Our Curriculum specialists, academics, researchers and Master Teachers once again gathered online at the annual "MOE-NIE-SEAB-SCCL Sharing Forum" held on 12 July 2021.

          Spontaneously exchanging their views on this year's theme "The trend of Chinese teaching in the era of big data", they hoped to better understand how Artificial Intelligence (AI) which provides an interactive and simulating experience of the real world could further help our teachers to stimulate our students' interest and enhance their ability in Chinese language learning.

         Mr Sin Kim Ho, Divisional Director, Curriculum Planning & Development Division 1 said in his opening speech that in the past few years, MOE has been embracing using technology in teaching. With technology learning integrated into our lives, we need to address the issues, explore and strategise plans to expand the application of AI in our education. This will include: how to solve the problem caused by the lack of Chinese Language environment in Singapore; how to improve students' motivation and confidence in using Chinese; how to expand students' reading capability, and how to improve young children's expressive skills. He looked forward to the quartet partners' effort to actively brainstorm and conduct open discussions and to enhance future collaboration in research and teachers training as we usher in the new technological era.

         Key highlights at this year's forum were presented by our guest speakers, Mr Franz Chen, CEO of Ponddy Education on "The Application of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analysis and Natural Language Processing in Language Learning" and Assistant Professor Wen Yun, NIE on "The Influence of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data on Chinese Language Teaching: Taking Chinese Character Teaching as an Example". The meeting then adjourned with small groups sharing on the capability of AI in remodelling future curriculum, determining the appropriate assessment methods and adjusting teachers' training needs.

         Associate Prof Tan Chee Lay, Deputy Head for Asian Language & Cultures, NIE in his closing address, applauded the idea of communing academic knowledge with actual practice. He said as we embrace the new age of AI and big data, we have to be more conscious of our future role as an educator. He concurred with Mr Franz Chen that AI can never replace the role of a teacher but it can act as a supplementary role to provide us with creative tools to enrich and enhance our students' learning process. Going forward, he hoped the quartet partners could strengthen collaboration in AI research and pedagogy so as to prepare our teachers and students with relevant knowledge and skill sets to optimise their learning experience in the new education era.

Mr Franz Chen, CEO of Ponddy Education

Assistant Professor Wen Yun, NIE