Computer Tablets Bring World Of Learning Alive For Both Students And Teachers: Thailand

[webfact]

Tablets bring world of learning alive for both students and teachers

Wannapa Khaopa

The Nation

Parents trained in use of devices before kids let loose

BANGKOK: -- Posters featuring photos of animals and their names have always been an important means to educate young students in Bangkok and rural areas about living things. All that is changing with the arrival of computer tablets.

Natthawut Chanda, a 7yearold boy in Prathom 1/3 of Darakam School in Bangkok, now sees moving pictures of such animals. As he studied them during a visit to the school last week, the boy happily wrote down the animals’ names on his worksheet.

"I like learning from my tablet, particularly when studying science subjects because I can see pictures clearly," Natthawut said.

Natthawut and more than 80 students at this school were among the earliest in Thailand to receive the first batch of tablets, under the government's One Tablet Per Child scheme. While young students at the school found it fun to learn science through the tablets after the school kicked off their use on July 19, teachers themselves were elated by the students' enthusiasm.

"My students looked more active and excited when I used tablets to teach them compared to when I just used textbooks," said Supannee Ratchakaew, teacher of Prathom 1/3. "I've used tablets to teach them an hour a day. I've used them with science, English, Thai and mathematics subjects. Anytime I told them I would use tablets, they said 'hooray' to show their enjoyment," she added.

Since the tablets arrived two weeks ago, while Natthawut was enjoying his science class, classmate Thanawan Saelim was excited in the English class, as she observed Western people's greetings through her tablet.

Supannee said she had used tablets for leadins, learning and group activities and exercise practice after she took a few days training with her students on how to use their tablets.

"I consider tablets as an instructional media that helps arouse my students to learn actively. To boost students' learning by tablets I have to look into the contents and activities provided in tablets that I want to teach them two or three times before I plan my teaching. So, I know how to teach them with the contents and when to use the activities in the tablets. This helps me to make tablet use in class effective and it's not so difficult for me to control classes," she said.

She urged other Prathom 1 teachers who'll be using tablets in class to plan lessons that include tablet use before teaching, and to create clear tablet use rules agreed to by their pupils on proper use of the tablets.

At this school, the teachers make sure that tablets are not exploited for fun. Against fears that children would be encouraged to play games, Naruephop Khanthabthai, director of the school, said their teachers agreed to allow students to take tablets home with them only after their parents had been trained by the school. Parents were expected to give their children advice on suitable use of tablets to prevent unwanted problems. Also the parents could make use of tablets themselves.

"We will train parents how to use tablets from August 19 - on how to access online media and what time they should and should not let their children use the tablets - before allowing them to take them back home to review their lessons," he said.

More than a week has passed since the first batch of tablets was given to first graders at schools in some provinces. At this point, from Bangkok, schools in 19 provinces as far as Krabi and Kamphaengphet - which are 814km and 358km from the capital city - have received 300,000 tablets. At some schools, where the number of students is huge, it cannot yet be "one tablet per child" as expected. The government plans to deliver tablets to all Prathom 1 students across the country within this semester.

Some provincial teachers, living far from new technology, are under duress to use the tablets as a new teaching instrument, while their students are eager to learn from tablets in classes.

One of the first provincial schools is Ban Nong Kung School in Khon Kaen province, where teachers are not yet trained on tablet use by the Office of the Basic Education Commission. To respond to their students' demand for tablets in class, teachers learned from the tablets' manual on their own and began tablet use in class for more than a week while they are waiting for training.

Chariya Jitaree, 50, is one of the teachers in Kamphaeng Phet. Despite her age, she enthusiastically prepares herself to get ready for using tablets in class. It should not be a burden for her as she likes getting to know and use new technologies, she said, while the school is finishing tablet registration before delivering the device to students.

Supannee told other Prathom 1 teachers in Thailand who had to adjust their teaching styles with tablet use, that they should not fear it or feel stressed. They should learn to understand how to use the tablets, study the contents and activities installed in tablets clearly, and create lesson plans with tablets before teaching. "Tablets are very good instructional media that help us teach more easily."

Naruephop at Darakam School said school directors should first change their teachers' attitudes towards new technology, especially older teachers who were not familiar with technology.

"Teachers should be openminded. Please keep in mind that it does not exceed your ability," he added.

-- The Nation 2012-08-06

[sirchai]

Naruephop at Darakam School said school directors should first change their teachers' attitudes towards new technology, especially older teachers who were not familiar with technology..

Early retirement for them............

[Theboy]

Chariya Jitaree, 50, is one of the teachers in Kamphaeng Phet. Despite her age, she enthusiastically prepares herself to get ready for using tablets in class

Never too young to learn !

[SuneeTH]

Chariya Jitaree, 50, is one of the teachers in Kamphaeng Phet. Despite her age, she enthusiastically prepares herself to get ready for using tablets in class

Never too young to learn !

"she enthusiastically prepares herself to get ready for using tablets in class"... . . to play angry birds.

[theajarn]

Let the bashing begin.

Well... we all know this is PR... but SUPPOSE... just SUPPOSE there is learning going on... ... ...

....naaaah. Not this government's agenda, nor the next or any other. Learning in Thailand? ENABLING the people? Surely one must be mad to think this would happen. How are you going to control the people if they start thinking by themselves and asking questions?

[mussen]

Wannapa Khaopa from The Nation must have received a nice payment from the current government in return for writing that article! "Hey kids, can you say B.S.?"

[MisterBeetle]

How about providing books and pencils to schools in the east and north.

This is just PR to make the government look like it is doing something Modern and Tecnological.

[EarthAlien]

Propaganda journalism!

Sugar coated BS parading as progress!

[dude007]

what a big load of BS... Once the shiny varnish will be gone from these tablets, the students will use them for playing games as well as their parents and families and no one will ever denounce this to the monitoring team of this silly populist project. There is no better way to keep the population dumb than to give their children tablet computers and that's the ultimate goal of this corrupt Government so that vote buying can continue and the belief in populist programs. This first week enthousiasm will soon fade out when the computer games websites will be visited. Thai students are already amongst the lowest in the world in mathematics (the great majority cannot calculate without calculator) and writing will soon belong to the past as tablet computer typing will be much easier and more exciting than to take a pen and paper... Give it some time and you will see.... It's premeditated undermining of the consciousness of the country-side people, mainly red-shirts... keeping them dumb with tablet computers!

[dude007]

Let the bashing begin.

Well... we all know this is PR... but SUPPOSE... just SUPPOSE there is learning going on... ... ...

....naaaah. Not this government's agenda, nor the next or any other. Learning in Thailand? ENABLING the people? Surely one must be mad to think this would happen. How are you going to control the people if they start thinking by themselves and asking questions?

Oooh you're so right! I am sure we are not alone to know the real objective behind this populist nonsense-project!

[fullcave]

Wow moving pictures and everything! I just can't believe it....

[Cuban]

Just waiting to see what the operational lifespan of these tablets are.

If they survive the schoolroom environment, on-going maintenance and upgrade path

The question I like to ask of enthusiastic adopters of new technology teaching tools is this: "Would you like the surgeon who is about to perform open heart surgery on you to have been taught using books and exams in the old way or to have passed a multiple choice test?"

[looping]

"Tablets are very good instructional media that help us teach more easily."

Never mind students learning more effectively, the attitude of the teachers is it's all about teachers having an easier life. In their minds, ultimately they'll just watch as the students work individually on their tablets in silence.

Edited August 6, 2012 by looping

[Docno]

Well, the Nation is certainly not known for being pro PT, but that obviously won't deter the cynics around here from having their say. God forbid that these tablets may actually be delivered, may actually work, may actually stay functional for more than a week, may actually be used for something other than games, and may actually help teachers teach and students learn...

[Scott]

I have no problem with the idea of students being given technology to help them learn. My only criticism is that there should have been more planning and research. What grade is the optimal time for using these? Will effect learning basic skills, such as addition/subtraction? Etc.

Hopefully, Thailand got lucky and this is the right time and age. If not, some other countries can benefit from the mistakes made here.

[puchooay]

All is not lost. When the publicity has faded, and the concept has died; I can see there being an abundance of cheap,second hand tablets available in various markets.

"Sorry MIss, I have lost my tablet computer", will be the most used phrase in the classroom.

Edited August 7, 2012 by puchooay

[Keesters]

All is not lost. When the publicity has faded, and the concept has died; I can see there being an abundance of cheap,second hand tablets available in various markets.

"Sorry MIss, I have lost my tablet computer", will be the most used phrase in the classroom.

How about " A dog ate my tablet computer where my homework was stored"......

[Phatcharanan]

I have no problem with the idea of students being given technology to help them learn. My only criticism is that there should have been more planning and research. What grade is the optimal time for using these? Will effect learning basic skills, such as addition/subtraction? Etc.

Hopefully, Thailand got lucky and this is the right time and age. If not, some other countries can benefit from the mistakes made here.

The basic math skills are still best served at an early age by drill (multiplication etc) .

There is ongoing research that shows students attention spans is actually falling. They believe it may be due to the 'on-demand' and 'instant access' of information now available to students through the 'net, smartphones, Ipads etc. Hence, trying to get students to stay focused using plain whiteboards etc is (apparently) becoming more difficult.

Further research taking place in Africa (forget which country but I think it's Botswana) shows improved reading skills with those students using Kindles as opposed to normal text and reading books used by 'same age' students.

Yet more research suggests that when we (and students) look at web pages, we are actually just decoding............which brings up some interesting correlations between decoding and comprehension.

It's all quite fascinating research at the moment.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Phatcharanan

[McMagus]

Sad thing is the crap screens have been pulled down and a lot of Thais will think these tablets are actually going to help their children improve and get a decent education. I have a theory ... keep the Thai alphabet, scriptura continua and written form as complex as we can, make sure equity and access to education is limited to the rich who can afford international schools, resist educational reform and renewal in Govt. schools especially rural ones and .... voila, we have a compliant population dis-empowered, which will not challenge conventional thought. LOS ? no ..... Land of Lost Opportunities.

[sirchai]

Everything in this country just seems to happens too fast. When I moved to a city in the lower north east, there was no Tesco, Big C etc..

Now there's almost everything available. But.

Everything became so expensive that "ordinary" people just can't afford to buy what they really need.

2,000 schools-still- without electricity says a lot about the politicians.

There's a similarity regarding: Tablets, high speed trains and a very effective flood prevention.

It just doesn't work out..........