PAPER VERSUS SOFT COPIES

     The school as an educational institution is going more technical than reflective. Things likes administrative and managerial procedures have become more tedious and rigid. What advantage has it over simpler and more practical kind of running the institution? Well, they are for you and I to find out.
          The school has experienced waves of changes since the establishment of Ministry of Education. There have been so many changes in technical aspects like infra-structure and human resource to run the school. Each school now is going towards IT-based management but ironically, we could still find hardcopies or scripts being used wantonly! For instance, a school spends about USD 3,910.00 (RM 17,00.00) annually or almost 5 reams a day on paper alone! Other expenses include printing and maintenance, all amounting half the amount spent on paper; that is almost RM30,000. Should the school choose to run on less paper documentation or hardcopies, a huge amount of money could be saved.
          Then, what are the alternatives? Great souls, we have been using Google cloud, Google drive or blogs, haven't we? Cyber infra-structure is the premise where the arrival or departure of documents could be a Beep! Beep! on e-mail, sms or the all-star what's application! Try those apps and you will save thousands of ringgit. On top of that, by exploiting the softcopies or files, one can safe-keep and reuse them whenever needed. Documents sent through e-mails could be exploited or edited for other uses against hardcopies which will end their role in the files secured in the documentation room waiting for calls. Finally, the stacks of printed matter will be salvaged by recycling centres at a much lower rate; 25 to 30 sen per kilogram. Comparatively, the cost of a ream of paper which is around 2 kilograms is about RM9.00, and that's about 15 times less than the cost! What a waste!
          Paper documentation as we are doing in schools is wasteful; time and money wise. The piles of document are outcomes of annual school activities which we know will be useless the following year. We are actually creating a big problem on space(to store this document before disposal) and money(spent to purchase the paper). The physical size of the files need space. So, we have to establish rooms to house these files; luckily they are reusable the following year until they are tattered. 
          The most frustrating thing is these hardcopies are only referred to during auditing by appointed auditors or else they will be just items for exhibits. The teachers will always refer these files from their laptops projected on LCD for discussion; believe me that the files will not be taken in during meetings, they will be arcades before even the year ends.

A loophole in civil service?

Being Unnoticed         

          I have been teaching English Language since 1984. On the 1st of September 2002, I was assigned to serve in a religious school in Penang (the mainland). I found things were a bit different from ordinary day school. The students were 5 A achievers from the 6th grade  assessment. I succeeded my way through the years becoming English teacher for form 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6.
          By the end of 2010, I had assumed a post bearing the title 'Senior Assistant of Form Six' which I bore unofficially until 2015. They had been quite a few meetings which I had attended as an administrative education officer regarding the transformation of form six education. Still waiting for my official appointment as a senior assistant, I had co-ordinated the small community of form six students and teachers for almost 6 years. It is quite strange to assume a post which co-exists with other official posts in a legitimate educational institution for 6 years without official appointment from the ministry of education. Plus, this post does not come with commitment allowance like the lesser posts for instance, The Head of Language Department. I believe that the 'tug-of-war' between the mainstream (the ordinary day school sector) and Islamic Education Sector in the Ministry of Education is the cause. Or this matter has been 'overlooked' by the ministry of education.
          Uncertainty has struck the form six education scenario and I am sceptical about realizing the sound establishment of form six education in Malaysia. The schools with small number of form six students will survive on a miniscule budget which hardly covers the purchase of even stationery. The rest of the fund will have to come from other sources. Funding plays an important role in establishing an institution. Lucky enough, as a High Performing School, our activities are funded annually by the Ministry of Education at federal level.

Minding the perspectives

Classroom Instructors should be handy with visual technology

looking at things creatively

 

 

One may look at things the way they are or choose to perceive them as desired by his creativity. For instance, an artist may invite his audience to look at an egg as a person's head in the egg holder.

wildest imagination could produce fantastic results

 

 

Photographers and artists do not only capture pictures as they are; they also change the mere, plain photos into creative visuals. Carefully created visuals could represent things metaphorically. Many outstanding visuals are created out of wildest but intentional imagination. The outcomes of any distinctive illustration comes from the theme pre-set in the first place. It is set to guide the production of innovative visuals which represents the matters in question.

 

Absurdity in photography is sometimes interpreted as revolutionary in visual concept. The extension of human mind to perceive things vary from an individual to another. High-end technology in the production of visual software could mean a holistic reformation in visuals arts altogether.

 

 

 

lighting effects from photoshop

 

 

material exploited for classroom use

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



Teachers in Dilemma?

How Long to Wait?

          I was trying hard to log on to HRMISone.gov vainly from last week. Today, 15 Oktober 2015, I managed to log on to the system and proceeded until SKT (Annual Work Target). After keying in the first part that is the list of projects (actually I tried the first project only). Then, clicked 'simpan' or keep. I waited for 6 minutes and there was no end to it and came back after 30 minutes. Guess what? The information was still pending to keep!
          Not giving up, I tried for the second time. The same thing happened but this time I waited for only ten minutes; which was already too long for online data uploading. Later, I tried logging on to my blogs. It took only about 5 seconds and updating fresh info took just 6 seconds. My oh my! 6 minutes versus 6 seconds; that is 60 times slower!






                                      versus

Then, why use internet explorer 7? It is now 2015 and the local domestic log on speed is 60 times slower! I do not mind if it is 6 times behind.

I got stuck right here! The information typed cannot be kept. Not only that, there is not even pending signature! It's as good as hang!

The Wind of Change

Adapting Technology in the Classroom- What are we going to do about it?

          Incorporating technology in teaching and learning has been the most talked-about issue since the last two decades . In 2003 when ICT in the classroom had been launched by the Ministry of Education with the implementation of PPSMI (Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English). Millions of ringgit had been invested in the education sector in the form of ICT equipment like notebooks, LCD projectors and some media soft-ware. Teachers were also sent for courses to the master the skills in ICT-based pedagogy.
          The implementation of ICT in education had not stopped just there. The setting up of government agencies like MOSTI and MDEC have been indicators to the seriousness of the government in this respect. The two agencies have been organizing activities nationwide to boost the country's commitment in ICT. Elements of ICT have been integrated in language activities like The Cybersafe Challenge Trophy which is held annually at national level.
          Back in the classroom, teachers are alerted or urged to implement ICT in their lessons. We cannot turn our backs on the global explosion of ICT craze. The business must go on as moulded by the current lifestyle. Students have gone gadget-wise, so do the teachers. If the students are smartphone nerds, teachers must be ready to adapt to the current trend. Now, I am not talking about practising social applications like 'What's Up', we-chat and as such. We are talking about managing the classroom materials in a much bigger scale where the materials are abundant and accessible at anytime, anywhere!
          The technology race between Apple and Samsung is all about innovation in communication. So, it is us who shall decide what we are going to do to get the best out of it. The two giants are achieving their sales targets. Likewise, we should use the technology to reach our goals in the classroom.

 

          A friend of mine once asked, "Do you produce results with your innovation in strategy and approach?"
          I replied, "We wouldn't know if an A grade student is going to be successful in life as compared to Bill Gates and Steve Jobbs. They are people who are interested in providing what the people need. Simply, I am talking about getting the students engaged in their lessons and experience current style both in living and learning."
He could not understand what I meant until I started to demonstrate to him how I could harness and control a few powerhouse of information links like Wikipedia, National Geography and Newsweek; to name a few. The animation of my fingers tapping on the screen tells it all! Simple! All you have to do is get the best info sites in one place, just like a 'Megamall of numerous business outlets under one roof!' He was still not convinced and did not understand. I then left him to experience the oncoming changes himself. I could not reach him just then.




          I am trying to provide what the students fancy. This also enables me to use materials stylistically; materials online could be exploited, that is downloaded and edited, tailored for my own need. Now, I cannot just cut out articles from newspapers to scrap and use them when the time comes. It is timely that I obtain materials based on my current needs and not collecting them and decide the theme later. I just could not tell the newspaper to print what I need! Looking up,the net gives me information by choice. The net is a generous consultant which provides selective search for almost anything at all.

Jumping In

Catching up with current trends

I am an ordinary person and teacher. My clients, pre-university students, are quite weak in English. They have been assessed at Cambridge 'O' Level. My real task is to instil English communicative ability, both local and abroad. My interest is to talk about ideas in training English communicative skills and the new trends in the business.

          Do I have audience to listen to my ideas? There is hardly any. Not many want to listen about things not listed under the formal line of duty. If I want to talk about it, go ahead they say but there is always no guarantee that it will be brought in meetings. So, I just have to wait until the authority passes out circulars, then it will be discussed.



          I feel rather strange to work in a place among people who are strangers to my ideas. So, it is rather vague or irrelevant for me to talk about new ideas and new practices. The argument is, embracing new practices involves a lot of adjustments and tedious procedures. I believe in accepting changes if they benefit mankind. if I have an idea, I will try it; putting it to a series of tests. If the idea gets through the tests, then it is applicable. The next stage is accepting it. Finally the idea will be practised by the institution. That is how ideas are worked out.
          I shall not be scared of being different as I believe in doing one thing and specializes in it. New, practical ideas are exponential, so we have to be aware of their effects on the mainstream. Being an educator, I am obliged to face the consequences of my actions.