Singapore’s Minister of Education Heng Swee Keat encouraged teachers to use technology in meaningful ways that will improve student engagement and learning.
“By 2016, we will have an integrated online learning portal for all our primary and secondary school students. This is a most invigorating prospects, but I want to say, it is not just about using technology more. Ultimately it is about how we use technology to bring out the heart of education,” said Heng in a Facebook post this week.
He went on to commend Christopher Chee, a teacher from Christchurch Secondary School, for his use of flipped classrooms that kept the students so engaged they stayed beyond schools hours to learn more.
Flipped classroom is a form of blended learning where students learn new content online before class, and lesson time is focused on interaction and discussion.
Chee first read about flipped classroom being practised by professors at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore.
After finding out more from these professors, Chee implemented this form of learning on his class. He asked his students to watch an online video on math concepts at home and adopted team-based learning in class.
Heng was impressed with Chee’s gumption and encouraged other teachers to innovate.
“He dared to imagine possibilities and dared to try! Yes technology matters, but teachers matter most of all. Our technological advances are to help our teachers do an even better job. If our teachers continue to use technology with such gutsiness, I am excited for the great learning opportunities that will open up for our children,” said Heng.
“I know other teachers across our schools are also innovating in different ways, and I look forward to learning more about our teachers’ innovations and experiences,”
