HOD ICT Message

HOD’s Message

The evolution of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) has transformed the way teaching and learning takes place in the classrooms. From the days of chalk and talk to the use of smart devices for learning trails, ICT has played an important role in shaping our education landscape.

As a pilot school for 1-to-1 Personal Learning Device Project (PLD) in 2019, Bendemeer’s teachers are the forerunners in designing and using e-pedagogy. We have had a long runway to fine tune our strategy, including the unprecedented Home-Based-Learning during Circuit Breaker, to meaningfully use these PLDs to elevate learning. In Bendemeer, we use technology to support traditional methods, equipping our students with 21st Century skills while ensuring learning is never compromised. Minister Ong Ye Kung, our previous Minister of Education, has supported and validated this strategy:

“What we want to do is to use SLS to enhance the classroom experience. Let the technology fade into the background and let the interaction, thinking, and discussion come to the fore.”— March 2020.

ICT has successfully encouraged critical thinking and facilitated collaborative learning in our classrooms — both online and in person. Our current toolbox also allows our teachers to maintain a disciplined classroom, by allowing teachers to check on students’ screens and work in real time. This is also essential for timely feedback.

My colleagues in the CCE department have also integrated cyber-wellness into our CCE curriculum to ensure that our students are not only tech-savvy but also responsible online citizens who can critically navigate the cyber web. In every class, we have also trained Cyber Wellness Ambassadors who role model positive online behavior and motivate their peers to do the same.

Alongside Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS), launched in 2018, our students use these PLDs to access high-quality and relevant curriculum-aligned learning resources online. Students will be able to learn anywhere, anytime and at any pace to suit their own learning needs. In this sense, ICT has become an essential tool in facilitating self-directed and life-long learning, which are key competencies that our students need to develop in order to stay relevant in today’s society.

The Bendemeer ICT department has always worked closely with the school’s management team to ensure that a robust and sustainable ICT infrastructure is in place and that programmes are planned to develop ICT competencies in both teachers and students.

Given the strong solidarity in the Bendemeer family and ongoing support from various stakeholders, I am confident that our students will benefit from an ICT-supported holistic education and become responsible users of ICT.

Mr Ng Wee Nghee
HOD Information Communications Technology (ICT)
Bendemeer Secondary School