STUDENT SCHOOLBAG IS HEAVY ( WEEK 4)

Should a good story have a sad or happy ending? What kind of sound effects go best with exciting scenes? These are some of the questions that race through Pri 5 pupil Muhammad Nabil's mind as he creates his own digital book during a Malay Language class at Endeavour Primary School. "I feel like a film director! I have to come up with my own storyline and choose the sound effects and animation," he says. "It's really, really fun."

"Fun" is the first word that pops up when Endeavour Primary School pupils talk about the pilot No Heavy School Bag programme their school. During lesson time, there are no textbooks in sight because learning takes place in a largely virtual environment, complemented by hands-on activities.

The idea for the No Heavy School Bag programme was raised in 2008 and the school implemented the pilot phase in 2009 and 2010. To kick things off, the school created six No Heavy School Bag rooms where English Language, Chinese Language, Malay Language, Mathematics, Science and Art are taught using digital resources and various teaching aids. Nabil's Malay Language lessons take place in one of these rooms.

A different kind of classroom

Every term, his class explores literature from a different culture, such as Aesop's Fables and the Indian epic Ramayana. This term, the story of legendary Malay hero Hang Tuah took centre stage. In the No Heavy School Bag environment, this is how it was used to enhance pupils' Malay language skills:

Thanks to the interactive environment of the programme, pupils are keen to try out new things and improve their skills.

First, the teacher introduces the story to the class, reading them only its beginning. Next, pupils have to decide how the story should continue and end. Using the e-book software KooBits, every child creates a digital book, complete with animation and sounds, to tell his or her own story of Hang Tuah. When that is done, the original ending of the legend is revealed. Pupils will also stage their own shadow-puppet play to tell the story with puppets that they have made.

"This really aids in teaching the language, especially in composition writing, "says Nabil's teacher Mdm Rosalina. "The pupils learn how to tell a story. Their language skills improve too."

As for the pupils, they've never found it more fun to learn Malay. "Thursday is my favourite school day," gushes Pri 5 pupil Nirohshaa Chandra Shaharan. "It's the day for No Heavy School Bag Malay lessons, which are very fun and challenging, especially when I create my own stories and make them different from everyone else's."

Chinese Language is among the six subjects taught using digital resources and teaching aids.

Currently, the No Heavy School Bag programme is implemented only for Pri 3 and Pri 4 pupils, and up to Pri 5 for Malay Language. One of the biggest challenges in rolling out the programme is to help teachers and pupils to learn and master the different software and equipment available in the special classrooms.

However, once teachers and pupils learn the ropes, virtual learning becomes an engaging reality. Says Pri 3 pupil Leon Tan, "It is more fun and interesting than in a normal classroom. For English, we use software like KooBits to make our own e-book and Audacity software to record our oral readings. For Mathematics, we blog our answers to questions and play maths games. In Science lessons, we use the Knowledge Forum and Wikispaces to share what we learn."