Litespeed`s Faster and Smarter Way

t
e
G
Issue: 1
AN E-LEARNING NEWSLETTER
Apr - Jun 2007
BY
LITESPEED EDUCATION
MICA (P) 252/03/2007
www.litespeed.com.sg
Litespeed’s Faster and Smarter Way
Dear Readers,
Over the last ten years, it has been shown that Elearning in the classroom is not a fad but an inevitable
trend towards integration of learning technologies,
school curriculum, teaching methodologies and
classroom activities. With the introduction of cost
effective computer hardware, multimedia content and
robust E-learning platforms, the classroom learning
environment has been transformed into an interactive
multimedia experience. Litespeed is fully committed
to this exciting endeavour of transforming the learning
experience. Indeed, it is a faster and smarter way to
learn.
We have a single-minded objective. Litespeed's
value proposition to Singapore schools is to provide
schools with a box filled with a suite of services,
content and technologies. All these are innovatively
integrated with the purpose of collaborating with
In the proverbial Aesopian race
between the hare and the turtle,
it is a contest between swiftness
and strategy. We know the ending;
strategic thinking won. However, in
the new arena, you need both speed
and strategy. We need to offer new
products speedily. More importantly,
we need to understand the customers
and constantly evolve to meet their
ever-changing needs. In the years
ahead, Litespeed will need to have the best qualities
of both the hare and the turtle. Let’s run the race and
cross the finishing line together.
In the proverbial Aesopian race between
the hare and the turtle, it is a contest between
swiftness and strategy. We know the ending;
strategic thinking won. However, in the new
arena, you need both speed and strategy.
every school to achieve their ability-driven vision. In
the following pages, you will find out how Litespeed
can provide easy-to-use collaborative content
development technologies and our proprietary, awardwinning E-learning diagnostic tools to the schools. We
are also very proud to share the success stories of our
project champions and customers who have adopted
Litespeed technologies.
Sam Wai Hong
CEO
Upcoming?
2007
is a year of refreshment for Litespeed
Education where, after identifying our
weaknesses in 2006, we are forging ahead with plans
to strengthen our products, our partnership with schools
and our long-term relationships with the Ministry of
Education and the Infocomm Development Authority.
is now available on our portal under Resources. We
have introduced Dr. Quiz English and Dr. Quiz Math
for primary schools. Our exclusive Discovery Education
Videos are now categorised as a courseware for
both primary and secondary schools. 21 new Virtual
Laboratories have also been included in Lower Secondary
Science courseware.
In December 2006, we embarked on a massive
migration exercise of our entire E-learning infrastructure
to Starhub, where its broadband facilities are of worldclass standards. Access speeds have improved and we will
continue to work with MOE and the Singapore schools’
ITSS to monitor and advise on network connectivity.
As the fear of a pandemic flu outbreak is likely to
continue this year, schools would be keen to conduct
more E-learning days and allow students to stay at
home to simulate a school closure. In this scenario,
teaching and learning will take place over the Internet,
through the array of tools available in our ALP, such as
Discussion Forums, Digital Portfolio, Work Bin, etc. We
will continue to invest in infrastructure to support an
increase of user access on such E-learning days.
Many schools have been our loyal customers for
years and our system stores all historical data from
when they first subscribed. We recognise the need for
backup and recovery, therefore aside from the use of
Tape Backup and highly reliable IBM
hardware, plans are underway to have a
Disaster Recovery data centre in Pacific
Internet located in the west of Singapore.
This will mirror the schools’ data in
Starhub found in the east of Singapore.
In 2006, we also completed two
content development projects with the
Ministry of Education in Malaysia –
courseware for ‘A’ Math and Physics. The
significant technology implemented in
the project was a Flash-based Scientific
Calculator that can perform functions
such as fractions, trigonometry, complex
equations, etc. This Scientific Calculator
New Virtual Laboratories in Lower Secondary Science
Several new initiatives for
With a growing
schools are slated for this year
customer
and these will be announced
soon. With a growing customer
service team,
service team, we encourage
we encourage
schools to work with us towards
schools to work
a seamless integration
of IT in teaching and
with us towards
learning. As part of our
a seamless
collaboration
efforts
integration of IT
with local schools, we
have built solutions for
in teaching and
schools such as Chua
learning.
Chu
Kang
Primary
School, Xi Shan Primary
School, St. Hilda’s Secondary School and Nanyang
Junior College.
Flash-based Scientific
Calculator
We are certain that 2007 will be an exciting
year. Schools which are interested in FutureSchool
are invited to talk to us, as we now have a complete
solution for implementation.
2
Collaborative Efforts
K
nown as a technology that is
synonymous with Litespeed, our
ICAM (Intelligent Content Assessment
Marking) engine has garnered numerous awards like The Enterprise Challenge
(TEC) 2002 and has been widely and
successfully trial-tested, albeit more at
primary and secondary levels.
In an innovative drive to constantly
challenge our ICAM engine, Litespeed
was kindly invited by MOE [ODD
(Organization Development Division)]
to collaborate with 3 Singapore Junior
Colleges - Serangoon JC, Yishun JC and
Innova JC - to extend automated open-
Leveraging on MOE's Innovation Fund under the purview of ODD
and N4 Cluster Master Teacher Ms Connie Seng, Litespeed
successfully applied keypoint-based marking to manage and mark
higher level open-ended comprehension answers.
swers. Litespeed utilised this trial
to match our ICAM auto-marking of higher level questions to
conventional manual marking.
ended marking to JC-level GP Comprehension. Leveraging on MOE's Innovation Fund under the purview of ODD
and N4 Cluster Master Teacher Ms Connie Seng, Litespeed
successfully applied keypoint-based marking to manage
and mark higher level open-ended comprehension an-
Litespeed
would
like
to take the chance to thank
MOE(ODD), N4 Cluster Master Teacher Ms Connie
Seng, as well as all participating JC personnel and users, and we look forward to collaborating with local
schools to further leverage on technology in line with
Singapore's iN2015 Masterplan.
GET CONNECTED
LITESPEED EDUCATION
is published by
HOTLINE NUMBERS
Litespeed Education Pte Ltd
For Sales enquiries, please contact:
Reuben Cheu (Secondary schools) : 9180 2151
Connie Tan (Primary schools) : 9147 5279
(Reg. No. 200008855D)
No. 152 Beach Road
#17-05/07
Gateway East
Singapore 189721
Tel : +65 6837 0024
Fax : +65 6837 0377
For Training and Customer Service matters,
please contact:
Eva Chua : 9147 5275
3
Our features have been given a ‘facelift’ to look and
perform better! Litespeed engineers have spent the last couple of months enhancing
features of the Learning Management System (LMS) in an effort to give our users a breezy
experience while accessing the portal. We are committed to providing our customers with top
notch service so continue to look out for updated features and enhancements in forthcoming
issues!
Report Manager
The Communication and Collaboration Report was added into Report Manager, with 4 types of mini-reports. A
summary view of the Communication and Collaboration tools allows teachers to view usage report at a glance so that
they can track both teacher and student usage.
❶
Notices and Tasks Dispatch –
Teachers’ Report
☞ Displays number of notices and
tasks dispatched by teacher
Communication and Collaboration Report –
Notices and Tasks Dispatch (Teachers)
❷
Students’ Report
☞ Displays number of notices and tasks
received from teachers’ dispatches
☞ Displays number of postings for
discussion forum and suggestion
forum
Communication and Collaboration –
Students’ Report
❸
❹
Discussion Forum Top 10 Postings
Suggestion Forum Top 10 Postings
Communication and Collaboration Report –
Top 10 Postings
4
Private Message
Report Abuse was integrated to combat nuisance messages so users can report a user/posting if they deem the
contents to be unsuitable. In Abuse Report, both the names of the abuser and the reporting person will be displayed so
the administrator can take appropriate actions.
Private Message: Report Abuse
Information of Private Message Abusers
Survey 2.0
☞ More survey question types (8 question types)
☞ Branching Feature
☞ Simulation and preview of created template
☞ Editing of answer choices and shifting of positions
☞ Allowing non-portal users as respondents to survey
Call for Suggestions!
Dear teachers,
Share ideas on how to make our portal more user-friendly and win attractive
prizes! Kindly send your ideas in Microsoft Word format, including any visuals that
can help to express your message more clearly.
Deposit your article in the workbin titled ‘Call for Suggestions’ (folder name: ‘Ideas
Repository’). Your submissions will be kept in the strictest confidentiality.
One winner will be picked in every quarter so there will be 3 winners in 2007.
The closing dates for your submissions are 15th May 2007, 15th August 2007 and 15th
October 2007. You may submit as many entries as you like!
The most valuable and feasible suggestion may be considered for implementation
and this will win its contributor cool prizes! Start composing your ideas right away!
5
We Listen To You!
These enhancements were the results of users’ suggestions. Thank you for your contributions
and we look forward to hearing more constructive feedback from you! (Refer to Page 5 for
details on how you can now win PRIZES with your suggestions!)
TIME SAVERS…
Teachers, we help you save time with these enhanced features!
IMPORT RESOURCES
How can you make a quick and hassle-free
import of resources? The ‘Import Resources’ page
displays default values in input boxes so users
save time by not typing the requirements.
FACILITIES BOOKING
When you choose display by ‘Select By
Dateview’ all available facilities for selected date
will be displayed on one page. This allows the
user to book multiple facilities at one go! Select
the option to inform the TA at the same time, so
equipment for the facilities can be prepared.
READER SERIES
Check out all 24 titles in the Reader Series package! Each title focuses on teaching the 4 important skills –
reading, speaking, listening and writing (available for lower primary).
6
Litespeed
collaborated with 7 primary schools and 4 secondary schools in ‘Litespeed
Annual Competition 2006’ held in October 2006. This competition was opened
to Primary 3 and 5 in the Primary category, and Secondary 1 and 2 in the Secondary category. It proved to be
both a rewarding and enriching experience for both Litespeed and the participating schools.
The success of the event was the result of close-knitted coordination process
between Litespeed and the participating schools. The top achievers won for
themselves thumb drives and MP3 players.
Participating schools gave favourable comments about the competition, and
many look forward to taking part in similar events by Litespeed in 2007.
Results of the competition:
Top 3 Overall for Primary 3 Category:
Overall Champion: Cheng Zhi Wen (Chua Chu Kang Primary School, P3B)
Overall 1st runner-up: Chua Hao En, Ivan (Park View Primary School, P3F)
Overall 2nd runner-up: Yvonne Moh Cui Yun (Fuchun Primary School, P3E)
Top 3 Overall for Primary 5 Category:
Overall Champion: Lee Si Hui (Tampines Primary School, P5 Care)
Overall 1st runner-up: Pay Hee Ruey (Chua Chu Kang Primary School, P5A)
Overall 2nd runner-up: Tee Jia Hui (Fuchun Primary School, P5E)
Top school achiever and overall
champion for P5 Division - Lee
Si Hui, P5 Care from Tampines
Primary School
Top 3 Overall for Secondary 1 Category:
Overall Champion: Chen Xiuqin (Bartley Secondary School, Sec 1E2)
Overall 1st runner-up: Ewan Lim Wen Xian (Greenridge Secondary School, Sec 1E2)
Overall 2nd runner-up: Kuppusamy Akshaya (Bukit Batok Secondary School, Sec 1E1)
Top 3 Overall for Secondary 2 Category:
Overall Champion: Christine Chew Yun Xian (Bukit Batok Secondary School, Sec 2E4)
Overall 1st runner-up: Amirrul B Ahmad (Greenridge Secondary School, Sec 2E1)
Overall 2nd runner-up: Bobby Tjandra (Bartley Secondary School, Sec 2E2)
Vice-Princ
ipal of Ba
rtley Seco
School,
nd
Mrs Tan
Chye Na ary
Mr Pok V
with
ic Tor
Park View Primary School’s principal,
Mdm Ong Lee Choo, is pictured
here with Mr Pok Vic Sent
LITESPEED ANNUAL COMPETITION 2006
Litespeed Annual Competition 2006
Principal of Chua Chu Kang
Primary School, Mr Francis Foo
with Mr Chua Chet Shiu
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Our partners share some
sentiments on our collaboration
with schools…
}
Litespeed Education Pte Ltd has been
our E-learning partner since 2004. We
chose Litespeed as our partner primarily
because the content provided in
Litespeed’s portal is accurately aligned
to our curriculum.
Teachers find the e-lessons for pupils relevant
and interesting, and are happy to integrate E-learning
in their daily lessons. Our pupils too enjoy the Elearning experience they obtain from using the portal.
Apart from being able to access Litespeed’s E-learning
portal during their time in school, our pupils can
also access it at home and this aids them in revising
the lessons learnt in school and completing their ehomework.
Litespeed also collaborates with the school to
address its needs by customising features found in the
portal and enhancing the E-learning content to ensure
appropriateness and ease of use. This has greatly
benefited the school as we move towards achieving
the creation of customisable content for our pupils.
The training sessions that Litespeed’s personnel
provide to both teachers and pupils are important in
ensuring that we can fully tap on the resources that
reside in the portal as ICT is a powerful enabler for
teaching and learning.
Now, as we move forward to achieve our vision
of “Empowered Learners, Creative Minds”, we seek
Lee Lee
Ms Chiampartment - IT
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Head of D ng Primary School
Ka
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ducation P
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Litespeed
the use of E-learning as a tool to empower our pupils
and staff to become self-directed and independent
learners.
Litespeed has walked with us through the
E-learning journey for many years, and we believe
that our partnership will help to bring the school
one step closer
to achieving its
vision.
IT HOD Sharing Session
Need more ideas on how to motivate your teachers to engage the
students in E-learning? We’re conducting the first-ever sharing session
among IT HODs in June 2007!
Grab the opportunity to meet up with your counterparts from other
schools and share useful ideas, tips and practices that can be implemented in
your daily operations. The informal setting will be accompanied by a free flow
of drinks and snacks.
If you are keen to attend this session, kindly register with us by 15th May 2007.
Please call Miss Eva Chua at 91475275 or email [email protected] to
register today! Further details of the event will be emailed to interested participants.
}
Bartley Secondary School is dedicated
to embracing the new digital wave
in Information Technology and has
established a very successful relationship
with Litespeed Education since 2003.
Having a reliable E-learning portal means that our
teachers and students are able to access E-learning
resources in school as well as at home. This has paved
the way for teachers and students to make use of the
portal for homework dispatch and completion.
One of the many excellent features of the portal
is the Discussion Forum. Here, the school sets up a
discussion and a suggestion board to promote greater
communication between students and teachers.
Bartley Secondary also utilises the E-learning
portal to tap into students’ intellectual minds for
ideas. The school features interesting ideas from their
Digital Portfolios in the school’s newsletter. Thus, the
portal serves an important tool to the school – to act
as a platform for students to speak their minds.
In our constant effort to explore more ways to
maximise the use of the E-learning portal, the school
organised the E-learning Week. During this exercise,
teachers from different subject levels could dispatch
assignments to their students to complete during the
holidays from home.
Incorporating the use of Litespeed’s E-learning
portal has taught our students to be independent
}
The 2-year-long partnership with
Litespeed has been an enriching and
enjoyable journey for Nanyang Junior
College. The relationship has a solid
foundation and this is the result of
Litespeed’s willingness to listen to their customers.
They make it a point to take note of users’ feedback
and incorporate these into their products and services
where possible.
Apart from creating a holistic E-learning culture in
our school environment, the E-learning environment
provided by Litespeed also allows our students to
engage actively in forum discussions as part of their
learning. Teachers also take the opportunity to foster
closer relationship with students through online
consultation and discussions.
Going forward, NYJC hopes to nurture a symbiotic
relationship in which both parties can take ownership
Mr A
s
Head madi Bin
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Bartle f Departme Mohama
y Seco
nt - IT
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Partne
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Litesp
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learners. Also vital is the emergency preparedness that
our school now have in the event of a crisis like a SARS
breakout or a haze problem that might result
in the need
for a school
closure.
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Mr Wa Department - IT
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Partner
cation
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Litespe
of the E-learning portal. The feedback given to Litespeed
should serve as a platform for the company to improve
their services so that end users will benefit. Similarly,
Litespeed can share new innovations and ideas from
the E-learning industry
furtherance
the
for
of knowledge inquiry in
Singapore.
9
Australia’s The Learning Federation
and Curriculum Corporation Visits
Chua Chu Kang Primary School
O
n 24th May 2006, Litespeed Education
invited Ms Susan Atkins from The
Learning Federation and Mr Peter Adams
from Curriculum Corporation to visit one of
our partner schools, Chua Chu Kang Primary
School. During the visit, both Ms Atkins and
Mr Adams were invited to observe how Elearning is incorporated into daily lessons.
In the sharing session afterwards, they
were privileged to find out how CCKPS
utilises Litespeed’s E-learning platform to
plan and manage effective teaching and
learning. Ms Atkins and Mr Adams were also
happy to share how E-learning is conducted
in Australian schools.
Ms Susan Atkins and Mr Peter Adams being introduced to the class
It was a truly insightful meeting for
everyone and we would like to take this
opportunity to extend our gratitude to Mr
Francis Foo and his teachers from Chua Chu
Kang Primary School for their hospitality on
that day, and we look forward to conducting
similar exchange visits in the future.
Ms Susan Atkins and Vice-principal, Mr Tan Boon Chee, share a
light moment with a pupil as Litespeed’s Mr Pok Vic Sent looks on
Both visitors and pupils in deep concentration
Former Vice-principal, Mrs Koh-Peck Siew Peng, discusses the
lesson with Mr Peter Adams
10
PERSON
W
hen I’m asked, “What’s customer service, Eva?”,
I always have this flashback from the movie
‘Jerry Maguire’. Jerry Maguire works as an agent for
sportsmen. His job is to ‘sell’ these sportsmen, and
make them famous. There’s a bespectacled, balding
man who likes giving quotes of wisdom. One of
them has stuck with me since then: (In my own
words) “If you don’t have this (points to the
heart), this (points to the head) is nothing.”
That, to me, is customer service. Real
customer service is rendered from the heart, not just
from mental knowledge. Though summed up in those
few words, it is something that can be hard to attain.
The main goal of Litespeed Education is to be
a one-stop solution provider to schools’ E-learning
needs. There will be no short-cut to achieving this
– it requires commitment, time and above all, the
acknowledgement that it requires a duo-partnership
journey.
We would like to assure you that all your feedback,
comments and suggestions are very valuable to us.
And we recognise that being in the field; you would
best know the requirements for creating a conducive
E-learning environment. We are privileged to be able
to provide you with an E-learning portal that is geared
towards a smarter and faster learning. Over the years
we have constantly asked ourselves, “How we can
serve our customers better?”
Exciting events like ‘IT HOD Sharing Session’,
‘Inter-school Competitions’, ‘Call for Collaboration’
and ‘Call for Creative Suggestions’ are in the planning
process and are slated to take place this year. It is
indeed going to be an exciting year ahead and I ask
you to get ready for some rolling good times!
Litespeed Education will continue on our
learning journey and persist in our efforts to continue
improving on our products and services. We thank
you for the continued support and look forward to
more collaboration activities. Please do not hesitate to
contact the Customer Service Department with your
queries or suggestions - we welcome all your calls.
Please be informed that with effect from
1st April 2007, my contact number will be changed
to 9147 5275. The current number, 9385 1777 will be
used to cater to helpdesk calls. This change is meant
to serve all our customers more efficiently.
Have an inspiring 2007!
Yours sincerely,
Eva Chua
Training and Support Consultant
Litespeed Education Pte Ltd
Design, colour separation and printing by PCL Printers (Pte) Ltd. Tel: (65) 67458733
In my capacity as a Training and Support
Consultant in Litespeed Education, this is what I
aspire to achieve. Though the main focus of the job
is to provide training and customer support services,
what I would also like to offer is a listening ear. In
understanding your needs, I hope to ensure that your
needs are attended to quickly. In short, I would like
to be able to provide service unto all of you from my
heart.