BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

TEACHERS have urged their counterparts to take advantage of technology to improve education in Brunei.

Speaking on the sidelines of a thanksgiving ceremony at Masjid Sultan Hj Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien yesterday, teachers said technology should be fully utilised in education to produce more effective ways of teaching.

Hj Malai Shah Eran Syed Hj Yussof, principal of Menglait Secondary School, said most students are tech-savvy and can easily access online education resources.

He said students are sometimes more knowledgeable than teachers, prompting the latter to be more prepared and equipped with the necessary ICT skills before they deliver lessons in classes.

Teachers need to ensure their professional development is in line with current technological advancements, he said.

“Resources are easily available through ICT, and what we aim here is to develop a student-centred style of learning where students could also be their own facilitators,” he said.

“Teachers would still be the ones to guide them, but finding the resources would be their own task,” he added.

Hj Malai Shah Eran also said using ICT to deliver lessons would make students more interested in learning the subject compared to the “chalk and talk” method, where lessons are delivered in a monotonous way.

Besides attracting students’ attention, teaching with ICT would also develop their critical thinking skills.

Head of Inspectorate Section at the Islamic Studies Department Hasbi Mohd Suhaili said teachers should grasp any means available to lead students towards excellence.

“Teachers need to accept technological advancements and their benefits toward teaching practices that may be helpful,” he said.

From an Islamic perspective, Hasbi said a system that allows religious teaching resources to be filtered would help teachers deliver effective lessons on religious subjects, especially to children.

“At the moment, I can say such system has not been explored broadly by any individuals, it exists but it’s limited,” said Hasbi, who has had 20 years of teaching experience.

He said the system is needed as there are many “channels” that could mislead students on the teachings of Islam.

Meanwhile, Hj Sabtu Taai from the Islamic Studies Department said the proper use of online resources would benefit students’ learning process.

“Most resources can be easily obtained today, so students’ minds can be further developed because the knowledge they learned do not solely depend on what is taught at classrooms,” said Hj Sabtu, who has 26 years of teaching experience.

“Hopefully, with the education developments in Brunei, we will be able to produce students who are highly skilled, in accordance to Vision 2035,” he added.

The Brunei Times