Kiwi Collaboration Helps Transform Malaysian Economy

A network of New Zealand e-learning development organisations is helping Malaysia transform its school system through ICT, and develop its students into the knowledge economy workforce of tomorrow.

Innovation New Zealand Education Malaysia Ltd (IML) recently completed a pilot initiative in the State of Perak – the Kperak e-learning cluster No. 1 - which has received high praise from Malaysia’s Education Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

The Minister said many of the key initiatives embodied in Malaysia’s national education blueprint - which affected students who would be part of Malaysia’s workforce in 2020 when it hopes to achieve developed nation status - were embodied in the pilot project.

Committed to Capability Building
The four IML shareholders – Core Education, Learning Media, Heurisko and CWA New Media – are all long term service providers to the New Zealand Ministry of Education and the education sector generally, says spokesperson David Copeland. They offer expertise in ICT professional development and associated research; literacy and the professional development around that including assessment and curriculum design; the science arena, including virtual fieldtrips which bring students together with scientists in remote locations; the provision of digital materials and their delivery and online communities.

“As we began exploring opportunities in larger international markets, we saw the sense in combining our skills to provide market specific solutions which are informed by our collective experience,” says Mr Copeland. “It’s not so much that we go in with a particular set of products or skills, but that we are committed to capability building within the context that we find ourselves.”

About the e-Learning Cluster
IML secured the contract in Perak after several years developing relationships at the highest levels of Malaysia’s education system. This included a series of workshops in Malaysia looking at issues surrounding the integration of ICT into learning; and bringing a Malaysian Ministry of Education delegation to New Zealand to see first hand the e-learning approaches that have been adopted in this country.

“The pilot programme itself was designed to show the effectiveness of our approaches, which we did in collaboration with the State of Perak,” explains Mr Copeland. “The wealth of Perak was once founded on the tin industry which came to an end in the 1990s. It now has a highly ambitious plan to transfer its economy into a knowledge economy by 2010. They have always understood that education is at the heart of the development of a knowledge economy; which means ensuring they have the knowledge workers that such an economy demands.

“They saw in IML a group who could assist them to establish the sorts of practices in their schools that would ultimately lead to innovative and independent thinking graduates.”

The Kperak e-learning cluster brought together five very different primary and secondary schools in Perak. A core element was to build teacher confidence and capability in the use of ICT in the classroom. The project also provided opportunities for linkages between Malaysian schools and New Zealand schools through online learning tools such as virtual field trips.

Transformational Learning
The pilot project demonstrated that New Zealand education providers have developed world leading solutions in the area of ICT in education, and also highlighted New Zealand’s ability to offer innovative education programmes with the flexibility and scope to address the needs of foreign education systems. The model used in Perak also shows how extremely capable New Zealand education service providers are at delivering comprehensive solutions on a scale that meets the needs of major offshore partners like the Malaysian Ministry of Education.

Malaysia’s Education Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said in the long run, he knows (the pilot project) will encourage a sense of belonging in an international community, something Malaysia has to foster from a very young age.

“The Kperak e-learning cluster is an excellent example of how we can creatively collaborate to accelerate our progress and provide the education that our young people deserve. I look forward to the day when more schools across Malaysia embrace the concept and implement it in their own environment.”

As well as Malaysia, the network is looking to take its innovative e-learning and ICT capability into other markets around the world, helping to transform and inspire their education systems, students and teachers.