Bright Young Sparks In TM’s E-learning Contest

WINNERS of Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s eSchool LCMS Content Creation Competition, which was held in conjunction with the nation’s 50th Merdeka Day, received their prizes recently.

The competition, which ran for two months until Aug 30, was aimed at increasing the use of the LCMS application by exposing students and teachers to the advantages of using the e-learning tool. LCMS or Learning Content Management System was introduced through the TM eSchool project, which was launched in April.

A total of 58 groups from three schools – Methodist Boys’ School Kuala Lumpur, SM USJ12, Selangor and SM Seksyen 11, Shah Alam – participated. Each group consisted of a teacher acting as group leader and four students. Shirley Tan and her students from SM USJ12 were the first prize winners. Second prize went to S. Munniammiah and her team from MBS while Gopala Krishnan a/l Ratha Krishnan and his team from MBS took the third prize.

“We found the LCMS competition was successful in unlocking the hidden potential of our students through the use of information technology,” TM chief executive officer Malaysia Business Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said at the prize-giving ceremony. “This was despite the fact that the participating schools were just familiarising themselves with an advanced integrated e-learning application,” he said. “We have fulfilled our objective while nurturing interest in using online teaching and learning facilities among school communities through programmes like this.”

Zamzamzairani said the pilot project was part of TM’s efforts in raising awareness on the benefits of the broadband Internet service, as the company continues to offer more exciting and compelling content and applications to customers. He hoped the programme will lead to the development of home-grown education applications that are of international standard.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Datuk D. Halim Shafie lauded TM’s efforts in promoting the use of information and communications technology (ICT). He said the implementation of its e-learning applications via the TM eSchool initiative together with the content creation competition will help to cultivate the culture of ICT usage among teachers and students. “More than just an infrastructure deployment exercise, it is the sharing of knowledge and expertise as this comprehensive programme brings realworld applications to the young,” Halim said.

“Budget 2008 sees the government setting a target of 50% of the country’s households having broadband by 2010, an increase from the current 12%. “Initiatives such as the TM eSchool will pave the way for broadband penetration to increase further.”