<b>Best practices:</b> New wave teachers set trend

The Fourth Microsoft Partners in Learning Regional Innovative Teachers’ Conference 2008 recently held in Hanoi, Vietnam, is a showcase for the benefits of information technology-integrated learning, writes SUZIEANA UDA NAGU. ARM teachers with training and resources to incorporate information technology (IT) in the classroom and they will transform education.

This is what some 150 innovative teachers from 21 countries around Asia Pacific and North America had proven at the Fourth Microsoft Partners in Learning (PIL) Regional Innovative Teachers’ Conference 2008 held recently in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Organised under the Microsoft’s flagship PIL programme, the conference was co-hosted by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Asia Pacific).

PIL is a global initiative to empower schools to enhance student learning through teacher development and leadership.

At the four-day conference, teachers — many of whom are award winners in their respective countries — exhibited innovative teaching and learning tools as well as project-based lesson plans they use in their classrooms.

These ranged from interactive reading intervention software for slow readers to podcasts of biology lessons which had benefited thousands of students all over the world.

A podcast is a series of digital-media files distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players, such as an MP3 player, and computers.

Microsoft Asia Pacific public sector programmes director Vincent Quah says: “The event was a showcase for the benefits of IT-integrated learning. It also underscored (Microsoft’s) notion that schools have the capacity to be the best and smallest units of innovation.

“This is something which Microsoft discovered since it organised the first conference five years ago in Singapore,” adds Quah.

Aimed at sharing best practices in the innovative use of technology in education and recognising teachers’ creativity, innovation and dedication to their work, the inaugural conference brought together more than 120 teachers from 16 Asia Pacific countries as well as top Asian education leaders and policy makers.

Subsequent conferences were held in South Korea and Cambodia.

The quality of teaching tools exhibited by the primary and secondary school teachers have improved year by year — so much so that the Asia Pacific conference was regarded as the “gold standard against which Microsoft measures its innovative teachers’ conferences held in other parts of the world”.

The conference has gained the attention of educationists from countries outside of Asia Pacific over the years.

Delegates from Canada and the United States as well as two new Asia Pacific countries — Republic of Nauru and Republic of Vanuatu — joined the recent conference.

One of the highlights of the Hanoi seminar was the poster competition for the Innovative Teachers of the Year awards conferred on a teacher with the best project from each country. Countries which had fewer than three participants were not eligible for the contest.

Maznah Zaini from SK Sungai Rawang, Sungai Pelek, Selangor, was picked as Malaysia’s Innovative Teacher of the Year for her early reading intervention software. Maznah was among eight teachers who represented Malaysia at the conference.

Another focal point of the convention was the special collaborative project where teachers of different nationalities worked in groups to develop specific teaching and learning materials for education in sustainable development.

Teachers drew inspiration for their lesson plans — on topics such as ethnicity, water conservation, impact of urbanisation and values and beliefs — from field trips to different parts of Hanoi.

The recent convention also marked the end of the first stage of Microsoft’s five-year commitment to the Innovative Schools programme under the PIL initiative.

The challenges faced in the five-year period were similar across Asia Pacific, says Microsoft Government and Education Team senior director Lauren Woodman.

“One was to establish the right partnerships. We made sure that our engagement was done through ministries of education, non-governmental organisations, multilateral institutions and teacher communities, so that we could really listen to local needs,” she adds.

In addition, the experience of one country is not easily replicated elsewhere.

Microsoft also announced the extension of the Innovative Schools initiative at the conference. The programme will continue to assist over 2,000 schools by providing intellectual property, technology expertise, experiential knowledge and community support within the next five years.

The next step, says Quah, is to think about “the form and format of the second wave of five years of engagement with governments”.

Woodman says: “We are looking at the key driver for innovation as a way for us to scale this programme up.”

Fresh perspective on life

FIRST impressions can be deceiving. This is what some 40 students from Taylor’s Business School, Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya, discovered during their recent tour of Vientiane, The People’s Democratic Republic of Laos.

Although many of the students had reservations about travelling to Laos because of what they heard prior to visiting the socialist country, they agreed that the trip had been an interesting learning experience.

The study tour, for instance, exposed them to the disparities between the rich and the poor which exist in most developing countries.

In Laos, the contrast between the affluent and those living in poverty can be seen even in the classroom, noted students who were humbled by what they saw.

Organised by the Taylor’s Business School, the students — ages 19 to 22 years — comprise those pursuing the University of the West of England (UWE) Accounting and Finance programme and Taylor’s American Degree Programme (ADP). However, only UWE student participants were eligible for academic credit from that trip.

The study tour aims to engage students in service-learning, a method of teaching, learning and reflecting that combines classroom curriculum with community service.

During the four-day event, students spent time with pupils of Saphanthongneua primary school in Sisattanak district, where they donated stationery and school supplies.

“Interacting with the local children made us realise how much we have and how much (Laotians) don’t,” says Claudia Vinsent, a second-year ADP psychology major.

While teaching primary students the art of handcrafting wind chimes, Lai Eng Soon, the only second-year UWE accounting and finance programme says: “Once I start to work, I would like to make charitable contributions to this school and give something back to the community.”

To Desmond Teng, a second-year ADP accounts and finance major, meeting with the less fortunate made him more aware of his spending habits.

“I feel guilty about how I spend my money, which I don’t keep track of,” he says.

Despite the gap between the haves and the have-nots, Laotians live in moderation and on much less compared to Malaysians, says final-year UWE accounting and finance student Vincent Ho.

“I learned to be grateful for all I have and not take things for granted from this trip. We are indeed fortunate to have many things in place for us in a more developed country. Hopefully in the future, (young Malaysians) would be able to contribute to society by helping people grow,” he adds.

Scrubbing the floors and repainting the walls of the National Rehabilitation Centre — an institution for disabled teenagers and young adults — had given students a fresh perspective on life.

Wong Sue Anne, a second-year ADP Asian Studies major says: “(Community service) is something new (to me). It is a fulfilling experience (to do community service) and it has given me a sense of achievement.”

To Choo Sheng Xi, who is pursuing the UWE Accounting and Finance course, the experience at the National Rehabilitation Centre inspired him to make time to help around the house.

“I will help during the holidays or when my mother asks me. But during the school days, my workload is just too heavy,” says Choo.

Vanusa Wong, an ADP student, considers community service as a fresh experience and an eye-opener.

“Everyone gave their cooperation and that helped to finish the job fast,” says Wong who admits that she had not participated in a gotong-royong activity since she left primary school.

Taylor’s Business School programme director Vinitha Guptan believes the students, having performed community service in Vientiane, have come away with transferable skills such as problem-solving and teamwork. She feels it is vital that students learn to handle their emotions when working in groups.

“If you work in a business environment, you may not like 90 per cent of the people you work with. This does not mean you can walk around sulking and being angry with everybody.

“Separate your emotions from your task especially in a business environment,” advises Vinitha, who led the excursion.

She praised the students for coping well with the challenges and for their perseverance in completing their tasks.

Apart from participating in community service, students also paid a courtesy visit to Rattana Business Administration College — a prominent Laotian business school — and met departmental heads of local companies at a dinner hosted for the Malaysian Ambassador to Laos, Zainal Abidin Ahmad.

They learned first-hand about the efficient use of resources in Laos, particularly low labour costs, from their visit to the Kianvillay Garment International Import-Export factory and to the Beer Lao Brewery. The cheaper labour is limited by a small population of 6.4 million in the country.

“The students went to Laos to see businesses in practice and to consider the potential of investing in third world countries,” says Vinitha.

“A local businessman here has indicated that there are many opportunities for development after our graduation. I may come back to gain a few years of experience as an intern,” says Lai Eng Soon the only second year student from the UWE Accounting and Finance programme, on the trip.

Markets in the Asean Free trade Area (AFTA) are still largely underdeveloped. “This means more opportunities for us to have our careers here and to think of a broader market.

“In the US and in Europe, it is harder to start up companies because it is already well developed,” he adds.

After the tour of the Beer Lao Brewery, Toh Chong Ming who is in his final year of the UWE Accounting and Finance programme says: “ It is a big factory but I would rather work in one of the big four accounting firms to gain audit experience first. After which I’ll decide which industry to get into.”

More on the Fourth Microsoft Partners In Learning Regional Innovative Teachers’ Conference next week.

Best practices: New wave teachers set trend