SPEECH BY MR PETER CHEN,
SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR EDUCATION
AT THE LAUNCH OF WEBFAIR EVENT
ON SATURDAY 8TH JULY 2000 AT 10.00 AM,
AT WORLD TRADE CENTRE, EXPO HALL 2

The concept of a learning community is important, especially in this new century. With changes taking place so fast, we must learn continually to stay relevant. No one individual or organisation can claim to have all the answers or the best answer in this fast changing world. We all need to learn to accept, value and build upon the insights, perspectives and ideas of others. This is the essence of a learning organisation.

Our Ministry has since been working actively to realise this Thinking Schools Learning Nation vision. Teachers have been constantly reminded that to meet the challenges of the 21st century, they need to go beyond their traditional role of information giver. With information so easily accessible to the pupils, teachers will have to play the role of facilitator of learning and help to guide pupils in the processing of information and the creation of new knowledge. Teachers should also be good role models of learners themselves.

Teachers' Network has been set up to support teachers in playing their new role. Teachers are encouraged to learn from each other, try out new teaching strategies and innovative approaches to nurture their pupils. A lot of opportunities have been given to encourage teachers to showcase their best practices and share what they have been doing. I understand that in the Teachers' Network web-page, there are a few hundred good lesson plans and well tested teaching strategies contributed by teachers to share with other teachers. There are also opportunities for teachers to chat with each other and exchange information on professional matters in the Teachers' Network home-page. With all these rich resources and convenient channels of communication, teachers can learn from each other, build upon and extend the knowledge base and at the same time reduce the need to re-invent the wheel. Since the set up of this home-page, many teachers have found the Teach & Share section to be very useful. It is felt that many more could benefit from the teacher developed resources if only they could take some interest and time to log on to the Teachers' Network homepage.

This event, Teacher @ the NETWORK organised by Teachers' Network is intended to encourage as many teachers as possible to go into the Teachers' Network Homepage and use the vast amount of resources available. I understand that there are lots of interesting activities to entice teachers to log on to the homepage during this cyber-festival month and I would like to urge teachers to actively participate in this event for their own benefit.

Let me move on to the second objective of this event, which is to help teachers who are less "IT-savvy". Information technology has allowed us to expand the learning community. There are a lot on information and resources in the Internet that teachers can retrieve for use in the classroom. Time and physical constraints also take on different meanings in the IT-world. We no longer need to find a common time to meet to exchange our thoughts and knowledge. Our teachers could easily dialogue with fellow practitioners and experts on-line. Similarly we need not worry about the size of the discussion group or to look for a large enough venue as our teachers could attend on-line workshops. However, not all teachers are ready for this.

Although many teachers have already caught up with the IT-world, I am aware that there are also many teachers who do not have the confidence to explore the internet or are overwhelmed by the power of the technology. I am glad that the focus of this event is to reach out to these less "IT-savvy" teachers, rather than the converts. It is critical that we try to bring as many, if possible all, teachers into the IT world. One non-Internet savvy teacher can often mean that hundreds of students will not be encouraged to use the Internet as a way of life. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that is the power and reach of a teacher. You touch lives and your beliefs and behaviour will directly or indirectly influence the beliefs and behaviour of your students. I am glad that Teachers' Network has made arrangements to have people on-site during the fair to literally hold the hands of teachers who need this additional help and guidance to explore the Internet. Such help, particularly from peers, will assure teachers and help them take that critical first and most difficult step to explore the wonders of the Internet.

To-day's event allows teachers to experience at a very personal level as many of the types of activities available on the Internet as possible. I am sure that most teachers have read or heard about the explosion of dot.com companies and the various types of services available. The prevalence of the companies is symptomatic of the age of Information Technology and the Internet.

I believe that many teachers know about the Internet and its applications only at the awareness level, or merely head knowledge. I must commend the organisers of this Fair for gathering such a comprehensive collection of companies that offer different services on the Internet and giving our teachers an opportunity to learn directly from them. I believe that this is the first Fair that does not display any products per se. Every product or service is only available through the Internet. It can be rather overwhelming for the less IT savvy teachers who come to the Fair. Their theoretical head knowledge is suddenly confronted by reality. The opportunity to look at the various homepages or even actually purchasing a product or service on the spot through the internet will convince our teachers that the virtual world is a real world and that it will have an impact on the way we live. This conviction is necessary if teachers are expected to excite our students about this whole new world. We acknowledge that there is a difference between knowing something and experiencing it. For example, teachers who have read about foreign places in novels or travelogues are less likely to talk about these places with the same level of enthusiasm as teachers who have actually been there. It is this belief in the power of experience that motivates many teachers to plan for activities that allow their students to experience what they need to learn rather than just hear about it.

The teacher@ the NETWORK event has 2 parts. One is the onsite webfair at this Expo Gateway which I hope many teachers will visit. The other is the month long on-line programme which covers on-line games and professional activities. It is hoped that through the series of activities, teachers will be encouraged to surf the Teachers' Network sites for answers and resources and hence be familiar with what are available for their use. The online component of this event is as beneficial to the teachers as this Fair. I would encourage all schools to use this event to help all their teachers to be "connected". I have been told by Teachers' Network that the total value of all the gifts, prizes and vouchers is more than $13 million. Prizes will also be given for the top 3 "Most Connected School". Schools should capitalise on this and think of ways to excite their teachers about this event. The outcome for your school is far greater than the prizes that you will receive.

Finally I would like to thank all the private companies that are taking part in this event. This synergy between the Ministry of Education and the private sector should be encouraged. We have complementary strengths that we should use to further the education of our children. In the process we also contribute to the vision of developing Singapore as an education hub in this region. We already have the pre-requisites. On the Ministry side we have a world-class education system and excellent and well-trained teachers. On the other side we have a highly developed infrastructure and the necessary expertise in well-managed companies. The challenge is to bring these elements together and events such as this are concrete steps towards this direction.

It is therefore my greatest pleasure to declare the teacher @ the NETWORK open.