Universiti Pendidikan Sultan

Idris

TKU 3023
ICT in Chemistry

Assignment: What Is Smart School

By:
Siti Khadijah Binti Ibrahim D20081032329
Syamimi Binti Othman D20081032370

Lecturer’s Name : Cik Asmayati Binti Yahaya

Slot : Thursday, 1.00 p.m – 4.00 p.m

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 1. What is a smart school?

The definition of "Smart School" is one that uses a technology platform as a

medium on which distance learning and specific teaching expertise are made available
to remote locations including the home, with out compromise to the quality of information
transfer and certified teaching methods developed locally, regionally or internationally.

The Smart School Project was one of the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor
(MSC) flagships. The Ministry set a target of total migration of its more than 10,000
primary and secondary schools into Smart School by the year 2010. The Smart School
concept is a long term plan for the national educational system to produce highly skilled
and knowledgeable human capital in terms of ICT and as a paradigm shift in the
educational system. The Smart School will play a crucial role in providing a strong
foundation for the pupils to develop and increase their abilities as individuals. The Smart
School Project will be a stepping-stone to spearhead ICT integration and implementation
not only in teaching and learning but also across the educational system in Malaysia.
Skills and knowledge of ICT will be centre stage in Smart School and play a vital role in
the school management systems.

The Malaysian Smart School is a learning institution that has been systemically
reinvented in terms of teaching-learning practices and school management in order to
prepare children for the Information Age. The Malaysian Smart School has the following
qualities such as a philosophy that says all students can learn if taught, coupled with
high expectations for all students, a broad curriculum that considers the different
capabilities and needs of all students, a school climate that is conducive to learning, an
on-going assessment that supports good instruction, strong and professional principals
and teachers and a high level of parent and community involvement and support.

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 2. How is a smart school differed from normal national school?

The Smart School won't be the same as any existing schools anywhere around
the world. These are due to two main factors involving current education system in
Malaysia and will continue in Smart School. Firstly: The National Philosophy of
Malaysian Education will be the main component of Smart School curriculum and
secondly: moral values that have been stressed in present curriculum will go on into
Smart schooling. These two foundations of Malaysian Education will not be negotiable in
the Smart Curriculum. This will make the Smart School different than the rest of normal
schools. How the curriculum is being carried out in Smart School may resemble to the
existing Smart Schools.

The Malaysian Smart Schools Project was started as one of the MSC Flagship
Applications, along with 6 others. A Smart School is a learning institution where the
teaching-learning practices and school management has been systemically reinvented.
This is to prepare students for the information era that is so important today. What
distinguishes smart schools from other schools is the use of technology to support and
enhance teaching-learning.

The process not only involves the introduction of IT and multimedia, but is also a
catalyst towards creating and implementing a more effective education delivery process.

The Smart School’s assessment system will be distinctly different from current
systems to help to realize the National Philosophy of Education It shall be element-
based and criterion-referenced to provide a more holistic and accurate picture of a
student’s performance. Teachers, students and parents will be able to access on-line
assessment items. Smart School assessment will be flexible and learner-friendly, while
assuring the quality of the assessment information by using multiple approaches and
instruments. It will lead to living certification, which will not only attest to a student’s
cumulative accomplishments but will also be open to continued improvement on a
lifetime basis. The scope of assessment in the Smart School is holistic in that it covers

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not only achievement but also readiness, progress and aptitude. The assessment also is
learner- centered as all students will be assessed when they are ready. The assessment
system shall also be element-based which focuses on the elements that students
possess or must develop through the subjects in the school curriculum such as science
and technology, social-emotional and cognitive development and also communication.
Thus, the assessment will be conducted in various forms: Classroom Assessment,
School-based Assessment and Centralized Assessment, to allow different
demonstrations of strengths, abilities and knowledge.

Lastly, the curriculum of Smart School is open-ended in two ways there are it is
open to revision and continued refinement and it provides open access to all students for
internet using, allowing students to go beyond explicitly stated learning outcomes in
curriculum documents. Besides, the curriculum focuses on significant goals. In this case
all students, including those with special needs can develop the critical skills and acquire
the knowledge they need for effective lifelong learning and full functioning as citizens in
a changing society and in this challenging life.

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 3. What are the goals and objectives of smart school?

The Smart School is a learning institution that has been reinvented in terms of
teaching and learning methods and school administration system in order to prepare the
students for the Information-Based Society. Creativity and better management of
information is facilitated through the use of technology where students, teachers,
administrators and parents are better prepared for the challenges of the information Age.

The objectives of the Smart School, which are based on Malaysia's National
Philosophy of Education. Education in Malaysia is an on-going efforts towards further
developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to
produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced
and harmonic, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed
to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess
high moral standards and who are responsible and capable of achieving high level of
personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of
the family, the society and the nation at large.

Based on The Malaysia's National Philosophy of Education, the objectives of

Smart School are to produce a thinking and technology-literate workforce. The Smart
School also made to democratize education and to increase participation of
stakeholders. Furthermore, it aims to provide all-round development of the individual.
The objectives of Smart School also is to provide opportunities to enhance individual
strengths and abilities.

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, pointed out the
three core visions of the Smart School Flagship Application during the Launching of
Multimedia Super Corridor on 1st August 1996. Firstly, the vision are teachers will need
to change their role in the electronic classroom from being information providers to
counselors to help students develop know how and judgment to select information
sources. Secondly, Key to success in the Information Age will be making the right

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judgment between an awesome array of choices and the next vision is we are examining
our education system to create a curriculum where people learn how to learn for
continuing education throughout their lives.
Beside that, since the early 1970s, the Malaysian Government introduced various
initiatives to facilitate a wider adoption of ICT to boost capabilities in every field including
education. The history of the Smart School Project is rooted in the two-pronged
objectives of the flagship, which are to jumpstart the Multimedia Super Corridor Malaysia
(MSC) towards building a knowledge-based economy, contributing to the growth of the
ICT industry and creating a pool of talent resulting in high-value job creation. It is also
initiate to prepare the citizens for the information age through an innovative education
delivery process. The Concept Requests for Proposals (CRFP) process was used for
the first time ever in the country to establish partnerships between the government of
Malaysia and the private sector to help conceptualize plan and implement the Flagship
Applications of the Multimedia Super Corridor. In July 1997, the Prime Minister launched
the Smart School Flagship Application documents to invite proposals for solutions from
the private sector within and outside the country.

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 4. Discuss the roles played by the teacher, student and parents in order to
achieve the goals and objectives of smart school?

Malaysia intends to transform its educational system, in line with and in support
of the nation’s drive to fulfill Vision 2020. Transforming the educational system will entail
changing the culture and practices of Malaysia’s primary and secondary schools, moving
away from memory-based learning designed for the average student to an education
that stimulates thinking, creativity, and caring in all students, cater to individual abilities
and learning styles, and are based on more equitable access. It will require students to
exercise greater responsibility for their own education, while seeking more active
participation by parents and the wider community.

The Smart Schools Initiative received considerable support from the relevant
governmental agencies, parents and private companies and such continuous support
was important to maintain the effective and efficient management practice of the
Malaysian Smart Schools. In realizing The Smart School idea, it is become to need
more attention from Malaysia’s government. Thus, it is mean that all Malaysian
cooperation needed in achieving Smart School objective.

The higher degree of individualized attention for students at a Smart School will
necessitate new roles and responsibilities for teachers, principals, Ministry of Education
officers, support staff and parents. In fact, fulfilling these roles and responsibilities will
require specialized training for each group.

Teacher development will be critical to the success of the Smart School.

Teachers will need intensive training in the use of information technology and in its
integration into classroom activities in ways that enhance thinking and creativity. Smart
School teachers will also need to learn to facilitate and encourage students in taking
charge of their own learning. In the long term, these teachers will need to augment their
skills regularly, if they are to stay abreast of developments in their profession and remain
confident in their application of the technology.

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 In a Smart School, students are autonomous learners; they learn how to learn.
Smart Schools enable children to acquire abilities of constructing knowledge from
available information. These abilities are crucial to a learning society. In Smart School,
all students have the ability to learn and progress, which can be enhanced by using
appropriate learning technologies. Student’s role is very important in determine whether
the Smart School is succeed or not. In, Smart School, learning is a consequence of
thinking, and good thinking is learnable by all students. Smart School also apply the
learning should include deep understanding, which involves the flexible, active use of
knowledge. Thus, the student’s have to adapt to the way of the Smart School operate.
Without the student’s cooperation and achievement in Smart School, The Smart School
may not continue.

Smart Schools for enhancing the learning of students have effectively used
computers, the Internet and other high band communication technology such as video-
conferencing and now satellite data streaming and satellite radio. In sharp contrast to
traditional schools, Smart Schools offer an open environment for learning. Students
function as autonomous learners. In a Smart School, the emphasis of learning shifts
from acquiring discrete pieces of information to acquiring abilities by students such as
constructing their own knowledge from information. In constructing the student’s
knowledge, the student’s own desire to learn are very important and play a big role to
realize the Smart School objective as the student’s desire will help them in obtain the
knowledge without feel forced and make them feel comfortable in learning. The
student’s role is very important because the objective of Smart School is based on them
in determining whether the Smart School achieves the objective or otherwise.

Parents can play a major role in helping Smart Schools provide individualized
education for students. Research has shown that students do better when their parents
are involved. This task will go beyond monitoring the child’s progress, and providing
guidance, motivation, and counsel; it will require familiarity with the new educational
processes, a willingness to assist with developing teaching-learning and assessment
materials, as well as the ability to access the school’s public domain databases
electronically.

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 To survive professionally in this fast changing world, one has to be a lifelong
learner. Learning how to learn, therefore, is basic to all other skills that should be
acquired at the school. Schools which support students' learning and thinking skills with
programs, infrastructure, tools, teachers and management by using information and
communication technologies will be the Smart Schools. As to say that cooperation from
all Malaysian whether students, teachers and parents needed to achieve the objective
of Smart School to produce a knowledge society that is critical, creative and innovative,
to produce technology savvy individuals for the Information Age and to cultivate life-long
learning based on Information and Communication in Technology.

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 5. What are the knowledge and skills of a teacher in the new millennium, so
as to play an effective role in smart school education?

Teachers must have knowledge and skills to play an effective role in smart school
education. Teachers at Smart Schools, must been trained in the use of information
technology. The teachers also must address fear of technology and change, strive for
continuous education even if students decide to pursue non-academic careers (e.g.,
singers, athletes), go beyond portal stage to using applications such as planning and
scheduling of lessons online and nurture balanced thinking among students. Teachers
nowadays must have knowledge in ICT. That is very important.

Teachers could give many different and specific examples of how technology had
changed their work. A number of things were being done with Web sites, from giving
students notes which one teacher described as a "low end thing," to getting students to
create their own Web pages. One teacher was using a Web site to enhance an actual
field trip. The Web site introduces students to the animals and tells them what they are
going to be doing while on the field trip. It shows them techniques they can use to
analyze the ecosystem and record the data. The prior preparation through the Web site
helps students benefit from the actual field trip.

Several teachers mentioned that they used Power Point and other computer
programs to improve their presentation of material to class. Teachers explained that
technology enabled teachers to deliver more material to students and it also eliminated
several basic problems such as; poor hand writing, poor artistic skill, contrast, lighting,
and visibility. Another teacher makes extensive use of software programs to help teach
physics. The students go into the laboratory and collect their data using the computer.
Then they use word processing programs along with Excel to do graphs and
presentations. The software allows the students to collect different kinds of data using
various attachments that are plugged into the computer. Using computer technology,
students have more time to explore beyond the mechanics of counting dots and setting
up the experiment. It actually lets them look at it and understand the concepts better.
Another teacher made the point that resource-based teaching or resource-based

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learning is almost becoming "seamless, almost natural" in everything that teachers do
because information is becoming easier to access.

The use of ICT is changing teaching in several ways. With ICT, teachers are able
to create their own material and thus have more control over the material used in the
classroom than they have had in the past. Rather than deskilling teachers as some
scholars claim, it seems that technology is requiring teachers to be more creative in
customizing their own material. Also, using Web pages to enhance an activity
demonstrates that technology can be used to complement other aspects of good
teaching rather than replace them. It is evident that involving students in the creation of
useful material as a part of a learning exercise is a way to make school more meaningful
for students. While the uses of Power Point presentations have been criticized by some,
teachers at this school provide examples of how it helps them with their teaching. The
use of peripheral devices on computers to help with physics experiments again shows
how ICT can be used to aid the learning process and help students focus on higher level
concepts rather than less meaningful tasks.

The changes caused by the introduction of information technology into learning

environments, are not without some potential problems which must be considered by
administrators. The information from this school indicates that some fundamental
rethinking of the education process may be necessary because of the use of ICT. This
will also put pressure on the school system to restructure the way education is
organized.

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