6th IMETC 2012

Date: 29-31st September 2012
Venue: Concorde Inn, KLIA

Alhamdulillah, I have been invited to be a keynote speaker at the 6th International Malaysian Educational Technology Convention 2012. It was a humbling and gratifying experience indeed to be given the opportunity to speak in front of the movers and shakers of the edutech realm. Thank you Prof. Rozhan Idrus for inviting me. The other three keynote speakers are Associate Professor Alla Saddik from Oman,Professor Junichi Yamanichi from Japan and Dr. Soon, Deputy Director of Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan (BTP).

The 6th IMETC was officiated by Prof. Dato' Dr. Ansary Ahmed President/CEO Asia e University. This is my 1st time attending IMETC and I am glad I am given the chance to revive my knowledge on education technology from all the experts. During the latest Malaysian Educational Technology Association (META) annual meeting, I was being appointed as one of its Exco members, nominated by Prof. Yusof, the father of Education Technology in Malaysia. It is an honour and I'll do my best to contribute to the association, Insya Allah.

Wonderful and inspirational individuals I've met and networked with at IMETC. I've noticed that all of the professors/AP/academicians I've met at IMETC are so humble albeit their amazing accolades and credentials. Definitely a humbling experience. Who would have thought I would meet Dr. Bushro, the one who interviewed me for my HLP Scholarship interview at IMETC? She has been a great guide and mentor. I got the chance to meet Dr. Chiam from Sabah and Bee Ling from SK Bintang Utara who have been prolifically using IT in their schools. The best part is to meet my fellow HLP recipients, Aznita and Shikin. They are now studying in UKM and it's great to catch up and share ideas on our upcoming dissertation (read: stress alert..hehe)

My keynote address. My presentation focusses more on the educator's role in equipping ourselves to face the current trends and paradigm shift in E-Learning. Prior to this, I have interviewed and talked to several teachers, Mr. Adnan (SMS Sembrong), Jarrod (SMK Katibas), Azlimin (Maahad Al-Ahyar) to name a few. From their e-mails, tweets, FB messages and all, I was able to share the teachers' plights, issues and hope in the implementation of ICT in Malaysian secondary schools. I would like to thank my UTM lecturers especially my supervisor, Dr. Halina for guiding me. I would like to also thank Associate Professor Dr. Kamarul Kabilan who patiently guides me whenever I seek advice on my studies and presentations. You're awesome! In the context of e-learning, I strongly feel that the emphasis shouldn't be on the tools but on facilitating teachers in the use of these tools in the learning process. It is not fair to wiggle our fingers and finding faults when teachers are doing their best, teaching and multi-managing the various key-in systems. Perhaps they should create just ONE system hub where all the essential data can be managed better? Apart from teacher's resistance, infrastructure and professional development need to be revised and restructured so all of the stakeholders will not perceive E-Learning as a daunting task and instead,optimize it effectively to help students to learn better.

6th IMETC 2012

In an hour's time, I will be driving off to KL to attend the 6th International Malaysian Educational Technology Convention (IMETC) 2012. Alhamdulillah, I have been chosen as a keynote speaker for this spectacular event and to be honest, it has been so unexpected.

When Prof. Rozhan Idrus, the Chair of IMETC offered me to be a keynote speaker, I was tad shocked. From what I know, most of the past keyspeakers have been professors,reknowned academicians and the movers and shakers in edu tech domain. I am just a humble teacher/post graduate student. I feel jitters all right! Gradually, I perceive it as an opportunity, a platform to voice out the reality, enigma and possibilities of e-learning in Malaysian schools. I am flattered and humbled that a Malaysian teacher's view is deemed worthy to represent the Malaysian edutech academias.

Honestly, this is a milestone in my career and I see it as a golden opportunity for me to share my views and experience as a teacher with other professionals. The topic of my keynote speech is 'Reframing Education System: Current Trends & Paradigm Shift'. I hope by sharing my projects, my colleagues' views and students' expectations, we can come up with more pragmatic ways to optimize e-learning in Malaysian school. I would like to thank my lecturers at UTM for giving me the green light to be away for the convention. Wish me luck in my presentation!

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