TRANSFORMATION IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

SJK(T) Ladang Edinburgh in Taman Bukit Maluri is the first Tamil school in the country to fully involve teachers, students and parents in utilising the Frog Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) platform as a primary tool for teaching and learning. This strong and proactive support from parents and teachers served as a catalyst for the adoption of the programme under the 1BestariNet initiative. The project is an effort by the Education Ministry to connect schools across Malaysia to the internet. YTL Communications Sdn Bhd provides Yes 4G connectivity, which enables schools to benefit from the Frog VLE platform by FrogAsia Sdn Bhd.

This leap in learning culture is in line with the seventh shift under the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025, which aspires to utilise information and communications technology (ICT) to improve the quality of education. Headmistress Theresa Ayyakkannu said the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) had an annual-general meeting which included a brainstorming session on the new technology in March last year. “The intention to join the transformation in learning was well-received by parents. Our school has 309 pupils with 25 teachers. Our teachers are young, aged 35 and below,” she said. Theresa added that many parents and pupils were excited to embrace the new age of learning.

She said by using the Frog VLE, the school had also moved towards the digital community and gone paperless, including replacing notices and circulars to parents with online announcements at the school’s very own Frog VLE portal. Theresa said by going towards the digital path, the school had also managed to record a consistently high Frog VLE login. “For example, during the weekly evaluation, our school achieved the top 10 rankings for Frog VLE logins among schools at the national level,” she said. Besides that, the school was also selected to be in the pilot project for the usage of Altitude smartphones by Yes 4G among teachers. To aid in learning, she said the school received 41 Chromebooks from the government. With the overwhelming response to this technology, other schools had come to learn from SJK(T) Ladang Edinburgh. Twenty first century learning had allowed for better time management for both teachers and pupils.

As a science teacher, Theresa is also a tech wizard herself, and leads by example to inspire all teachers to use the Frog VLE. “Teachers can prepare the teaching materials on-the-go and students will have their time filled with learning activities, even during school holidays or after the syllabus has been completed,” she said. Theresa said the pupils were further exposed to the usage of technology by utilising Google Slides, Google Sites, Google Sheets and Google Drawings among others. For example, they use Google Maps to explore places of interests. A Frog VLE teacher, Muhammad Amirul Syafiq Md Yusof said the Frog VLE had shifted the role of teachers to that of a facilitator, thus encouraging independent learning.

“At the Frog classroom, each subject teacher has to use the classroom at least once a week for a 30-minute lesson,” he said. Amirul said the students were seated facing each other at the Frog classroom, with its curved tables, creating an environment for teamwork to thrive. “The teachers can prepare the material beforehand, and upload it to Frog VLE portal where students can gain access to it. In addition, pupils could give explanation about the subject, thus building their sense of confidence in public speaking, he said. Amirul added that the Frog VLE also promoted a spirit of continuous learning as the students could do online revision via FrogPlay. “Upon completion of the revision, pupils will unlock a game. With this technology, students can learn and play at the same time. It also enables teachers to have a large pool of resources as they could view the content shared by other schools for learning purposes,” he said.

Adapted from:

NST, October 27, 2017