My Life My Story: ICT Learning for Primary School In Sabah

Recently I attend the ICTL Course organized by the Jabatan Pelajaran Sabah here in Ranau. The objective for this traning was giving the young leaner in Sabah the basic knowledge for ICT as for their preparation for future skills. I attend the course with my wife. The ICTL course is mainly focusing for the primary 3 till primary 6. The teachers need to accomplish the ICT Learning for the younger learner for three month only and two periods for every week.Teachers need to condut this ICT Learning to make the pupil knows how to use ICT or in other language used computer as their tools of learning the information technologhy for future needs.The course conducted by Mr Gopi and Mr D'Quency from SK Melinsau and SK Mangkapoh. We have to undergo three days for this course.Hofully all the teachers will do their job for the good of pur young generation in Sabah. To get more information about the benefit of ICT Learning continue read below passage.

Early years practitioners have used ICT to support young children’s learning in diverse ways, writes Julie Steer

In 2005-06 the DfES funded 20 local authorities to research good practice in the use of ICT in the Foundation Stage, the results of which have been published on the DCSF website. This article summaries some of the good practice highlighted in this study to serve as an introduction to the vibrant and exciting full accounts available on the website.

ICT in the early years is a rich area for debate, raising questions such as ‘What is the appropriate use of computers?’, ‘What does effective use of ICT in the foundation stage look like?’ One of the difficulties in understanding what constitutes good practice in the use of ICT in the early years has been the lack of research. The aim of the DfES research project was to investigate raising achievement in ICT through 

‘… enquiry based projects which focused upon the embedding of observational assessment practices across the early years, and sought to involve children and their parents/carers in the process.’ 

Using ICT as a tool for observation and assessment and to develop children’s learning journeys

Digital cameras are commonly used in early years settings but the project refocused staff on using them for observation and assessment. This improved both the ICT skills and the observational skills of practitioners and changed practice. 

Practitioners in North Somerset and Bath, for example, said, ‘It made us get on the floor with our cameras and watch them play’. Childminders in Bath were also given a digital camera to record learning journeys for their children; the childminders reported a greater understanding of children’s learning as a direct result of taking photographs. Nottinghamshire successfully used baby monitors as well as cameras to observe and assess a group of children from a distance.

Some projects investigated the use of more complex ICT devices. Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Calderdale found using video useful especially for observing and analysing behaviour. One practitioner in Calderdale commented, ‘I can see what triggered him off,’ when looking at a child’s behaviour. They found video gave a holistic view and allowed timid children to shine. 

Children as partners in the assessment process – giving children a voice

Practitioners in Sefton, in a simple but effective project, investigated children’s ‘magic moments.’ Children chose what to photograph as a magic moment to share with their parents. As one practitioner put it ‘This puts the C back into ICT; it gives children a voice’. The results were often surprising for the staff – following a visit, children were fascinated by details of a spider rather than the whole ‘visit experience’. The discussion about the choice of a magic moment was felt to be very valuable for children, staff and parents.

Oxfordshire found that the use of video for self-reflection was most effective for the physical and creative strands of the curriculum. One setting, for example, videoed children dancing, and the children then used the video to discuss the dance and find ways to improve it.

Barnet used digital movie cameras and digital recorders to involve children in their own assessment; they found the sound recording facility particularly empowering. Practitioners felt it had helped children’s language development but also improved their ability to reflect on, and contribute to, their own assessment. ‘I did not realise how much young children could talk about what they had done,’ said one parent. 

Promoting speaking and listening and self-reflection among children

In several case studies practitioners were interested in using ICT to develop children’s speaking and listening skills, especially in relation to their ability to become involved in their own learning. ‘Technology has an exciting part to play in giving a multimodal communication tool to children’ – overview of the Ealing project.

The Sandwell project investigated whether the use of ICT devices could improve children’s speaking and listening skills. Settings used talking buttons to create interactive displays. They took digital photographs of walks and then recorded the children talking about the photographs using software such as 2Create A Story. Practitioners used puppets to help the children record their own voices and they noticed that recording frequently helped children give a more coherent response.

The project in Brent, which focused on using ICT equipment to observe a group of boys during outdoor play, found found that the project had a dramatic effect on the self-esteem and the speaking and listening skills of the children. The boys used voice changers, karaoke machines and video cameras to record themselves with great effect.

‘A... used the microphone as a prop to allow his voice out and now talks with ease in all vocal levels to adults and children’ – Brent case study. 

As in Sandwell, the practitioners noticed an improvement in the structure of their sentences as the boys discussed videos and reconstructed their play while watching them. The project boosted the boys’ self-esteem and concentration span and increased their interest in learning.

Sharing observations and assessment with parents: e-portfolios

All projects found that using ICT enabled them to share observations and work with parents, but some made it a particular focus of the research.

Barnet used email to set up a three-way conversation between parents, child and practitioner involving photos and children’s written comments. They also sent child-friendly ‘Digi Blue’ video cameras home. These approaches involved working parents very successfully and increased the engagement of carers who previously had been reluctant to come into the setting.

All settings in the project in Redcar and Cleveland now use e-portfolios to share work with parents. Practitioners learned how to insert photos, text and sound into easily shared programs such as 2Create A Story and PowerPoint, which were then emailed home. 

The videos, photographs, power points, accounts and statistics are available on the Standards website. They are of great interest to all settings and will provide a good starting point for discussion and experimentation with using ICT in this rich and fulfilling way.   

We also have learn the SCRATCH Program for making the ICT learning more fun for the pupils. This program developed by the MIT students and I think it's suitable for the younger learner in Sabah.