Experimentation@Schools (ESP) focuses on pioneering innovative use of technology that supports Self Directed Learning (SDL) and Collaborative Learning (CoL). It aims to seed and encourage ICT innovations between schools and industry in the use of ICT for Learning and Teaching. By doing so, we hope to achieve

• Continuous creation of new products and services for use in Learning and Teaching, and subsequently reap returns through commercialisation; and
  
  
• Sustainable cascading of innovative infocomm applications to all schools to drive adoption of ICT in Education.

IDA and MOE will jointly identify potential educational technology themes to support MOE's ICT Masterplan. These themes include:

• Collaborative Learning Tools (CoL)
• Learning on the Move (LOTM) and more.

These themes will set the direction for ICT experimentation in education as IDA supports the infocomm industry and establishes strategic alliances, such as with MOE and Microsoft in the BackPackLIVE! programme, to develop and pilot new learning applications.

Collaborative Learning (CoL) Tools

The CoL tools, developed by iGINE Pte Ltd in collaboration with TAG Developments, aim to provide access to a variety of familiar web 2.0 collaboration tools through an online system. Specifically, it involves the integration of popular social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and MSN Messenger with MAPS (Managed Assessment Portfolio System), a multi-award winning e-portfolio and e-assessment system, as well as the provision of analytics tools that give teachers an aggregated view of students' collaboration patterns using these social networking platforms. The tools have mitigated the challenge previously faced by teachers, having to access multiple tools and systems to evaluate students' group dynamics.

Key highlights:

• The tools provide students with a collaborative learning environment where step-by-step tasks are performed independently by individuals and at the same time, allow students to be aware of their peers' progress.
  
  
• The tools allow logs of team chats and communications via the social networking platforms to be captured for reviews.
  
  
• The unified dashboard interface offers teachers and students access to a range of functionalities to support the collaborative learning framework. Teachers can get access to information on student interactions and collaborations through social networking and knowledge sharing activities.

The pilot schools involved in the project are CHIJ Kellock Primary School and Yusof Ishak Secondary School.

Learning on the Move (LOTM) Tool

LOTM tool, developed by LDR Pte Ltd consortium with members from EZY Snap Pte Ltd, National Institute of Education and Temasek Polytechnic, aims to support the creation of highly engaging and interactive mobile learning trails for students to collaborate and learn more effectively outside the classroom. Through the interactive trails, exchange of ideas and participation that increase interaction and retention of information among students is made possible. It also allows students to have direct and hands-on experience to access and analyse information that supports self-directed learning and critical thinking.

Key highlights:

• Students can use mobile devices to take photos or videos of icons (monuments at trail locations) on the trail. Information or questions about the icons can be pushed to their mobile devices, triggered through Global Positioning System (GPS) at specific location or via image recognition of the photos that they have taken.
  
  
• Students can collaborate and exchange ideas with peers, teachers and experts to enhance the learning. In addition, teachers can track students' progress during the trail and provide just-in-time intervention when necessary.

2 interactive trails have been created using this tool at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Singapore Zoo. 4 pilot schools for this project are Canossa Convent Primary School, Clementi Town Secondary School, New Town Secondary School and St Anthony's Canossian Primary School.

BackPackLIVE!

MOE, IDA and Microsoft Singapore announced the launch of the BackPackLIVE! Initiative on 16 July 2009. This initiative is an expansion of the previous five year IDA-Microsoft BackPack.NET initiative launched in 2003. The new collaboration will focus on inspiring, exploring and scaling ICT practices among teachers to develop students' self-directed and collaborative learning capability. BackPackLIVE! aims to cascade the good practices and solutions emerging from these Professional Learning Communities to other schools. The 3 focus areas in BackPackLIVE! are:

Supporting Professional Learning Communities in Schools
One of the focus areas of BackPackLIVE! is promoting the innovative use of ICT to transform classroom practices through the support of Professional Learning Communities within and across schools. Through the programme, educators will be able to tap on the expertise of overseas education consultants and local research partners to develop pilot projects on the use of ICT to achieve self-directed learning, collaborative learning and effective assessment.

The aim is to cascade the good practices and solutions emerging from these Professional Learning Communities to other schools.

Cultivating Developers Community
BackPackLIVE! will give educators the opportunity to see their ICT ideas transform into reality. Under this sector, the developers will work closely with educators in the Professional Learning Communities to create innovative solutions for the pilot projects undertaken by the schools.

IDA offers development grants to the selected industry partners to develop and test their applications and products in the pilot schools to determine the effectiveness of their solutions. Eligible companies can also leverage Microsoft's business and technology capabilities in the education sector to build up their expertise.

Promoting Cyber Wellness Education
It is important to educate students on the safe and responsible use of ICT. The third area of BackPackLIVE! is about promoting cyber wellness through active engagement of students and the dissemination of the programme's messages to their peers. Schools will be invited to take part in the Cyber Wellness Student Ambassador Programme which aims to train a group of students to promote cyber wellness to their peers. Students will be educated on good netiquette and learn the potential dangers that exist in cyber space.

Participating schools include Bendemeer Secondary School, Bukit Panjang Government High School, Gongshang Primary School, Innova Primary School, Ngee Ann Secondary School and River Valley High School.

Download the publication and product brochure in PDF

AIM@iCS (intelligent Collaborative System)

Piloted by Innova Primary School, the development of the solution was recently completed.  It is a web-based platform with structured collaborative learning lesson templates that leverages a semantic analysis engine to understand and assess students' mastery of subject concepts in real time.  The solution supports the process of knowledge building and allows for effective group collaboration through online group discussions, as well as through role-play and commenting on each other’s work. The semantic engine helps to assess students’ contribution level and group learning process, which allows teachers to review student’s social learning capabilities and intervene when necessary.

AIM@iCS is developed by Integral Solutions (Asia) Pte Ltd.

Bendemeer Secondary School - ReACT (Redesign for Assessing Critical Thinking)
An integrated learning and assessment solution is developed to enhance students' competency in comprehension and critical thinking skills for Chinese Language. The solution is integrated with the following:

• Diagnostic Assessment engine: To diagnose and evaluate learners' critical thinking skills.
• Intelligent Content Assessment Marking engine: To mark short Chinese sentences.
• Adaptive engine: To allow auto sequencing of questions based on student's banding.

The industry partner for Bendemeer Secondary School is Educare Pte Ltd.

World.Class – Bringing the World into the Classroom

World.Class is piloted by Bukit Panjang Government High School. In March 2013, World.Class was introduced to over 80 students in the Secondary 3 Geography cohort. World.Class involves ArcGis Online a Geographic Information System (GIS) that integrates hardware, software, and data that is able to capture, manage, and display all forms of geographically referenced information.

Using a GIS enables visual exploration. Layers of information can be stacked on top of one another to allow students to draw patterns and relationships between the different layers. The technological affordance of changing the map symbols, altering the sequence of layers or zooming in to specific parts of the map, enables students to analyse the different layers and curate referenced information to support their answers to essay questions. The GIS also allows students to integrate different kinds of data from different sources - pictures such as aerial photos and satellite images, and features such as mountains, earthquakes and mid-oceanic ridges - and layer them in various combinations so that the students can understand how the spatial phenomena relate to each other.

The different data map layers coupled with the inquiry approach are used to scaffold and deepen students’ thinking by getting them to make connections, see patterns and analyse trends.

World.Class is a joint collaboration by ESRI Singapore and Earth Observatory of Singapore.