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EDUTRAC WORKPLACE
LEARNING |
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EDUTRAC FUNDAMENTAL
SKILLS POST-SCHOOL SUPPORT |
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EDUTRAC PRIMARY
SCHOOL SUPPORT AND REMEDIATION |
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SINGAPORE MATHS
ACE-LEARNING SYSTEM |
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The long term effects
of the history of South African education with
its apartheid policies of discrimination coupled
with the inevitable defiance of authority in
township schools from 1976-1984 , is well known
and documented. Denial of rights of learners
to choose their medium of instruction and little
or no access for black learners to engage in
mathematics and science will resound in our
“halls of shame” for decades to
come. More recently outcomes-based education,
‘packages’ for qualified teachers,
unskilled teachers not necessarily dedicated
to the task of teaching, no performance management
of teachers, lack of resources in many schools
and the disruption caused by illegal teacher
strikes, has as is evident, exacerbated the
problem.
The EDL Group based on ten
years of tried and tested applications
are concerned with the years wasted on
the failed OBE initiative as well as the
challenges of implementing changes. The
question is can any curriculum change
or learner / teacher efforts really succeed
unless the varied fundamental basic skill
level of learners in a classroom is addressed
and remediated concurrently in the short
/ medium term?
It is a known fact that the need to address
the Maths / English crises in South
Africa is paramount. No teaching can be
effective without fertile ground. No learner
operating at a level, more often than
not, at least two grade levels below the
grade they are actually in, can ever expect
to progress. |
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This Education Crises coupled with global technology
escalation, directed the development of the
innovative EDL Learning System (EDUTRAC) for
school support and remediation purposes in Maths
and English. This is made up of:
| A. |
The Edutrac Remediation System for Primary
Schools |
| B. |
The Singapore
Interactive Maths for High Schools. |
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A. The Edutrac
Remediation System for Primary Schools
The Edutrac learning system has
been designed to include an extensive
management database and more than 1000
learning units. It provides a multi-media
on-line solution which can transform learning
in schools. The lesson options have been
grouped into courses and modules compliant
with the Department of Education Curricula.
All learners are tested for Maths and
English at a level below the actual grade
they are in for assessment purposes. Once
the actual level of the learner has been
established an individualised remediation
programme is set for each learner made
possible by computer technology.
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Based on the premise that sound pedagogical
decisions are rooted in content knowledge, our
intentions are grounded in knowing:
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in schools, teachers need
to get on with the process of teaching
and do not have the time to address the
needs of learners with varied fundamental
skill levels. Teachers also cannot cope
with the number of learners at different
levels in the same Grade. In some cases
teachers themselves do not have the expertise
to remediate and/or teach mathematical
literacy, English communication and basic
science (fundamental skills). |
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in schools, learners
cannot cope with the demands of the
Grade they are in because their fundamental
skills are not in place. In many cases
learners are not able to read, write
or do mathematics at the minimum level
required which compounds their inability
as they move from Grade to Grade. |
It is our view that electronic content,
resource development for remediation and
blended learning methodologies with teacher
involvement, can make a difference. This
means schools should consider this effective
alternative methodology for remediating
the learning (process).
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B. The Singapore Interactive Maths for
High Schools.
Singapore students were in first place in the
1995,1999 and 2003 TIMSS.
TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and
Science Study) is designed to measure trends
in students’ mathematics and science achievement
in four-year cycles. By comparison, South African
students were at the last positions in the first
two studies (1995 and 1999) and didn’t
participate in 2003. This is the main reason
why the Singapore Mathematics program is receiving
a great deal of attention from educators and
researchers across the globe.
The EDL foundation has collaborated
with ACE-Learning
to offer South African Secondary Schools
an on-line Mathematics Program which has been
in use in Singapore since 2001. This Accelerated
Creative E-Learning System is currently adopted
by more than 110 MOE secondary schools in Singapore.
This e-learning program incorporates and accentuates
all the features of the Singapore Mathematics
Method which has grabbed the attention of the
world:
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| (1) |
The Singapore Mathematics
Method involves a unique pictorial approach,
allowing students to look at problems
in a visual way before they move to the
abstract. The ACE-Learning on-line system
provides so much more than the text books
in order to ensure that learners move
through a learning process based on pictorial
explanations/understanding before abstraction
is expected: |
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Animated Lessons
More than 2000 lessons available
to students, giving unlimited access
to the same information as many times
as required. Students can now study
at their own pace, anytime, anywhere,
with internet access.
The file-size of each animated lesson
is kept small (less than 1 MB) and can
be readily accessed by those using Windows
98 or 56 KBps modems. |
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Interactive Laboratories
More than 100 units available
to students to:
...- reinforce
learning with hands-on activities
...- test
and explore concepts
...- simulate
"what-if" scenarios |
| (2) |
The Singapore approach to
mathematics instruction has largely skirted
the mathematics wars of recent years whether
to teach traditional mathematics or reform
mathematics. Singapore Mathematics has
been described as a more balanced approach
between the two, melting old-fashioned
algorithms with visual representations
and critical thinking. The Ace-Learning
system provides animated lessons and interactive
laboratories combined with: |
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Practice Drills with Full Model
Solutions
With over 20,000 questions in the question
bank, students are able to have ample
practice of each topic taught with immediate
feedback, including suggested worked solutions.
Challenging questions are available to
enrich the learning experience for those
who are game for challenges. Every question
in the question bank comes with full model
answers. Students can compare their solutions
with the provided answers. They can also
be printed out for future reference. Students
can also be placed on a PMP (Progress
Mastery Program) whereby questions are
graded from easy to difficult and learners
are forced to achieve pre-determined (by
the teacher) levels of competency before
advancing to the next level of question. |
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Multi-criteria National Performance
Monitoring Reports
Students' performance in assessment questions
can be monitored and tracked in terms
of time spent, speed and accuracy. |
| (3) |
Singapore Mathematics program (ACE-Learning
on-line Mathematics Program) strengthens
mental mathematics and problem
solving skills through word problems
and step-by-step explanations, giving
students an increased understanding of
mathematical applications and standard
problem-solving. Challenging students
to independently apply their knowledge
of math, this program's proven international
method gets students to understand the
reasoning behind the mathematics. |
| (4) |
The ACE-Learning system
addresses one of the key principles of
the Singapore Mathematics Method: all
children learn differently. Concepts are
therefore introduced and developed at
a much slower pace than
usual. Learners using the ACE-Learning
system will be able to take advantage
of this feature and can in addition re-visit
the animations and interactive labs as
needed – ideally the learner should
not move on to another topic until they
have thoroughly learned a topic. ACE-Learning
aims to emulate their country’s
success by promoting a deeper understanding
of numbers and math concepts. |
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The ACE-Learning system therefore
also offers the feature whereby students can
be placed on a PMP (Progress Mastery Program)
whereby questions are graded from easy to difficult
and learners are forced to achieve pre-determined
(by the teacher) levels of competency before
advancing to the next grade of question.
The
best part, besides improved performance
from using the Singapore based ACE-Learning
system, is that learners in Singapore
have one of the highest enjoyment levels
for mathematics in the world! |
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