Chosen initiative: IT Master Plan 2 and 3
by David A. Gualin
Essay made on November 17, 2008
PART 1
The shift from IT Master plan 2 to 3, spearheaded by the government, is in line with the tradition of Singapore as a leader in telecommunications (Lallana, 2004). My perspective on the issue is a positive one but with some concerns on salient issues (like psychological acceptance of the academic community and local content control). The following positive points can be derived on studying the shift from MP2 to MP3:
1. The shift from MP2 to MP3 is inevitable for survival of the MP programs in Singapore’s educational scene.
2. The shift from MP2 to MP3 is a positive step to make the program expansive and even psychologically appealing to stakeholders in the academic scene.
3. The shift from MP2 to MP3 would definitely and positively challenge the present educational leaders (from the common teachers to the principals, chairpersons, deans and even directors) to be flexible on their pedagogy, curriculum development and assessment and even educational leadership or management.
4. The shift from MP2 to MP3 would usher the need for educators to adopt an eclectic approach to education.
First, the shift from MP2 to MP3 is inevitable for survival of the MP programs in Singapore’s educational scene because of the fast paced change in the IT scene. If MP2 would stay longer, the goals and objectives of MP2 would have been surpassed by the capacity of Singapore’s IT infrastructure that MP2 would seem easy and boring. When MP2 was developed, hardware and software cost was one of the greatest stumbling blocks on the digitization of education in the country. Singapore’s government spends a great sum of budget compared to other Asian countries (Lallana, 2004). Singapore has one of the most established and cost effective IT infrastructure and services in Asia. As Lallana (2004) said “Because of numerous ISPs there is considerable decrease of Internet price for consumers. Singapore is a good case. But second only to Korea and Japan.” Now that hardware and software costs are going down, there are more opportunities to reach more people and implement the digital changes deeply into the educational scene. In theoretical perspectives, the growth of MP1 to MP2 to MP3 is but natural to any dynamic and socially living entity. The growth can be explained by epigenetic theory. To borrow Erikson’s idea, “once the capacity for competence has emerged, it is likely to persist through life (Kidd, 2006, page 33)” (When the first signs of growth are seen in MP1, it is inevitable for MP2 to usher in and now that MP2 is positively evaluated, it is just natural for MP3 to come in. It would just be natural to expect that MP4 will be coming in after a few years when MP3’s goals are realized to some significant extent). These series of growth started in the early 1980s. As Lallana (2008) said “Singapore’s first IT master plan was formulated and implemented between 1980 and 1985.”
Second, the shift from MP2 to MP3 is a positive step to make the program expansive and even psychologically appealing to stakeholders in the academic scene. MP2’s achievements include but are not limited to (1) baseline ICT standards for students were introduced – for example, basic typing skills by Primary 3 and (2) autonomy was given to schools on deciding how to integrate ICT into classes (Koh, 2006). These are obviously made expansive in MP3 namely, from baseline ICT standards for students now students are aimed to have one computer each. And from autonomy given to schools on how to integrate ICT into classes, in MP3 specialist teachers will lead the integration of ICT into classrooms and curriculum. In MP3, not only will the student have the skills in using computers for education but will also have the hardware to use their skills (Koh, 2006). In MP3, not only will the schools have autonomy on how to integrate ICT but they would have specialist teachers in ICT and the facilities to execute these (e.g. modern educational labs and faster bandwidth for LAN and Internet) (Koh, 2006). And of course, technology always appeals to the youth. Thus with all the upgrades both in hardware, software, infrastructure, pedagogy and curriculum development – brought about by the influx of new technology - these would all grab the attention of the youth and make educational learning experiences with the aid of computers and the internet more appealing. New technology always excites (Thieme, 2006). This is in line with what Maxwell (1998) said as touching the heart before asking for the hand. It is the sign of every great leadership. ICT would surely touch the hearts of youth and would put their hands in action for the betterment of the future. Singapore’s young students are in the dawn of the future since their information technology used in education and the contents of education are seamlessly interwoven. Technology seems to act like an appetizer to help students dig in on the contents of education – regardless of the subject. This then further realizes the vision of MP1 to 3 which is that “Education should continually anticipate the future needs of society and work towards fulfilling these needs” (Koh, 2006).
Third, the shift from MP2 to MP3 would definitely and positively challenge the present educational leaders (from the common teachers to the principals, chairpersons, deans and even directors) to be flexible on their pedagogy, curriculum development and assessment and even educational leadership or management. The new era of information technology is rolling in. Old and tested paradigms can still be used but with different implementation. The conceptual framework remains the same though the delivery and psycho-motor skills are now different. Not every one likes change. For most of the students, the influx of upgrades brought forth by the MP3 would definitely bring the excitement of novelty. However, other teachers who have held on to years of traditional teaching may feel some resistance to MP3. This is clearly understandable. However, teaching has always been both a science and an art. Science is ever-changing and with the influx of MP3, teaching would definitely change. Of course, there will always be room for the traditional way of teaching (the board talk, paper and pencil tests) however the art on the part of the teacher is to know the balance – in this technological era. The question that is often posed to the advocates of the MP3 is that the content of education and the quality of teachers of Singapore need attention too (Koh, 2006) – and asking that question is really correct. However, the question ought not to be raised to the advocates of the MP3 only but to the whole stakeholders of education (the teachers, principals, parents and even students). MP3 can bring forth a lot of advantage for the youth of Singapore to excel better in education than that of other youth of other countries but it is, in one authors’ words, not a panacea.
One of the positive things that the challenge would pose to educators and educational leaders on the introduction of MP3 is that they are encouraged to be dynamic. Being static in one’s way of teaching and producing learning has no place in the fast paced world of ICT. Thus the MP3 goal of mass customization, greater ownership & autonomy of education from the student’s digital output is desirable compared to the teacher centered way of one-size fits all kind of education (Koh, 2006).
My fourth note on the positive notes involving the shift from MP2 and MP3 is the encouragement of the MP3 to foster eclecticism. Blake and others (2003) say it very well: “Study can be intrinsically rewarding. Eclecticism can be an antidote to overspecialization and excessive future-orientation in education. The eclecticism and interdisciplinary that ICT can encourage are consonant with an attitude of play; they require the play of the imagination. And the imagination as we have implied, is internally related to the kind of absorption and impassioned contemplation that education can provide.” This is especially true in assessing portfolios as alternative projects of students. Perhaps, this one positive point alone would be one of the strongest reasons why MP3 growth in our schools should be encouraged.
Salient issues that need immediate attention for these may inhibit the success of MP3:
The shift from MP2 to MP3 needs to be supported by growth in other fields like (1) electronic transaction laws and (2) publication of local content.
The shift to MP3 needs to have initial success for it to win further acceptance from the educational populace.
The initial success of the MP3 needs to be well documented for it to become materials for research and further improvement.
Subjects or courses that may find the use of the MP3 irrelevant on their curriculum (e.g. Physical Education, Music and Religion) may profit from the use of portfolio building.
On the salient issues that need immediate attention, first here would be the need of MP3 to be supported by establishment of related laws and a promotion of local culture. Since the internet opens information through your finger tips, it is necessary that electronic transaction laws (including but not limited to copyright laws, protection from human trafficking and identity theft) be included also in the curriculum of the students. Teachers who would serve as examples need to be updated on these also. Since these laws are relatively new and some of them are not publicly discussed, it is best that teachers be addressed of these issues regularly through newsletters and government memos. It seems that the present discussion on MP3 shift does not include a section that tackles these issues. The MP3 shift would be pervasive but it should be pervasive with the knowledge of the laws that govern its use and abuse.
Similarly, when it comes to local content, Koh (2006) was correct in saying that Singapore should learn from other countries. When it comes to local content, South Korea comes in the forefront of controlling content in the internet (Lalllana, 2004). Local content would refer to the language of the country and its culture. Most internet web browsing (especially in the Philippines) is used to access sites in the USA (Lallana, 2004). The promotion of local content would help usher nationalism and identity in the growing digital community. In a study made by Tan, Teo, Aw and Lim (2005) they studied Portfolio Building in Chinese Language Learning Using Blogs. They found out that some of them faced problems when installing the Chinese Input software and quite a few find Chinese inputs difficult and slow. Problems like these have the potential to hinder motivation on the use of local content. Growth in local language based software need to increase – not only the permeation of ICT structures in education. Similar to that of improvement in laws, the local content growth needs to grow together with the possible success of the MP3.
Second, the shift to MP3 needs to have initial success and proper documentation. Perhaps one error that the government may make is the distribution of ICT hardware and software to too many educational institutions to the point of becoming insignificant to catalyze change. In the words of Koh (2006) “Avoid spreading resources too thinly by distributing them equitably in the beginning of the implementation.” It would be a costly disaster if the government does not give an incubation period for the MP3 in a well established school. In accord with epigenetic principle (Kidd, 2006), competence must appear for growth. Though competence was already achieved in MP1 and MP2, it is still necessary for MP3 to have its own success. This is very crucial since the MP3 is the only program among the Master Plans already introduced to have used a bottom up approach in the implementation (Tan, Teo, Aw and Lim, 2005). Perhaps, though the MP3 obviously focuses on involving as much students if not all students – that’s why it needed the manpower of the bottom authorities (like teachers and principles) – it is still necessary to have some top – down approach to assist the down – up approach. That is, it seems best for the government to appoint overseers on every school to encourage the systematic and systemic implementation of the MP3.
Third, since MP3 is a new program for implementing ICT based education and furthermore because it is more pervasive – the importance of the scientific approach need to become a check and balance. It is for the betterment of the educational system and the students that the MP3 is being implemented and MP3 is not being implemented for its own sake. It may be tempting to say that MP3 can be an end in itself – but without improvement in the education, educators and students – MP3 then loses in power, even ICT. Thus regular needs analysis, ethnographic research, correlational studies and the like need to be implemented to monitor the progress of MP3. These can also be used to reorganize the implementation of MP3 and adopt one that best suits the uniqueness of the school where it is being implemented.
Fourth, portfolio building is an alternative assessment technique that helps students shows their learning though in a non-traditional way. In a study made by Tan, Teo, Aw and Lim (2005), they showed that portfolio building is greatly compatible with MP3 objectives. They used blogging of students’ outputs for class and the use of customized “skins” to create a personal feel for the projects produced. Perhaps the only downsize of this approach are the ones reported by Tan, Teo, Aw and Lim (2005) themselves and these are mostly minimal like problems with Chinese software, software rendering of Chinese characters and difficulty to navigate or even find computers. All of these problems are reported minimal by the authors and they endorsed portfolio building as a creative way to form a community of learners that cultivate higher order thinking. It is my strong opinion that portfolio building be endorsed as one of the means to support ICT development, namely MP3.
PART 2
You also need to build into this essay an honest self-evaluation of your learning in tackling your chosen curricular issue.
My self-reflection on the curricular issue, shift from MP2 to MP3 brought forth in me some realizations. These are (1) the influx of technology in Singapore and in the world is inevitable and the effects of these changes would soon invade not only the school but almost every area of life. Lallana (2004) mentioned “that the effect of the IT revolution is only beginning to be felt: “...prospects are excellent for long-term growth in output per worker at a rate of 3 percent per year or higher for perhaps decades. Income per worker could double in 25 years or less.” This means opportunities for education and other fields would always require ICT skills and these skills would become more and more specialized in the future. As it is that doctors today have different specialization, the ICT specialist in school would become more and more specialized as well (there would be a specialist on LAN, software and hardware and other areas in ICT in the schools alone – not to mention in the other sectors!). This means that opportunities of growth both in business and careers in the future would always demand these highly specialized skills. The personal action that this realization brought to me is to focus on one aspect now (e.g. software development, web page development, hardware technician) and be prepared for the demands of the future – rather than just adopting some generic skills to just go ahead with the demands of work. To be ahead, the student needs to be, not just knowledgeable on ICT but specialized in at least one area.
But my second self-evaluation brings me to the idea of ethics and content in the ICT world. On ethics and content (2) it seems that the advent of the MP3 would usher transactions between students and students, students and teachers, and teachers to teachers in the cyberspace more often now than before. Thus the ethics of the contents being communicated to each other either by the use of weblogs, emails or postings would be asked. Does Singapore have enough laws on internet security, ethics on the use of computers and the internet to protect our students and even ourselves? There is great possibility of psychological and social harm brought forth by impersonal interactions in the ICT world. And if these are intentional – the ease of updating and deleting is relatively easy. Does Singapore’s government upgrade its laws on these also – not only on infrastructures, software and people’s technical skills? Lallana (2004) implied on this when he said that laws may be too detailed that the fast pace of upgrades in technology may usher amendments to laws long before they are enacted and promulgated.
What does taking a critical perspective in Singapore and in the context of your chosen issue mean to you?
This issue brought forth an appreciation of the initiatives made by the government to introduce a more expansive and modern way of education for the youth. As Lallana (2004) said, Singapore is a practitioner of “the all-inclusive national broadband plan, which calls for a comprehensive national ICT infrastructure and skills development requiring government and industry-wide coordination.” Singapore did not just leave the ICT development to the private sector; the government spearheaded it. It is praiseworthy for the government to put education on the top level of their budgets. However, this also brought forth the awareness to analyze the introduction of new programs by the government – not only on its scene and on its time – but its future implications in other fields (like commerce, law, politics and medicine). MP3, right now, seems like just a program for education but the future prodigies of MP3 would be so technologically immersed that their work would definitely consider all these upgrades as necessities. Since Singapore belongs to the high income countries in Asia, this is something that a typical Singaporean can afford. And in information technology, as long as there are laws governing its proper use, Singapore seems to be going ahead of its counterpart countries. The future, an ICT enabled environment, is already being introduced to the young today.
Was it difficult to take a critical perspective on the chosen issue? Why?
Yes, there was some difficulty to be critical on this issue. Technological breakthroughs are happening a lot these days. New technology is being introduced even after the old technology has yet embedded the whole populace (e.g. 3.5G came in even when 3G is still new). The pacing in ICT advancement is so fast that the introduction of the MP3 is really well justified. The long range plan of Singapore since the 1970s is just being realized – to take a critical perspective on the realization of something well thought of and well planned as the MP3 is difficult yet not impossible. I was wondering if MP3 was not introduced then definitely another program of much similar content and objectives must have been introduced. Singapore has always been in the forefront of information technology for the last 20 years, and it will not be left out – especially for its students.
Were you willing to look at alternative points of view? What is the value of this process, and how is it meaningful for you? To what extent do you think such a perspective can impact your work?
Yes, I was willing to look at alternative points of view however the overwhelming evidences on the permeation of technology in our society makes it difficult. I would rather say I was willing to converse with the proponents of MP3 and ask questions. I would also say that MP3 is not a perfect program but it is a good one. Modifications on it would surely come in the future. Research findings and program evaluation on the effectiveness of this program would make future programs better but not necessarily perfect, and again not a panacea.
To converse with the issue, shifting of MP2 to MP3 by means of writing this review brought forth some serious issues. One, if there are flaws in the programs made by the government, not just MP3, then reviews like these ought to have found them or at least hinted at them. Thus these activities promoted free speech, exchange of ideas and alternative voices other than the prevailing ones (which is the government’s voice). These reviews ought to be honed and the best of them sent for publication. Or in the ICT terms, published in the internet so that alternative voices would be heard and promote critical thinking. These kinds of thinking then can better our society because we are not left to accept that which we have not though about for a long time. Rather we have come to accept because we allowed it.
MP3 is here to change the ICT atmosphere of every school in Singapore in the next six years (Koh, 2006). It is coming because we allowed it. We have thought about it and accepted it. It is also up to us to be careful on how to control salient issues like content and laws.
References:
Blake, Nigel; Smeyers, Paul; Smith, Richard and Standish, Paul (2003) The
Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education. Balcwell Publishing:
United Kingdon.
Kidd, Jennifer M. (2006) Career Counseling, Sage Publications: London.
Koh, Thiam-Seng (2006) ICT Masterplanning for Education: Singapore's
Experience. Lecture Notes made on June 20, 2006. Singapore Ministry of Education
Lallana, Emmanuel C. (2004) An Overview of ICT Policies and e-Strategies
of Select Asian Economies. Elsevier: India
Maxwell, John (1998) The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Thomas Nelson:
USA
Tan, YH, Teo, EH, Aw, WLA and Lim, WY (2005) Portfolio Building in Chinese
Language Learning Using Blogs. Ministry of Education, Singapore
Thieme, Richard (2006) Islands in the Clickstream. Syngress: USA
