Breadcrumbs

20210702 Survey for UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education Prize Winners (2006 - 2019)

 

1. Background and Recognition:

  • The UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education was established in 2005 to recognize "innovative approaches in leveraging new technologies to expand educational opportunities by enabling access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all."
  • The Open Source Physics at Singapore (OSP@SG) programme was a recipient of this prestigious prize in 2015. This briefing document summarizes information gathered through a 2021 survey of past prize winners, focusing specifically on OSP@SG.
  • The prize highlights the "diversity and creativity of the awarded initiatives," and UNESCO aims to document these projects as best practices in ICT in education.

2. Overview of OSP@SG:

  • Name of Prizewinning Programme/Project: 2015 Open Source Physics at Singapore (OSP@SG)
  • Programme Duration: 2012 - present
  • Lead Specialist: Lawrence Loo Kang WEE (MOE Singapore)
  • Programme Summary: OSP@SG provides educators and students with "affordable and customisable open-source educational resources" to enhance the teaching and learning of Physics.
  • These resources include "simulations and tracker video models that can serve as powerful inquiry tools augmenting real-life experiments."
  • A key feature is the use of Easy JavaScript Simulations (EJSS) which allows students to engage in a "progressive mathematical model building process." Students can propose initial ideas, model them into simulations, compare them with real-world data, and iteratively refine their models until they achieve a close fit.

3. Evolution of the Programme:

OSP@SG has evolved along three main trajectories:

  • Teacher-created Games for Learning: Teachers can now "modify existing simulations to create games for learning." This was further encouraged through events like a MOE hackathon in 2019.
  • Mobile-ready Apps: The simulations have been "re-packaged as hybrid apps for use in mobile devices (iOS and Android)." This allows for greater accessibility and use in diverse learning environments. "All the simulations can be repackaged as Android and iOS apps when school teachers request for them."
  • Analytics of Use: A plugin in the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS) enables the monitoring and analysis of "students’ use of the simulations in real time." This provides valuable data on student engagement and learning behaviours. The survey includes screenshots (Figure 1 & 2) illustrating this analytics feature, showing logged users, online status, and last actions.

4. Professional Development of Teachers:

  • The programme actively involves teachers in its dissemination and development through "teacher-led workshops and teacher work attachments."
  • The 2019 MOE hackathon, where teachers modified simulations to create learning games, was a "resounding success" and demonstrates the programme's commitment to teacher empowerment.

5. Spread Across Subjects and Levels:

  • While its core strength is in Physics, OSP@SG has expanded to other subjects, including "Mathematics, Biology Chemistry, Chinese, English games/interactives co-developed with teachers."
  • These resources are intended for use with the "Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS)." Screenshots of mathematics and English games are provided (Figure 3 & 4), including a simple game with embedded analytics (Figure 5).

6. Sustainability and Community:

  • The programme is currently sustained by a "lead specialist from MOE Singapore."
  • An "informal group of Tracker video modellers and EJSS games developers made up of teachers" contributes to the open-source Physics repository.
  • The programme has a growing "user base of more than 300 teachers."

7. Impact and Achievements:

The survey highlights significant reach and engagement:

  • Website Views: Approximately 15,000 views per month globally, with 9,000 from Singapore alone.
  • App Installations (since 2017): 200,000 on Android and 162,000 on iOS.
  • Teacher Training: 53 participants trained per year to modify or develop simulations, and 200 teachers per year attending sharing sessions.
  • Educational Games: 18 educational games created by teachers during the SLS Hackathon.
  • Publications: The survey references at least one publication related to the deployment of physics simulation apps using EJSS: Clemente, F. J. G., Esquembre, F., & Wee, L. K. (2017). Deployment of physics simulation apps using Easy JavaScript Simulations. arXiv preprint arXiv:1708.00778.

8. Theory of Change:

  • OSP@SG operates under the "Open Source Physics 3P’s Scaling Framework" (Figure 6), which emphasizes:
  • Product: "EJSS produces free resources and uses accurate scientific models that can be traced from the open source codes which can be remixed, and reused. Users do not need to log in or do server setup. It only requires Java runtime (for EJS models) or a modern browser (for EJSS JavaScripts models)."
  • Process: "Many of the EJSS models can be used as part of a virtual laboratory to support experiential learning. Educators can adapt or create finer, customised computer models."
  • People: "The key people in the OSP Learning Community continues to create more computer models to suit the student's learning needs. They share these computer models together with activity worksheets and other resources for the benefit of all."
  • This framework underscores the importance of free, adaptable resources, experiential learning opportunities, and a collaborative community of educators.

9. Lessons Learned and Recommendations:

  • The programme emphasizes the importance of "perseverance" and support from the "larger community" in overcoming challenges.
  • Bringing together "passionate people from different disciplines (Physics and Computing) and with complementary skill sets (data analytics, PHP and JavaScript coding)" was crucial for developing the necessary software.
  • The "thrill of iteratively improving our ideas and eventually seeing our concrete prototypes making an impact on teachers and students" serves as a major motivator for continued work.

10. Visibility and Outreach:

  • Locally, there is a growing willingness among teachers to use the simulations. The lead specialist receives invitations to speak to teachers about the programme.
  • Internationally, "UNESCO has continued to promote the programme."

11. Press Releases/News:

The survey provides a list of press releases and news articles highlighting Singapore's recognition by UNESCO for the OSP@SG programme, including links to official government, news media, and UNESCO websites. These sources underscore the significance and impact of the initiative.

12. Key Themes and Important Ideas:

  • Open Educational Resources (OER): OSP@SG is built on the principles of OER, providing free, accessible, and adaptable resources for education.
  • Customization and Adaptability: The use of EJSS empowers teachers to modify and create resources tailored to their specific teaching needs and contexts.
  • Inquiry-Based Learning: The simulations and video models serve as tools for inquiry, allowing students to explore physics concepts through experimentation and model building.
  • Iterative Model Building: The programme emphasizes a pedagogical approach where students actively engage in creating and refining mathematical models based on real-world data.
  • Teacher Empowerment and Collaboration: Teacher involvement in workshops, hackathons, and the informal developer community is central to the programme's success and sustainability.
  • Technological Integration: The programme effectively leverages ICT tools like simulations, mobile apps, and learning management systems to enhance learning experiences.
  • Data-Driven Improvement: The integration of analytics allows for monitoring and understanding how students interact with the resources, potentially informing future development and pedagogical approaches.
  • Scalability and Impact: The high numbers of website views, app installations, and teacher engagement demonstrate the significant reach and impact of OSP@SG both locally and globally.

This briefing document highlights the key features, evolution, impact, and underlying principles of the Open Source Physics at Singapore programme, a UNESCO prize-winning initiative that exemplifies the innovative use of ICT to enhance physics education through open and collaborative practices.

Survey for UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education Prize Winners (2006 - 2019)

Background

Established in 2005, with the financial support of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education (referred to as ‘the Prize’) recognizes innovative approaches in leveraging new technologies to expand educational opportunities by enabling access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The first cycle of the Prize took place from 2006 to 2011. It was renewed in 2014 for the second cycle of 6 years until 2020. So far, a total of 20 innovative projects and programmes from 16 countries (Belgium, Bangladesh, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, United Kingdom, United States of America, India, Morocco, the Netherlands) were awarded. Given the diversity and creativity of the awarded initiatives, UNESCO is planning to document them, present on the Prize webpage and include in the publication on best practices in ICT in education.


Purpose

The purpose of this survey is to collect primary data on the winning programmes. It will consist of quantitative and qualitative questions related to programmes’ impact on the beneficiaries/learners, achievement, changes occurred after winning the Prize, lessons learned, recommendations, further scaling up and evolution.

 

 

Name of prizewinning programme/project: 2015 Open Source Physics at Singapore (OSP@SG)

Programme duration: 2012 - present

Website: Email address and URL lawrence_wee@moe.gov.sg, https://sg.iwant2study.org/ospsg/index.php

Social media channels: Facebook, and other social media (Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Flickr, Google+) https://www.facebook.com/OpenSourcePhysicsSG 

https://twitter.com/lookang , 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/loo-kang-lawrence-wee-22442010/ , https://www.youtube.com/user/lookang/  

Contact Person (Name, Title or Positions):  Lawrence Loo Kang WEE , Lead Specialist

 

 

Programme summary

Outline

OSP@SG provides teachers and students with access to affordable and customisable open-source educational resources so that the teaching and learning of Physics can be enhanced. These include simulations and tracker video models that can serve as powerful inquiry tools augmenting real-life experiments.OSP@SG leverages the progressive mathematical model building process using Easy JavaScript Simulations (EJSS) to allow students to propose their own initial ideas that can be modelled into a simulation. The closeness of the model versus the simulated or real world data (based on their worldview and scientific view such as displacement versus time) gives students the evidence to refine and improve their initial models. This iterative modeling building process is repeated until the students can achieve a mathematical equation that is a close enough ‘fit’ to the simulated or real world data.

Evolution of the Programme

The project has subsequently evolved along 3 trajectories:

  1. Teacher-created Games for Learning - Teachers can now modify existing simulations to create games for learning.
  2. Mobile-ready Apps - The simulations have been re-packaged as hybrid apps for use in mobile devices (iOS and Android). All the simulations can be repackaged as Android and iOS apps when school teachers request for them .
  3. Analytics of Use - We can now monitor and analyse students’ use of the simulations in real time through a plugin in the Moodle LMS. Here are screenshots of the analytics developed.

Figure 1: Moodle with EJSS plugin logging students who used the simulation

Figure 2: Moodle with EJSS plugin with simple real time display of who is online and using the simulation as well as the last action of each user.

Professional Development of Teachers

The resources are shared through teacher-led workshops and teacher work attachments. In 2019, MOE organised a hackathon where teachers could modify existing simulations to create games for learning. The response from teachers was positive and the event was a resounding success.

Spread across Subjects and Levels

While the core strength of Open Source Physics at Singapore is in Physics simulations and virtual laboratories, the programme has extended to other subjects. Currently, there is a small library of Mathematics, Biology Chemistry, Chinese, English games/interactives co-developed with teachers to be used with the Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS).

Figure 3: Screenshots of the mathematics games

Figure 4: Screenshots of English games

Figure 5: A simple “catch the falling apples” game with simple analytics (top right corner) showing correct ticks, incorrect crosses and question marks for inaction.

 

The program is currently sustained by a lead specialist from MOE Singapore. There is now an informal group of Tracker video modellers and EJSS games developers made up of teachers who contribute to the open-source Physics repository. We also have an increasing user base of more than 300 teachers.

 

Impact and Achievements

Number of views of programme website = 15 000 per month globally

Number of views of programme website = 9 000 per month Singapore only

Total number of app installations since 2017

Android = 200,000

iOS = 162,000

Number of participants trained per year to modify or develop simulations = 53

Number of teachers per year who attended sharing sessions = 200

Educational games created by teachers during SLS Hackathon = 18

Publications:

Clemente, F. J. G., Esquembre, F., & Wee, L. K. (2017). Deployment of physics simulation apps using Easy JavaScript Simulations. arXiv preprint arXiv:1708.00778.

 

Is there a theory of change underpinning the programme or digital solution/innovative pedagogy?

Figure 6: Open Source Physics 3P’s Scaling Framework - a free, easy to use and effective product, process that supports adoption and adaption; and passionate people who believe in open education for all

The theory of change is built upon Open Source Physics (OSP) 3P’s Scaling Framework

  1. Product - EJSS produces free resources and uses accurate scientific models that can be traced from the open source codes which can be remixed, and reused. Users do not need to log in or do server setup. It only requires Java runtime (for EJS models) or a modern browser (for EJSS JavaScripts models).
  2. Process - Many of the EJSS models can be used as part of a virtual laboratory to support experiential learning. Educators can adapt or create finer, customised computer models.
  3. People - The key people in the OSP Learning Community continues to create more computer models to suit the student's learning needs. They share these computer models together with activity worksheets and other resources for the benefit of all.

 

Lessons learned and recommendations

While there might be challenges, with perseverance and with help from the larger community, we can always find a way forward. We have benefitted much from the open source community. To bring new ideas to fruition in the form of a working prototype, we had to bring together passionate people from different disciplines (Physics and Computing) and with complementary skill sets (data analytics, PHP and JavaScript coding) to develop the software needed to move the programme forward. The thrill of iteratively improving our ideas and eventually seeing our concrete prototypes making an impact on teachers and students are major motivating factors to continue this work.

Visibility and outreach

Locally, teachers are more willing to use the simulations made. I have also received invitations to speak to teachers about the programme and how they can get the artefacts (e.g. worksheets and simulations). Internationally, UNESCO has continued to promote the programme.

 

Press releases/news

  1. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/singapore-s-ict-pedagogical-innovation-recognised-by-unesco - Singapore has been awarded the UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICTs in Education. 
  2. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-wins-unesco/2428572.html the fastest Media post, by Singapore wins UNESCO award for physics programme 
  3. http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/singapore-physics-teaching-software-wins-global-award singapore-physics-teaching-software-wins-global-award 
  4. http://m.zaobao.com.sg/story/571278 联合早报网讯 https://en.unesco.org/themes/ict-education/ict-education-prize/previous-laureates Event Website by UNESCO
  5. https://youtu.be/syZVQgQCb1I?t=4m57s Bahrain News Agency Bahrain: UNESCO Prize
  6. http://www.ameliarueda.com/nota/fundacion-omar-dengo-recibe-premio-de-la-unesco-acceso-tecnologico UNESCO awards to Fundación Omar Dengo 

Reference:

https://weelookang.blogspot.com/2021/07/survey-for-unesco-king-hamad-bin-isa-al.html

 

 

Photo for UNESCO

  1. Screenshot of Virtual Lab

         
  1. Screenshot of balancing tool









  1. Screenshot of Geostationary Satellite around Earth Model












    
  1. Teacher and students in class
O:\ED\ProgrammeExecution\ICTs\Prizes\07 Publication\Case studies\08 Singapore\photos\Open Physics.jpg
  1. Screenshot of Activity 1B Balancing in Everyday Life with stacked chairs on the table and a bird on a person’s finger

  1. Screenshot of Activity 4A: Consolidation and Extension of Learning Home –based learning with a photo of theme park attraction

  1. Screenshot of Activity 4B: Consolidation and Extension of Learning both with balancing tool and theme park attraction

 

Frequently Asked Questions about Open Source Physics @ Singapore (OSP@SG)

1. What is the Open Source Physics @ Singapore (OSP@SG) initiative?

OSP@SG is a program that provides teachers and students with access to free and adaptable open-source educational resources, primarily focusing on Physics, to enhance teaching and learning. It offers simulations and tracker video models that can be used as powerful tools for inquiry-based learning, complementing traditional experiments. A key aspect is the use of Easy JavaScript Simulations (EJSS), which allows students to engage in a progressive mathematical model-building process, refining their understanding by comparing their models with simulated or real-world data.

2. How has the OSP@SG program evolved since its inception?

The program has evolved along three main trajectories: (1) Teacher-created Games for Learning: Enabling teachers to modify existing simulations to develop engaging learning games. (2) Mobile-ready Apps: Repackaging simulations as hybrid applications for seamless use on iOS and Android mobile devices upon request from schools. (3) Analytics of Use: Implementing real-time monitoring and analysis of student interaction with simulations through a plugin integrated into the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS).

3. How does OSP@SG support the professional development of teachers?

OSP@SG actively involves teachers through various avenues, including teacher-led workshops and work attachments where they learn to use and modify the resources. Notably, the Ministry of Education (MOE) Singapore organized a hackathon in 2019 that encouraged teachers to adapt simulations into learning games, which received a positive response. This collaborative approach fosters a community of educators who can contribute to and benefit from the open-source repository.

4. While primarily focused on Physics, has OSP@SG expanded to other subjects?

Yes, while its core strength lies in Physics simulations and virtual labs, OSP@SG has extended its reach to other subjects. A growing collection of interactive resources and games for Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Chinese, and English has been co-developed with teachers for use with the Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS), demonstrating the adaptability of the open-source approach.

5. What impact and achievements can be attributed to the OSP@SG program?

OSP@SG has demonstrated significant reach and impact. Its website receives approximately 15,000 views per month globally (9,000 from Singapore alone). Since 2017, the program's apps have been installed over 200,000 times on Android and 162,000 times on iOS. Annually, around 53 participants are trained to modify or develop simulations, and about 200 teachers attend sharing sessions. The 2019 SLS Hackathon resulted in the creation of 18 educational games by teachers. The program's innovative approach has also been recognized through publications and the prestigious UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education.

6. What is the underlying theory of change that drives the OSP@SG program?

The theory of change is based on the Open Source Physics (OSP) 3P’s Scaling Framework: (1) Product: Providing free, user-friendly resources built on accurate scientific models with transparent and modifiable open-source code, requiring no logins or server setups. (2) Process: Enabling the use of simulations as virtual laboratories to support experiential learning, allowing educators to adapt and customize models. (3) People: Fostering a passionate learning community of educators who continuously create and share computer models, activity worksheets, and other resources for the benefit of all.

7. What key lessons have been learned and what recommendations can be offered based on the experience of OSP@SG?>

Key lessons include the importance of perseverance and community support in overcoming challenges. The success of the program highlights the value of bringing together passionate individuals from diverse disciplines with complementary skills to develop and advance innovative ideas. The iterative process of improving prototypes and witnessing their positive impact on teachers and students serves as a significant motivating factor. The program also underscores the benefits of engaging with the open-source community.

8. How does OSP@SG ensure visibility and outreach, both locally and internationally?

Locally, the program achieves visibility through teacher networks, workshops, and presentations to educators, encouraging the adoption of the readily available simulations and resources. Internationally, UNESCO actively promotes the OSP@SG program, recognizing its innovative use of ICT in education. This recognition, along with the open-source nature of the resources, contributes to its global reach and impact.