Call for more workshops on ICT

EDUCATORS have called for more seminars and workshops to be organised with emphasis on incorporating information and communication technology (ICT) into the education system to help teachers to upgrade their knowledge and skills.

Secondary school teacher Evelin Khadeeja Iman from Sultan Sharif Ali Secondary School told The Brunei Times that she found the seminar and workshop in conjunction with this year's Teachers' Day "relevant".

"We were taught how to integrate ICT into lessons and the workshop was not bad because I learnt some tools to aid me in teaching that I did not know of before," she said.

She added that having seminars and workshops could help teachers improve their quality of teaching because "every teacher needs to have standards".

Instructor Diana Abdeenah Mail from Wasan Vocational School said that the seminar and workshop helped her keep up with the pace of technology and that she has now learnt how to make her lessons more interesting and interactive.

"This event has taught us teachers to take our own initiative, such as searching for new software as ICT tools to help our students learn more interactively," she said, adding that the workshop was "great" as it trained her to improve her teaching methods.

She was also of the opinion that seminars, workshops and conferences should be organised more often to keep teachers updated with the necessary skills and knowledge in today's ICT world.

Another teacher, Jessie Chiew from Panaga School in Seria said the seminars and workshops helped her to conduct more "hands-on activities" for her students.

"Now we teachers will be able to conduct less chalk and talk as we will be encouraging our students to do more research and independent work," she said.

She agreed that these activities for teachers should be carried out more often. "I feel that I am a good teacher but there is always room for improvement, to learn and reach high quality teaching standards."

Islamic Religious Knowledge teacher Hj Mukti Hj Mohd from Nakhoda Ragam Vocational School echoed the same sentiments. "I learnt a lot about using ICT as a tool to educate my students. Now I will not spoon-feed my students anymore," he said. He added that although he previously used some ICT tools in class, " InsyaAllah, I will fully start to use ICT now as it is really beneficial."

The Brunei Times