NCTM 2010 and Singapore Math

Marshall Cavendish Online participated in the annual NCTM Meeting and Exposition at San Diego, California on 21 - 24 April 2010. It was an excellent opportunity to showcase our Singapore Math digital curriculum to the educators from all over the world.

From the team that brought to you the successful Primary Mathematics Series, Primary Mathematics Online is a supplementary digital courseware that contains and maintains the original content and methods that have been used and proven effective in Singapore.

The Primary Mathematics series is based on sound research principles of effective approaches to teaching mathematics. Studies on the instructional approach have also been tested successfully in classrooms both in Singapore and the United States.

Users from United States can learn more about this offering at http://www.mconline.us

Zenitant Alliance to Bring More Learning Trails for Schools

Marshall Cavendish Online recently announced the alliance and collaboration with Zenitant on the Trail Buddy. This partnership will be beneficial to schools widening the possibilities for schools to select the learning trail location of their choice, the subjects they want to focus on the trail and platform for the trail. Zenitant, with extensive experience and expertise in learning trails coupling Marshall Cavendish Online's digital advances, will be looking forward to providing more learning trail services to your schools in the near future.

For more enquiries on our learning trails with iPhone, email to enquiries@zenitant.com.sg

 

CHIJ Katong Primary on Massive "Smart" Trail

Pupils from CHIJ Katong Primary embarked on an extraordinary journey, taking a big step forward together with Marshall Cavendish Online.

The whole level of Primary 6, which consists of more than 200 pupils, simultaneously went on a learning trail at Labrador Park armed with Marshall Cavendish Online’s Trail Buddy innovation. Gone are days of pupils holding on to sheets of paper and pens. With the use of smartphones (iPhone) during learning trails, it offers not only functional convenience but also an opportunity to allow pupils follow-up activities such as discussions and reflections through the use of blogging features in the LEAD portal.

Mrs Tracey Hoa, HOD ICT for CHIJ Katong Primary had this to say from their experience. "Our girls where able to handle and navigate through the activities with minimal supervision on the iPhone!"

 

Marshall Cavendish Online is looking forward to collaborations with more schools in the near future!

Marshall Cavendish Online Resources Extends To Indonesia

Students from the Singapore National Academy in Indonesia are now able to integrate LEAD resources as a part of their learning curriculum in class.

The Singapore National Academy is an International School situated in East Java of Indonesia that focuses on using Singapore curriculum as the preferred mode of teaching and learning. The use of LEAD content resources was naturally the next step forward for the pupils are Singapore National Academy as it was a perfect match for curricula structure and pedagogy involved. The multimedia digital learning content facilitates the pupils to better understand the subjects that are being taught and practice self-directed learning.

Four Years In A Row

For four consecutive years (2006 – 2009), the LEAD Portal, www.lead.com.sg, maintained at the top of the hits list of visits to ‘Education – Reference’ websites in Singapore. Hitwise, an online competitive intelligence organisation that measures visit counts to websites all over the world, revealed this outcome.

This amazing feat would not have been possible without your support and believe in our portal and resources for teaching and learning. Marshall Cavendish Online’s continual efforts to partner with established textbook publishers including Marshall Cavendish Education and Panpac will create even wider possibilities for our users of the portal.

The Hitwise award is a motivation for us to extend to our schools an even better portal for your educational needs and a testament of our reliability and achievements over the years.

iCTLT 2010

The annual International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology (iCTLT) was held on 4-6 March 2010 at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Without exceptions Marshall Cavendish was on site to showcase our existing services and a sneak on what was to come in the near future.

The three day event was a perfect platform to catch up with familiar teachers from various schools and get to know new teachers as well. As an initiative to work closely for a wider range of learning and teaching resources for the schools, Marshall Cavendish Online and Marshall Cavendish Education was side-by-side at the iCTLT to feature a complete spectrum of products from print to digital and mobile technology.

Our participation this year also boasted an amazing oversized smartphone (iPhone) to demonstrate the possibilities of conducting learning trails effortlessly and effectively. Response for this service continues to gain positive results and we are very optimistic in fulfilling the needs of the schools planning on learning trails for their students.

Embracing this year’s conference was Mr. S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Education sharing with the crowd valuable views and thoughts on teaching and learning with technology. The conference summed up with the final day opening its doors to the public. Parents are greeted with tools and resources on how to enhance their children’s daily lessons in class and at home as well.

With the success and immense support from our partners and parents, we will be looking forward to a more exciting and promising iCTLT next year.

Adopters from Brisbane, Australia

The Marshall Cavendish Online team paid a visit to Forest Lake College, the first school in Australia to adopt the LEAD portal as an e-learning platform for all students Grade 1 to 6.

 






The school integrated the use LEAD into the Learning-Centred Approach for students. The Learning-Centred Approach focus on the needs of the students rather than educational process such as teachers being administrators. With the LEAD portal, students are able to conduct self-directed learning paying added attention on subjects and topics they have difficulties in.

Testimonial from Jordan

Marshall Cavendish Online participated in the inaugural event “Jordan International Education Exhibition” where hundreds of educators gather for workshops and seminars co-organised by The Jordan Educational Initiative (JEI).

The Rosary College-Shmeisani, which adopted the use of the LEAD portal, had two of the teachers to share with other schools on how the students have benefited from the LEAD platform.

“Most of our students are visual learners, so LEAD help them to learn more and easier. LEAD presents what the students see in their lives using the same technology, which makes the students more interested in learning.” Mentioned Ms T. Tamara Ghattas, a teacher from the Rosary College-Shmeisani. “It makes science FUN! LEAD was instrumental to students to continue learning from home during winter storm where all Jordanian schools are shut down for about four days.”

Budding Writers Project 2009

In its 10th year now, the Budding Writers Project was first initiated to encourage young children to develop their creative writing and artistic skills. The winning entries of the project will have their works printed to a book and sold to the public.

Marshall Cavendish Online is proud to support Marshall Cavendish in this project by converting the winning entries to a digital format available via the web. As we move into the digital age, it is essential for audience to be given a choice of either the traditional physical book or an electronic one for reading at anytime, anywhere with internet connectivity.

Besides just having the winning entries printed onto a book, the authors were also given the opportunity to be attached to Marshall Cavendish and Marshall Cavendish Online to understand the process involved to have their books edited, adding digital illustrations, digitising their books to the final process of printing. The authors visited Marshall Cavendish Online on November 18 to learn how their books were digitised and were later brought to a professional recording studio to have their voices recorded for their narration of the digital books.

The official launch of the winning books was held at Chamber, The Arts House on December 4, 2009. The winners of this year’s Budding Writers Project, The Crying Dream by Anya Lee and Ricky Learns To Fly by Yuli Steffina were both thrilled being the ‘star’ of the evening. Mr. S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Education was the guest of honour for the event. His presence certainly played great importance in motivating the winners to continue showcasing their flair in creative writing. Marshall Cavendish Online, supporting the Budding Writers Project for the first time, was on site that evening to showcase and assist guests in navigating the digital books.

With the success of this year’s participation, Marshall Cavendish Online will be looking forward to working with Marshall Cavendish Education again for next year’s Budding Writers Project. All young writers out there, get your pens ready.

• For more information about Budding Writers Project, please visit www.marshallcavendish.com/education/buddingwriters

Marshall Cavendish Online supports Technology Initiative in Education

While the initiative has achieved much success in deploying technological innovations into education, we know there's still much to be done locally and globally.

That is why Marshall Cavendish Online is supportive of any initiative that will help in the advancement of technology to optimise student's potential.

Last 21 to 23 November 2008, Marshall Cavendish Online sponsored the competition Asian Robotics League VEX Championship 2008. The event was organised by Rulang Primary School and the Asian Robotics League in partnership with Millenia Institute.

Held at Rulang Primary School, 84 teams coming from China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Singapore competed for the top spot. In the end, Hong Kong and China teams were announced as winners who will then represent Asia in the upcoming World VEX Championship.

When Education Meets Technology

Fuji Xerox, together with Marshall Cavendish Online, held a seminar on 13 November 2009 for schools on how to streamline administrative processes to achieve higher productivity and efficiency.

Andy shared with the teachers the various possibilities for schools to improve work processes and, at the same time, go green by reducing paper wastage with Fuji Xerox products.

The workshop was then followed by a demonstration by Mookaiah Manomani, HOD IT for Fairfield Methodist Secondary School, on how Marshall Cavendish Online assists her in her everyday teaching in school. Leveraging on Marshall Cavendish Online’s ‘Offline Homework’ tool, she is able assign homework for her students to complete without being connected onto the internet.

This seminar brought the attendees a step closer on the various methods available on how to be environmentally-friendly through the sharing session by Fuji Xerox and Miss Mookaiah Manomani.

LEAD Digital Media Competition 2009

The first LEAD Digital Media Competition (LDMC) finally came to a close and the winners were announced during the Prize Presentation Ceremony on November 6, 2009, at Times Centre Multi Purpose Hall.

Marshall Cavendish Online is hosting this competition for the first time for schools that participate in our Info Comm club. We received an overwhelming 200 over entries all with heart and passion in their work. It was a tough decision selecting the winners for our judges at Marshall Cavendish Online as they were all good entries.

The students gathered enthusiastically at Times Centre’s Multi Purpose Hall for the results and were greeted with a round of games to cool their nerves. Mr Ng Gek Song, Assistant General Manager for Marshall Cavendish Online, was the Guest-of-Honour for the event and gave some advice for the group of talented young audience. “We hope to see all of you continue to be inspired and keep on practicing digital media design either as a hobby or even developing it into your career”. He also added, “With the success of 2009, next year’s competition will be even bigger with elements of video and animations included.”

The time finally came after the names of the merit, bronze, silver and kid’s choice award were mentioned, the highlight of the afternoon for the gold award. Lim Jun Heng from Radin Mas Primary School came out tops among the rest of the contestants and brought home the grand prize of a Hewlett-Packard Mini notebook.

The event ended after some refreshments and photo-taking sessions with the winners. Even as the students were leaving the premises, Mr Jason Lek, their Info Comm trainer, was still heard encouraging the students to keep practicing.

Gold Award : Lim Jun Heng — Radin Mas Primary School

Silver Award : Alexandra De Vera Cabatbat — Farrer Park Primary School

Bronze Award : Jamie Teo Xi Min — St Anthony's Primary School

Kid's Choice Award : Damien Lee Khai Jie —Chong Zheng Primary

MARSHALL CAVENDISH ONLINE AND GENYO: A Growing Overseas Collaboration

October 2008 has been an exciting month for Marshall Cavendish Online as we hosted two visits by Filipino primary and secondary school teachers last 3 and 30 October. Over 50 teachers arrived at Marshall Cavendish Online headed by Diwa Asia Publishing Group Executive Directors Elma Ropeta and Jose Maria Policarpio and Vice President Jun Sayson.

The visit started at the Marshall Cavendish Online office with a presentation of the Genyo e-learning, followed by a school visit at Yio Chu Kang Primary School, a quick lunch and the finale, a tour at the Classroom of the Future (COTF) at the National Institute of Education (NIE).

In April 2007, Marshall Cavendish Online signed a partnership with Diwa Asia Publishing Group Inc. of the Philippines to bring Marshall Cavendish Online's digital content and LMS to the country. This was the birth of Genyo, the revolutionary e-learning program for Philippine schools.

Diwa Asia Publishing Group Inc. is the leader in the educational publishing industry in the Philippines, while Marshall Cavendish Online is the largest e-learning content and services provider in Singapore servicing more than 65% of primary schools.

Marshall Cavendish Online, having established itself in Singapore, receives strong interest from overseas educational providers. Leveraging on Singapore's reputation of a world-class education system and the strength of our e-learning content, Marshall Cavendish Online has started to bring its rich e-learning content overseas.

The feedback on Genyo e-learning portal has been overwhelming. After a year, Genyo now has access to 14 prestigious private schools in the Philippines and is targeting 25 schools by 2009.

Marshall Cavendish Online Grat.i.tude 2009

On 23 October 2009, The Asian Civilisation Museum was transformed into an arena of interaction, laughter and enjoyment for the guest and the Marshall Cavendish Online team.

The focus of the new initiatives presentation was the ‘Buddy Series’, to be launched during the second quarter of 2010. Among it, the ‘Trail Buddy’, that encompasses the use of Smartphones with learning trails. Many schools will definitely be anxiously looking forward to this innovative way of enrichment curriculum for the students.

The ‘Buddy Series’ comprises of ‘Trail Buddy’, ‘Maths Buddy’, ‘Oral Buddy’, ‘Writing Buddy’ and ‘口试满分’(Chinese version of Oral Buddy). The different ‘buddies’ have one common goal: assist and guide students to excel in the respective subjects.

Trail Buddy: Encompass the use of smartphones with outdoor learning trails to enhance effectiveness and efficiency.

Oral Buddy and 口试满分: Gain confidence in oral assessments through exercising organised thoughts and honing oral presentation skills.

Writing Buddy and 写作满分: Sharpen writing skills with crafting skills and
strategies.

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.