Mr Lui Tuck Yew: I believe that with effective infocomm usage, our students can learn how to integrate knowledge from multiple sources, think critically and distil information.

The school of tomorrow is here today, and a shining example of this is Beacon Primary School, which had its official opening on 23 July 2010. The school in Bukit Panjang is one of the pioneering schools under the EdVantage FutureSchools@Singapore programme, which seeks to harness infocomm technology in the education sector to achieve higher levels of engagement with students.

Speaking at the opening, Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, noted that being a new school, “Beacon Primary would have the exciting task and limitless possibilities of introducing this programme without being constrained by any pre-conceived mindsets and existing practices in an established school”.

Mr Lui also observed that parents have been just as enthusiastic. Although new schools usually take a few years to build their reputation and enrolment, all available places were taken up when Beacon Primary started in 2008.

Currently, six FutureSchools have been set up. Besides Beacon Primary School, the others are Canberra Primary School, Crescent Girls’ School, Hwa Chong Institution, Jurong Secondary School and the School of Science and Technology. Under the FutureSchools@Singapore programme, these institutions will pioneer the integration of infocomm into the curriculum and in the process transform the whole school in the pervasive use of infocomm in teaching and learning.

One such educational application is Beacon World, which had its soft launch at the school’s opening. Beacon World is an immersive and interactive 3-D environment resembling Second Life, allowing pupils to explore the world from the comfort of their classroom, via virtual reality.

“I believe that with effective infocomm usage, our students can learn how to integrate knowledge from multiple sources, think critically and distil information, which will help them excel in today’s competitive economy,” said Mr Lui.

Unveiling Beacon World, an immersive and interactive 3-D environment that allows pupils to explore the world from the comfort of their classroom.

Beacon World was developed by a consortium of infocomm industry players led by ST Electronics (Training and Simulation Systems) who partnered Beacon Primary School to create the safe, online community, where pupils can explore concepts and ideas, and express themselves. The full suite of learning tools will be available by the end of 2011.

Under the FutureSchools@Singapore programme, applications like Beacon World, which are designed according to a school’s requirements, will also be tested and fine-tuned in real school environments. Mr Lui foresees that such technology “may well have significant commercial potential throughout Singapore and abroad”.