E-learning @ MOE the VITAL Way - Ministry of Education press release (13 Jul 2001)

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1. VITAL, or the Virtual Institute of Training and Learning, is an e-learning system developed for all 32,000 staff in the Ministry of Education, both teaching and non-teaching, for them to learn at their 'own time, own place, own pace'. VITAL offers convenient, flexible, just-in-time learning as MOE moves towards a new era in teacher training and staff development.

2. VITAL leverages on the use of the Internet to deliver learning resources such as training and professional development courseware. VITAL has the capability to deliver either fully on-line or hybrid courses, which could be audio, graphics or video-enhanced. The courses available in VITAL include pedagogy and soft skills, such as personal effectiveness. The system encourages interactivity, such as chats and discussion to facilitate communication between trainers and learners, as well as among learners themselves in the virtual classroom. VITAL is also linked to TRAISI, MOE's online training administration system. This enables the entire e-learning experience to be a seamless one, from the point a user registers for an on-line course on TRAISI, to the time he completes the course on VITAL.

3. VITAL was officially launched on 10 Jul 2001 by Mr Chiang Chie Foo, Permanent Secretary of Education at the NUS Cultural Centre. The idea of e-learning for MOE's staff was conceived as early as 1998 and more than 2,000 teachers were involved in a pilot study. It was with positive feedback from these teachers that MOE embarked on developing a fully comprehensive system for its staff. Teachers generally welcome e-learning and are happy with the system.

4. Said Mr Chiang, "With VITAL, we can move from creating and delivering large inflexible training courses, to database-driven objects that can be accessed dynamically, re-used, reviewed and modified to keep content up-to-date and relevant".

5. Today, all MOE staff can log on from almost anywhere with an Internet connection to access the on-line courses in VITAL and interact with others in the virtual classroom. VITAL successfully removes factors such as fixed locales, schedules and structured curriculum, which were previously tied to instructor-led training.