REFLECTION OF DOCUMENT ANALYSIS OF THE SMART SCHOOL
Introduction
Smart Schools will lead to the full democratization of education. These schools are not for the smartest students but really a smart way of ensuring that every student - strong or weak, rich or poor - stretches to his fullest potential in a way that is best suited to his learning pace and style. The curriculum will therefore recognize that students have different learning needs. Computer technology will allow for this flexibility and diversity to be built into the system. This will also narrow the opportunity gap between the affluent who can afford advanced technology in their homes and the less affluent in society.
The Malaysian Smart School is a learning institution that has been systemically reinvented in terms of teaching-learning practices and school management in order to prepare children for the Information Age. A Smart School will evolve over time, continuously developing its professional staff, its educational resources, and its administrative capabilities. This will allow the school to adapt to changing conditions, while continuing to prepare students for life in the Information Age. To function effectively, the Smart School will require appropriately skilled staff, and well-designed supporting processes.
Smart School Conceptual Model
Blueprint is an outline and guideline of a new system. The establishment of Smart School in Malaysia was guide by blueprint conceptual that was legislated by Ministry of Education. The Malaysian Smart School Conceptual Blueprint outlined that a smart school is a learning institution with a few important components which are teaching and learning; administration and management, school, people, skills and responsibilities. As mentioned in the blueprint, one of the key players is students as active learner. Smart Schools will prepare students to make a successful transition to the modern and more global environment. The schools will nurture skills of creative problem-solving in the face of novel situations, and students will learn to exercise courage in making decisions and assuming responsibility for them. Students will learn to process and manipulate information. They will be trained to think critically and to reflect on what they have learned, as well as to transfer and apply knowledge from one discipline to another and to daily life.Besides, this blueprint also stress on the role of teachers as facilitators in learning. In this concept, the independent value is cultivated among the students. They will give psychological support and encouragement for them in learning. So that, student will less depend on teacher. In short, teachers will be instrumental in creating conditions that will promote self-directed learning which is creative and independent. Besides that, the management and administration of the Smart School will be based on the technology. This will help improve efficiency, remove redundancies and radically improve access to all concerned. With school management computerized and on-line, the principals will be able to plan, manage and utilize both human and physical resources effectively.
Smart School Roadmap
In order to put in the perspective the objectives, the time-frame, the stakeholders and their key responsibilities, a strategic Smart School Roadmap has been developing. This roadmap is a strategy in achieving Smart School vision and it is not an operational plan. The various divisions of the Ministry of Education and its partner should worked out together to carry out Roadmap strategy. The components key of Roadmap include identify the stakeholder as customers, identify the roles of different stakeholder and customers, performance-based management for the implementation of the Roadmap, set a clear attainment targets and fixed timelines from 2005 to 2020 and lastly is concretize a Malaysian Smart School scenario in 2020.Firstly, the Roadmap begins with the setting of aims to realize an advanced Smart School scenario by 2020. These aims will make clear the conveyable expected of the stakeholders and main players including the delegate from the Ministry of Education and its industry partners, parents, teachers and students. The conveyable is in the form of services to be delivered such as material, training and so on. Besides that, it also means on quality which is a quality of materials and quality of training. A performance-based approach is an expansion of Smart School where progress is evaluated and reported. Then, the feedback is gathered immediate corrective action. The roadmap will eventually lead to the realization of an advanced Smart School scenario by 2020.
Conclusion
Smart Schools will provide a golden opportunity for the Ministry of Education to implement innovations to achieve the highest standards in education and become a global leader in the field. Obviously there is a need to learn from successful existing and ongoing projects around the world and then merge this learning with unique local requirements to create something that is beyond and more advanced. The challenge ahead is a great one, but the rewards will be just as great.
