| Lyna Mohamad |
GONE are the days of teaching through conventional methods or teacher-centred approaches and educators need to push boundaries by challenging traditional assumptions.
This was stated by Minister of Education Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman while opening Politeknik Brunei’s 3rd International Symposium on Teaching and Learning at the Orchid Garden Hotel yesterday.
“There is a need to give students opportunities to learn creatively in tandem with technological progress and while human factor and resources are still a crucial part of education, reading materials and resources must still remain an important part of students’ lives,” he said.
The minister also noted that it needs technology to implement mobile learning and the Ministry of Education has over the years taken efforts in providing quality education and raising standards of teaching through educational innovations.
“Education innovation is one of the main platforms for providing quality education which is to be shared by all educational institutions – whether private or public, mainstream or specialised.
“What better platform to begin innovation than with mobile learning and innovation in technologies, which currently has caused ongoing global interest among people in the digital era,” the minister said.
He further noted that education through mobile learning technologies has evolved through innovation, enabling students to manage today’s technological changes, adding that students today should be independent critical thinkers, highly innovative and ever ready to face what is in store for them.
“The future has now arrived for us to embrace changes that have been brought about by technology. It is thus crucial for educators to better equip and prepare our students with the necessary skills through the use of technologies and mobile learning for enhancing students’ personal learning experiences.”
The minister also noted that wireless communication technology, in a world where modern technologies are rapidly growing, has already become an integral part of our daily surroundings.
“As mobile phones with high capabilities extend to all areas of human life, it is expected that this wireless device becomes accessible for all. Access to such inexpensive and sophisticated devices has changed the landscape of our learning process in so many ways,” he added.
“Mobile learning is a relatively new concept in education, particularly in this region, and Brunei is no exception. Thus, it has now become pertinent for learners and educators to share what works and what does not when using mobile learning devices.
“For the education sector in Brunei, a major challenge for educators and trainers is how to develop learning material for effective delivery using mobile devices,” the minister pointed out.
Learning material should make use of multimedia, he said, adding that everyone should conduct research and complete projects using the modern capabilities of mobile devices and learning about the best practices in mobile learning.
The generation today is undeniably growing to be more tech-savvy than the previous generations, and mobile phones, among all modern communication devices, is probably one of the most powerful communication media, richer than e-mail or chat as it is able to act as a learning device despite its technical limitations, the minister said.
Touching on the symposium’s theme, ‘Mobile Learning and Innovation in Technologies’, he noted that the theme is relevant as it offers dissemination of information, skills and knowledge – through sharing the experiences of educational innovators from various sectors.
“Our educators today need to be offered opportunities to be bold and use innovations for enhancing learning and they should not fear such advancement in technology.”
The minister also highlighted that it is imperative to have the drive to continually innovate and improve on innovative education practices either through mobile learning, other creative technological innovations or learning avenues.
Mobile technology is having an increasing prevalence in life and it plays a vital role in learning different knowledge dimensions, causing a shift from teacher-led learning and encouraging students to use technology in more efficient and smart ways.
On this note, the minister urged educators to continue improve the quality of their teaching programmes as well as to work closely with each other and build strong relationships with one another, while simultaneously challenging the traditional notion of the type of work set for the students.
“Mobile technology gets learning away from the classroom environment with little or no access to the teacher, though the learning process can hardly be accomplished without a teacher’s direction or guidance,” he said.
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