Two issues of the SEAMEO INNOTECH
Journal feature some of the major papers presented
during the conference. Seven of these papers are
presented as Part 2 in this issue.
Mr. Feliciano R. Belmonte, Mayor
of Quezon City Philippines, in his keynote address
delivered during the Conference discusses the
changing role of local governments in education.
Using one of the largest cities in the Philippines
as an example, Mr. Belmonte shows that while the
national government remains to be primarily responsible
for local educational development, creative local
government units have undertaken some "reinvention";
on their own to complement, supplement and, in
some cases, present alternative options to national
education programs.
In his article Teaching and
Learning by Using an Information Sharing System
via the Internet, Prof. Yoshikazu Murakami
of the Department of Business Administration,
Matsayuma University, Japan, shares an Internet-based
information sharing system which he established
to improve his teaching and students'; learning.
The system consists of an exclusive Internet-disk
for digital storage, dedicated www-site and e-mail
accounts using the author's own Internet domain.
It offers a unique opportunity in classroom teaching
and learning. The article describes the system
and discusses the results of its trial.
Mr. Jeffrey Bailie, Director of
International Relations, National American University,
USA, in his article titled Bridging International
Boundaries Through Inter-Collegial Web-Based Programs,
describes the distance learning program at the
National American University which has evolved
from a limited number of Web-based courses into
a virtual campus entity conferring approved undergraduate
and graduate degree programs to students throughout
the world. Mr. Bailie relates how the University
has successfully anticipated and overcome the
challenges encountered in the construction, launch
and maintenance of a solid e-learning program.
In the article Innovative
Practices in Teaching, Learning and Professional
Development, Ms. Foo Seau Yoon, Senior IT
Instructor in Singapore's Ministry of Education
talks about the edu.QUEST (Quality and Excellence
in Schools through Technology) platform which
was initiated to provide opportunities for research
into the impact of leading-edge technologies on
educational practice and achievement. Her article
describes the innovative practices in the areas
of teaching, learning and professional development
that resulted from the edu.QUEST project.
Ms. Lee Lai Har Judy, Project
Development Specialist, Ministry of Education,
Singapore, explores the importance of instilling
an attitude of curiosity and developing habits
of lifelong learning among pupils in her article
entitled The LEARN@TM Experience. Her
article provides an overview of the Learn@ Series
of learning journeys, initiated by the Ministry
of Education of Singapore, with the aim of bringing
learning out of the classroom
and into various stimulating environments. Each
year, the Ministry partners different organizations
to bring the Learn@ event to different environments,
where pupils capture their observations and learning
experiences based on themes, with the help of
IT as a tool, and a dash of creativity and imagination.
Mr. Dennis Sale, Section Head
of Educational Development at Singapore Polytechnic,
in his article titled, A Thinking Curriculum:
The Model for Future Curriculum Planning,
provides a practical framework for designing what
he refers to as a thinking curriculum,
a product of over three years of applied curriculum
development work in promoting thinking. While
the main focus of his work has been in the area
of tertiary/vocational education, it is sufficiently
transferable to all curriculum areas where thinking
is essential to effective learning. The article
argues the need for a curriculum model that is
consistent with recent brain research, cognitive
psychology and professional practice, and asserts
that such a curriculum approach is most suited
to the needs of a knowledge-based economy.
Mr. Kevin Kettle, Project Development
Specialist at SEAMEO Regional Center for Archeology
and Fine Arts, in his article titled, The
Poverty of Development: Problems and Possibilities,
sets out with the premise that many current development
policies are impoverished because they often fail
to recognize or value the issues of culture, context
and choice in the process of planning and implementation.
Mr. Kettle asserts that development policies conducted
in a top-down ethnocentric manner do not accommodate
local knowledge and hence overlook communities
and individuals as innovators. Only when there
is mutual understanding, tolerance and respect
for diversity in cultures and the living contexts
of people involved in the design and implementation
of development programs can they truly succeed.
