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AGE E-Learning
tools are designed to overcome some inhibitions in
schools' efforts to use ICT in schools.
Have you tried to distribute digital interactive
multimedia modules to all students?
The problems encountered using CD ROM based contents or pure Internet
based contents
must be giving you problems. Now AGE Homework modules allow teachers to easily
distribute such contents
in diskettes/pen drives where normal Interactive multimedia modules
cannot fit. There is no
need for PDAs or tablet PCs for students - just diskettes or emails to
transport the contents
home.
Effectively providing teachers the additional power of using students'
home computers to complement the schools'.
Here are some of the problems facing
schools in most (not third world alone) countries...
 Students still
heavily dependent on books
Lack of Computer
access
Complete cycle
generation of questionnaire to submission of questions
Teachers
able to produce easy and straightforward E-Workbooks
The
heavy school bags problems faced by many students today.
Shortage
of digital contents
Complements
the current Smart Schools projects
Overcoming
fears among teachers to wards use of computers in Education
Implementation of
computer systems in schools nationwide becomes
cheaper.
Easy
sharing of AGE based courseware
Overcomes
shortage of qualified teachers
Students still heavily dependent on books
Currently students are still very heavily dependent on
paper based books to do their study
and homework assignments. Answers are mostly pen and paper based
which are slow and
lack the power of interactive computer programs to assist in their
studies.
AGE homework is designed to overcome such shortcomings to maximize
the use of computers
lying idle at homes of students using very simple tool and
processes every teacher can handle.
Lack of sufficient computer access in most countries
Currently students'
accesses to computers in schools are very limited. Schools with about 50
computers. shared by 2000 students, have about 9 minutes of computer time
per day per student. It is
hardly sufficient when students have 7 to 10 subjects to study.
Age's ability to create small sized modules enables students to copy such
modules into diskettes and bring home to run the modules. Hence schools can
now harness the computing powers of students' computers into the education
system without cost. Otherwise the total cost of having the same computing
power made available to all students nationwide would be prohibitive and no
nation in the world today can afford that.
Complete cycle
from creation of questionnaires to submission of answers
One of the major problems of modules development has been the
difficulty of copying and transferring the right sound file, drawings,
picture files to and from schools' computers and students' home computers.
With AGE this has been made easy with simple mouse clicks. This ensures that
the entire process, from the time the teacher creates the
questionnaire/tutorial to the time the students transfer their answers from
their home computers, is user friendly. To technical or extra skill is
required.
Teachers
able to produce easy and straightforward E-Workbooks
Most teachers do not
have the technical skills to handle state of the art multimedia tools that
are available in the market today. Neither do they have the resources to
create reach multimedia contents. Often times, all the teachers require are
basic functions of typing in text with a bit of animation with simple
colors.
AGE
is designed for teachers
to create simple, fast and effective questionnaires with instant self
correcting capabilities in minutes.
AGE
creates at the same time the same
questionnaire in normal MS Words format they are used to. That means
AGE
simultaneously creates questionnaires in two formats. One is the interactive
self correcting questionnaires with many more questions, and which can be
copied to the ordinary 1.4mbyte diskettes. The other is in the normal MS
words plain non interactive format which students have to pay for to
photocopy in normal A4 paper sizes.
Given the choice
1. An easy to learn, interactive and immediate self correcting with many
times more questions digital format - its free too.
2. A normal printed paper questionnaires that need to be photocopied - and
paid for by students
non interactive and have to wait to be corrected by teachers..
which will the students choose? .... obvious choice 1.
The
heavy school bags problems faced by many students today.
When students do not have to
buy workbooks any more and with the capabilities to create animated small
sized modules the need the bring along heavy textbooks diminishes. This
makes heavy school bags a thing of the past.
Shortage
of digital contents
Existing courseware contents
are usually insufficient to keep students fully occupied and are very rapidly
finished by students. Using existing CD based systems would mean more delays
because of cost of production, delivery etc. Extensive duplication of CDs
would be very expensive and impractical.
AGE materials are easily copied into diskettes or downloaded through the
Internet from any part of the world.
Using AGE technology, materials can be prepared by teachers everywhere and
shared among each other. Rest be assured that contents availability would be
endless- enough to keep students occupied without having to huge costs
associated with CD ROM productions, storage, and distribution.
Cost of downloads are so low for small files and are able to reach any part
of the country in seconds. Unlike CD based contents.
Complements
the Governments' ICT in Schools projects
Smart schools in Malaysia or other countries are using state of art tools e.g. Authorware, Director/Macromedia
etc.
which in most cases require CDs to store the contents created.
AGE do not replace any such tool currently being used by these
schools. These tools are still useful for delivering rich multimedia
contents and have their rightful place in delivering contents.
In fact, AGE complements these software with diskette/Internet being
the main media of transfer/delivery of contents. After delivering CD ROM
based contents created, teachers can use AGE to create instant
questionnaires based on the contents presented. Students can copy them into
diskettes for further readings at home.
Overcoming fears among
teachers to wards use of computers in Education
Most are unable to handle the complex instructions required to
learn in most multimedia packages found in the market.
AGE is designed for teachers with hardly little IT competency. Simple mouse
clicks are all that are required to enable teachers to produce interactive
and simple questionnaires.
This ease of use will overcome the fear among many teachers toward use of
ICTs in schools . AGE actually relieves teachers from many tedious chores
e.g. exercise books corrections, photocopying questionnaires etc.
Under such environment an ICT project undertaken in schools would most
likely to be successful.
In less developed countries where qualified teachers are lacking,
use of AGE ease of reach through Internet/diskettes, will help to bring down
tremendously the cost of contents development and distribution. Using CDs
are definitely not the way to move forward.
Implementation
of computer systems in schools nationwide becomes cheaper
and more effective.
Governments implementing usage of computer in schools incur huge
infrastructure costs as well as huge maintenance costs. Security costs are
also substantial. Using AGE solution, the costs are cut down very
substantially. AGE encourages usage of students' own home computers. Thus
the huge cost normally associated with mass usage of ICT in schools becomes
more bearable as the students are responsible for their own computers.
Easy
sharing of AGE based courseware
Because AGE is easy to use and create multimedia contents
that are very small in sizes, there will be an abundance of such materials
available for students and teachers. The contents, being easily stored and
transferred in diskettes or downloaded from the Internet, can be used
year after year. If there are amendments the contents can be easily altered
and reused. It is not possible if such contents had been stored in CD ROM.
The reach and availability of such contents created would be very limited
and shortlived.
It is our intention to set up a pool of contents for students globally to
download. Teachers do not have to fear about lack of materials to teach.
Students can practise, contents again and again any time they wish using
AGE.
Surely such facility will be useful for all.
Overcomes
shortage of qualified teachers
It is a norm to find shortage of qualified teachers in many areas
everywhere. Using AGE as a source of contents and courseware, teachers
around the world can provide reasonable guidance to students in subjects
they are not experts in. The contents created by expert teachers in the
field can help to overcome shortage of teachers in any particular field.
This is very useful especially in rural schools where a teacher may have to
teach multiple disciplines many of which are not his/her
specialty/expertise.
Alll rights reserved
(C) Foo Ho Kok, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
alan@foohokok.com |
