The Star – Not for schoolwork only

By HARIATI AZIZAN

Not for schoolwork only By HARIATI AZIZAN LUIIS is CENTRE of ATTENTION – Male, 18-years-old, from down south, Texas, United States pops up on the big screen in the front of the computer lab of SMK Sri Permata in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

“That is mine,” exclaims Amir (not his real name) pointing to the big screen.

Chua (right) with her hardworking ICT team (from left) Koh Chin Kiang Ramani Kuppusamy, Abdullah Sani Deraman and Chin Siew Yin.

His monitor screen has been flashed on the large screen for all to see but instead of quickly clicking off, he simply continues to browse the other profiles on MySpace.

Like most teens around the world, Amir is caught up in the MySpace craze. He spends at least 20 minutes a day visiting the social networking website to see if he has made any new friends. Unlike most teens though, Amir does all this in school.
The latest football results pop up on the big screen next which soon morphed into a “world” from the webgame Utopia.

It is recess time at Sri Permata and the computer lab at the school is full of Form One and Form Two students checking emails, chatting online, playing games or just surfing the internet.

While most schools keep their computer facilities secure under locks, at Sri Permata, the school computer lab is an open avenue for students to hone their information and communication technology (ICT) skills.

Making IT accessible

According to the Education Ministry’s Educational Technology Division (BTP) the effectiveness of the ministry’s programmes in making teachers and students ICT savvy depends not only on how well the school is equipped but also the extent of usage of the infrastructure provided.

As reported recently, apart from schools without electricity supply in rural areas, all others have been installed with ICT infrastructure. The usage, however, is still below the ministry’s target.

According to World Bank standards, any facility should have 70% utilisation to be effective, says BTP director Datuk Yusoff Harun.

He says his division has received reports that many schools restrict computer usage due to various problems such as teacher shortage, lack of technical support and funding for maintenance.

They have received reports of schools keeping their labs locked all the time, he adds, and BTP’s job is to investigate and ensure that they provide more access to students and teachers, in line with the ministry’s Making Schools Smart programme.

This programme is aimed at creating an ICT culture in school where all students and teachers use ICT in their learning and teaching respectively.

“We have been tasked to monitor and collect data of computer usage in schools. Based on the data, we categorise the schools into grades – A to E – depending on the percentage of usage.

“For example, to be in Grade A, all teachers in the school need to use the computer in all their lessons while schools that have ICT facilities but are not using it at all (have a 0% usage) will be graded E,” he adds.

At Sri Permata, the computer lab is a popular hangout. Opened during school hours, recess time is its peak period, and the computer lab is often so full that students have to be turned away.

In fact, the computer lab is so popular among students that even students from the morning session are staying back after school to use the computers to finish their homework or surf the Internet.

Students are charged a fee of RM1.50 an hour to surf the Internet.

To help maintain the computer lab, the school charges students a minimum annual fee of RM70.

“The fees are used to pay for software licences, files, printing materials, diskettes, the Internet connection as well as lab maintenance,” says Chua Siwe Geck, the teacher in charge of the school’s ICT programme Komputer Dalam Pendidikan (KDP).

“Our students know we are monitoring what they are doing online and that we check on them all the time, so they do not misuse the computer,” she says.

Using an LCD system, the screens from students’ PC are randomly flashed in front of the class for 10 seconds.

This, stresses Chua, keeps the students in check.

“We don’t want to enforce a schoolwork only rule on the students when they use the computer because they need to take a break from class work sometimes and by using the computer they get to apply their IT skills,” adds Chua.

Interestingly, Internet games are allowed for students.

“I think we should not control the child because sometimes we adults also love to play games.

“The school enforces certain rules such as no visiting of pornographic or violent websites,” says Chua.

Students are asked to sign an agreement letter to abide by the rules.

“It’s like a Surat Akujanji and so far we have not had any problems,” she explains.

The right support

While most schools had to rely on donations from corporations in the IT industry or handouts from the Government, Sri Permata has its proactive Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to thank for its computer programme.

The PTA sponsored RM80,000 to set up the computer lab in 2000.

As soon as the computer lab was ready, the school started its computer literacy classes for its Forms One and Two students.

Access to Internet has further honed their research, and information management skills.

Six years on, the computer programme is running independently. The hardware is upgraded every two years and for security, the computer lab is wired with an alarm.
However, says Chua, theft or robbery is the last thing she needs to worry about.

She attributes the smooth running of the computer programme to the teachers in her team working in the school computer lab.

“There are four teachers and one non-teaching staff. The teachers sacrifice their free time and recess time to make sure the students have the best at the computer lab,” she says.

There are now 40 PCs but the school hopes to set up a proper cybercafé in the school soon so that students can get more access to the Internet. Now, the computer lab is also used for the school’s IT classes and for other subjects.

“We have the room, but we need to raise more money to get the room ready,” she says.

A safe platform

Still, with all the access to Internet in school, Chua admits that students still go out to cybercafes to go online, as not all the students have Internet access at home.

“I’d say only about 50% of the students have Internet access at home.” She adds that she avoids giving them too much work using the computer or Internet because she is afraid they will use that as an excuse to go to the cybercafe.

“They will tell their parents that the teacher has given them work and they have to go to the cybercafe to finish it.

“We tried to open on weekends but there were many constraints.

“We are also afraid that if we open, students may tell parents that they are coming to school but then they go somewhere else,” she opines.

She believes most parents are not aware of what their children are up to on the net simply because they are not as savvy.

“Sometimes I joke about holding a workshop for parents. You should see how many start panicking – ‘No! don’t teacher – they’ll shout’,” she says with a laugh. Chua fully supports the government’s plans to curb cybercafes. She says she is aware that sometimes even those who have Internet connection at home prefer to go to cybercafes to get more freedom online, away from their parents’ eagle eyes.

That is why they hope to get their cybercafé hooked up soon, she says. “At least in school, they are monitored.”

Original Story Link –
http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2006/11/5/education/15863552