Universiti Pendidikan Sultan

Idris

TKU 3023

ICT in Chemistry

Assignment: What Is Smart School

By:

Siti Khadijah Binti Ibrahim D20081032329

Syamimi Binti Othman D20081032370

Lecturer’s Name : Cik Asmayati Binti Yahaya

Slot : Thursday, 1.00 p.m – 4.00 p.m

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1. What is a smart school?

The definition of "Smart School" is one that uses a technology platform as a

medium on which distance learning and specific teaching expertise are made available

to remote locations including the home, with out compromise to the quality of information

transfer and certified teaching methods developed locally, regionally or internationally.

The Smart School Project was one of the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor

(MSC) flagships. The Ministry set a target of total migration of its more than 10,000

primary and secondary schools into Smart School by the year 2010. The Smart School

concept is a long term plan for the national educational system to produce highly skilled

and knowledgeable human capital in terms of ICT and as a paradigm shift in the

educational system. The Smart School will play a crucial role in providing a strong

foundation for the pupils to develop and increase their abilities as individuals. The Smart

School Project will be a stepping-stone to spearhead ICT integration and implementation

not only in teaching and learning but also across the educational system in Malaysia.

Skills and knowledge of ICT will be centre stage in Smart School and play a vital role in

the school management systems.

The Malaysian Smart School is a learning institution that has been systemically

reinvented in terms of teaching-learning practices and school management in order to

prepare children for the Information Age. The Malaysian Smart School has the following

qualities such as a philosophy that says all students can learn if taught, coupled with

high expectations for all students, a broad curriculum that considers the different

capabilities and needs of all students, a school climate that is conducive to learning, an

on-going assessment that supports good instruction, strong and professional principals

and teachers and a high level of parent and community involvement and support.

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2. How is a smart school differed from normal national school?

The Smart School won't be the same as any existing schools anywhere around

the world. These are due to two main factors involving current education system in

Malaysia and will continue in Smart School. Firstly: The National Philosophy of

Malaysian Education will be the main component of Smart School curriculum and

secondly: moral values that have been stressed in present curriculum will go on into

Smart schooling. These two foundations of Malaysian Education will not be negotiable in

the Smart Curriculum. This will make the Smart School different than the rest of normal

schools. How the curriculum is being carried out in Smart School may resemble to the

existing Smart Schools.

The Malaysian Smart Schools Project was started as one of the MSC Flagship

Applications, along with 6 others. A Smart School is a learning institution where the

teaching-learning practices and school management has been systemically reinvented.

This is to prepare students for the information era that is so important today. What

distinguishes smart schools from other schools is the use of technology to support and

enhance teaching-learning.

The process not only involves the introduction of IT and multimedia, but is also a

catalyst towards creating and implementing a more effective education delivery process.

The Smart School’s assessment system will be distinctly different from current

systems to help to realize the National Philosophy of Education It shall be element-

based and criterion-referenced to provide a more holistic and accurate picture of a

student’s performance. Teachers, students and parents will be able to access on-line

assessment items. Smart School assessment will be flexible and learner-friendly, while

assuring the quality of the assessment information by using multiple approaches and

instruments. It will lead to living certification, which will not only attest to a student’s

cumulative accomplishments but will also be open to continued improvement on a

lifetime basis. The scope of assessment in the Smart School is holistic in that it covers

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not only achievement but also readiness, progress and aptitude. The assessment also is

learner- centered as all students will be assessed when they are ready. The assessment

system shall also be element-based which focuses on the elements that students

possess or must develop through the subjects in the school curriculum such as science

and technology, social-emotional and cognitive development and also communication.

Thus, the assessment will be conducted in various forms: Classroom Assessment,

School-based Assessment and Centralized Assessment, to allow different

demonstrations of strengths, abilities and knowledge.

Lastly, the curriculum of Smart School is open-ended in two ways there are it is

open to revision and continued refinement and it provides open access to all students for

internet using, allowing students to go beyond explicitly stated learning outcomes in

curriculum documents. Besides, the curriculum focuses on significant goals. In this case

all students, including those with special needs can develop the critical skills and acquire

the knowledge they need for effective lifelong learning and full functioning as citizens in

a changing society and in this challenging life.

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3. What are the goals and objectives of smart school?

The Smart School is a learning institution that has been reinvented in terms of

teaching and learning methods and school administration system in order to prepare the

students for the Information-Based Society. Creativity and better management of

information is facilitated through the use of technology where students, teachers,

administrators and parents are better prepared for the challenges of the information Age.

The objectives of the Smart School, which are based on Malaysia's National

Philosophy of Education. Education in Malaysia is an on-going efforts towards further

developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to

produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically

balanced and harmonic, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is

designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who

possess high moral standards and who are responsible and capable of achieving high

level of personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and

betterment of the family, the society and the nation at large.

Based on The Malaysia's National Philosophy of Education, the objectives of

Smart School are to produce a thinking and technology-literate workforce. The Smart

School also made to democratize education and to increase participation of

stakeholders. Furthermore, it aims to provide all-round development of the individual.

The objectives of Smart School also is to provide opportunities to enhance individual

strengths and abilities.

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, pointed out the

three core visions of the Smart School Flagship Application during the Launching of

Multimedia Super Corridor on 1st August 1996. Firstly, the vision are teachers will need

to change their role in the electronic classroom from being information providers to

counselors to help students develop know how and judgment to select information

sources. Secondly, Key to success in the Information Age will be making the right

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judgment between an awesome array of choices and the next vision is we are examining

our education system to create a curriculum where people learn how to learn for

continuing education throughout their lives.

Beside that, since the early 1970s, the Malaysian Government introduced various

initiatives to facilitate a wider adoption of ICT to boost capabilities in every field including

education. The history of the Smart School Project is rooted in the two-pronged

objectives of the flagship, which are to jumpstart the Multimedia Super Corridor Malaysia

(MSC) towards building a knowledge-based economy, contributing to the growth of the

ICT industry and creating a pool of talent resulting in high-value job creation. It is also

initiate to prepare the citizens for the information age through an innovative education

delivery process. The Concept Requests for Proposals (CRFP) process was used for

the first time ever in the country to establish partnerships between the government of

Malaysia and the private sector to help conceptualize plan and implement the Flagship

Applications of the Multimedia Super Corridor. In July 1997, the Prime Minister launched

the Smart School Flagship Application documents to invite proposals for solutions from

the private sector within and outside the country.

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4. Discuss the roles played by the teacher, student and parents in order to

achieve the goals and objectives of smart school?

Malaysia intends to transform its educational system, in line with and in support

of the nation’s drive to fulfill Vision 2020. Transforming the educational system will entail

changing the culture and practices of Malaysia’s primary and secondary schools, moving

away from memory-based learning designed for the average student to an education

that stimulates thinking, creativity, and caring in all students, cater to individual abilities

and learning styles, and are based on more equitable access. It will require students to

exercise greater responsibility for their own education, while seeking more active

participation by parents and the wider community.

The Smart Schools Initiative received considerable support from the relevant

governmental agencies, parents and private companies and such continuous support

was important to maintain the effective and efficient management practice of the

Malaysian Smart Schools. In realizing The Smart School idea, it is become to need

more attention from Malaysia’s government. Thus, it is mean that all Malaysian

cooperation needed in achieving Smart School objective.

The higher degree of individualized attention for students at a Smart School will

necessitate new roles and responsibilities for teachers, principals, Ministry of Education

officers, support staff and parents. In fact, fulfilling these roles and responsibilities will

require specialized training for each group.

Teacher development will be critical to the success of the Smart School.

Teachers will need intensive training in the use of information technology and in its

integration into classroom activities in ways that enhance thinking and creativity. Smart

School teachers will also need to learn to facilitate and encourage students in taking

charge of their own learning. In the long term, these teachers will need to augment their

skills regularly, if they are to stay abreast of developments in their profession and remain

confident in their application of the technology.

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In a Smart School, students are autonomous learners; they learn how to learn.

Smart Schools enable children to acquire abilities of constructing knowledge from

available information. These abilities are crucial to a learning society. In Smart School,

all students have the ability to learn and progress, which can be enhanced by using

appropriate learning technologies. Student’s role is very important in determine whether

the Smart School is succeed or not. In, Smart School, learning is a consequence of

thinking, and good thinking is learnable by all students. Smart School also apply the

learning should include deep understanding, which involves the flexible, active use of

knowledge. Thus, the student’s have to adapt to the way of the Smart School operate.

Without the student’s cooperation and achievement in Smart School, The Smart School

may not continue.

Smart Schools for enhancing the learning of students have effectively used

computers, the Internet and other high band communication technology such as video-

conferencing and now satellite data streaming and satellite radio. In sharp contrast to

traditional schools, Smart Schools offer an open environment for learning. Students

function as autonomous learners. In a Smart School, the emphasis of learning shifts

from acquiring discrete pieces of information to acquiring abilities by students such as

constructing their own knowledge from information. In constructing the student’s

knowledge, the student’s own desire to learn are very important and play a big role to

realize the Smart School objective as the student’s desire will help them in obtain the

knowledge without feel forced and make them feel comfortable in learning. The

student’s role is very important because the objective of Smart School is based on them

in determining whether the Smart School achieves the objective or otherwise.

Parents can play a major role in helping Smart Schools provide individualized

education for students. Research has shown that students do better when their parents

are involved. This task will go beyond monitoring the child’s progress, and providing

guidance, motivation, and counsel; it will require familiarity with the new educational

processes, a willingness to assist with developing teaching-learning and assessment

materials, as well as the ability to access the school’s public domain databases

electronically.

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To survive professionally in this fast changing world, one has to be a lifelong

learner. Learning how to learn, therefore, is basic to all other skills that should be

acquired at the school. Schools which support students' learning and thinking skills with

programs, infrastructure, tools, teachers and management by using information and

communication technologies will be the Smart Schools. As to say that cooperation from

all Malaysian whether students, teachers and parents needed to achieve the objective

of Smart School to produce a knowledge society that is critical, creative and innovative,

to produce technology savvy individuals for the Information Age and to cultivate life-long

learning based on Information and Communication in Technology.

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5. What are the knowledge and skills of a teacher in the new millennium, so

as to play an effective role in smart school education?

Teachers must have knowledge and skills to play an effective role in smart

school education. Teachers at Smart Schools, must been trained in the use of

information technology. The teachers also must address fear of technology and change,

strive for continuous education even if students decide to pursue non-academic careers

(e.g., singers, athletes), go beyond portal stage to using applications such as planning

and scheduling of lessons online and nurture balanced thinking among students.

Teachers nowadays must have knowledge in ICT. That is very important.

Teachers could give many different and specific examples of how technology had

changed their work. A number of things were being done with Web sites, from giving

students notes which one teacher described as a "low end thing," to getting students to

create their own Web pages. One teacher was using a Web site to enhance an actual

field trip. The Web site introduces students to the animals and tells them what they are

going to be doing while on the field trip. It shows them techniques they can use to

analyze the ecosystem and record the data. The prior preparation through the Web site

helps students benefit from the actual field trip.

Several teachers mentioned that they used Power Point and other computer

programs to improve their presentation of material to class. Teachers explained that

technology enabled teachers to deliver more material to students and it also eliminated

several basic problems such as; poor hand writing, poor artistic skill, contrast, lighting,

and visibility. Another teacher makes extensive use of software programs to help teach

physics. The students go into the laboratory and collect their data using the computer.

Then they use word processing programs along with Excel to do graphs and

presentations. The software allows the students to collect different kinds of data using

various attachments that are plugged into the computer. Using computer technology,

students have more time to explore beyond the mechanics of counting dots and setting

up the experiment. It actually lets them look at it and understand the concepts better.

Another teacher made the point that resource-based teaching or resource-based

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learning is almost becoming "seamless, almost natural" in everything that teachers do

because information is becoming easier to access.

The use of ICT is changing teaching in several ways. With ICT, teachers are able

to create their own material and thus have more control over the material used in the

classroom than they have had in the past. Rather than deskilling teachers as some

scholars claim, it seems that technology is requiring teachers to be more creative in

customizing their own material. Also, using Web pages to enhance an activity

demonstrates that technology can be used to complement other aspects of good

teaching rather than replace them. It is evident that involving students in the creation of

useful material as a part of a learning exercise is a way to make school more meaningful

for students. While the uses of Power Point presentations have been criticized by some,

teachers at this school provide examples of how it helps them with their teaching. The

use of peripheral devices on computers to help with physics experiments again shows

how ICT can be used to aid the learning process and help students focus on higher level

concepts rather than less meaningful tasks.

The changes caused by the introduction of information technology into learning

environments, are not without some potential problems which must be considered by

administrators. The information from this school indicates that some fundamental

rethinking of the education process may be necessary because of the use of ICT. This

will also put pressure on the school system to restructure the way education is

organized.

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