English, as it is taught

From TODAY, Voices
Friday August 8, 2008

21ST Century Pedagogy

MOE’s Infocomm master plan should extend to the teaching of the language

Picture: English language instruction needs to keep up with the times, says a reader. TODAY File Pho to

Letter from Heng Kai Le

I REFER to “High tech at the heart of teaching”
(Aug 6).

I am heartened at the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) timely initiative to unveil its Third Masterplan for information and communications technology (ICT).

Unfortunately, younger Singaporeans may not be so adept at authoring their own knowledge. While some lack the skills to utilise search engines judiciously — beyond Wikipedia — to obtain information, others find it difficult to articulate their ideas as they do not know the finer points of using Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Hence, there exists a dichotomy between their interest in media literacy and IT tools and their competencies — a gap thoughtfully plugged by MOE’s Third Masterplan.

Another point is that while the implementation of ICT has been coupled with syllabus changes to assess the proficiency of students in making sense of knowledge, these forward-looking changes do not extend themselves to our national examinations in the English language. Even science subjects now require students to make connections between theoretical concepts and real-world applications through dataresponse questions.

However, for the English language, students are still expected to pen situational writing essays and dissect comprehension passages. These do not seem to be authentic learning experiences, given how today’s text has evolved to be a multimodal combination of words, sounds, images and animation.

English language teachers have already turned to blogging, podcasting and vodcasting in order to improve their students’ proficiency in the language.

It would be a pity if the MOE stuck to conventional methods of how English is taught and assessed, arguably one of the key factors to securing our widely-lauded competitive workforce.

English, as it is taught

From TODAY, Voices
Friday August 8, 2008

21ST Century Pedagogy

MOE’s Infocomm master plan should extend to the teaching of the language

Picture: English language instruction needs to keep up with the times, says a reader. TODAY File Pho to

Letter from Heng Kai Le

I REFER to “High tech at the heart of teaching”
(Aug 6).

I am heartened at the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) timely initiative to unveil its Third Masterplan for information and communications technology (ICT).

Unfortunately, younger Singaporeans may not be so adept at authoring their own knowledge. While some lack the skills to utilise search engines judiciously — beyond Wikipedia — to obtain information, others find it difficult to articulate their ideas as they do not know the finer points of using Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Hence, there exists a dichotomy between their interest in media literacy and IT tools and their competencies — a gap thoughtfully plugged by MOE’s Third Masterplan.

Another point is that while the implementation of ICT has been coupled with syllabus changes to assess the proficiency of students in making sense of knowledge, these forward-looking changes do not extend themselves to our national examinations in the English language. Even science subjects now require students to make connections between theoretical concepts and real-world applications through dataresponse questions.

However, for the English language, students are still expected to pen situational writing essays and dissect comprehension passages. These do not seem to be authentic learning experiences, given how today’s text has evolved to be a multimodal combination of words, sounds, images and animation.

English language teachers have already turned to blogging, podcasting and vodcasting in order to improve their students’ proficiency in the language.

It would be a pity if the MOE stuck to conventional methods of how English is taught and assessed, arguably one of the key factors to securing our widely-lauded competitive workforce.

Travel Destination: Hokkaido, Japan

Traveller





From TODAY


Thursday August 7 2008





Find the weird and wonderful in Hokkaido’s Akan National Park





Pictures:


Lake Akan in autumn


Lake Akan's marimo balls

Deers

Travel Destination: Hokkaido, Japan

Traveller





From TODAY


Thursday August 7 2008





Find the weird and wonderful in Hokkaido’s Akan National Park





Pictures:


Lake Akan in autumn


Lake Akan's marimo balls

Deers

Singapore mums need to step up

From TODAY, Sports
Thursday August 7, 2008

Leonard Thomas
sports editor in beijing leonard@mediacorp.com.sg

Sports matters
More must show interest in sport for their kids to fall in love with it

Picture: James’ mother Gloria has played a crucial role in her son’s sporting career. GETTY IMAGES

THE most influential person in Michael Phelps’ life is his mother. LeBron James always acknowledges the crucial role his mum has played in shaping him and pushing him to achieve.

Both 23-year-olds are here in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games, experts in different fields but on the same path to sporting immortality.

One’s a multi-millionaire king of the pool, who could become the greatest of all time at these Games. The other’s a multi-millionaire basketball colossus who stars for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA and the Redeem Team here, with the world at his size 15 feet.

Unlike Phelps’ and James’ mothers, so many women in Singapore don’t have a drop of interest in sport. Most of my friends don’t. Most of my friends’ wives don’t. Most of my brother’s friends’ wives don’t. My sister-in-law is not interested.

All of the men are sports fans, while most of the women are mothers, but only a couple of their children are showing any genuine interest in sport.

And we wonder why the country’s talent pool is so small.

The United States have “soccer mums”, Singapore has too many mothers who allow their sons and daughters to pursue any interest they have in any particular sport, on their own.

Mothers seek out tutors carefully for their children, they drive or accompany the youngsters to class and back, but tennis lessons are a waste of time, hockey after school means homework has to be put off to a later time, and that’s also a waste of time.

I remember having lunch with Desmond Koh and his mum in the 80s. He was in his early teens back then, not yet graduated into the national swimming team, but tipped to be a star.

I marvelled then when his mother revealed how she got up early in the morning to fix her son something to eat, before ferrying young Desmond off to the pool for training. And then either back home, or straight off to school.

Singapore has maintained a steady pool of champion swimmers over the years because most of their parents took a keen interest in their sporting ambitions from the time when they were young.

In most of the cases, it has been the mothers who have been the main supporting cast.

There is little doubt the men must share the blame for helping to steer their children towards the single-minded pursuit of degrees, diplomas and doctorates. But the women, as mothers, know they have a stronger emotional link with their young ones, and thus greater influence.

Sports fights obesity.

It toughens the young mind and if a youngster is serious about it, then discipline is necessary.

It teaches us how to lose, and how to win.

It either promotes teamwork or teaches us how to think independently.

It helps us find a multitude of friends.

Most of all, it is just simply so much fun.

Many mothers in the West and in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Japan, show tremendous interest in their children’s pursuit of sport. Athletic events are a family day out, any trophies collected are celebrated and fussed over. It is puzzling so many mothers in Singapore don’t care for sport at all.

I wonder what Debbie Davisson Phelps and Gloria James would say.

Singapore mums need to step up

From TODAY, Sports
Thursday August 7, 2008

Leonard Thomas
sports editor in beijing leonard@mediacorp.com.sg

Sports matters
More must show interest in sport for their kids to fall in love with it

Picture: James’ mother Gloria has played a crucial role in her son’s sporting career. GETTY IMAGES

THE most influential person in Michael Phelps’ life is his mother. LeBron James always acknowledges the crucial role his mum has played in shaping him and pushing him to achieve.

Both 23-year-olds are here in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games, experts in different fields but on the same path to sporting immortality.

One’s a multi-millionaire king of the pool, who could become the greatest of all time at these Games. The other’s a multi-millionaire basketball colossus who stars for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA and the Redeem Team here, with the world at his size 15 feet.

Unlike Phelps’ and James’ mothers, so many women in Singapore don’t have a drop of interest in sport. Most of my friends don’t. Most of my friends’ wives don’t. Most of my brother’s friends’ wives don’t. My sister-in-law is not interested.

All of the men are sports fans, while most of the women are mothers, but only a couple of their children are showing any genuine interest in sport.

And we wonder why the country’s talent pool is so small.

The United States have “soccer mums”, Singapore has too many mothers who allow their sons and daughters to pursue any interest they have in any particular sport, on their own.

Mothers seek out tutors carefully for their children, they drive or accompany the youngsters to class and back, but tennis lessons are a waste of time, hockey after school means homework has to be put off to a later time, and that’s also a waste of time.

I remember having lunch with Desmond Koh and his mum in the 80s. He was in his early teens back then, not yet graduated into the national swimming team, but tipped to be a star.

I marvelled then when his mother revealed how she got up early in the morning to fix her son something to eat, before ferrying young Desmond off to the pool for training. And then either back home, or straight off to school.

Singapore has maintained a steady pool of champion swimmers over the years because most of their parents took a keen interest in their sporting ambitions from the time when they were young.

In most of the cases, it has been the mothers who have been the main supporting cast.

There is little doubt the men must share the blame for helping to steer their children towards the single-minded pursuit of degrees, diplomas and doctorates. But the women, as mothers, know they have a stronger emotional link with their young ones, and thus greater influence.

Sports fights obesity.

It toughens the young mind and if a youngster is serious about it, then discipline is necessary.

It teaches us how to lose, and how to win.

It either promotes teamwork or teaches us how to think independently.

It helps us find a multitude of friends.

Most of all, it is just simply so much fun.

Many mothers in the West and in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Japan, show tremendous interest in their children’s pursuit of sport. Athletic events are a family day out, any trophies collected are celebrated and fussed over. It is puzzling so many mothers in Singapore don’t care for sport at all.

I wonder what Debbie Davisson Phelps and Gloria James would say.

Speaking up about IT in the classroom

From TODAY, Voices
Thursday August 7, 2008

Letter from Tan Ken Jin

I REFER to “Action equals instant reaction” (Aug 4). My students find it easier to express ideas and questions over instant messaging platforms, such as MSN Messenger. As I have observed, this might be because students feel embarrassed asking questions in front of the class.

But why should a student feel embarrassed to speak out in class? The classroom should be a nurturing environment, a place where there is no “stupid” question, and one where a culture of curiosity should be encouraged.

While information technology allows a child to express his or her thoughts in private, it may not be able to teach a child to address their underlying fear of public speaking, or of committing a mistake. This could backfire when students move on to tertiary institutions where participation counts, as well as in the workplace and life in general, where speaking up is important.

IT should be used with the understanding that it can provide an avenue around a certain problem, but it may not directly provide an adequate solution.

Speaking up about IT in the classroom

From TODAY, Voices
Thursday August 7, 2008

Letter from Tan Ken Jin

I REFER to “Action equals instant reaction” (Aug 4). My students find it easier to express ideas and questions over instant messaging platforms, such as MSN Messenger. As I have observed, this might be because students feel embarrassed asking questions in front of the class.

But why should a student feel embarrassed to speak out in class? The classroom should be a nurturing environment, a place where there is no “stupid” question, and one where a culture of curiosity should be encouraged.

While information technology allows a child to express his or her thoughts in private, it may not be able to teach a child to address their underlying fear of public speaking, or of committing a mistake. This could backfire when students move on to tertiary institutions where participation counts, as well as in the workplace and life in general, where speaking up is important.

IT should be used with the understanding that it can provide an avenue around a certain problem, but it may not directly provide an adequate solution.

Reaching out through art

From TODAY, News
Thursday August 7, 2008

Come check out a spectrum of art works in various mediums by children from Rainbow Centre, a non-profit organisation providing special education to children with multiple disabilities.

These art works were created as part of Rainbow Connection, a community outreach project by Esplanade and the teachers and students of Cluster West 6, to use visual arts as a communicative medium to connect the disadvantaged with the community.

Not only did the Rainbow Centre children learn various art forms, it was also an opportunity for the students from the seven schools within the cluster to learn more about interacting with children with multiple disabilities through the art workshops.

Ooi Boon Keong

Reaching out through art

From TODAY, News
Thursday August 7, 2008

Come check out a spectrum of art works in various mediums by children from Rainbow Centre, a non-profit organisation providing special education to children with multiple disabilities.

These art works were created as part of Rainbow Connection, a community outreach project by Esplanade and the teachers and students of Cluster West 6, to use visual arts as a communicative medium to connect the disadvantaged with the community.

Not only did the Rainbow Centre children learn various art forms, it was also an opportunity for the students from the seven schools within the cluster to learn more about interacting with children with multiple disabilities through the art workshops.

Ooi Boon Keong