Malayasia Smart School

Introduction
Smart School in a Malaysia education system which
learning institution that recostruct systematically
teaching-learning and school management in order to
prepared children for Information Age. Smart School had
become one of the seven flagship of the Multimedia Super
Corridor (MSC) that will carry out in 2000.Early in 1996,the
Ministry of Education was created laws of Smart School
concept .There was teaching and learning based on
creative thinking. Technology as a important component in
Smart School concept when Smart School project exist as
one of application that are part of Malaysia Multimedia
Super Corridor (MSC)

The objective

1. Manage efficiently and effectively the resources and

processes required the teaching-learning function.
2. Student, teacher, administrator and parents are better
prepared for the challenges of the information Age.
3. There are five important objectives in Smart School which
are development of individual (intellectual, physical,
emotional, and spiritual), create an opportunities to
enhance individual strengths and abilities, democratizing
education, increasing involvement of stakeholders, and
produce a thinking and technology literate workforce.

Challengers in Smart Schools

There are some problems and challenges that Smart Schools

in Malaysia have been faced. As we know, to enable the
smooth transition to Smart Schools, there are some policy
changes must be applied.These would be encompass
schooling structure, training and personnel requirement and

certification conditions.As implementation of Smart School,

there would be huge provision or budget to overcome the
increasing of number of Smart School in Malaysia.This has
significant
implications
particularly
on
multimedia
infrastructure deployment, training, learners and
materials development.

In multimedia infrastructure aspect, Smart School

invariably demand a heavy investment on it. The hardware
would include computers and peripherals, video and voice
conferencing
equipment
and
the
backbone
telecommunication infrastructure.
The software will
comprise word processors, spreadsheets, networking
software, e-mail software. Apart from that, Smart Schools
will require the creation of interlinked national and local
databases and resource centre to ensure it works
properly. The infrastructure is not incremental to the current
information technology deployment but orders of magnitude
higher .
The successful planning, installation and
maintenance will require a radical change in approach. This
is essential to ensure the optimum utilization of the facilities,
which otherwise could easily become an expensive high-tech
means of doing more of the same. Effective implementation
of Smart School will require funding for the building of new
schools with all its multimedia infrastructure, upgrading
facilities in existing schools and teacher training institutions ,
and for the maintenance of new technology introduced. We
need to explored more on innovative methods to achieve the
targeted budget such as private sector funding, corporate
and community involvement, sponsorships and also wisely
used of the excellent infrastructure after school hours.
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Besides that, the most critical aspect of training
would be teacher training. There needs to be a careful
addition of intensive training and counseling to assist
teachers adapt to the whole new environment. This will be
crucial in order to dispel the natural insecurity and fears of
redundancy that will arise from this radical changes in
teaching methodology and hence the teachers get the very
important role in this case. This training will have to devote

considerable attention to changing the mindset of

teachers, so that they will understand that Smart Schools
must provide the best and good environment for selfdirected and self-accesses learning of students in
classrooms. This would involve thoroughly renovate training
programs, significant additional infrastructure and the
mobilization of expertise, which includes both local and
foreign. While the teachers form the largest target group
training, the challenges to train administrators, supervisors,
technologist, and supporting staff becomes not really
important. Teachers will now play the role of a guide on the
side, thus doing away with their traditional way of teaching
process. Teachers will identify the real goals, define what
the direction for their students, guide their progress towards
these goals and then step back to allow the students to learn
at their own step. The teachers will give psychological
support and encouragement and also periodically step in to
check progress, giving strengths and efforts, identify
weaknesses, and decide what kind of practice that their
students needs. In short term, teachers will be instrumental
in creating conditions that will promote self-directed learning
which is creative and not fully depend to teachers.

Next, for the challenges in aspect of learners is that

learners attitude. Nowadays, the students are not too
active or passive in teaching and learning process. They just
listen to teachers and doing nothing unless hoping fully to
the teachers. Although teacher hold the responsibility of
teaching process and in relation to technology applications,
the student should also play an active role in determining
the direction of their respective learning by virtue of the
participation and activities. The software that are created
and designed to facilitate the students active, creative and
critical engagement with the content which can help
enhance the active construction and reconstruction of ideas
and experiences of their understanding of the content
presented. Smart Schools will prepare the 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 real situations, and the
students will learn to make a right decisions and holding the
responsibility for them.Besides that, students also learn how

to process and manipulate information.They will trained to

think creatively and critically and to reflect on what they
have learned, as well as to transfer and apply knowledge
from one disciplines to another and also to daily life. Hence,
students will need to be taught strategies to competently
and selectively navigate for information. Moreover, team
effort, group collaboration, flexibility and competency in
international languages will be emphasized. In Malaysia, the
Smart Schools will also incorporate the innovative concept of
the virtual express class. The current system stretches the
weak students and restricts the smartest. The technology in
the Smart Schools will help provide the flexibility to remove
this stress in that system. This will allow fast learners to
complete the coursework and assessments sooner than the
normal duration.

Last but not least, the challenge that also we faced

since the inception of Smart Schools in Malaysia is a
administrators role as effective managers. The
successful implementation of Smart School will be depend of
school administration through the use of technology. This
condition will help improve efficiency, remove redundancies
and improve access to all concerned. About the issues
involvement of parents, this are clearly seen nowadays.
Most of parents are not really involved in this projects. Most
of them busy with their work so that they can upgrade their
life and provide the better environment to their children.
Most of them think this Smart School program is the work for
government as well as teachers. Therefore, they just not too
care about their children participation in Smart School
program. Networking will facilitate the involvement of
parents and the community in school programs making them
effective partners in their childrens education. Students
and teachers welfare needs can be more effectively met with
constant monitoring. Moreover, with school management
computerized and on-line, the principals will be able to plan,
manage and utilize both human and physical resources
effectively.

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
challenges ahead is a great one, but the rewards will be just
as great.

Conclusion

Cooperation from all Malaysian whether students, teacher

and parents needed to achieve the objective of Smart
School to produce a knowledge society that is critical
,creative and innovative to produce technology savvy
individuals for the Information Age and to cultivate lifelong learning based on Information and Communication in
Technology.