Crescent Girls' School (CGS) has a rich culture of using infocomm technology (ICT) for teaching and learning. With the vision of promoting personalised learning for every student by harnessing technology, CGS began exploring the use of Tablet PCs (TPCs) to provide a mobile computing platform that could enhance students' learning experience, motivation and achievement.
In 2003, teachers brainstormed on how TPCs and other innovative technologies could be adopted to improve the learning process. Satisfied with the effectiveness of their plan and with buy-in from students and parents, the school decided to embark on the BackPack.NET project.
M-learning@Crescent was launched by the Minister of Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, on 31 July 2004, with the entire Secondary 1 cohort owning their personal learning devices for learning purposes. Currently, Crescent's entire staff and Sec 2 and 3 students use TPCs in class.
To harness the full potential of a one-to-one TPC initiative, support structures were put in place. A stand-alone school-wide wireless network infrastructure was implemented. This offered exciting possibilities for self-paced and personalised learning as well as collaboration.
Innovative applications co-developed with Heuristix Lab were used in subjects such as Mathematics and Geography. Applications such as 'Fun with Construction', 'Mindbook' and 'Virtual Classroom' enabled teachers and students to participate in tests and quizzes anywhere within the school compound or from home, besides keeping students meaningfully engaged during lessons. Currently, teachers are co-developing new applications for the sciences and mother tongue languages with Heuristix Lab. CGS is also exploring using Digital Games to enthuse students in learning.
With the introduction of CrezSphere - a virtual learning platform that runs on Microsoft Learning Gateway - in 2005, all staff and students could access information about the latest happenings at school, cohort, class and CCA levels, and even on a personal level. CrezSphere includes discussion forums, schemes of work for each subject and level, and a repository of practice papers, online lessons, consultations and learning resources. This fostered the building of a virtual community within CGS.
To address the concerns of parents and teachers regarding security, cost and maintenance, reinforced lockers were set up in every classroom to allow students to secure their TPCs when not in use. Insurance and financing schemes were made available to allow every student access to a personal TPC. A technical helpdesk was set up, and an ICT support team trained and scheduled to run the helpdesk during school hours.
Students and teachers were trained in the basics of using TPCs, Microsoft ONEnote, Microsoft Journal and Microsoft Producer. IT training has been established for the staff and included IT seminars, briefings during staff meetings and department meetings.
Teachers showcased their innovative and effective ways of using TPCs in learning and teaching during monthly sharing sessions. Surveys for new applications and upgrades to the system were introduced to enhance the mobile learning experience for students. Continuous training for teachers and helpdesk technical assistants were also conducted. As other technologies develop, they would be explored for their effectiveness in supporting the student-centred mobile learning environment.
One key focus in the m-learning@Crescent programme is to explore effective pedagogical possibilities and to actualise these practices. In 2005, all Sec 1 and 2 students were profiled in terms of their learning styles using 3 specialised tools: VARK, HMI and Kolb's LSI1. Students gained a better understanding of their learning preferences.
Teachers were trained in the different pedagogical approaches they could use to teach classes of different dominant learning styles. Lessons and learning tasks can now be personalised for students. Hence, in 2006, Sec 2 and 3 students can look forward to exciting lessons and experiences aimed at encouraging higher-order thinking skills, independent learning, creativity and motivation.
Constant reviews are conducted to ensure that quality education is provided. Stanford Research Institute (USA) has performed an independent study of the use of TPCs at CGS. Various focus group discussions were held to review and improve the programme's processes. CGS was also the first school to undergo BY(i)TES - a rigorous self and external examination to seek improvements in the way technology was harnessed and used to achieve best educational outcomes for students. After the audit, CGS was deemed to have achieved an Advanced status in performance. This indicated that the school has implemented a sound, strategic and systemic school-wide integration of ICT and practices.
1 VARK reflects learners' preference in using these modes for learning: Visual, Auditory, Read/Write and Kinesthetic. HMI assesses the right and left brain approaches to learning. Both have different and yet specialized functions for organising thinking and approaching problem solving. The Kolb's LSI classifies students as convergers, accommodators, divergers and assimilators from the way they perceive and process information.