SMART... Dr. Termit Kaur (second from left) explaining how to use the software for the smart board while Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anna Christina Abdullah and the research assistant look on.
Apart from being informative, the smart board also allows active interaction between students and teachers, including activities such as academic karaoke to increase students’ interest in the classroom.
Dr. Termit Kaur, head of the research project known as Fun Learning with Smart Board, said that the idea behind the complete teaching software was to overcome the problem of boredom and the phenomenon of teacher-centred learning.
“The school authorities, especially teachers have received many complaints regarding the conventional chalk and board mode of learning, which has been described as no longer relevant, outdated and boring.
“Besides, students nowadays have been exposed to developments in technology and want a more modern and interesting learning environment,” said Dr. Termit, a lecturer at the School of Educational Studies (PPIP) during a media conference.
Also present at the media conference were Deputy Dean of PPIP, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anna Christina Abdullah and research assistants, Mohd. Hafizuddin Muhd. Suhaimi and Mohd. Zaim Zainal Adwan.
Dr. Termit explained that the teaching software, demonstrated at the media conference used Basic Economics as the subject, but that it can be adapted for other subjects including Mathematics, Science and others.
Besides that, other benefits of the software to the P&P process include flexible slides, multimedia presentations, video display, model examination questions, student training and others.
“The programme was developed with an interesting learning environment and moreover, is user-friendly. Thus, teachers don’t have to worry because the software is easy to use and can be put into practise easily,” she said.
She also said that other than overcoming boredom in class, the module is an effort by the university to introduce technology which promises creative and effective learning, into the teaching and learning process.
“USM through PPIP would like to provide training and service for school teachers using information and communication technology (ICT) to maximize the effectiveness of the P&P process,” she said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anna said that the efforts of Dr. Termit and her research team were very significant, as the status of PPIP has been upgraded to ICT Resource Centre in the Asia Pacific region by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“PPIP has been supplied with wide ICT resources and these resources will be shared among teachers and students in the Asia Pacific region,” she said.
Research on the smart board began in 2007 and currently, The Fun Learning with Smart Board is in the process of being patented. It will be supplied to schools once discussions with the Ministry of Education are complete.
So far, the smart board has been placed in several schools in the northern region including Perak and Penang. Among the schools that have started using the smart board are Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bukit Jambul and Sekolah Menengah St. Georges.
