Osaka Day 4 updates

We presented our paper, entitled ," Shaping Students' Attitude and Learning through the use of an Environmental Education Virtual World (EEVW)". ( Access paper via the link below :

https://iafor.conference-services.net/abstracts.asp?sessionID={4101B8D7-7FB6-4D8A-9B54-7B45767CC3B8}&action=summary&abstractID=562655&language=en-uk  )

The session was well received by the audience. Our presentation was segmented into three parts. Firstlly, Mr Chua introduced the school as well as giving an overview of our Environmental Education framwork.

Secondly, Thomas gave an introduction of what Second Life is and a quick overview of the Six Learnings curricular framework for fictive worlds and virtual environments. This framework was developed by Dr Kenneth Lim from Learning Science Laboratory, NIE. He is currently working with us on the research component of translating EE values into character values. Spencer rounded off the presentation by giving a detailed walkthrough of our island and our survey results. The participants were all impressed by what we have shared.

                                                       Mr Chua sharing with the particpants

                                                            Spencer sharing on the EEVW

We were privileged and honoured to have two lecturers, Warren Midgley and Roderick Fogarty from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) attend our session. Both Warren and Roderick presented a paper on the use of remote technology (robots) with elementary school students in the same conference. They expressed interests in collaborating with us. We regretted we did not have a group photo with Warren and Roderick.

We  were glad to forge a new friendship with Prof Marjo and Jerry from (Akita International University) ,whom we met at the conference dinner. There seemed to be an instant affinity between us and her and we hit off very well. Mr Chua has invited her to visit our school next year and she has accepted our invitation.

Earlier in the day, we also attended  2 concurrent sessions which were ICT-related - One was from the University of Hong Kong which touched on the topic of using a customer-made e-platform to engage student reflection and the other one from the College of Education, India on the use of e-learning to prepare students for the global knowledge economy.

The conference finally ended at 5pm. After that, all three of us rushed down to Kyoto to tour an art exhibition held at JR Isetan. The exhibition featured art work from the famous French painter and graphic artist, Odilon Redon (1814-1906). His unique style of using charcoal drawing and litograph were manifested in his highly distinctive repertoire of weird subjects  such as strange amoeboid creatures, insects, and plants with human heads.Below are some of the works of Odilon Redon:

Profil de Lumiere

                                                              Dan le reve , vision

At this juncture, we would like to thank everyone for reading this blog for the past few days. We will be back next week. Till then Sayonara !

Videos
Mr Chua's presentation




Thomas' presentation



Spencer's presentation




Q & A

Osaka Day 3 Updates

It just gets better !

We started off the day by attending an interesting talk by Researchers in Koc University, Turkey on how the education system in the country has become politicized by people in the decision making body. In the name of westernization, the authority began to implement a slew of meaures which tried to mimic a more westernized style of education in Turkey. For instance, the researchers shared that there was a time when the Education Ministry banned students from learning Turkish music so that students could learn western music. One of the negative outcomes of such an action was that overtime, the researchers found that students' moral values began to go downhill. From his sharing, we gained insight on how bad political involvement in decision making relating to Education would possibly degrade an education system.



We also attended another interesting talk by an academic, Dr Retno Muljani, from Sanata  Dharama University, Indonesia .Her interesting sharing touched on how students could be trained as effective museum guides through a set of structured approach which includes integrating what they have learnt with real life participation, a term called ,"Participatory Approach".

                                                         Dr Retno Muljani, Sanata  Dharama University, Indonesia

The most memorable highlight of today's programme was a visit to Miho Museum, reputed to be one of the best museums in the whole of Japan. Located high in the pristine Shigaraki mountains of central Japan, the Miho Museum expresses both the vision of the Japanese Shumei spiritual community and the talent of renowned Chinese-American architect, I.M. Pei (http://www.pcf-p.com/a/f/fme/imp/b/b.html) , whose works include the glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris , the East Wing of the National Gallery in Washington D.C as well as the 52 storey OCBC centre in Singapore. The museum is a perfect balance of art, architecture and the natural world, sound, spirit, and space.

For the two uninitiated boys who knew nuts about history , we were in for a treat as Mr Chua personally brought us through the various artefacts and collections found in the galleries. We gained much knowledge from his introduction and explanation of the Museum's collections ranging from Buddhist art, ceremonial art, ceramics and the art of the ancient world. Both Spencer and myself were deeply inspired by the trip and we are begining to acquire an appreciation for the Arts and the Museum.

The Osakan Boys present ," In tune with Nature", Miho Museum, Kyoto

                                     Miho Museum is located high in the pristine Shigaraki mountains
                                                                                  of central Japan,Kyoto

                  In the main hall, we saw this captivating scene where the concept of "Shakkei" or "borrowed landscape" is used to incorporate views of a pine tree and the distant mountains into the building that provides the scenic framework to reach peace and spirituality. Not that Spencer and I are experts, but Mr Chua gave us a lesson on this.

        We also learnt what a Fresco painting is about (Any of several related mural painting types

executed on plaster on walls or ceilings (Seen here: Garden Fresco)

We learnt that this is called a Mosaic , whereby small fragments of stone or glass are arranged to create a picture. One of the primary forms of architectural decoration in ancient Rome, mosaics were used on the walls and ceilings of palaces and aristocratic homes.

Osaka Day 2 Updates

The conference has started. We must say that it has been a good learning experience thus far. We had ample opportunities to interact and learn from presenters and participants from over 40 countries. It is interesting to know what other countries are doing in the area of education. For instance, Mr Chua attended a session where a researcher from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) University spoke about using differentiated instruction strategy in teaching Science to elementary students.  Spencer attended a session, entitled, " What is important to be measured in teaching?", presented by researchers from the University of Tasmania, Australia.Thomas, on the other hand, attended a session that explored the use of a particular professional development framework in the training of medical professionals.The presenters were from the University of Queensland, Australia.

One thing we observed - No matter which countries the presenters came from, they all have a common passion which is to improve and impact students' learning. This too, should be one of our goals, in creating a student-centric approach / pedagogy to impact their learning. 

Three of us also attended an interesting keynote session by an academic and psychologist from Tarumanagara University, Indonesia.He spoke about using Activity (Music/Art) therapy in treating survivors from natural disasters (eg: Japan tsunami/volcanic eruption in Indonesia). It is not often that one can hear about such a topic in local conferences and this is definitely an eye opener for us.

                                        Thomas & Spencer posing in front of the conference signboard

Of course, it was not all work and no play , the conference organisers prepared a sumptuous dinner for all participants. Through this dinner, we not only sampled authentic Japanese cuisine, we also formed several new friendships with fellow educators from other countries . An example of a new-found friendship is with Prof Marjo & Jerry from Akita International University. We were all wowed by this lovely couple's warmth hospitality and friendliness. We also met two fantastic people, Prof Judith D Chapman from Australian Catholic University and Prof David Aspin from Monash University. We enjoyed their company thoroughly. 

     Our new-found friends : (Clockwise): P, Mr Jerry Platt & Prof Marjo Misutomi (Akita International University,Japan)

Lively interaction with Jerry

   New found friends . Among them - Prof Judith D Chapman, Australian Catholic University, Australia & University of Cambridge ,UK ; Prof Marjo & Mr Jerry Platt & Prof David Aspin, Monash University,  Australia 

                                               With Prof David Aspin,Monash Univesity, Australia

Afte dinner, we found some time to tour Umeda area, a popular shopping area near our hotel. Osaka is well-known for her food. You can literally find something to eat, everywhere and anywhere.

                                                   Mr Chua & Spencer in Umeda area after dinner

     This is how you drink Sake, a restaurant in Nambah Walk

Spencer & his fish, a restaurant in Nambah Walk

Watch this space for more updates tomorrow.

Osaka Day 1 Updates

After 7 hours on the plane, we finally touched down at Kansai International Airport at 8:30 am.

Weather in Osaka ? Sunny and a cool temperature of 14 °C.  

Arrival at Kansai International Airport (KIX),Osaka

Registering for the conference at Ramada Osaka Hotel

Interacting with Dr Retno Mulijani, Faculty Member, Sanata Dharama University ,Indonesia over tea

Having a good dinner after a hard day's work

We have also put in a cultural appreciation segment in this trip by visiting Osaka Castle, one of the most famous castles in Japan built in 1583.(http://www.osakacastle.net/castle_en/index.htm)

Visit to Japan's most famous castle- The Osaka Castle (大坂城)

Much work have been put into the preparation of this conference. We are pleased to share with you some of the publicity materials that have been created. Thanks to Yong Peng for his hard work in helping to produce these materials.

EEVW Poster

For those of us who have yet to experience Pulau Kuo Chuan, please take a look at our publicity video :


EEVW Publicity Video


Hope that you have enjoyed reading Day 1 of our post. Stay tune for more news on the conference tomorrow.
 P.s: We would like to thank Theresa for making her way down to the airport to send us off yesterday. Many thanks also for the well-wishes from the staff.

                                              The last coffee session at T3, Changi Airport

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Konnichi wa ! Hajimehmashite !
Yoroshi ku onegayi shimasu !
 In 48 hours' time, Mr Chua, Spencer and myself will be flying to Osaka to present a paper on Pulau Kuo Chuan at the Asian Conference on Education (http://ace.iafor.org/).  We invite you to journey with us via this News blog as we bring to you daily updates on matters relating to curriculum, ICT integration and professional development etc. We hope that what we are going to share with you for the next few days will inspire you to experiment with innovative T & L methods which will excite the children as well as to generate professional dialogues among us. Our sharing session is scheduled on 30th Oct at 1300 hrs. You will get to see a delayed telecast of our presentation on 1st November.

So watch this place & till we meet again. Sayonara !

Ps: We are on Skype, so anyone keen to chat with me & Spencer at 2359 hrs can either hunt us down through our skype ID: "hunk.tom" or through FB account: "hunkprasom Chaktiwangcai" & not to mention you get first hands news !
Tommymaka San