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From 2008, students at Canberra Primary
School, Crescent Girls¡¯ School, Jurong Secondary and Hwa Chong
Institution can look forward to even more innovative teaching methods
and engaging lessons ¨C made possible through more widespread use of
Information and Communications Technology (ICT). |
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These four schools will join a new primary
school, Beacon Primary School, as the pioneer FutureSchools@Singapore. |
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The five FutureSchools@Singapore were
announced by Rear Admiral Lui Tuck Yew, Minister of State for Education,
during a visit to Canberra Primary on 21 May 2007. |
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Paving the Way to Enhance Learning
through ICT |
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Working closely with the Ministry of
Education (MOE) and the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA),
FutureSchools@Singapore will focus on innovative teaching approaches
that leverage fully on ICT and novel school infrastructure designs to
bring about more engaged learning for their students. |
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ICT tools such as immersive virtual
environments and educational games will be used to enhance learning. The
schools will also harness the capability of ICT to facilitate
connectivity, interaction and collaboration, to enable students to learn
from others in their school, their community and beyond, as well as to
better involve parents in their children¡¯s education. |
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In addition, the schools will undertake
studies on the impact of ICT use on students¡¯ cognitive, emotional and
social development. The learning points, ideas, programmes and
technologies from these studies will then be shared with other schools,
paving the way for the seamless and pervasive integration of ICT into
the curriculum for engaged learning in all schools. |
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Selection of the First-Phase
FutureSchools |
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In alignment with IDA¡¯s iN2015 vision
for Education and Learning, MOE plans to select and develop up to
15 schools by 2015 in a few phases. |
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Taking a phased approach will ensure
that the technologies used are the most up-to-date during the
different phases and will allow the FutureSchools@Singapore to
derive learning points from each phase to improve on the
implementation of later phases. |
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MOE received proposals from 26 schools
for the first phase of the initiative in January 2007, and
evaluated them based on the following criteria: |
• Programmes - Their proposed teaching and learning programmes
showing how ICT can be effectively integrated into the curriculum,
pedagogy and assessment to achieve engaged learning.
• People - Readiness of the school
leadership, staff and culture.
• Places - The innovativeness and
effectiveness of the physical learning environment to support
innovative approaches to teaching and learning. |
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The selected schools are of different
profiles and this will allow the full spectrum of our schools to
learn from the experiences of the schools selected for the first
phase. |
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A new primary school, Beacon Primary,
was also selected for the first phase of the initiative to benefit
from the ability to design and incorporate ICT-enabled facilities
into the school infrastructure. The school, which is headed by Ms
Lim Boon Cheng, will take in Primary 1 pupils in January 2008 at
its site in Bukit Panjang. |
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The Schools¡¯ Programmes |
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All FutureSchools will be
characterised by the implementation of innovative education
programmes that leverage on ICT across all levels and subjects.
However, the initiative will not see a one-size-fits-all approach.
Each FutureSchool will draw up its own programme according to the
needs of its students. |
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While innovative education programmes
that fully leverage on ICT will be a characteristic of the
schools, the FutureSchools will stay focused on MOE¡¯s core goals
in education, and develop students holistically. The FutureSchools
will also plan lessons around the national curriculum, preparing
students for national exams, namely, the Primary School Leaving
Examination, GCE ¡°N¡±, ¡°O¡± and ¡°A¡± Levels. |
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The two primary FutureSchools will
follow existing school admission procedures for all primary
schools. The secondary schools will likewise follow existing
procedures, which are based on merit. |
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MOE and IDA will work with the
selected schools to enhance and consolidate their plans. They will
implement their programmes in phases, starting from 2008, and will
reach full-school implementation in up to 4 years¡¯ time. |
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More information on each of the five
first-phase FutureSchools can be found in Annex A. |
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Partnerships |
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A key strategy of the FutureSchools@Singapore
programme is the development of strategic school partnerships with
IDA, established and committed industry partners, as well as
Institutes of Higher Learning, to push the frontier of ICT use to
enhance learning. |
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By harnessing ICT in education through
innovative teaching approaches and flexible learning environments,
schools will be able to achieve higher levels of engagement of
their students who already have an ICT-integrated lifestyle. |
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To achieve this goal, IDA will
facilitate strategic collaboration between the schools and
infocomm industry partners. A Call-for-Collaboration to generate
an open exchange of ideas and possibilities, and foster greater
collaboration among industry partners to meet the needs of
FutureSchools@Singapore will be launched on 31 May 2007 via
GeBiz.com. |
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Background |
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As part of IDA¡¯s iN2015 infocomm
masterplan, a target was made to set up 15 FutureSchools@Singapore
at the primary and secondary levels by 2015. These schools will
push the frontiers of teaching and learning practices by
harnessing ICT at a school-wide level. The knowledge gained from
the FutureSchools can then be adapted for future projects and for
sharing at various platforms to benefit other schools. |
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For more information on the
FutureSchools@Singapore programme, access its website at
http://www.moe.gov.sg/futureschools. |
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More..... (Annex A) |
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Source:
www.moe.gov.sg Press Release
22 May 2007 |
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Important
Notice |
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Our FrontPage
Editions are a historical record of our Web site and reflect
the changing of the times, and also of our Web site through
time. We do not and will not update the links and stories on
these FrontPages even if they have become obsolete. |
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FrontPage Edition: Mon 28 May 2007
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