Speeches
Address by Mr S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education at the Launch of Tamil Language Text Input Software on Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 3pm at ITE Headquarters Auditorium
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good afternoon.
It gives me great pleasure to be with you here for the launch of the MOE Tamil Language Text Input Software.
The Ministry of Education, together with our schools, has come a long way since we first launched our ICT Masterplan 1 in 1997. We have made a concerted effort to harness ICT to bring about greater engagement in learning and teaching. We continue to explore new technologies to see how best they can be used in the classroom as we work towards realizing MOE’s vision of “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation”.
With this end in mind, we have taken up the challenge and embarked on the standardisation of the Tamil text input system. Why is there a need for such a standardisation? Currently, Tamil Language teachers and students are using different Tamil Language text input software for the learning and teaching of the language. The various kinds of software are not compatible with each other because they have different encoding systems, keyboard standards, fonts and file converters. These variations impede written communication between Tamil teachers and their students. Very importantly, they also limit the sharing of resources among teachers, thus constraining professional development among Tamil teachers.
Indeed, without standardisation, our attempts to leverage ICT applications to transform the learning environment for our students and teachers will be significantly hindered. Standardisation eases written communication through the internet and computers. With this text barrier removed, many new vistas will be opened for teachers and students to tap on the wide variety of ICT-based software to enhance the learning and teaching of the Tamil Language.
In particular, as Tamil Language teachers, you can access your school’s Learning Management Systems and make use of lesson builders and games builders to create interactive and differentiated learning experiences to meet different pupils’ learning needs.
With the standardisation, you can effectively go into edumall2.0 and begin to actively use the Tamil text input system to participate in forum discussions, blogs, surveys and opinion polls. I encourage and invite all of you to initiate learning communities and lead in discussions. Do try collaborating with one another to co-create new learning and teaching resources and share them with your fellow teachers. Similarly, watch your students experience the richness of the Tamil Language as they collaborate with one another and work in teams.
The text input standardization also facilitates the search for information in the internet using Tamil and this affords new opportunities for self-directed and collaborative learning. Teachers may create WebQuests where students can collaborate in their different roles to propose solutions to authentic problems. In the process they access information through teacher provided web-links, analyse the information and decide on a solution as team.
Your students will be able to explore and ride on web2.0 to create, participate, and engage in social networks using Tamil. The opportunities to interact with and learn from a wider community beyond the classroom, anytime and anywhere, will certainly bring about greater engagement and meaning in learning and teaching.
I congratulate the organisers from ETD, MOE, and the taskforce members for your effort in successfully completing the project to standardise Tamil Language Text Input. You have played a significant role in taking the teaching and learning of Tamil to the next level through technology.
I encourage all Tamil Language teachers to fully harness ICT to create innovative and exciting lessons that will fully engage our young in the learning of the Language. With your dedication and commitment to continual exploration, Singapore will further strengthen its position as a leader in the use of ICT for learning and teaching. I wish you all a fulfilling and fruitful journey.
Thank you.