Ching Sing Chai · Cher Ping Lim Chun Ming Tan Editors Future Learning in Primary Schools A Singapore Perspective Future Learning in Primary Schools Ching Sing Chai • Cher Ping Lim Chun Ming Tan Editors Future Learning in Primary Schools A Singapore Perspective Editors Ching Sing Chai Cher Ping Lim National Institute of Education Faculty of Education and Human Development Nanyang Technological University Department of Curriculum and Instruction Singapore , Singapore The Hong Kong Institute of Education Tai Po, New Territories , Hong Kong , SAR Chun Ming Tan Nan Chiau Primary School Singapore , Singapore ISBN 978-981-287-578-5 ISBN 978-981-287-579-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-579-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015949225 Springer Singapore Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 This work is subject to copyright. 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Printed on acid-free paper Springer Science+Business Media Singapore Pte Ltd. is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Contents 1 Introduction: Cocreating Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for the Transformation of Nan Chiau Primary School ................................................................ 1 Ching Sing Chai , Cher Ping Lim , and Chun Ming Tan 2 Reconceptualising Learning Collectively: A Whole-School Reform for Fostering Twenty-First- Century Competencies ............... 9 Yancy Toh , Chun Ming Tan , and Angela Lay Hong Koh 3 Building Twenty-First Century Learning Infrastructure ................... 31 Kin Mun Wong , Muhd Nizam , Angela Lay Hong Koh , Seng Chee Tan , and Yancy Toh 4 Engaging English Language Learners with Mobile Devices in the Twenty-First Century ................................................................... 43 Elizabeth Koh , Alex Wang , Annie Hui Meow Lim , Stephanie Siew Lin Chua , and Nur Ashikin Naharuddin 5 MyCLOUD: A Seamless Chinese Vocabulary- Learning Experience Mediated by Cloud and Mobile Technologies .................. 65 Guat Poh Aw , Lung-Hsiang Wong , Xujuan Zhang , Yanqiu Li , and Guan Hui Quek 6 Bridging Formal and Informal Learning with the Use of Mobile Technology .............................................................................. 79 Chee-Kit Looi , Khin Fung Lim , Jennifer Pang , Angela Lay Hong Koh , Peter Seow , Daner Sun , Ivica Boticki , Cathie Norris , and Elliot Soloway 7 Toward Digital Citizenship in Primary Schools: Leveraging on Our Enhanced Cyberwellness Framework ................. 97 Wei Ying Lim , Chun Ming Tan , Muhamad Nizam , Wencong Zhou , and Swee Meng Tan v vi Contents 8 Building Epistemic Repertoire Among Primary 3 Students for Social Studies ..................................................................................... 109 Ching Sing Chai , Hyo Jeong So , Pei-Shan Tsai , Erwin Rohman , and Li Ping Ivy Aw 9 Developing Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Mathematics Knowledge (TPMK) to Build Students’ Capacity to Think and Communicate in Mathematics Classrooms ................................... 129 Gina Wee Ping Lim , Puay Leng Ang , and Joyce Hwee Ling Koh 10 Teachers’ Voices and Change: The Structure and Agency Dialectics that Shaped Teachers’ Pedagogy Toward Deep Learning ......................................................................................... 147 Wei Ying Lim , Angela Ong , Lay Lian Soh , and Adam Sufi 11 Exploring Parental Involvement in Smartphone-Enabled Learning ................................................................................................... 159 Helen Hong , Elizabeth Koh , Jason Loh , Chun Ming Tan , and Hui Mien Tan 12 Building Synergies: Taking School-Based Interventions to Scale ..................................................................................................... 177 Yancy Toh , Jenny Yen Lin Lee , and Karen Soo Wee Ting 13 Successfully Addressing the 11 Barriers to School Change: A Case Study from Nan Chiau Primary School, Singapore .................................................................................... 199 Cathie Norris , Elliot Soloway , and Chun Ming Tan Chapter 1 Introduction: Cocreating Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for the Transformation of Nan Chiau Primary School Ching Sing Chai , Cher Ping Lim , and Chun Ming Tan Introduction The advancements of information and communications technology (ICT) have brought irreversible changes to how we work, live, play and connect. To cope and thrive amidst these changes, it is imperative for students to leverage upon emerging technologies for epistemologically generative work. Such work contrasts the traditional classroom practices where knowledge as true beliefs and verifi ed by experts is transmitted to the students through various pedagogical representations. Bereiter and Scardamalia ( 2006 ) characterize such knowledge work as idea improve- ment. It is initiated by students’ authentic quest to understand the world they live in. Students are encouraged to articulate their ideas about what they are inquiring and to subsequently work on these ideas to achieve deeper understanding, employing not just true/false criteria but also criteria related to the usefulness of the ideas. Adopting such a constructivist approach, students are engaged in knowledge work directly. This formed the foundation for them to become knowledge workers for the twenty- fi rst century. C. S. Chai (*) National Institute of Education , Nanyang Technological University , 1 Nanyang Walk , Singapore 637616 , Singapore e-mail: [email protected] C. P. Lim Faculty of Education and Human Development, Department of Curriculum and Instruction , The Hong Kong Institute of Education , 10 Lo Ping Road , Tai Po, New Territories , Hong Kong , SAR e-mail: [email protected] C . M . T a n Nan Chiau Primary School (Former Principal) , Singapore , Singapore e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 1 C.S. Chai et al. (eds.), Future Learning in Primary Schools, DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-579-2_1 2 C.S. Chai et al. ICT provides the tools for students to create digital artefacts that represent their knowledge work and to share and collaborate with others to improve the artefacts. Howland et al. ( 2012 ) further explicate that ICT could function as a cognitive tool to help students focus on higher-order thinking that undergirds authentic knowledge work. ICT affordances in performing data crawling, storing, indexing and computing undoubtedly allow students to attend to meaning making. Building on these ideas, Tsai et al. ( 2013 ) propose that education in the current age should foster the development of students’ design epistemology. Given that ICT tools are shrinking in size but growing in computational power, with access made ubiquitous through cloud computing, it is now possible to facilitate seamless knowledge work amongst learners (Wong et al. 2015b ). This would further enhance the learners’ connection to epistemic work by providing anywhere-anytime environment. In short, the technological advancement in the twenty-fi rst century calls for teaching and learning practices that engage students in productive use of ICT for authentic epistemic work. Chai et al. ( 2014a ) claim that whilst the above-mentioned visions of future learning have been accepted by many educators, there are gaps in actualizing education reform for ICT-supported epistemic work. Chai and colleagues ( 2014a ) highlight the need of creating multilevel technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) by educators occupying different organization positions. This volume brings together how school leaders, teachers, industry partners and researchers are engaged in a collective and coordinated approach to develop new teaching and learning practices mediated by multiple forms of emerging technologies. Before we unpack how the multilevel TPACK is created, a brief history of the school is presented below. Brief History of the School Nan Chiau Primary School is one of the six schools founded by the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan (SHHK). SHHK was formed by ethnic Chinese from the Hokkien province in China who have migrated to Singapore during or even before the colonial period. As the Chinese tradition has always emphasized the importance of education, SHHK donated the land and built the Nan Chiau Teachers’ Training School in 1941. In 1947, SHHK converted Nan Chiau Teachers’ Training School to Nan Chiau Girls’ High School which included an ancillary primary school later. That marked