Blogs are replacing blackboards as Singapore moves high-technology into its classrooms as teaching tools, newspapers reported Wednesday.
Under the FutureSchools@Singapore programme, blogs, video-conferencing, tablet PCs, podcasts, 3-D software and interactive whiteboards will be available for learning, The Straits Times reported.
Five schools in the city state have been selected to pioneer the use of innovative teaching methods that harness info-communication technologies (ICT), the education ministry confirmed in a press release.
Tech-savvy Singapore, one of Asia’s most wired nations, aims to set up 15 such schools at primary and secondary levels by 2015.
"ICT tools such as immersive virtual environments and educational games will be used to enhance learning," the ministry statement said.
"These schools will push the frontiers of teaching and learning practices by harnessing ICT at a school-wide level," it added.
The first five schools, including a new primary that will start its student intake next year, will integrate ICT into their curriculum over four years.
Despite the new tools, the schools will stay focused on the core goals of education, planning lessons around the national curriculum and preparing students for national exams, the ministry said.
The selected schools will also study how the use of technology affects the students’ cognitive, emotional and social development, it said.