Professional Development Needs of Singaporean Teachers for the 3rd ICT Master Plan

Abstract

This paper reports the current implementation status of the ICT masterplan 3 in Singapore schools. The focus is on teachers' use of ICT to promote self-directed learning and collaborative learning among students in primary and secondary schools. We employed a mixed method: an online survey complemented by focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews. The survey was administered on 50 primary and 50 secondary schools across Singapore. FGDs and interviews were conducted with teachers and school leaders from 12 participating schools. The survey indicated that teachers perceived a low use of ICT for SDL and CoL. FGDs revealed that they faced problems of time constraint, mindset issue and students' ability when delivering lessons with ICT. Interviews with school leaders indicated that teachers need to enhance their understanding of the concepts and ICT tools. In moving forward with the reform directions, we proposed professional learning community among teachers to co-construct curriculum-based usage of ICT for the two strategic foci (SDL and CoL).