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| IT'S PARTY TIME: Pupils work on their IT skills while shopping. |
Shoot, surf, sms, shop!
By Aileen Lai
Feb 18, 2004
Forget pens and notebooks. Pupils at Tampines Primary School plan their beach party using mobile phones and digital cameras as choice tools-on-the-go.
Imagine trooping to the mall during class time to pick out food and attire for a beach party.
That is exactly what Primary Five pupils at Tampines Primary did as part of a project under the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) programme.
Instead of depending solely on structured IT lessons to expose the pupils to new technology, the school has worked it into part of their PBL programme to encourage hands-on learning, said Mr Darren Nonis, 35, head of department for IT.
"The role of IT in this programme is to interest the students, motivate them to learn and to engage them," he explained.
The pupils in this compulsory project were divided into three groups to carry out different tasks.
One group, armed with digital cameras, went to Tampines Mall to take pictures of food and to look for clothes for the party.
In school, another group of pupils conducted online research on clothes. They were told to find out, for example, the coolest colour to wear for a day out at the beach.
This information was then relayed to the group at the mall, via SMS, to help them pick out the right beach gear.
Meanwhile, the third group was tasked to develop beach games in the computer lab.
Observed Ms Jeannette Koh, 35, head of department for Science: The pupils learnt really fast when we let them use the equipment.
The slew of activities has certainly piqued the pupils interest in picking up new technology.
Said 10-year-old Eugene Lim:I prefer learning in this way because I get to try out different things using the equipment.Eleven-year-old Siti Aisyah was also enriched through this project because she learnt how to work together and hear others opinions.
Habits of the mind
Although not solely a platform for IT development, the project has effectively integrated various areas of learning for the pupils, including English, mathematics and social studies.
After the activities, pupils had to work out a budget and present their final proposal in the form of a written report.
This whole project hopes to instil in the pupils what principal, Mrs Wong Bin Eng, 48, called habits of the mind. She said: We want pupils to learn how to make use of IT to look for solutions because theres so much information out there that you cant get from the teacher alone.
The school also has plans to set up an e-hub. This will provide resources for pupils who do not have a computer at home. Pupils can also look forward to an IT camp which will take place in May.
Aileen Lai is a mass communications student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
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