School District Strategic Plan for Technology
Yes, my school district has a strategic plan for technology. It contains its mission, objectives, implementation strategies, procedures in implementation and evaluation. To plan and to provide ICT services support for all school under the Ministry of Education, the Educational Technology Department is given the responsibility to monitor and evaluate the use of educational technology in the teaching and learning process and school management. There are eight areas which will be monitored. They are Internet connectivity, school access centers, computer labs, EduWebTV, hardware, software, ICT in management and administration and smart partnerships. Data collection is done via online using ICT Usage Monitoring System (SPPICTS) which will be done three times a year. Teachers are given IDs and required to answer questionnaire pertaining to their usage of ICT.
I am not involved in any decision making process regarding the implementation of ICT in the school. My colleague who is the overall ICT coordinator sits on the school curriculum board to provide input pertaining to ICT during the meetings.
There is no doubt that digital divide still exists in rural areas where internet connectivity is still a problem. Malaysian government is trying to overcome this problem but it will take a while for all schools to have access to the Internet. Only then the digital divide will come to an end. In schools, ICT Literacy subject is introduced to help students to learn about technology on computers, Internet, software and etc. This step is taken to close the technological gap among school children.
In schools, most computers are running Office 2000 on Windows 98 special edition and a small number on XP. This year due to limited funding, the Education Ministry will not be providing Microsoft Windows products. Instead, the usage of Open Source products such as Linux Ubuntu operating system and Open Office has been recommended to schools.
To ensure e-safety on the Internet, certain websites have been blacklisted and blocked by the Ministry’s security application. Students who tried to access those websites will find that they are unable to do and will receive reminder on their computer screens cautioning them that those websites are prohibited to them. As for digital citizenship, students are taught certain aspects of it such as digital etiquette, laws and rights during the ICT Literacy lessons. At present, we do not have comprehensive syllabus content on Digital Citizenship yet.
Regarding the issue of equity of resources, not all schools receive same amount of funding. Generally, national government schools receive more funding compared to other types of school. Those schools which are given less funds have to enlist their respective Parents and Teachers Association to plan activities to raise funds. High performance schools, schools which attained high academic achievement are given higher budget. Technical and boarding schools are also well funded. These schools have excellent ICT infrastructure and equipment for the usage of their instructors and students.
