QED 522 ICT - Reflection 9: E-learning on iN2015 & COTF

My group & I visited the Classroom Of The Future (COTF) at NIE today. Having watched iN2015 last Tue at MxL, I was not greatly impressed by the set-up in the COTF. I probably had visualised COTF differently. I thought it would be a typical classroom set-up with a lot of ICT technology in place. It wasn't realistic enough, I thought, with regards to the classroom set-up. I could not see how possible it is have similar set-up for all the classrooms in schools.

Nevertheless, the learning environment in the COTF seems exciting & refreshing. It is very stimulating too. I was very impressed with how pupils learn in the iN2015 video. With technology, learning can take place anywhere anytime. Pupils become self-regulating & self-directed learners. They take charge of what they want to learn, how much they want to learn, when they want to learn, where they want to learn, etc. Learning becomes an active & on-going process. It is very learner-centered.

What concerns me greater is iN2015. BTW, Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) is Singapore’s 10-year masterplan to help us realise the potential of infocomm over the next decade. Led by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), iN2015 is a multi-agency effort that is the result of private, public and people sector co-creation. See video below:



The year 2008 is coming to a close in 3 months time. Singapore has another 6-7 years to realise the iN2015 vision. Can we achieve it? Are we on track? Is everyone aware of this vision? Are we prepared for it? If not, how can we better prepare ourselves? Also, what concerns me are not the younger generations who are already digital natives, but digital immigrants in their 40s, 50s & older. Will there be a communication breakdown between the two? How can they cope & live with the changes in technology that will have a significant impact on their lives? Can they adapt to the changes or will they be left behind to live in a world of their own? Will these digital natives spend more time with their gadgets, thus have less socio-emotional interaction with other human species?

Being a digital immigrant myself, I do not deny having these genuine fears & concerns myself. I'm thankful that I've picked up useful knowledge & experience from the ICT subject. However, there are many teachers in schools who may not have been privileged to undergo proper ICT training for one reason or another. How will they cope with the pressure to infuse ICT tools in our education? And will their ignorance have a negative impact on the education of our young? Will teachers have to learn from these digital natives instead? How will I face up to these challenges?

For one thing, I know NIE (in particular ICT) has helped me experience ICT in education. What would happen when I graduate from NIE? How would I keep up with the changes & advancements in ICT. I am just one of the many thousands of teachers who may have similar fears. How would MOE address this issue? Have an ICT support group for us?

I hope MOE or NIE would have some answers or solutions to the above-mentioned concerns & fear. I guess one way is to continue to learn as we teach. Sign up & attend in-service courses organised by NIE or other institutions. The 100 TRAISI hours would come in handy. Hope there would be such courses in the pipeline... :)