La Main â la Pâte

Ministry of Education with the collaboration of its departments namely,

Human Resource Development Division, Department of Schools, Director of Inspectorate, Science, Technology and Environment Partnership [STEP] and Department of Curriculum Development have been running a Science Inquiry Based Learning called La Main â la Pâte.

 For more Information, click the image below

Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum? 

Technology is ubiquitous, touching almost every part of our lives, our communities, our homes. Yet most schools lag far behind when it comes to integrating technology into classroom learning. Many are just beginning to explore the true potential technology offers for teaching and learning. Properly used, technology will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a complex, highly technological knowledge-based economy.

Integrating technology into classroom instruction means more than teaching basic computer skills and software programs in a separate computer class. Effective tech integration must happen across the curriculum in ways that research shows deepen and enhance the learning process. In particular, it must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts. Effective technology integration is achieved when the use of technology is routine and transparent and when technology supports curricular goals. 

Many people believe that technology-enabled project learning is the ne plus ultra of classroom instruction. Learning through projects while equipped with technology tools allows students to be intellectually challenged while providing them with a realistic snapshot of what the modern office looks like. Through projects, students acquire and refine their analysis and problem-solving skills as they work individually and in teams to find, process, and synthesize information they've found online.

The myriad resources of the online world also provide each classroom with more interesting, diverse, and current learning materials. The Web connects students to experts in the real world and provides numerous opportunities for expressing understanding through images, sound, and text.

New technology tools for visualizing and modeling, especially in the sciences, offer students ways to experiment and observe phenomenon and to view results in graphic ways that aid in understanding. And, as an added benefit, with technology tools and a project-learning approach, students are more likely to stay engaged and on task, reducing behavioral problems in the classroom.

Technology also changes the way teachers teach, offering educators effective ways to reach different types of learners and assess student understanding through multiple means. It also enhances the relationship between teacher and student. When technology is effectively integrated into subject areas, teachers grow into roles of adviser, content expert, and coach. Last but not least, technology helps make teaching and learning more meaningful and fun.

Science Education:

Science Education:

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Information Technology in Teaching

The most obvious advantage of using information technology in teaching and learning is the flexibility for learners to get access to computers. Now that computers have become common, learners can get access to the Internet and engage in study at any time, any place and at their own pace. This is the reason why distance learning has become so common nowadays. Another advantage of information technology is its versatility. Other than just sounds, computers can produce colourful graphics, which will greatly enhance the learning outcome as learners will retain the majority of what is taught through sights rather than sounds. Besides, compared with humans, computers have absolute superiority in generating attractive graphics. In a nutshell, a picture is worth more than a thousand words. Besides, computers can provide instant feedback to learners when they are doing exercises or practising.

Other advantages of using ICT and used it in teaching are :


* Text and mistakes can be changed without having to start from the
very beginning again by using Microsoft word and software like Microsoft Publisher.

* Work is easy to save and document, rather than someone keeping
them in folders were they can get misplaced.

* Can make back up files quickly.

* Can keep all files under one folder which is easy to find when want to use again.

* Crop pictures down accurately.

* Access to the internet for searching more information.

* You can email letters and document to friends, colleagues and even to people all over the world.

Science Education:

HOW DO SCIENCE TEACHER USE ICT? HOW CAN SCIENCE TEACHER USE ICT?

Nowadays ICT plays a major role in education system. Schools in Brunei are equipped with projectors, visualisers, smartboards, computer laboratory, and etc, to enhance teaching and learning skills. Last semester, i went for Teaching Practice at Sekolah Menengah Pengiran Isteri Hajah Mariam (Serasa School). This school has a few rooms that are equipped with smartboard facilities.
I was given a year 10 class to teach for the Combined Science subject. Therefore, i make use of the facilities provided to deliver my lessons. I prepared powerpoint slides and some animated diagrams for my lesson. During the lesson, i can see that students are very active and keen to answer the questions from the slides, as i make use of some colourful pictures and animations on certain diagrams. I believe students can learned better with colourful and animated powerpoint slides rather than just chalk and talk. To my surprise, some students find the 50 mins lesson (2 periods) short and fast. This shows that the lesson was very interesting and they do enjoy learning from those colourful diagrams and animations that they don't feel the time.
Another interesting topic to teach is on water cycle. Aminations can be used to show students on how the water cycle goes starting from the different processes such as condensation, evaporation, precipitation and surface runoff and etc, thus this produces a complete water cycle and would be very easy for the students to understand through colourful and animations presentations.

Preparing Tomorrow's Science Teachers to UseTechnology: Guidelines for Science Educators

Proposed Guidelines for Using Technology in the Preparationof Science Teachers

1. Technology should be introduced in the context ofscience content.
2. Technology should address worthwhile science withappropriate pedagogy.
3. Technology instruction in science should takeadvantage of the unique features of technology.
4. Technology should make scientific views moreaccessible.
5. Technology instruction should develop students'understanding of the relationship between technology andscience.

1.Technology should be introduced in the context of sciencecontent.

The first principle is centered on the notion that technologyshould not be taught merely for its own sake in the preparation ofscience teachers. Features of technology should be introduced andillustrated in the context of meaningful science. In other words,technology should be presented as a means, not an end. Thisprinciple has implications for teaching science content, as well asfor science teacher preparation. For example, preservice teachersin science education programs are often required to take a genericeducational technology course taught by an instructional technologyexpert. In this class, the preservice teachers are supposed todevelop a variety of technology-related skills, including theability to use word processors, presentation software,spreadsheets, and the Internet. Preservice teachers typically arethen left to apply their newly developed technology skills toteaching content in their subject area.

This approach is backwards. Teaching a set of technology orsoftware-based skills and then trying to find scientific topics forwhich they might be useful obscures the purpose of learning andusing technology in the science classroom—to enhance thelearning of science. Furthermore, this approach can make scienceappear to be an afterthought. Preservice teachers are, in essence,left to develop contrived activities that integrate a set ofdecontextualized instructional technology skills into the contextof their classroom.

If the purpose of technology in science teaching is to enhancescience teaching and learning (rather than for the technology'ssake alone), a different approach is necessary. For example,teacher educators at Oregon State University and the University ofVirginia are collaborating on a project designed to teach Internetand spreadsheet skills to preservice science and mathematicsteachers in the context of an exploration of the El Niñoweather phenomenon. Considering its impact on local weather andclimate, El Niño holds both interest and relevance to theaverage student. Certainly, it has provided meteorologists andclimatologists with a powerful framework for interpreting andpredicting weather patterns.

The information above is not complete. To read more and for further information, please visit :  http://www.citejournal.org/vol1/iss1/currentissues/science/article1.htm

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