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Professional Development
This key strand aims to develop a pool of skilled professional educators and create an environment that encourages them to incorporate the use of ICT in their curriculum.
MOE also aims to train teachers who will lead the professional developments in ICT use in other schools.
In this key strand, recognition will also be given to teachers who incorporate the use of ICT in curriculum well so as to encourage constant innovation and improvements. [1]
Project under Professional Development:
- ICT Mentor Programme
- School Digital Media Awards
Projects under Professional Development
ICT Mentor Programme
The ICT Mentor Programme is an initiative by the Educational Technology Division of MOE to provide rapport for schools to accomplish the target for effective use of ICT tools in learning and teaching. The programme will be conducted in 5 Phases from 2010 to 2012. Its goal is to equip ICT Mentors with knowledge and skills on the technical affordance of ICT tools and the pedagogical principles related to the appropriate use of ICT tools in the area of education. Furthermore, ICT Mentors will also attain skills for face-to-face and online mentoring and coaching to effective propagate good ICT practices to their colleagues in schools. [2]
The plan is to have up to four trained ICT Mentors in each school, and they will play the following key roles:
1) Serve as mentors for the teachers on the integration of ICT in learning and teaching, especially in the area of providing ICT-enriched learning experience for the students, in their respective disciplines;
2) Offer requisite knowledge on brainstorming and delivering ICT-enriched learning experiences and champion best practices through the form of demostrations that showcase the use of ICT in education;
3) Assist the propagation of ICT resources created by teachers to disseminate good ideas and practices.
Schools Digital Media Awards
The Schools Digital Media Awards (SDMA) is a yearly competition, organised by ETD (Educational Technology Division), MOE, and the School of Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic. It serves as a platform to nurture young talents in the area of creative digital media, as well as to encourage user-created teaching and learning resources. Both students and teachers are encouraged to express themselves creatively through different media, such as video, animation and audio, based on different themes each year. Besides promoting teamwork and collaboration, this competition also aims to enhance the development of media literacy among students and teachers.
Media-in-Education workshops are also organized to expose teachers and students to media production tools and techniques. Basic media production techniques are accessible and can be learnt while trying it out. However, as with all skills, a lot of practice is need to perfect it, and students will be required to read related literature or attend training in order to do it well. Students must not be afraid learn this new skill, and even make mistakes, because this skill is very relevant in this age of media literacy. It will help them in the future, whether it is for work purposes, or for leisure.
However, this competition is only open to students and teachers from MOE-registered schools, which might sometimes unintentionally block out potential digital media talents from non-registered schools. As a result, the competitiors in this prestegious School Digital Media Competition might not always be the best talents in Singapore. [3] [4] [5]
Importance of Professional Development
Apart from nurturing the next generation of people on how to apply ICT in their learning, work and play, it is also important to train and develop the current teaching professionals simultaneously. The programme helps to define and equip teachers with the necessary skills and level up their competency in ICT to facilitate the implementation of ICT usage in schools. It is vital that the teachers are equipped with adequate ICT skills to allow them to be confident and comfortable in incorporating ICT into their teaching.
The successfulness of the professional development of teachers directly affects how ICT can facilitate the students' learning seamlessly. A teacher that is trained to use ICT in their lessons will allow students to have a more enriched and interesting learning experience. At the same time, with teachers as their mentors and exemplar, students might be encourage them to adopt ICT themselves when they develop an interest on ICT in their classrooms.
Thus, being one of the key contributing factor that can determine the successfulness of the implementation of the Masterplan 3, professional development is extremely crucial.
References
[1] http://ictconnection.edumall.sg/cos/o.x?c=/ictconnection/pagetree&func=view&rid=748#ac_887
[2] http://ictconnection.edumall.sg/cos/o.x?c=/ictconnection/pagetree&func=view&rid=760#ac_805
[3] http://ictconnection.edumall.sg/cos/o.x?c=/ictconnection/pagetree&func=view&rid=760
[5] http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2011/03/budding-filmmakers-recognised.php
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