This smart society will require something else too - a workforce
of smart people to run things. To both survive and thrive, the
next generation of Malaysians will need to be both technologically
savvy and IT literate. The infrastructure needed to make this
knowledge transfer happen is already being put in place along
the MultiMedia Super Corridor (MSC) near Kuala Lumpur. School
classrooms in this area feature such technology-enablers as individual
desktop PCs, multimedia computer labs, video conferencing systems
and high-speed Internet connections.
To
complete the job, NIIT is playing a key role in creating a body
of multimedia educational learning materials. NIIT has a long
and successful track record of generating K-12 multimedia educational
materials in India, as well as implementing them in neighborhood
learning centers. In fact, many professional educators are part
of the NIIT development team, bringing specialized knowledge in
core subject materials like physics, chemistry and biology.
As
part of the project, the development team is working with Malaysian
teachers to develop CD-ROM based learning materials in the Sciences
for both primary and secondary schools. Courseware will be published
in both English and the native language of Malaysia, Bahasa Melayu,
which is the general medium of instruction used in the schools.
In
the current pilot phase, more than 90 schools will receive the
benefit of NIIT's training, which include the following specific
deliverables:
- Multimedia
lessons as per the Malaysian school curriculum.
-
Teacher guides that enable teachers to effectively utilize the
available resources for teaching science
- Sample
lesson plans that would be used by the teachers to create their
own lesson plans
- Training
on use of the science materials for master trainers who will
subsequently train teachers across all schools.
As the production of titles ramps up beyond the pilot phase, NIIT's
"virtual factory model" will become increasingly important.
Developed over years of experience, the virtual factory is an
industry prototype for optimizing the people and the processes
necessary to produce volumes of quality multimedia courseware,
rapidly and in a predictable manner, while also maintaining a
high-degree of creativity.
