ICT Masterplanning for
Education: Singapore's
Experience
Dr. Thiam-Seng KOH
Director, Educational Technology
Singapore Ministry of Education
20 June 2006
Presentation Outline
• Video on Use of ICT in Singapore Schools
• Historical Perspective of IT Use in
Education
• First IT Masterplan in Education
• Second IT Masterplan in Education
• Key Learning Points for Policy
Formulation
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2
Historical Perspective
National IT Plans
The National Computerisation
Plan (1980 – 1985)
The National IT Plan
(1986 – 1991)
e-Government
Late 1970’s - Computer Appreciation
Clubs as extra-curricular activities.
Civil Service Computerisation
Programme (1980 – 1999)
Computerisation
… Communications
… Connectivity/Content
IT2000
(1992 – 1999)
Infocomm 21
(2000 – 2003)
e-Government Action Plan
(2000 – 2003)
Convergence
Connected Singapore
(2003 – 2006)
e-Government Action Plan II
(2003 – 2006)
Connectedness
Intelligent Nation 2015
(2006 –)
Use of IT in Education
1980’s - Computer assisted learning in
primary school mathematics.
Computer Science (1981) and Computer
Applications (1994) as subjects in the
curriculum.
Mid-1995’s – Pilot projects on use of IT
in education.
First Masterplan for IT in
Education
(1997 – 2002)
Second Masterplan for IT in
Education
(2003 – 2007)
e-Government Action Plan III
(2006 –)
Creation …
Source: http://www.ida.gov.sg
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Historical Perspective
• Late 1970s – Introduce the use of microcomputers by students in computer
appreciation clubs as extra-curricular
activities at schools.
• 1981 – Introduce Computer Science as a
subject in the A level curriculum.
• 1994 – Introduce Computer Applications,
a skills-based subject in the secondary
Normal (Technical) curriculum.
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Historical Perspective
• 1980’s – Explore the use of computer assisted
learning in primary school mathematics.
• Mid-1995’s – Pilot the use of IT in teaching and
learning
– Accelerating the Use of IT in Primary Schools (AITP)
project: Use of multimedia and computers in 6 primary
schools.
– Students’ & Teachers’ Workbench (STW) project: Use of
networked digital resources in lower secondary science
in 6 secondary schools.
– JCNet: Use of Internet to support learning of GP,
Physics and Chemistry in 2 Junior Colleges.
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Philosophy of
First IT Masterplan (mp1)
Education should continually anticipate
the
future needs of society and
work towards fulfilling
these needs.
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mp1
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Goal 1
Goal 2
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Goal 3
Goal 4
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Goal 1
Goal 2
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Goal 3
Goal 4
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Goal 1
Goal 2
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Goal 3
Goal 4
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Goal 1
Goal 2
Goal 3
Goal 4
Promote administrative and management excellence
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Start-up Provisions for
Student-to-Computer Ratio
Primary Schools – 6.6:1
Secondary Schools – 5:1
Target = up to 30% of curriculum
time using IT.
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In computer labs
In classrooms
In science labs
In the library
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Technical Support for
Schools
• A full time Technology Assistant
(TA) for each school
• To provide first-level on-site
support
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Achievements of mp1
• Standard physical and technological
infrastructure to support teaching and learning
with IT.
• Teachers attained basic proficiency in integrating
IT into the curriculum.
• R&D efforts with academia and industry e.g.
EduPAD, Digital Media Repository & ScienceAlive
• Pockets of excellence in the use of IT in learning
among some teachers and in some schools.
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Second IT Masterplan (mp2)
• Consolidate and build on the
achievements of the First IT Masterplan.
• Sustain the momentum.
• Bring the use of IT in learning to greater
heights.
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Philosophy of
Second IT Masterplan (mp2)
Education should continually anticipate
the
future needs of society and
work towards fulfilling
these needs.
© June 2006. Singapore Ministry of Education. All Rights Reserved.
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Vision of mp2
IT will be pervasively and effectively
used to enhance educational processes and
structures to help realize the ability-driven
education paradigm.
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Today vs Tomorrow
IT to support existing
curriculum
Seamless integration of
IT into curriculum
Mainly print content &
CD-ROM courseware
Dynamic & interactive
digital content
Standard provisions
Flexible provisions
Teacher-centered
Student-centered
Basic competencies
Range of competencies
One size fits all, phased
approach
Mass customization,
greater ownership &
autonomy
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Some Learning Points
• Address the fundamental issues in
education first before introducing ICT
across the system e.g. appropriate
curricula and good teachers.
• Take a systemic and systematic approach
to IT implementation in the schools i.e.
infrastructure, curriculum & assessment,
content and professional development.
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Some Learning Points
• Address the cultural or people dimension
of IT implementation to transform the
educational experiences rather than just
doing faster of more of the same.
• Ensure alignment of intent and interests
among key stakeholders (e.g. policy
makers, parents, teachers, students,
academics, industry, etc.)
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Some Learning Points
• Take a multi-disciplinary and multipartnership approach to push the
frontiers on the use of IT in learning.
• Avoid spreading resources too thinly by
distributing them equitably in the
beginning of the implementation.
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Some Learning Points
• Use the centralized approach to kickstart the implementation process but
move on to providing top-down support
for ground-up initiatives when the system
achieve some level of maturity of
implementation.
• Continue to learn from other countries to
generate ideas and adapt good practices
into the local curricula.
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Challenges Ahead
• Sustaining professional development of
teachers and school leaders.
– Changing beliefs through “success stories”
– Achieving reforms through communities of
practice
– Building capacity and strengthening expertise
in technology planning
– Building capacity in digital resource
development by teachers
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Challenges Ahead
• Exploiting the potentials of emerging
technologies in the consumer space and
IT-based pedagogies.
• Scaling up research findings to impact
classroom practices.
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References
• Singapore EduMALL
(http://www.moe.gov.sg/edumall/)
• British Educational Communications &
Technology Agency (http://www.becta.org.uk/)
• World Bank: ICT and Education
• UNESCO: ICT in Education
(http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=494)
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Thank you
mp2
mapping
possibilities
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