Online, on Task and on the Go!
Monday, July 9, 2007
Minister of State, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Manpower, Mr Gan Kim Yong (in pink shirt) takes a look as things get underway at Woodlands Regional Library.
MOE’s annual Learn@ programme took a trip to the heartlands this year, with Learn@TheLibrary held at two regional libraries during the mid-year school holidays. Jointly organised by MOE and the National Library Board (NLB), the programme saw students from Pri 4 to Sec 3 rushing from point to point in either Woodlands or Jurong Regional Libraries. No, they weren’t misbehaving - they were on their way to finding clues and solving riddles with the resources of information and communication (infocomm) technology at their fingertips.
Promoting the use of infocomm technology is the raison d’etre of the Learn@ series, now in its eighth year. Learn@TheLibrary showcased what NLB has to offer in the aptly-named TwinQuests@The Library competition.
Each team of four students - two at Woodlands, two at Jurong - communicated with each other using wireless-enabled devices so that they could co-operate to complete their tasks. They also relied on infocomm technologies to find the answers and clues they needed.
For the second year running, the Learn@ event was open to students from both MOE mainstream schools as well as special education schools, with students from five special education schools taking part this year. As Learn@TheLibrary was also held in conjunction with NLB’s READ! Singapore 2007, it revolved around the latter’s theme: ‘Ties That Bind’, emphasising the importance of harmony in a multi-racial, multi-cultural Singapore.
Students photographed their experiences for their Blogazettes.
Expressing Themselves through Infocomm Technology
But the on-site race was just the first step in the students’ learning experience. After this competition, all teams continued on to the Blogazettes competition to create an e-magazine. The students had to write a review of one of the selected short stories for READ! Singapore 2007, highlight their experiences in the TwinQuests@TheLibrary competition, and include their reflections on the ‘Ties that Bind’ theme.
Again, infocomm technology took centrestage in this activity. As the Blogazette took an electronic form, students could incorporate videos, photographs and drawings to bring to life the text they had written.
Students pit their skills against other teams to solve puzzles.
And the Winner is !
The closing date for all Blogazette entries is on 8 July 2007. Besides their performance in the TwinQuests@TheLibrary, the students will also have their final competition scores determined from these e-magazines.
While results will only be announced at the end of READ! Singapore 2007 in August, the students’ enthusiasm and positive attitude showed the immediate effectiveness of infocomm technology as a tool to reinforce learning outside the classroom. Students enjoyed the opportunity they had for independent discovery and to enhance their research skills, while being exposed to a variety of print and non-print resources. It certainly promises a fun and enriching way to ‘Teach Less, Learn More’.