One to One Learning Environment at Cempaka
New to the One to One learning environment and not sure what to do? Not to fret, we shall have a technology orientation session with all secondary school students when school restarts. See you then! Remember: bring your MacBooks, fully-charged!
MacBooks are currently available for purchase at both campuses. Please do not buy this elsewhere because: 1. They will work out to be more expensive (regardless of “special offers” and the like- we’ve checked extensively). Prices at stores will be 3999 or perhaps lower (with some offers), but you will end up spending far more than the RM4300 the package at school is going for. The school package includes all software that you will need to use in class which , as at 24 Dec ‘07, is valued at more than RM1000. Do note that we have moved on from our previous vendor, Machines. 2. Technical support and warranty issues are far more straight-forward and easier to resolve for machines bought through us. The deal we have at school has been specially packaged for Cempakans and has been subsidised, thus the attractive pricing. This has been made possible through volume purchasing and in order to ensure that we can continue offering these prices, we need your support to buy through us and create the volume. It really is a win-win situation, so do take full advantage of this offer. If you’re away on holiday, not to worry – you may purchase your MacBook when you come back to school.Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Cempakans!
All secondary school students at Sri Cempaka Damansara and Sri Cempaka Cheras will be on the One to One programme by January 2008. The new levels entering this programme will be Form 1, 2008 and Form 4, 2008(Damansara) and Form 1 to 4, 2008 (Cheras). This is compulsory for all secondary school students, except Form 5, 2008, Sri Cempaka Cheras.Orders may be made at the Cashier’s Office (Cheras) or School Office (Damansara). Please note that only Apple notebooks (MacBook/MacBook Pro) may be used at school.Do post a comment if you have any queries. Thank you.
Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 at Cempaka International School will start the One to One notebook programme in September 2007. This will be optional for next year’s Year 11.At the start of the new CIS academic year, MacBooks will become available for purchase at the School. Please note that only Apple notebooks (MacBook/MacBook Pro) may be used at school.Do post a comment if you have any queries. Thank you.
We had our first Parents’ IT Training session on last Saturday! I’d like to thank all those who attended. It was a fruitful session but perhaps we had aimed to cover a bit too much for the allocated time. I will amend future sessions accordingly.
For parents who attended, here’s a recap:
1. We learnt how to navigate the Apple desktop, Menu Bar, Dock and Systems Preferences.
2. We had a brief overview of iWork (Keynote & Pages) and Inspiration.
3. We learnt how to take photographs with Photo Booth and how to manage them using iPhoto.
4. We learnt how to browse the Apple iTunes Music Store and how to subscribe to podcasts.
5. We learnt about widgets and how to download them from this page on the Apple website : http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/
6. We covered Address Book and iCal. We learnt how to subscribe to calendars from these websites: http://www.icalshare.com/ & http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/ical/library/
7. We learnt how to subscribe to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds and we looked at some tips on how best to use Google Google Tips & Tricks (click to download)
8. And finally, we covered the importance of Information Literacy.
Wow, this really was an incredible amount to have taken in over such a short period. If you need any help, please post a comment here and I’ll respond as promptly as I can.
We shall be conducting a similar session for another group of parents in January. Exact dates will be posted here. Do subscribe to the blog RSS feed!
We shall be conducting a basic training session for parents who are new to Apple and the MacBook. We shall cover basic notebook care, creating multi-user accounts, internet & email setup and skim though the iLife suite (iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband, iTunes, iWeb).
It is by no means a comprehensive coverage of what the Macs can do, but it should get you started on the right foot.
Venue: Sri Cempaka Damansara IT Centre
Time : 10.00 – 12.30pm
Date: Saturday 9 December 2006
VERY IMPORTANT:
Please register by sending an email to Puan Zaihasriza at zaihasriza@cempaka.edu.my. Please indicate if you are coming alone or with your spouse. (I’m afraid this session shall remain strictly for parents only. No children/friends/relatives). There are limited places available. Puan Zaihasriza will inform the confirmed attendees beforehand. We need your cooperation to stick to this strictly as we will be unable to cater to non-registrants who turn up. There will be another training session next month, so not to worry.
If your registration is confirmed, please bring your child’s fully-charged MacBook with you!
Yes.
Our main focus is on effective delivery of teaching and learning at school. It is crucial that our teachers and students focus on this, and not bogged down by unnecessary “technical” hiccups: mainly (but not limited to) compatibility issues, viruses & spyware. So, first of all, we decided that we were going to stick to just one platform.
We decided on Apple because, from past experience, we found that this was a safer (in terms of network attacks – Macs are far less susceptible to viruses, etc) and more manageable platform. Furthermore, we were able to do amazing things right out of the box (ie with whatever came with the machines). Macs have historically been more innovative and been better with creative work, which are qualities that are important to us and how we’d like to bring up our students.
We have a long association with Apple (dating back to when we first opened our doors in 1983) and our technology team is more than adequately trained to provide the technical support (which any techie knows is key to the success of any technology programme).
Also, Macs are more fun 
For further information, please visit http://www.apple.com/education/whyapple
What is 1 to 1 Learning about?
The aims of the learning environment is detailed in the About page. The aim is really, about empowering each student in terms of their learning and self-expression. It is about equipping our students with 21st Century Literacy skills (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, self-organisation skills).
It is not about getting rid of textbooks altogether. Or is it about doing homework and examinations on-line, although some element of that is a by-product. There will be some game-playing and even surfing (inadvertently, of course) into sites of dubious nature. Whether we like it or not, this is all part and parcel of the world in which our children are growing up today. This learning environment is about guiding students and teaching them how to navigate the internet and its vast resources effectively and critically, and how to express themselves responsibly and safely.
Too often, adults underestimate what our children can do. They are capable of some really amazing things, if given the opportunity, exposure and empowerment. We’ve seen this year in and year out at the School.
We know what Cempakans are capable of. Our children are, quite literally, a selected group of children, right from entry into the school, which requires examinations and interview. It might also well be true that our children are privileged in their exposure to the world: they travel, meet people from all over and all have ready internet connectivity at home. This is further added by the interaction, learning and sharing in an environment of this collective exposure and experience at school.
We shall continue to create and provide a supportive culture where student growth and creativity can flourish. The new 1 to 1 learning environment will take Cempakans and Cempaka to a whole new level.
For further information regarding 1 to 1 Learning, visit: http://www.apple.com/education/k12/onetoone
If you’d like to subscribe to the podcast of this blog, just copy and paste the following URL into your podcatcher (eg iTunes).
http://www.talkr.com/app/cast_pods.app?feed_id=23242
If using iTunes, here is how you do this:
1. Launch iTunes.
2. In the iTunes menu bar, click on Advances>Subscribe to Podcasts
3. Copy and paste the URL above into it.
4. Go to the Podcasts section in your iTunes Library.
5. You will find that your subscription is now there. Choose entries to download!
Considering it is read using a computer-generated voice, the intonation is pretty impressive.
They are certainly not compulsory, but will prove to be extremely useful for 2 reasons:
1. They will allow students to listen to podcasts (which are an amazing educational resource) on the go, when their computers are not with them. Sure, they will also be listening to music and watching videos (if it’s a video iPod), but I don’t think that’s not a solid enough reason to avoid getting one.
2. The iPod is also a hard drive and will act as a good back-up device. If anything – this is reason enough to get one. (External hard drives of similar capacity are cheaper of course, but will not be able to play podcasts, display calendars, contact, notes, etc).
If parents wish, iPods may be ordered at the School – we have some which we can spare for about RM100.00 less than SRP. They’re te 30GB iPod Video model and brand new (unopened). My advice, if you’re thinking of getting one, is to get one with the largest capacity you’re willing to pay for.
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