Listen When “I-Speak”

“Do you think young Singaporeans are spoilt and pampered?”

This provocative question flashed on four TV monitors during recess at Casuarina Primary School, prompting all eyes to turn from their meals to the words on display. Offering further food for thought, the screens then showed a widely publicised photograph of a National Serviceman accompanied by a backpack-toting domestic helper.

There’s plenty of time to digest the content, though, for a week later, the pupils will get to air their reactions to this and other topics on 10 netbooks set up in the school foyer to capture a diversity of views. From animal abuse to graciousness on public transport and international events like the recent earthquake in Japan, pupils at all levels have the chance to ponder and present their responses on digital platforms that help develop critical thinking and communication skills in a programme called I-Speak.

Seniors lend a helping hand

With nearly a third of each level taking part in each I-Speak session, a queue usually forms as pupils wait their turn to key in their opinions on the netbooks. Upper primary student leaders are roped in to help man the stations and offer a tip or two. “They are very excited to see the laptops available for their use,” says Charmaine Lye, a Primary 6 pupil who is the school’s head prefect. Sabila Maisarah, another I-Speak volunteer, adds that to help lower primary pupils phrase their thoughts, she prompts them with questions like “What do you think?” or “How can you do something better?”

Using a web-based tool called Linoit, I-Speak workstations present pupils with coloured virtual Post-It notes on which a user types his or her comments. The entries and the name of their writer appear on the TV screens in real time. The pupils bask in their moment in the limelight, with supervision by a teacher who simultaneously manages the virtual Post-It notes to form an orderly presentation.

Introduced last August by Ms Asnah Ahmad, the school’s Head of Department for Technology & Innovation, and two fellow teachers, I-Speak is a component of I-Cube@CAPS – Ignite, Invent and Innovate at Casuarina Primary School. The programme harnesses infocomm technology to encourage pupils to think at length about events around them and share their perspectives with schoolmates.

Ms Asnah revealed that when her team launched I-Speak, they had offered book vouchers as prizes for the best entries from each level. After receiving their prizes during the morning assembly, the winners got to see their responses flashed on the TV monitors at recess and after school hours. While the prizes are still offered, the pupils’ responses, according to Ms Asnah, are now “totally spontaneous”.

Learning to communicate

From typing, I-Speak has also moved to talking. Ms Asnah’s team has recently expanded the programme to include verbal communication. Over three recess periods totalling one-and-a-half hours, some pupils assume the guise of roving reporters who roam the school and offer schoolmates a chance to speak their minds on a particular topic. The interviews are then edited and broadcast on the canteen monitors during recess.

Sharing her assessment of how I-Speak has shaped young minds, Ms Asnah remarked: “We are seeing more depth in their discussions, and they are also more adept at expressing themselves.” She added that her department is working to transform one classroom into an i-Lab which will further expand the I-Cube programmes through the integration of effective communication and ICT platforms.

By then, Primary 6 pupils like Charmaine and Sabila will be busy preparing for their PSLE. But the lessons in critical thinking honed by I-Speak are not likely to be forgotten. Sabila is certainly glad to have been part of the programme, which she said provided rich opportunities “to boost my confidence and practise my communication skills.” Declaring it a rare chance to be at the forefront of an exciting development, Charmaine quipped, “It’s as innovative as the iPhone or iPad, and that’s how we pronounce I-Speak!”