The value of technology serves to empower my students as curators and creators of their learning. With this belief, I have tasked my students to design formative assessment quizzes for their peers. Upon receiving their peer’s responses, they have worked in groups to evaluate the responses and to co-create their “marking” key with explanations for each response. This allows them to examine the different responses and elicit the key concept. The ability to discuss, discern and deliberate leading to the convergence of a collective response on a digital platform synchronously was one way technology can enhance students’ learning.

Wen Hui, Academy of Singapore Teachers

I use Google Earth and Google Map to teach primary Science and Math. Google Earth is used to teach the topic of man’s impact on the environment. Global warming due to pollution has caused the ice at both poles to melt and water levels to rise, disrupting weather patterns. The children can actually see the decreasing size of the frozen ice at the North Pole. Google Map also allows me to enhance their understanding of area, perimeter and distances between cities. By zooming in from outer space to our school’s courtyard, we can measure the area and calculate how big it is. I ask my pupils to imagine: If I have to build a fence around the school’s courtyard, how many meters of fencing would I need?

Mohammad Fadilah Admah, Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah

Digital field trips have been a boon when it comes to enhancing my students’ learning. Due to the COVID-19 experience, helping my students with some authentic learning was a challenge as showing them pictures just wasn’t sufficient. Digital field trips enhance my students’ learning by allowing them to experience the closest to reality as they were guided through the virtual programmes. I also gathered their feedback, which was a powerful opportunity that allowed me to curate, consolidate and quantify my students’ learning in a meaningful manner.

Clifton James, Peiying Primary School

Schools can strengthen our role in developing students’ social and emotional skills by using a wholeschool and many helping hands approach. We need to partner with parents so that there is alignment between the home and school spheres, and parents can reinforce what teachers inculcate in schools. Educators need to role model good social and emotional skills during their interaction with students, colleagues and parents. We also need to leverage peer leaders as students also look to influential peers who can influence them significantly.

Shir Nee Ong,Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School

Enable time for teachers to build positive classroom culture that encourages students to experiment and learn from failure. Teachers play the role of a facilitator to engage students’ reflections in the learning process that help develop their thinking and emotions. We can also plan for classwork that encourages peer and group interaction, and problem solving.

Karen Low Lai Fong, Punggol View Primary School

Schools can leverage student leaders by training and equipping them with the necessary skills that they can pass on to their classmates during their interactions. This will be effective as students may not be comfortable expressing themselves fully in front of teachers, thus their peers would be able to reach out to them more meaningfully. Also, schools can do their part by conducting workshops and using scenario-based learning to help students better develop their social and emotional skills.

Elena Thein Ying Jie, Admiralty Secondary School

We need to leverage their curiosity and make them share what they feel is worth discovering. This requires them to ask questions that could have no answers rather than accept answers that cannot be questioned. The keyword I usually drive at is “epiphany”, in which their sudden realization can be used collectively to level everyone’s fear of interacting intelligently, since they see themselves being in the same boat.

Aidal Razali, Madrasah Wak Tanjong