SSI 3013

Information and Communication Technology in Science

Smart School in Malaysia

NAME:
INTAN SHAFARINA BT JEFRIDIN
(D20141067054)

NUR HAFIZAH BT MOHAMMAD NOR

(D20141067067)

NURULWAFI BINTI JAMALI

(D20141067056)
GROUP: A

LECTURERS NAME: MR. AZMI BIN IBRAHIM

 Smart School in Malaysia

WHAT IS SMART SCHOOL?

Malaysian was intended to transform its educational system, in line with and in
support of the nation drive to fulfil Vision 2020. The smart school initiative is one of seven
flagship application that is part of Malaysias Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project that
been carried out in 2000. These Smart School that were created by our government is a
learning institution that has been systemically reinvented in terms of teaching and learning
practices and school management in order to prepare youngsters and new generations for the
Information Age. Information Age is where the invention of digital industry from traditional
to more modernized tools such as invention of computer. Early in 1966, the Ministry of
Education was created the laws of Smart School concept. The teaching and learning was
based on creative thinking. Technology is an important component in education or teaching
and learning process to attract the students attention. The technology also an important in
Smart School concept when Smart School project exist as one of application that are part of
Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC).

In these Smart School concepts, there is smart class which is the new learning
environment in classroom. This is a new vision in education and the use of Education
technology could bring a huge change in education. In modern era where e-learning and
online education based system, the smart class and smart school are not an unknown thing,
because in a smart class there will be computer enabled education system. Smart class
provides a platform for online e-class. We can say it "White Board e-Evolution" in education.

ADVANTAGES OF SMART SCHOOL

Smart school is known as the school that enhanced with technological equipments
with the purpose of getting better learning and teaching. There are many advantages related to
using technology in a school. Some of them are such as get access to online resources. In a
smart school, teachers can use the resources available on the internet for the better
understanding of the students. For every subject, there are numerous resources available on
the internet which can be accessed by the teachers and students at any time in a smart
classroom. As we all know, the text books provided in school only limited to the syllabus,
therefore the internet is a very useful tool to those who want to learn beyond the syllabus.

Next is the digital medium for notes. In a regular classroom, the teacher usually writes
on the board and students will note down on their books. In this case, the students mind and
focus will be diverted into two directions which are listening to the teacher and understanding
and also writing or making notes for future reference. In this way, they will not be able to
listen properly and just busy on make notes. However, in smart school, there is digital
approach for notes where the teacher will be using PowerPoint presentation, word documents,
images, videos and audios instead of writing on board. Notes are provided to them through
pen drives, CDs or e-mail so that the students can devote their full concentration to the
lecture. Besides that, smart school also makes learning more enjoyable. The use of
technology in class makes the classroom interesting and enjoyable for the students. They do
not feel sleepy and feel that the learning is a fun process.

We often see that students studying in a smart school get a better result than the
students in regular school. The advantage of smart school here is that it helps in improving
the academic performance. This because the use of technology in the school for teaching
increases the understanding of the students. The topic becomes clearer and the base of the
subject becomes stronger. This will then lead to the better hold of the subject and with strong
basic knowledge of the subject for the students to score more in exams. Other than that,
technology will ease understanding. There are many topics that can be very difficult for
students to understand where they cannot be taught by just using the writing on board. They
require an interactive teaching approach. With smart school, teachers can use multimedia to
teach the students. The students often learn more from what they see rather than from what
they listen.
DISADVANTAGES OF SMART SCHOOL

Every things that give advantages, there will also come the disadvantages along with
it because there is nothing perfect in this world. In this case of smart school, there are a few
disadvantages that makes the use of smart technology becomes quite limited. First and most
important thing in providing this system in a school is the cost. The technology used is very
expensive and not all schools can afford it. Even if some schools are able to afford it, they
will get over the budget after buying it. Consequently, the fees of the schools are increased to
meet the cost of the equipments. The admission fees of the schools also getting higher.

Use of smart technology also required a skilled faculty. The teachers need to be
trained to use the technology in an effective manner first before they can start teaching in a
smart school. This training will also costs much because if the teachers are not properly
trained, the technology would become a disturbing factor rather than becoming helpful.
Besides that, this use of technology also required a rather high maintenance. All gadgets used
in smart schools need proper maintenance where these equipments should be kept in an air
conditioned room because they release a lot of heat in the surrounding. Technical staff has to
be appointed for the maintenance of the devices in order to make sure all equipments are
properly use and taken care of. The devices also need to be updated regularly which is vey
time consuming process. This further adds to the costs and burden to schools.

Finally is the technical fault. All of the electronic devices are prone to faults. If the
equipments do not work one day, the day is considered as a waste. They sometimes taking a
lot of time to come back to their proper functioning state. In this case, the teacher need to
change their teaching method to using the blackboard and this might be very dull experience
for the teachers as well as the students who are regularly participating and used to smart
school.

With so many advantages and only a few of disadvantages, smart school can still be
considered good for students. All the disadvantages have a solution except for the cost
involved. However, the rise in technology nowadays would definitely decrease the cost of
these devices to some extent. Moreover, the new inventions in the fields of computer science
and technology would make teaching and learning process even better.
SMART SCHOOL ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

However, to implement the smart school policy in every school, there are some issues
and challenges that we might face. Here are some of the issues and challenges for
implementing smart school policy in school. First of all, the lack of technological
infrastructure and teaching materials for schools in rural area. This is because mostly school
in rural area have a limitation of infrastructure such as computer labs that leads to
ineffectiveness for teaching and learning process. The internet connections in rural area are
also very limited and make the student very difficult to adapt in smart school learning style
environment.

Secondly, smart school learning tools burdens the student who cannot afford to have a
computer at their home. Thus the infrastructure should be developed first. As we live in a
modern ere, it makes many families, particularly in remote area finds it unaffordable for
computer technology to be used for their children as it cost a lot of money to buy a computer
or gadgets.

Another major obstacle for the smart school plan implementation is the way of the
teacher used to teach the student in the class. The teachers are used with the traditional
methods of teaching thus it makes it more difficult to adapt with new instructional
technology. The teachers also lack of intensive training that make them cannot teach
effectively. The teachers are also afraid to learn about technology as it consumes lots of
money to prepare a lesson plan and teaching instructional for the student. As an additional,
with the presences of smartphones and tablets alongside with internet connectivity, it could be
a major distraction for the students attentions and the whole learning process. It may not be
helpful without the teachers observation.

As for the school management, they have to spend a lot for electronic facilities such
as computer, projectors and the software used for the teaching purposes. As for the expensive
equipment, it came along with high maintenance fees for facilities. They may also need to
hires manpower to handle the equipment. The school also have to make a new budget plan for
the teacher training institutions.
 As a conclusion, the school needs to make an initiative for the smart schools plan
implementation works. They have to prepare with a lot of new component for implementing a
new environment. As for that, it may cause an increase in school fees as the new facilities are
added and it may burdens the students in particular areas who cannot afford it.