On the virtual classroom

> Google Malaysia’s live online conference on education technology this Sunday is for all those with a stake in teaching and learning

IN AN effort to promote education technology and its benefits in and out of the classrooms, Google Malaysia is organising a live online conference catered especially “for educators by educators” this Sunday over Google Hangouts.

This free Google Education on Air Malaysia 2015 online conference is hosted on g.co/ EduonAir, and will run from 9am to 4pm.

Although created for educators by educators, other interested parties such as parents, students and those involved on all levels of education are encouraged to participate.

It will feature about 50 speakers and panellists with a morning keynote address by Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan on the importance of educators in moving technology in education into the forefront of teaching.

Google Malaysia managing director Sajith Sivanandan will also be speaking in the morning keynote session.

Other guests include BFM 89.9 founder and CEO Malek Ali ( top right) who will be sharing his insights on the working landscape, specifically on the kinds of skill set graduating students should possess upon entering the workforce.

The event site will also host several parallel Hangout-on-Air sessions by industry leaders, principals, teachers and students, who will share their experiences and practical solutions in incorporating technology to create a more interesting and conducive teaching and learning environment.

Head of Google for Education, Malaysia, Rahayu Ramli ( right) said the organiser has grouped the presentation into three major streams which address student engagement, administrative efficiency and leadership.

It is hoped these will shed light on how to encourage a more interactive classroom learning, better efficiency in managing administrative work outside of classroom with technology, as well as more effective pedagogy in classrooms.

The speakers will also share their personal experiences on how they have transformed their classrooms with Google Apps for Education and Frog Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

Rahayu said: “What we hope to see with the topics being covered in the online conference is a step towards making computational thinking, creative thinking and critical thinking in the classroom something of a norm and that the technology is an enably for that – so it’s meant to help teachers engage with the students.

“We realise that students are learning in different ways, and right now, we are spoilt for choice in terms of where and how they get their information from, and we want to make sure that teachers are abreast with that kind of information and how they can use that in a classroom.”

Rahayu added that 50% of the sessions will be conducted in Bahasa Malaysia while the rest will be in Mandarin, Tamil and English.

The speakers for the conference, Rahayu said, are local educators who are highly passionate and dedicated, who each in his/her own way has been a forerunner in pushing the education industry forward with technology.

While the keynote speeches have been pre-recorded to be aired on the event site this Sunday, all teacher sessions will be broadcast live.

The recording of these teacher sessions will be uploaded on the event site within 24 hours so all registered participants can play them back any time after the live conference has concluded.

All registered participants can also pose questions and upvote questions to the speakers and have them (or the Google for Education team) answer the queries in real time (or right after the event) during the teacher sessions’ Q&A segment.

Participants will also receive a certificate of participation for the sessions they attend via a unique code.

It is also applicable to those who watch the recorded sessions as long as they have registered before the event.

For more on Google Education on Air Malaysia 2015, visit g.co/eduonair.