Juan,
I like your contribution. Indeed, ourcurrent education system is failing. Instead of trying to nurture theinnovative and inquisitive elements of our children, the system is filteringthe few academically gifted students from the many practical (and possiblythose that do think out of the box) students. The system is preparing studentsto University, which is itself not entrepreneurial, leading to graduates thatare indeed very low on creativity. On the other hand, given the opportunity(such as Young Enterprise), our youngsters prove to all that they can indeed becreative.
Ray Muscat
KBIC
-----Original Message-----
From: Juan Borg Manduca[mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 22 August 2002 14:17
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: eForesee malta-ict:Scenarios for Malta in ICT
I'd like to add to this suggestion(see email from Leonard Bezzina below) because it particularly interests me.
Since I have been involved informative assessments for some time now, an area worth pursuing is how todevelop a system which will evolve the present system of education (exambased) into one which will take into consideration the special needs of'individual' students.
In fact, the National Minimum Curriculummakes reference to introducing formative assessments as part of a school'sdelivery mechanism.
In many cases, exams are actuallydetrimental to our children, and instead of achieving the desired target of'educating' our children, are actually harming them by focusing on getting thestudents 'through' exams.
The major problem with today'ssystem is that it does the exact opposite of what such a system is supposed todo ie instead of the system being made to fit the student, the student is beingforced to fit the system.
I would categorise students intothree main groups, a) bookworm, b) learning by observation, c) learning by'hands-on'.
The present system caters for onlythe bookworm (as we all know), and all other students end up falling throughthe net, and in most cases being branded as failures. This branding of studentsoccurs at as early an age as 5-6 years.
The advent of ICT presents us with aunique opportunity to design a case study, eg take the syllabus of oneparticular subject in one particular year and present the same syallabus inthree different formats to suit all groups of students (ie one format willaddress the bookworm and may not differ considerably from today's presentationmethod, but the other two would of course ensure that the student learns byusing techniques customised to that particular group). The use of computerswill be the fulcrum of delivery of curriculum.
Of course, proper tests are to bedesigned in order to be able to categorise students properly.
In this manner, one could use thiscase study on a group of students from a particular school (willingto participate), and results (statistics) could then be used and compared inorder to gauge success (or failure) of the project.
These are just my thoughts..........
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday,August 22, 2002 1:18 PM
Subject: Re:eForesee malta-ict: Scenarios for Malta in ICT
Dear Jennifer,
I would like to suggest the following scenario:
Malta would become a centre of excellence in ICT ineducation (practice and theory). This implies a situation where all teachersare making the best possible use of ICT in order to enhance teaching andlearning in all areas of the curriculum and at all levels of our educationsystem (primary, secondary, post-secondary and tertiary). This vision includesmaking most of the communication capabilities of current and future technologyin order to promote learning at a distance and at all times of the day(e-learning) and at facilitating communication between parents/guardians andthe school. It also implies a situation where Malta develops innovative ways ofmaking use of ICT in our classrooms. Once such a vision is in place wecan become a Mediteranean centre of excellence in teacher education in thisarea. We can then offer appropriate University level courses mainly throughdistance learning.
Leonard Bezzina
Jennifer Cassingena Harper wrote:
Dear Colleagues, Wewould like to initiate an on-line discussion on alternative futures for Maltain ICT. We would like you to send us up to ten different scenario themes forMalta in ICT. These can be scenario themes focusedon:
� specificniche areas (e.g. Malta as an e-learning hub)
� orICT-enabled initiatives (e.g. on-line gambling)
� ortelecomms-related initiatives
� or any otherideas in general !!
Ideally, this exercise should notinvolve too much time - maximum 30 minutes - just jot down what comesimmediately to mind. So send us your feedback if possible by Thursday 22August.Looking forward to hearing from you, Jennifer
___________Dr.Jennifer Cassingena Harper
Head,Policy Unit,
MaltaCouncil for Science and Technology
VillaBighi, Bighi, Kalkara CSP 11, Malta
email:[email protected] http://www.mcst.org.mt
directdial-in: +356 23602125
tel.+356 21 660340 (fax) +356 21 660341
___________
+++++++++++++++
Dr Leonard Bezzina
Department of Mathematics, Science and Technical Education
Faculty of Education
University of Malta
Msida MSD 06
Malta
E-mail address: [email protected]
Telephone number: 3290 2404
+++++++++++++++
AcrossLimits.
