Teachers recognised for raising the bar
FIFTEEN outstanding teachers from across the country were recognised as pioneering educators with exemplary achievements in adopting technology for education and elevating education standards in Malaysia.
They were shortlisted as finalists in a teachers awards event organised by FrogAsia Sdn Bhd and supported by the Education Ministry.
Themed “Celebrating Teachers Who Raise The Bar”, the awards recognised teachers who are stepping up in their role as facilitators of learning and knowledge transfer to raise the bar in education.
The awards also celebrated teachers who are stepping up as leaders by supporting other teachers on their journey in 21st century education and advocating 21st century methods in teaching and learning as well as in school administration.
In the final round, teachers, students, parents and ministry officers from all over Malaysia could vote for their favourite A CLASS with a difference was held just outside Kuching, Sarawak where students listened attentively in a brightly lit classroom as a teacher conducted an English class on how to write compelling stories.
The students raised their hands and answered the teacher, sometimes individually and other times in unison.
But the teacher wasn’t there. Instead, the class was being streamed from Kuala Lumpur, through video cameras and audio equipment.
This was the scene at Pusat Internet Kampung Quop, where eKelas – an after-school digital learning initiative by Maxis – was being conducted. The Pusat Internet Kampung Quop has been running its eKelas programme since January this year.
In conjunction with Teachers Day last month, eKelas was showcased to the Kampung Quop community, which comprised Kampung Quop head Maxwell Juel; SK St James teacher among the 15 finalists.
In addition to online voting, which closed on May 3, the shortlisted teachers were also required to present their best practices and effective implementation of 21st century education to a panel of judges led by former Malaysian Examinations Syndicate director Datin Nawal Salleh.
The winners were announced on Teachers Day itself.
In first place was SMK Air Molek, Melaka principal Norsiah Abdul Rahman, SMK Skudai while Johor ICT and Frog Admin Yu Kok Hui and SK Sungai Pinang, Kelantan science teacher Mohd Nasrul Safwan Zaukafali were first and second runners-up respectively.
Two special mention awards were given at the judges’ discretion. The awards went to SMK Jenjarom, Selangor science teacher Abdul Rahman Ali Bashah and state education technology division officer in Terengganu El Gamillo Habibun Tan. Meanwhile, the award for Most Inspiring Teacher went to Saifulnizan Che Ismail, a Mathematics teacher from SK Raja Bahar, Kelantan.
“The nominees this year further raised the bar in implementing 21st century education, not only making concerted efforts to incorporate technology into the classroom, but also looking at how it could support teachers, parents and students outside the classroom every day.
“This was the factor that gave overall winner Norsiah the extra edge.
“The exemplary work of the teachers highlighted through this awards programme is a true testament to how technology is the key to success in 21st century teaching and learning,” said Nawal.
Norsiah makes all school information readily available online using the Frog Virtual Learning Environment platform.
Information on extracurricular activities and schedules, students’ academic performance and progress reports, student affairs updates, teachers’ profiles and other administrative documents are all readily available for reference. At the same time, going digital also reduces the school’s paper consumption.
She also went the extra mile to encourage parents to become Frog Advocates for the school, by starting a programme for parents to encourage more logins and usage of the available Frog platform. This enables parents to be more involved in their children’s education, and updated on school and classroom activities.
“I believe we should embrace technology and I love how Frog VLE enables us to do that easily and effectively in schools today.
“We should be using it daily outside the classroom and involve not only the students and teachers, but the parents too. Only then, can we truly effect change,” she added.
Prizes consisted of Chromebooks, trophies, certificates, free tickets to next year’s Leaps of Knowledge Conference, exclusive Frog merchandise and IT devices.