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Mauritius: Poster Exhibition Encourages Interactive Learning
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L'Express (Port Louis)
18 March 2008
Posted to the web 18 March 2008
Pauline Etienne
Port Louis
Students of the Teacher's Diploma course recently organised an exhibition of interactive posters they have designed to try and bring knowledge closer to primary pupils This was part of their module concerning the use of ICT in subject teaching.
"Using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a tool makes learning more interesting for both teachers and pupils," says the acting director of the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE), Sheela Thancanamootoo, delighted with the National Day 2008 Poster Exhibition by the students last Friday. This exhibition of interactive posters for use as teaching aids in primary schools was organised by students of the Teacher's Diploma course under the leadership of Kaviraj Goodoory, lecturer in ICT, who is also the coordinator for the module of ICT in subject teaching.
"The challenge for these students was not just to create interesting posters to display in the classroom but more importantly they had to make them interactive so that pupils find it more interesting to work with them," Kaviraj Goodoory explains. ICT is used by teachers to create innovating ways of encouraging pupils in their studies, which obviously makes learning livelier. "ICT has the potential of enhancing the teaching and learning process," according to the MIE.
The organising committee decided to launch a competition to "encourage students to work hard" and the posters that won prizes were the "most creative ones which would encourage pupils to use their five senses". The coordinator recalls what he always tells his students during his lectures, "I hear, forget; I see, I remember; I do, I understand". This is what future teachers need to remember to make sure their teaching methods will be useful to pupils. The MIE is infusing all its teacher training courses with ICT in order to prepare students to successfully use ICT when teaching their subjects.
For Véronique Jérémie, a student at the MIE and the right hand woman of Kaviraj Goodoory during the organisation of the exhibition, "one of the most interesting characteristics of these posters is that they can be used in different subject areas. The poster on 'my body' for instance can be used for physical education as well as EVS or English".
Sheela Thancanamootoo agrees with that point of view, "We wanted to show that learning must be done in an integrated way. The poster that was awarded the first prize for instance teaches the days of the week while integrating the concept of time with mention of 'yesterday', 'today' or 'tomorrow'. What teachers need to understand is that they may at the same time be doing a lesson on water and integrating notions of health and safety for example". This is why teaching aids like posters can prove to be very useful for teachers. This approach is part of making teaching more "child-centred". "It is a lively way of making the child take part in the process of learning," she maintains.
Moreover, the acting director of the MIE thinks that it not true to say that the curriculum is overloaded. "If the teacher uses all the time available at school to pass on some knowledge or notions to the pupils by using this integrated approach, then the classroom becomes far more interesting for both teachers and pupils," she points out.
For Kaviraj Goodoory, the fact that ICT is being integrated in the primary school syllabus creates an excellent opportunity to make teaching more lively. The MIE gives access to ICT to all its students and that makes it easier for them to find innovative ways of teaching. Véronique Jérémie who has always thought that teaching should be done in a creative way - for the course not to be boring for teachers and pupils - left the exhbition with "100,000 new ideas in mind. This has helped us realise that we have a lot of tools available and that we need to take advantage of them".
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For Véronique Jérémie, creativity and willingness on the part of teachers are really important to find ways of making teaching more interesting. But the authorities must make sure that teachers are given the tools to be able to put their creativity into practise.
The minister of Education, Dharam Gokhool, who visited the exhibition, proposed that the posters be made into a booklet and given to all primary schools so that teachers become more creative and have new ideas. The exhibition will be held again on 29th March at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for those who missed it last Friday
When minister Gokhool visited the exhibition in the presence of the MIE acting director, Sheela Thancanamootoo, he proposed that all posters be made into a booklet and given to primary schools.
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