program (Two main elements) The framework of the Program can be divided into two main elements. The first element will be the execution program, whereas the second element consists of ExcellearnTM, the Education Portal which serves as the ideal platform to launch the e-School Program. Details of this platform are as follow:- About ExcellearnTM ExcellearnTM is an online and fully web-based Community-centric Learning Management System that brings together all School Management Systems and the Learning Portal. It aims to provide all functions deemed necessary to assist the Primary and Secondary Schools subscribing to the e-SP Program.

The ExcellearnTM will serve as the platform from which the e-School Program will be executed. The functioning modules under this Learning Management System consists from School portal, e-Services, interactions, feedbacks, eduMall, to forming a Community that connect teachers, students, and parents together.

The following are the services offered by the Learning Management System ExcellearnTM: (Please refer EduMy Corporation for further details)

a. Customised School Portal with WCMS (Web Content Management

System) b. ExcellearnTM Student Portal c. ExcellearnTM Educator Portal d. Web Announcement Board (WAB) e. Homework Reminder and Listing f. E-Quiz Designer g. Online Quiz and Marking h. Assignment Submission and Marking i. Learning Resource Center (for tutors to upload course content) j. E-Report Card (allow teachers to release results online, ease of

recording) k. E-Attendance Book (tracks the attendance of students) l. E-Alert System (alerts parents with student’s result and attendance via

SMS/Email) m. Co-Curriculum Portal that host sites for student interest group n. Discussion Board o. Notice Board System p. Event Management Module

- Allows School to accept registration online e.g. School Concert q. e-Entrepreneurship Module

- An eduMall Portal that allows student to setup their own store online that allow them to learn basic entrepreneurship skills.

r. ExcellearnTM Parenting Portal - E-Meet Module (a messaging system that allow parents and

educator to communicate) - Enrichment Module (allow parents to sign up for enrichment module

for their child) - Track-N-Learn (advance tracking of student progress in School e.g.

conduct, attendance, results) s. Dedicated e-Mail Services for students and educators t. Home page hosting for students and educators

Feasibility of the e-School Program The e-School Program discussed earlier on provides 4 key values:


Figure 3: Key Values of e-School Program

For every School who is keen to implement the e-School Program, consensus from the School Management and the Parent Teacher Association (PIBG) must be reached. It is essential that parents have a good understanding of what the e-School Program aims to achieve in time to come, and what benefits this Program can bring to their children. The objective is to give every student an opportunity to experience and harvest the benefits brought to them by technology. The e-School Program will be carried out in phases over a period of estimated 24 months. During this period, the main objective is to encourage the teachers and students to be at ease with embracing technology in their daily routines. After the implementation of the e-School Program (e-SP), the School shall enjoy the benefit of:-


Figure 4: Benefits of e-School Program CONCLUSION Concerned with the present education situation in Malaysia, we want to develop human capitals who are not only good in academic, mental, character, co-curriculum, but also well


equipped with updated ICT knowledge. Our Government has come so far, setting up the basic ICT infrastructure in Secondary and Primary Schools, both hardware and software. There will be more to come, under the 9th Malaysia Plan, as we take a bigger step forward in our “Proses Pembestarian Sekolah”. In the process of shortening the gap between rural School and town School, it is also in the plan of the Ministry to assist the existing group of competent Schools to improve further and aim for world class excellence. In order to realize this vision, our education has to speed up in the right direction and in an effective manner. The e-School Program will prove to be a good catalyst, taking into account the uniqueness, features and strong supports.

Besides, the e-School Program is an initiative that seeks support from Parent Teacher Association (PIBG). As Datuk Dr Ahamad Sipon, former Director General of Education said during the Sekolah Kebangsaan Bandar Sungai Buaya PIBG Golf Championship ceremony, PIBG should be more proactive in contributing resources, substantial ideas, and support for the School development.

We look forward to further discuss the e-School Program Concept and its actual implementation with any party who are interested and who like to implement such program in their institution.

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