Sunday, 12 February 2012
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Tax and Revenue Management: A government’s lifeblood
IT has provided the opportunities for governments to remodel the entire process of tax collection over the last decade. It is, however, a continuously evolving process and governments the world over need to constantly upgrade their tax systems to optimise their revenue workflows.
Unlocking Public Value
A recent SAP study confirmed that those organisations which adopt best practices in the areas of scope and adoption, process standardisation, technology and customer governance, do perform better, and do so as their best practice maturity increases.
Governments and Socialising
The advent of social media has seen governments hopping onto the bandwagon in a bid to further engage citizens.
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Education IT
Japanese teachers embrace collaborative learning
Integrating technology into the classroom requires pedagogical judgment. Teachers who are familiar with the curriculum and their students are in the best position to drive change. FutureGov spoke to three elementary school teachers in Japan who have leveraged IT in their own unique ways to help students learn better.
Art may not be the first subject to come to mind when schools consider introducing IT into the classroom. In Shikago Elementary School, students have their art classes using a network of tablet PCs. Teacher Asazo Iwasaki (pictured) introduced collaborative art – which he termed ‘Relay Drawing’ – which allowed students to work on each other’s work in real-time.
“Every student has a tablet PC which is networked to all students in the class. Each student first draws a shape on his or her page. They are then asked to scroll though their classmates’ individual work and add to them. At any time during this process, the students can return to their own page and see how their drawing has been enhanced in real-time. At the end of the relay, each student goes back to his or her page - now with modifications by the rest of the class – and puts the finishing touches on the work,” explained Iwasaki.
‘Relay Drawing’ has been popular among the students. “I did not used to like drawing pictures. But this time, I received a lot of praise from my friends. I am really happy. I want to do it again,” said one of the elementary students.
According to Iwasaki, learning from others is an important element in art classes. Students learn about themselves by observing similarities and differences in the way their classmates feel and express themselves. “Relay drawing not only connects one art work to another, it connects one child’s heart to another,” he believed.
Students in Hitoyoshinishi Elementary School started early in digital literacy training. Children in the third grade used internet and software applications to create projects on Japanese traditional culture. Teacher Kazutaka Umemoto took the blended learning approach, which combined site visit to Aoi Aso Shrine, a culturally significant shrine, and self-directed learning via online resources.
“The children used Microsoft Office Kids to design a poster which showcased all their findings. Using the application, students easily and quickly created posters from the templates. It did not take long for them to figure out how to use the programme. And even when they had difficulties, they learnt from one another. I only had to step in from time to time,” revealed Umemoto.
Hiroyuki Matsumoto from the Inzai Education Centre also found that students were more engaged in blended learning environments. Students worked with non-profit organisations and volunteer groups on projects which required them to use IT tools. The topics students worked on include global warming, city planning and revitalisation, and promotion of their school and city.
“Children used PowerPoint to develop materials and maps that show the history of the area. Besides distributing hardcopies of the information in community centres, museums, and other public facilities, they reached out to a wider audience by creating web sites,” explained Matsumoto, who received this year’s Asia Pacific Innovative Teacher Award by Microsoft based on this project.
Students conducted research using the internet and communicated with one another. “These activities helped them to acquire IT skills and learn etiquette around online communications. More importantly, they start to see the importance of intellectual property rights and the need to protect personal information,” he added.
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