The Ministry of Education (MoE) in Singapore has launched a pilot for a new online learning portal, called the Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS). Teachers and students from 62 primary and secondary schools are participating in the pilot.
The SLS platform is expected to help empower students to drive their own learning according to their needs and interests. It will spur students to take greater ownership of their learning and work collaboratively with their peers.
SLS will be accessible anytime and anywhere, providing all students with equal access to quality online learning resources. This will allow them to learn at their own pace, revisit concepts, and read up on other areas of interest.
The SLS will make learning more engaging through a variety of interactive resources such as videos, animations, simulations, games and quizzes. Many of these resources are developed in collaboration with industry and external partners to provide real-world context to concepts learnt in class, thereby enhancing authenticity.
Teachers will be able to customise resources for students to allow for varied learning experiences with the SLS. With resources aligned to the national curriculum, this will help teachers design learning experiences and environments that promote critical thinking and teamwork among students.
It is hoped that teachers will find it easier to co-develop, adapt and share new pedagogies within and across schools, through the SLS. Students in turn will benefit from the wider range of learning resources.
The basic functions of the SLS are now being piloted in 62 schools, with some of the learning resources and portal features made available for trial.
MOE, in partnership with the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), will work with schools and teachers to gather feedback and develop the portal further to meet the students’ and teachers’ needs before it is rolled out to all schools.
The SLS will be rolled out to all schools in phases from 2018. Resources for major subjects across different grade levels will be made available to all primary and secondary schools, junior colleges and the centralised institute.
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