Linkages between Innovative Management and Learner Centred Approach

Wong Chee Kheon
Malaysia

The advent of ICT in education has changed in many ways lessons are delivered in the classroom and schools are managed and administered. Realizing the potential of ICT in the transformation and reform of education, Malaysia embarked upon the Smart School Project in 1999. In this pilot project, 87 specially selected schools throughout the nation are systemically (i.e. systems via systems) reinvented in terms of school management and teaching-learning practices using technology as the enabler. The whole project consists of a single solution, called the Smart School Integrated Solution (SSIS), in which the components are both technology and non-technology. Implementation of this US$79 million project is undertaken via a smart partnership between the Ministry of Education and a consortium of private companies.

This paper will concentrate on two of the major components of the SSIS - The Smart School Management System (SSMS) and the Teaching and Learning Materials (TLM). Linkages or integration between the modules in SSMS and TLM has enabled teaching and learning to be learner centred, self-paced, self-accessed and self-directed. In addition, management of lessons are much more effective than conventional methods. Finally the various challenges and the way forward from this project, in particular these linkages, will also be presented.