NIE has also defined a basic e-learning platform that allows fast and user-friendly access for building online courses. This platform is professionally supported by a team of instructional designers and resource/content materials developers. In the building up of online courses, NIE has adopted a ‘learn together’ philosophy, where academic staff members picked up basic online skills together with the support team. To ensure that the technical aspects of the course delivery are well taken care of, NIE has invested strongly in the technical infrastructure for the e-learning platform adopted. Recognising the need to be able to translate and integrate established ICT into teaching and learning, NIE has actively engaged in ICT in education R&D. The primarily aims are to explore the possible uses of the various emerging technologies, such as the use of WAP over GPRS for discussion purposes, and to define ICT-enriched teaching and learning environments of the future. This paper will end by discussing the various possible future trends in the use of ICT for teaching and learning, particularly when applied to life-long learning.

The purpose of this article is to articulate a dimension of technologies for learning which we regard as having immense potentials. learning technologies can have the potential for being embedded in everyday design artifacts and serve to mediate between learners in seamless integration. Design is a field traditionally dominant in the arts and aesthetics, not thought to be related to technology and the sciences. In the emerging field of design-artifacts, we visualize products evolving through a merger of the arts and the sciences (Kemp, 2000). In this article, we articulate principles underpinning how design-artifacts can be adapted as technologies for learning. We highlight three major tenets: (1) design-artifacts mediate between persons for the expression of thought and emotions; (2) innovation as manifested through design-artifacts, which in the past has usually been an individualistic activity, can now be distributed meaningfully in teams or groups whereby appropriate depths of understanding and design skills are coordinated; and (3) that educators can possibly facilitate learners-in-teams towards such innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the more recent conceptions of learning in the light of more traditional conceptions which we are familiar with. These recent conceptions differ from traditional conceptions of individualistic thinking to a more collaborative and social nature towards learning. From these recent notions of learning and cognition, we discuss how the National Institute of Education is currently formulating e-pedagogies along the vein of these conceptions.

This paper attempts to make sense of engaged learning. Approaches such as problem-based learning should be advocated because it is an authentic form of learning encouraging students to be self-regulated and thus metacognitive towards their own thinking and behaviours. In contrast to passive forms of instruction, where learners are not perceived to be active and engaged or reflective, we are highlighting alternative pedagogies that promote this sense of self-regulatoy actions. We describe the engaged learning framework - focusing on both problem and process - which would be necessary for authenticity in learning experiences.

This evaluation study aimed to assess the implementation of the Third Masterplan for Information and Communication Technologies in Education (mp3) and its impact on Singapore schools through a 5-year survey of more than 8,000 participants and case studies of 12 schools. This research brief focuses on findings from the 2009 baseline study. In general, Singapore students reported high competencies in basic ICT skills and perceived themselves to be frequently engaged in self-directed learning (SDL) and collaborative learning (CoL) using ICT. Their perception of SDL revolved around achieving better academic results, and they tended to adopt a divide-and-conquer strategy for CoL. The teachers also reported high competencies in basic ICT skills. They tended to associate SDL with independent learning using ICT-mediated resources while associating CoL with group work. Recommendations are made on ways to harness ICT to enhance the achievement of the mp3 goals.

The huge amount of information and resources available on the Internet via the World Wide Web (WWW) makes the searching of a desired item of information a daunting task. Finding a suitable point to start the search can prove to be a bewildering experience for the Internet novice. This presentation will describe the origin and the development of the Chemistry Web Internet Resources and the Physics Resource Page of the Division of Chemistry and Division of Physics respectively at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. These resource WWW pages are intended as user friendly gateways to accessing the Internet for information and resources on chemistry and physics from Singapore. The structure of these WWW pages and the guiding principles behind its development will be highlighted. These will include the intended audience and the levels of information available. These WWW pages serve not only to provide information about the division's teaching and research programmes but, more importantly, to provide an organised structure of information and resources related to Chemistry and Physics on the Internet for research and teaching. The presentation will conclude with some discussion on the problems of developing and maintaining these WWW Web pages.

ICT has been viewed as a tool to support curriculum re-design and teachers’ pedagogical beliefs shift from teacher-centred to student-centred. While schools are being equipped with varied array of ICT tools, ICT has not successfully brought the shift in pedagogies to student-centred models in many countries. As the use of ICT in education gains traction within formal education, teaching and learning are framed as two overlapping and interconnecting sets of processes— transfer and deepening. The two sets of processes are not operating independently, for they are mutually reinforcing and iteratively enhancing learning. To conclude, the paradigms of ‘craft’ and ‘industrial’ educator are introduced as a suggested means of lensing the role of teachers in ICT-mediated learning environments.

The main modes of assessing Physics undergraduates in the Physics division of the National Institute of Education are (a) continuous assessments and (b) end-of-semester examination. In general, the first mode contributes 20% and the second 80% to the final grade of the students. This paper shall discuss how (b) was modified in our attempt to promote deeper learning. The basic idea of our approach is to set aside part of each examination question for the testing of analytical and thinking abilities of the students. We did this by constructing the questions such that these parts represented 'unfamiliar' situations to the students. In order to attempt these parts satisfactorily, the students would have to be able to correctly apply fundamental physics principles, rather than pure regurgitation of memorised ideas. The rest of each question were based mainly on lecture and tutorial work, so that a hard-working student, who had understood the basic ideas taught, can be expected to perform well. Examinations using the above strategy were carried out for some physics modules. The results of these examinations were compared to those where the level of difficulty within each question remained fairly uniform. The comparison was based on the same group of students.

In the current milieu of technological advancements, we are increasingly witnessing how technologies such as wireless and telecommunications can be integrated and taken advantage of in the daily interactions of the classroom and beyond. In this paper, we illustrate in simple yet novel ways how these technologies, which would in our opinion be prevalent in the near future, can be possibly adopted for teaching and learning. A case example of a teaching and learning environment as designed and developed will be illustrated. This case example illustrates the applications of wireless and mobile handheld devices, video-based learning management systems, and a flexible environment which facilitates group work.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an integrated values, skills and knowledge (VSK) framework for initial teacher preparation programmes. The VSK framework articulated, in broad terms, the desired skills and knowledge components for beginning teachers, with the underlying core values permeating the programmes. The paper has two parts, the first of which details the development as well as the conceptual underpinning of the VSK framework. Part two, through a programme evaluation, discusses the validity and reliability of items developed through the VSK framework to measure the values, skills and knowledge that student teachers perceived through their initial teacher preparation programme.