N.E.w Author Competition

Organised by KooBits- an interactive digital software, the "N.E.w Author Competition" is a nation-wide digital writing competition open to all students in Singapore.

This competition aims to engage the interest of technologically-savvy young students and connect this interest more closely to the promotion of National Education, through the use of new Interactive Digital Media (IDM) application tools and platform.

Marshall Cavendish Online's Training Manager, Adi Hermawan, took on the role as main project facilitator and trainer for Primary 5 and 6 students of Damai Primary School. He assisted students in developing their own digital story-telling book by making use of graphics, video, animation and sound, and combined then into an interactive e-book.

With Adi's help, a team of three Primary 6 students won a Merit Award with their project titled, 'Rising Above Our Challenges'. Not a mean feat considering there were more than 2,009 entries from 80 schools! According to team member Nor Arinah Samsuddin, the training was "fun and enriching", and also helped her learn more about Singapore and its history.

Another team that clinched a Merit Award was a group of three Primary 5 students from West View Primary School, with their project titled 'Water is Precious'. The Teacher-in-charge, Miss Tan Qiu Ling, was full of praises for Marshall Cavendish Online's Residential IT Trainer, Siti Hajar Jasnee. "I'd like to thank Mdm Siti for training the students on the software. Otherwise, they would not be able to participate in the competition!"

The students certainly enjoyed Siti's training, "She was nice, helpful and friendly. We also learnt that teamwork produces good results", gushed Sneha Joseph P.

South Cluster Animation Camps!

Radin Mas Primary School, together with Marshall Cavendish Online, organised a South Cluster Animation Camp during the June holidays- spread across four days from 2-5 June!

The schools included Gan Eng Seng Primary, River Valley Primary, Stamford Primary, St. Theresa Convent, Outram Secondary and the host, Radin Mas Primary.

Marshall Cavendish Online organised a stop-motion (claymotion) animation camp to give the students  a break from computers. It also gave them a chance to 'get their hands dirty' when they created their own plastic model and to learn how traditional stop-motion animation was done.

After a short introduction on the history of claymation and stop-motion, the students were shown how to create an interesting short story, and to transfer their ideas onto storyboard.

Each student was provided with a box of equipment that included plasticine, wires, beads, paint, etc. They were first tasked to create a wireframe and the students received guidance each step of the way- from basic lighting and video techniques, to editing and completing their animation by using Marshall Cavendish Online Video Studio and Window MovieMaker.

With a chance to experience something so different and unique, there were excited and enthusiastic faces all around at camp!

With positive responses from the students, Marshall Cavendish Online organized another Animation Camp on 10 September 2009!

For this session, students were taught Adobe Flash by Infocomm Club Trainer Jason Lek, where they were tasked to create an e-card at the end of the day. The students were greatly encouraged to use their creativity and imagination.

A Primary 4 student from Stamford Primary, Ariande, commented that although it was her first time learning Adobe Flash, she really enjoyed it as she loved to draw and the class was very fun and interesting.

Primary 4 student Andrew, from River Valley Primary, said that although he had learnt Adobe Flash before, he still gained a lot from the camp as "there are many new things I learnt, and I like Mr Jason as he is very patient."

Learning Trail on the iPhone- Marshall Cavendish Makes Headlines!

Learning trails are a great way to enable learning opportunities beyond the classroom. Besides the chance for students to learn through discovery and experiential learning, learning trails provide a fun environment for students to engage and collaborate with each other.

With the iPhone, mobile learning is set to take on a whole new dimension! At Marshall Cavendish Online, we design and develop Interactive Learning Trails with schools to make full use of the functionality and flexibility of the iPhone.

Unlike the conventional pen and paper method, a whole new variety of activities are made possible with the iPhone:

Virtual keyboard – no more scribbling answers on crumpled sheets of paper!

Photo taking – to bring home memories of a great excursion

Voice Recording – capture the students’ animated voices

Video Recording – for exciting ‘live’ action

… and many more!

Students work in groups and collaborate to solve problems and complete activities on the iPhone. An array of subjects is incorporated into the activities, to ensure a multi-disciplinary approach.

What’s more, after the excursion, Marshall Cavendish Online will upload all the data captured during the excursion, into a BLOG. Students are able to share the entire experience with parents, teachers, and friends!

It was a truly exciting day for 80 Primary 4 students of Radin Mas Primary School – the very first to pilot the Interactive Learning Trail on the iPhone at Jurong Bird Park!

The anticipation was apparent as the students arrived at Jurong Bird Park on a bright and cheery Monday morning. With one iPhone for each group of four, they rushed off to their respective stations once the green light was given.

With children being so tech-savvy nowadays, they took to the iPhone with minimal guidance, and were soon completing activities like taking pictures of the different species of owls, solving mathematical questions involving entrance fees, etc.

The Radin Mas Primary School students certainly enjoyed themselves, as one Primary 4 student, Yassin, made known, “I really enjoyed this learning trail because it’s fun and different. My group was also able to work as a team to complete the activities.”

With such an exciting event, it was no wonder that a reporter from 联合早报* joined in the fun to interview and photograph the students in action as well!

Happy Teacher's Day!