ICT - Importance of Masterplans

Q. Why do you think it is important for MOE to develop the 3 Masterplans for ICT in education?

The Masterplans essentially provide a framework within which ICT can be incorporated into the education system. As the world changes around us and technology increasingly becomes an integral part of our lives, it is important that the education system evolves to keep up with these changes in order to equip future generations with the skills and abilities necessary to remain competitive in such an environment. The integration of ICT into lessons can help greatly to enhance transmission of subject content to students as well: for instance, lessons can be made more interesting and stimulating, and thus more accessible to students. Being equipped with ICT skills would also mean that students would be a lot more independent academically, as they are able to tap into a wide variety of electronic/online resources by themselves; apart from the variety of resources, technology also enhances the ease and speed at which these resources can be accessed, which would, once again, enable students to facilitate their own learning. Given the importance and relevance of ICT to education and the goals of education – such as self-directed learning – it is only natural that there should be a guideline or framework in place to facilitate a fusion of the two.

With the Masterplans, the links between the incorporation of ICT into classrooms and learner outcomes/ outcomes for the school are clearly stated and reinforced: as Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said, “Our goal is ultimately not about the use of technology, but about changing the culture of the classroom and school to support and motivate thinking and independent learning among our pupils.” In other words, they provide a theoretical framework that enables the overarching educational goals to be kept in focus while implementing ICT in schools.