OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Edu. This program brings the power of AI to campuses worldwide, offering an affordable way to transform the learning experience. ChatGPT Edu is more than just a showcase of cutting-edge technology. It aims to empower educators with a unique tool to enhance student learning. Imagine personalized tutoring, smarter exam review sessions, and even AI-powered assistance with writing strong essays. These are just a few possibilities within reach.
Fueled by the advanced GPT-4o language model, ChatGPT Edu boasts a range of features designed to benefit both teachers and students:
Personalized Learning: This program adapts to individual needs, offering targeted support and explanations tailored to specific topics.
Enhanced Tutoring: Stuck on a challenging concept? ChatGPT Edu can act as a virtual learning companion, providing clear explanations and answering questions in an easy-to-understand manner.
Feedback and Review: Boost your performance on exams and assignments! ChatGPT Edu analyzes your writing and offers constructive feedback, helping you refine grammar, sentence structure, and overall clarity.
Research Assistant: Need help gathering information or brainstorming ideas for a project? ChatGPT Edu transforms into your AI research assistant, providing relevant sources and insights to propel your research forward.
According to OpenAI, ChatGPT Edu prioritizes safety, ensuring appropriate and educational interactions. The program also offers enterprise-level security and controls, giving universities peace of mind regarding student data privacy. In addition, it looks like ChatGPT Edu interactions won’t be used to train OpenAI’s LLM.
ChatGPT Edu’s introduction marks a significant step forward in integrating AI into education. It opens doors for personalized learning, improved student support, and innovative teaching methods. As educators and students experiment with this new tool, it will be fascinating to see how AI reshapes the future of learning and knowledge creation.
Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) and Huawei Malaysia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on academic and research initiatives focused on smart city technology and urban disaster prevention, particularly flood mitigation. This partnership promises advancements in these critical areas while fostering innovation and practical training for future generations.
A central pillar of the collaboration is the establishment of a Huawei Intelligent Operation Center (IOC) at UniKL British Malaysian Institute (UniKL BMI). This centre will serve a dual purpose: providing valuable research and development (R&D) opportunities and empowering UniKL to offer authorized short-course training programs. Students and the public will benefit from gaining practical experience with cutting-edge smart city technologies.
The MoU also paves the way for knowledge exchange between Huawei Malaysia and UniKL on flood monitoring and control. This collaboration in research and information sharing holds promise for developing effective solutions to combat this recurring challenge in Malaysia.
The signing ceremony, held at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China, was witnessed by Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Bin Hamidi. Signing on behalf of their respective organizations were Mr Simon Sun, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Malaysia, and Associate Professor Ir Dr Azman Senin, President and Chief Executive Officer of UniKL.
Expressing his enthusiasm for the partnership, Dr Azman Senin stated, “This MoU underscores UniKL’s unwavering commitment to providing our students with access to the best learning opportunities and resources. We anticipate a productive collaboration with Huawei Malaysia that will benefit not only our students and researchers but also the wider community.”
Mr Simon Sun, CEO of Huawei Malaysia, elaborated on the significance of the IOC: “The Huawei IOC utilizes vast amounts of industry-specific data to generate predictive models, aiding in efficient resource allocation during critical situations like floods. This ultimately leads to better city management and paves the way for a connected, intelligent future for smart cities. The UniKL BMI-based IOC will serve as a powerful educational and R&D tool, equipping students and researchers for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.”
This partnership between UniKL and Huawei Malaysia signifies a significant step forward. By combining academic expertise with industry knowledge, they aim to tackle real-world challenges, nurture the next generation of innovators, and contribute to building smarter and more resilient Malaysian cities.
In recent years, rapid technological advancement and shifting societal needs have evolved the educational landscape significantly. Technology now plays an integral part in revolutionising traditional learning methods, offering new avenues to enhance teaching and learning modes.
Schools must comprehend and effectively utilise technology to fully harness its benefits. In line with this, Malaysia’s Ministry of Education (MoE) has introduced the Digital Education Policy, which aims to seamlessly integrate digital technology into the learning environment, cultivating a generation of digital-savvy students and educators.
However, the key to effective technology-based learning and teaching lies in schools’ adept approach to integrating technology with the right strategies. It’s not just about adding new gadgets or software in classrooms; rather, it’s about thoughtful planning and implementation to ensure technology enhances educational outcomes.
What Does Digital Strategy for Schools Mean?
A digital strategy for schools encompasses a holistic plan that outlines how technology will be leveraged to elevate and transform various aspects of the educational process. It involves strategically integrating digital tools, resources, and technologies into the education ecosystem to refine teaching methods, enrich student learning experiences, streamline administrative processes, and foster a future-ready learning environment.
Central to this approach is identifying specific goals and objectives of the institution, understanding the needs of educators and students, and aligning technology initiatives to address them effectively.
Preparing Schools for a Comprehensive Digital Strategy
As we embrace a new era in education, preparing schools for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow has become a paramount priority. Key components of a digital strategy for schools include:
Infrastructure and Technology Integration
A robust IT infrastructure stands as the cornerstone of any successful digital strategy within educational institutions. It requires essential hardware such as computers, tablets, and interactive displays, alongside establishing a secure, high-speed network, to effectively support digital initiatives in schools. Investing in technology can be costly; however, teaming up with technology vendors like Lenovo, who provide device seeding for cutting-edge products like the Lenovo K14 G2 Intel-powered by the Intel® Core™ i7 U Series processor (13th Gen), can help.
Technology integration must also go beyond device presence, strategically including digital tools across classrooms and administrative functions. From interactive whiteboards to educational software, schools should purposefully integrate technology to improve teaching methods and student learning.
Digital Literacy Development for Educators
For digital strategies to be successful, educators must be empowered with the necessary skills and knowledge to utilize technology in classrooms effectively. Digital literacy development initiatives are essential in providing teachers with the confidence and expertise to integrate digital tools into their teaching methodologies.
As a trusted partner in the transformation journey, Lenovo has established the Lenovo EdVision Community program in Malaysia to hone technological literacy and digital skills among students while providing resources and support for teachers to prepare them for a more digital educational landscape. Our program offers IT-enablement product training and webinars for teachers, along with easy-to-use total education solutions encompassing hardware, software, and services to ensure a seamless education experience. Malaysian teachers can register on the Edvision Community website to be part of the community for free.
When teachers are well-prepared, they can craft engaging, and dynamic learning experiences tailored to meet the needs of 21st-century learners.
Collaboration and Communication
Digital strategies should prioritize seamless communication and collaboration among students, teachers, parents, and school staff. Technology tools like virtual classrooms and parent-teacher communication platforms facilitate real-time communication and promote engagement.
Furthermore, strategies should extend collaboration beyond schools by leveraging technology to connect with experts and resources globally.
By adopting these digital strategies, schools can equip students with the essential skills and competencies needed to excel in a technology-driven society.
Maxis continues their endeavor to support education and its accessibility with its third edition of Maxis eKelas.
Launched in 2021, Maxis eKelas is the Malaysian communication giants flagship community project to enable quality digital education among students through signature campaigns and activities. The main aim is to provide quality education to students from Year 4 to Form 5 in rural communities. The educational material is presented in a fun and engaging way and in line with the Malaysian School Syllabus. One of these signature campaigns is Misi Jelajah Digital (MJD) annual STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) challenge, which focuses on enhancing their knowledge and skills in STEM subjects. Since its launch in 2001, MJD has already reached 2000 participating students nationwide, equipping them with digital skills.
A focus on key digital skills and sustainable development
Now in its third year, MJD 2023 will run from 16th August to 16th November 2023. The competition was launched at SJK Chung Hua No. 4 in Kuching, Sarawak and followed by two days of workshops. Around 580 students from 54 schools across Kuching joined in, learning about storyboarding, how to conceptualise ideas and present proposals. This year’s MJD challenge will help students develop key digital skills in programming, coding and design thinking. With the theme of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), students are challenged to create real-life solutions and produce their own animation works or games based on their categories.
Categories
Task
Upper Primary: Year 4-5
Create ONE digital animated VIDEO to educate your peers about one of the SDG goals.
Lower Secondary: Form 1-3
Build a 2-level (minimum) GAME that educates your peers about the SDG Goals.
Lower Secondary: Form 4-5
Build a 3-level(minimum) GAME that educates your peers about the SDG Goals.
The student categories of MJD 2023 by Maxis eKelas.
MJD 2023 is open to all Malaysian students from Year 4 to Form 5, encouraged to join in groups of 2 to 4 members. On top of attractive prizes, students will also receive co-curriculum marks or Pentaksiran Aktiviti Jasmani Sukan dan Kokurikulum (PAJSK) credits as further incentive to participate.
A wealth of resources on STEM and more
To help students during the competition period, there will be free online workshops on animation and game design. Moreover, eKelas students can access learning material on coding, storytelling and other related digital skills via the eKelas portal. With content focusing on Science, Mathematics, English, Bahasa Melayu and History, the learning material of eKelas portal is delivered through a combination of live tutorials, group learning, competitions and digital content. Apart from STEM, students can also participate in the HIP Storyfest annual competition.
SNS Network Technology Berhad, an ICT system and solutions provider, has announced a slew of deals exclusively for students. The goal is to facilitate students to embrace online learning in schools through affordable devices.
SNS Managing Director, Ko Yun Hung, hopes to level the playing field for all students to access virtual learning
Managing Director, Ko Yun Hung, believes the deals are timely as they align with the recent launch of Hybrid Classrooms Pioneer Project by the government. He said, “We believe that this special deal makes the devices very accessible to students and levels the playing field for virtual learning situations”.
Wide range of devices and discounts with SNS Network
The special deals by SNS Network Technology covers a range of HP laptops with discounts of RM400. A standout deal is the 11-inch HP Chromebook X360 going for RM599, down from RM1199. Lenovo laptops are also on offer, with prices ranging from RM1249 and discounts up to RM200.
SNS Network offers their own range of smart classroom solutions, JOI, on generous discounts too. The range includes the JOI Classmate laptop series, JOI Chromebook and the desktop JOI PC, with prices starting at RM599. Other brands include the Avita series of laptops priced at RM949 and Huawei, which includes the MatePad T10 tablet for RM349.
SNS Network has student deals from tablets to laptops to desktop PCs, all at great discounts.
Additionally, SNS Network offers premium devices exclusively for students with options of iPad, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Microsoft Surface. The HP Probook 440 is available for RM3159 for those that want more productivity. On the top end, the Dell Alienware X14 gaming laptop is also available on a discount at RM8499.
