Comparative Study on the Implementation of Innovative Learning in Three (3) Different Countries United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia

Mayreen V. Amazona
Aurora State College of Technology Baler, Aurora +639198280998

Reycelyn B. Corsino
Data Center College of the Philippines Baguio City +639262522736

maeamazona@yahoo.com PROBLEM
What are the techniques in United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia that focus on innovative approaches in the learning environments?

reycelyn_ballesteros@yahoo.com
team learning requires psychological safety and group interdependence to establish mutually shared cognition in groups. Seventh, informal learning and learning climate influence retention of learning by professionals; professionals seems to develop learning patterns; students should be prepared with this in mind. And finally, those who support the learning of others should learn continuously supported through practice-based inquiry.

ABSTRACT
In the 21st century, education is embracing a new, exciting, engaging, effective future. New technology has played a huge part in this, not only because of the new opportunities it brings to the classroom through personalization, but also because it allows students and teachers to quickly and effectively swap great ideas with one another. This report about the three countries namely; United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia contains much compelling evidence that learning is rushing into the 21st century with eyes wide open. Each of us can likely think of many more examples, but we also know that nothing about 21st-century education is simple. This research has identified exemplary programs that focus on innovative approaches in the learning environments in schools of United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia. The different approaches provide educators with an engaging and accessible way to build new knowledge about teaching, learning and emerging technologies. In the course of conducting this research it became apparent that the learning approaches of each school are unique and that no single learning model can meet the needs of schools in UK, Singapore and Australia. It is anticipated that the approaches developed for this study will assist educators in identifying and implementing innovative learning that are appropriate for their local learning community. The researchers specific contributions for this study are the following: First, prior knowledge and experience is a springboard for future learning. Secondly, taking students perceptions into account is crucial when providing activities and structures of intellectual, social and emotional support for learning. Thirdly, autonomous motivation and appropriate workload are essential as driving forces for engagement. Fourthly, engagement is a driving force in establishing a lifelong learning habit. Fifthly, studentcentered teaching methods should provide direct instructional guidance to safeguard engagement. Sixthly, striving towards cooperative learning environments and

KEYWORDS: Innovative learning, Enquiring minds,

Spatial technology.

INTRODUCTION
To become confident and competent adults, students must possess critical thinking and problem-solving skills as well as a solid grasp of technology. Inspiring and preparing all students to learn and innovate can help countries and regions stay competitive in the global marketplace. There is a widening gap between the knowledge required to be successful in society and that provided by education institutions. Students across all geographies may question whether this disconnect between existing process and desired outcome is a simple question of engagement or a profound question of future economic survival. We believe that the economic competitiveness of every geographic area depends, in large measure, on how effectively their education institutions engage, inspire, and prepare all students to learn and innovate. Policymakers can play a key role in matching their education institutions to the specific societal needs of their geography - in essence, using policy to close the gap between existing processes and desired outcomes.

United Kingdom
The British education system has produced some of the greatest writers, scientists, and thinkers of the modern world. In recent years, however, educators and policymakers in the UK have begun to question whether the countrys highly structured national curriculum and focus on examinations are developing the knowledge and skills that students need for the 21st century. Enquiring Minds, an innovative new approach to learning designed by UK

research organization Futurelab and supported by a US$2 million grant from Partners in Learning, looks beyond test results toward a different goal: enabling children to become effective researchers, innovators, and creators of knowledge. United Kingdom Quick Facts Population: 60 million people living in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland Education System: 400,000 teachers serving 9.2 million students Challenges: Enabling more flexible, relevant, and evidencebased school curricula and expanding professional development for teachers. [3]

Challenges: Increasing demands on school budgets and staff time make it difficult for teachers to get the professional development they need. In addition, a maturing teacher populationwith many educators retiring over the next five yearswill leave a gap in school leadership. [4]

AIM AND OBJECTIVE

The aim of this research is to compare key techniques that explore alternatives to traditional learning methods in United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia. The objective is to transform the way people learn through innovative technologies and teaching practices. We believe that the development of educators to use and teach with information and communications technology (ICT) is critical for communities, countries, and regions to create a sustainable advantage in the global economy. Developing a high-quality pool of teachers is a critical need for countries around the world. We believe that the development of educators to integrate information and communication technologies (ICTs) in classroom curriculum is critical for building the next generation of information workers. This will help communities, countries, and regions to create a sustainable advantage in the global economy.

Singapore
Singapores education system has a long history of quality and efficiency, backed by a track record of high student achievement in math and science. Yet this prosperous citystate is always looking for new ways to ensure that its students are even better prepared to participate in societal and economic advances. This spirit of continuous improvement has inspired the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Microsoft to initiate BackPack.NET, an ambitious five-year program that aims to encourage inquiry, creativity, and student-centered learning through advanced applications of ICT. This includes the use of Tablet PCs by hundreds of students throughout the city and the seeding of an ecosystem of innovative new education software companies. Singapore Quick Facts Population: 4.5 million Education System: 355 schools serving more than 530,000 students Challenges: Deploying advanced technologies in the classroom; catalyzing local innovation in educational software

RESULTS United Kingdom Enquiring Minds: exploring new methods of teaching and learning
The goal of Enquiring Minds is to empower students to take a more active role in their own education and to develop important life- long learning skills such as creative thinking, teamwork, problem solving, and conducting independent research. The project was conceived by Futurelab, a UK- based education research organization that works to transform the way people learn through innovative technologies and teaching practices, supported by US$2 million in funding from Microsoft Partners in Learning. Enquiring Minds was launched in 2006 to answer a number of challenging questions about the future of education: How can schools prepare students to engage with the world around them and identify problems, patterns, and opportunities? How can it encourage young people to follow their instincts about the way the world works and give them the tools and confidence to investigate their ideas? And how can it equip them to share their solutions and turn them into reality? Enquiring Minds is not so much a curriculum as it is an ongoing experiment in forging new models for teaching and learning. It includes activities and strategies that support students in creating coherent plans for their own learning, and it incorporates digital tools such as collaboration software, digital cameras, and laptops. It also explores new approaches to assessment, evaluating students

Australia
Educators in Australia are at the vanguard of efforts to understand how computer games, spatial technologies, and other digital innovations can enrich teaching and learning, particularly with students who dont respond well to traditional teaching methods. Through a partnership with Australias Department of Education, Training and the Arts, Australian Educators bridge the gap between education that is relevant and learning activities that are fun and engaging. Australia Quick Facts Population: 20.4 million Education System: 6,902 government schools serving 2.3 million students in six states and two territories.

skills as collaborators, researchers, and innovators. Futurelab is currently piloting the program in two schools in the Bristol area, including Gordano. These two schools are in turn serving as models for a dozen other schools in the UK that will implement the program in the next academic year. The results from these pilot schools will inform a broader remodeling of the UK curriculum that will begin in late 2007. The students participating in Enquiring Minds still spend much of the school year learning by traditional methods. But for a few hours every other week, they are given wide latitude to choose what they will study, how to study it, and what theyll produce by the end of the year. The children at Gordano are only a few months into their projects. They have chosen their general topicmobile phonesand are in the process of narrowing their focus to a few key questions. Over the remaining months, they will devise and complete a project that focuses on their area of inquiry, such as a short film or a Web site for their community. The key is that the students have to decide the projects topic and scope on their own. Their teachers will offer guidance to support their efforts, but they wont tell the students what to do. Technology plays an important role in Enquiring Mindsnot as the primary focus, but as a tool to facilitate exploration and research and to help students organize and present their ideas. The students involved in the program are learning how to think for themselves, to listen to and analyze the opinions of their peers, and to construct and defend arguments based on solid reasoning and evidence. In short, they are learning how to think critically and be lifelong learnersskills that are just as crucial in todays society and workplace as factual knowledge and specific technology skills. This approach stands in stark contrast to the way that teaching and learning usually occur in the UK. The traditional secondary school system uses the chalk and talk model, in which teachers transmit the knowledge students need to pass a series of examinations that can make or break their future. A standardized national curriculum specifies exactly what material should be taughtin some cases, right down to precise 15-minute increments. Teachers have had little flexibility in what or how to teach. However, programs such as Enquiring Minds and a broader effort toward personalized learning in the UK are affording new scope to schools. In general, schools are trying to help students take responsibility for their own learning, but were doing it in an environment where we dont give children any responsibility or independence, says Futurelab Research Director Keri Facer. Schools are old institutions that are built on a particular adult-child relationship, and that relationship is not traditionally geared toward giving any power to the child. Ross Martland, assistant head teacher at the Gordano School, concurs. In many ways, we still have a 19th-century school system, he notes. But with Enquiring Minds, the students have a space in the curriculum where they can talk about themselves and their interests, and play a role in

deciding how they will learn. They like that were aiming to guide their learning based on what theyre interested in, rather than organizing it around the subjects were required to teach. Enquiring Minds takes a holistic approach to school reform by inviting greater participation among teachers, parents, students, and the community in deciding what and how children will learn. In this new paradigm, teachers are viewed as co-researchers with their students, sharing approaches to learning and working collaboratively in the pursuit of knowledge. Facer believes that for fundamental reform to be successful, it must be applied to the whole school environment, rather than just to the curriculum in the classroom. Reflecting this philosophy of collaborative learning and local empowerment, Enquiring Minds is not intended to lead to a single end product or program. Rather, the mission is to assist in designing a road map for teachers and schools to develop curricula as well as sound educational theories and strategies to help achieve these goals. [1]

Singapore Advanced Technology, Homegrown Tools

All 1,600 students at Crescent Girls School have their own Tablet PC, which connects to a broadband wireless network and centralized classroom management software built on Microsoft Learning Gateway, a technology framework for education software. Paid for b y parents, with some discounts from manufacturers and scholarship support for lower-income students, the computers are outfitted with Microsoft Office and a number of specialized education applications developed by local software companies. To address concerns about theft, loss, and damage, Principal Lee Bee Yann has provided each parent with a contract they can sign with their children that outlines the appropriate care and feeding of their computers. As the teachers and students use their Tablet PCs in class, theyre supported by researchers and local software companies that monitor their use and collaborate to develop new applications that further enhance teaching and learning. One such application is Fun with Construction , an interactive tool developed by a local software company, HeuLab, that provides students with virtual rulers, protractors, and graph paper to explore math and geometry concepts. Using the Tablet PC stylus, students use the tools to draw, manipulate shapes, and analyze maps. By working onscreen rather than on paper, students can quickly understand difficult concepts such as geometric loci and linear graphs and get instant feedback on their work. Fun with Construction was inspired by teachers at Crescent Girls School who began working with HeuLab in 2004 to brainstorm an application that could automate their geometry lessons and enable students to work independently and share their work with peers. This was the first tool we developed in collaboration with BackPack.NET schools, says HeuLab Deputy CEO Lim Soon Jinn.

And once they saw the value of applications like this, they came back with more and more new ideas. The teachers next idea was a little more ambitious: a personal notebook that can collect all of the information students need for their lessons and give them a new way to take notes and structure their thinking. That application, called Fun with Mindbook , includes a specialized note-taking tool that enables students to create mind mapsvisual representations of the connections between concepts and ideasand take layered sets of notes around a rich library of images, such as anatomy drawings or diagrams of musical instruments. It also includes calendaring and organization tools that help students keep track of their tasks and easily store Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents alongside their notes and digital textbooks. Im not the kind of person who can memorize a whole chapter of words, so Fun with Mindbook helps me summarize all the more important points in one place, says science student Min. HeuLab sees its close collaboration with teachers and students as the key to creating effective learning applications. Far too many educational software programs have been created with little or no engagement with teachers or classrooms, and the frequent result is technology that doesnt really work in the classroom. Every single one of our applications is designed in collaboration with teachers so we can design something that will meet the needs in todays classrooms, says Lim. HeuLab also worked with BackPack.NET schools to address a significant obstacle to student-centered l earning: the ability to keep order in the classroom while giving students the flexibility to explore on their own. Before there were laptops or wireless networks in schools, students might sneak a comic book over their textbooks, and that was a distraction, says Dr. Philip Wong, head of the BackPack.NET Centre at the NIE. But now, with wireless technology, they can surf on the Internet. I think its important for teachers to feel comfortable with that some students might get distracted for 5 or 10 minutes, and thats fine, but teachers should be able to help them focus on their work.

and administer pop quizzes to the class if they want to check on students progress. The software not only facilitates an ongoing feedback loop regarding students progress; it also gives teachers greater confidence that they can let their students explore. Knowing that their teacher can check up on them at anytime tends to keep students on task. Software developers arent the only ones coming up with innovative ways to use the Tablet PCs at Crescent Girls School. The students themselves are finding plenty of creative new ways to put the technology to work. Educators at Crescent Girls School have found that the Tablet PCs have facilitated richer interaction between teachers and students and created more incentives for students to reflect on and discuss their work. Using email, instant messaging, and online discussion forums, the students are often more willing to participate and share their thoughts than in the classroom. Many students use the forums to ask questions they wouldnt bring up in class, says humanities teacher Phyllis Pham. Sometimes this is because theyve had time to reflect and think through the matter, which leads to more high-level questions about the topic. Other times, the students are just too shy to raise their hands. Either way, I find that theyre more spontaneous and ask more thoughtprovoking questions when theyre online. This pattern is not unique to Crescent Girls School. In the BackPack .NET schools, weve seen much more interaction between the teachers and the students and a great deal of collaboration, both within and outside the classroom, says Dr. Wong. We see many students collaborating on projects outside of class, even when theyre not physically together. They are more likely to work at homethey might be on the couch watching TV, but theyre also on MSN with their classmates, still working on pieces of their projects together.

The Leading Innovation

Edge

of

Classroom

Innovative Software Solutions for Teachers

To help address this challenge and make other classroom management tasks easier for teachers, HeuLab developed Fun with Virtual Classroom , an innovative solution that allows teachers to monitor student workeve n peeking at individual students screensand conduct guided lessons by remotely controlling every Tablet PC in the classroom or dividing students into groups and coordinating their work. Additionally, it automates many common classroom tasks, such as taking attendance, scoring quizzes, and tabulating grades. Teachers can even project individual students screens onto the classroom projector to showcase exemplary work,

Because Singapore has been investing in technology for the classroom for more than a decade, it is an ideal place to pioneer a program such as BackPack.NET. Every school in the country is equipped with broadband Internet access and well-stocked computer labs. The government provides funding to support a student-tocomputer ratio of 5:1, and many communities make additional investments in technology to further enhance teaching and learning in their schools. Additionally, Singapore is rolling out a wireless network that aims to cover the entire city-state by late 2007. With their infrastructure issues largely solved, teachers are now developing new teaching methods that take full advantage of technologymaking the curriculum more flexible and dynamic and moving further from a teacher-led classroom environment to learning that is centered on the students. Micro-soft Partners in Learning supports these efforts through BackPack.NET as well as

other programs such as the MicrosoftMinistry of Education Professional Development Awards (MMPDA), which highlight the work of innovative teachers and give them opportunities to attend regional and global Innovative Teachers Forums. Under the Ministry of Educations current five-year technology plan, schools will have greater autonomy and flexibility in the use of funds for ICT, and they are exploring a wide range of technology programs including robotics, digital art and music, blogging, and podcasting. Theres no specific recipe for how schools should use technology, says Dr. Wong. The aim is to use whatever means they can to equip our students with new skills. BackPack.NET is at the leading edge of this innovation, systematically developing and testing new technologies in a real classroom environment and then taking that knowledge and applying it to new kinds of learning applications and teaching techniques that can be extended to other school systems. This work is also important because it is helping kick-start an ecosystem of local software companies, such as HeuLab, which are beginning to export their work elsewhere in Singapore and around the world. Singapore has a very advanced education system, and our country has a strong drive for continuous innovation and improvement, says Microsoft Singapore Academic Program Manager Chua Horng Shya. Its a great environment in which to pioneer new technologies, and our hope is that the improvements weve achieved here can be exported to the rest of the world.[1]

about the world around them, including their local communities. Since everything is somewhere on the earths surface, spatial technology has a broad range of uses across industry and education, says Meegan Maguire, project officer for the Spatial Technologies in Schools project managed by the ICT Learning Innovation Centre and cosponsored by Microsoft. Applied across a range of subjects, including geography, math, business, and the sciences, spatial technologies enable students to become active citizens investigating community issues, including water quality, environmental hazards, and proposed development projects, says Maguire. Through this process, students apply higher-order thinking skill s to synthesize, analyze, and hypothesize information in ways that help them become lifelong learners. For example, the students at Coolum used GIS to undertake a virtual field trip to Stumers Creek, conducting a spatial analysis of human impact and an assessment of various indicators of poor water quality. Eventually, they concluded that the creek was unsafe for swimming. Using GPS data from various testing locations, the students were able to develop a set of proposed strategies for improving the water quality, which were presented to and adopted by the local Maroochy Shire Council. Today the creek is once again swimmable. As students, we can affect whats going on in our environment, and using GIS, we can make a difference, says a student who participated in the research effort. Subsequent classes taught by Vellar have continued to monitor water quality in Stumers Creek; examined the impacts of a proposed shopping center, movie studio, and industrial park; and conducted a transportation and traffic study. Incorporating the use of computers, the Internet, and spatial technology software into her geography classes has enabled really powerful engagement with kids, says Vellar. Some students who had been disengaged from learning and were presenting with behavior issues all of a sudden were doing things they knew how to do really well, so they could teach the class and they could teach me. Its so cool when you see it happen and the kids actually grow. Spatial technologies have been incorporated into curriculum and educational programs throughout Queensland. For example: 1. Trinity Bay State High School students used GIS software and data to assess the susceptibility of local roads to erosion using criteria such as rainfall, geology, and vegetation, and the information was submitted to a local agency for consideration as a recommended maintenance plan. Pimlico State High School used GIS to work with the Townsville City Council on an assessment of water

Australia Games Help Students Grasp Concepts and Think Strategically

Recognizing the potential of games and other emerging technologies to stimulate and personalize learning, Microsoft partnered with Australias Department of Education Training and the Arts to explore the potential of games and spatial technologies in learning. Workshops were also conducted to develop ICT skills and knowledge in computer programming, graphic design, animation, and game development.

Exploring the WorldVirtuallywith spatial technologies

Spatial technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) and the Global Positioning System (GPS) are being used by governments and industry to map, navigate, collect, analyze, and model geographic information. At Coolum State High School and other schools in Queensland, spatial technologies are being used as an exciting new l earning tool to engage students in learning

2.

quality in the citys major waterways.

Innovative Teaching and Learning Model

3. The North Keppel Island Environmental Education Centre (EEC) applied GPS to the mapping of coral around the island and used that information to discuss reef ecosystems, including potential positive and negative human influences, long-term predictions for the biodiversity of the reef, and strategies for protecting the reef. The Boyne Island EEC used geocaching activities (treasure hunts using GPS to find hidden objects) to increase student interest in exploring the island and learn about the environment. In this model, innovative teaching practices encompass both pedagogy and technology. While ICT is an important focus, its use is not seen as an end in itself. Rather, appropriate use of ICT is considered an important enabler of a student-centered learning environment that helps students build both deep subject matter knowledge and skills such as collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and self-regulation that they will need to succeed in the 21st century. The research design looks across the complex ecosystem of influences that shape teaching and learning in national, school, and classroom contexts. The conceptual framework below emphasizes a range of factors that extensive prior research has shown to be linked to teaching practices and deep student learning. [2]

4.

The implementation of spatial technologies enables worthwhile learning experiences for students, motivates teachers to try new teaching methods, and provides students with career pathway opportunities into a rapidly growing field that is always looking for qualified people, says Maguire. [1]

CONTEXT & INPUTS National School & Teacher

PRACTICES Classroom

OUTCOMES Student

Education Policy

School Culture and Supports

ICT Access and Supports Professional Development Educator Attitudes

Innovative Teaching Practices

Students 21st Century Skills

Student-Centered Pedagogy
Extending learning beyond the classroon ICT used for teaching and learning

Figure 1. Innovative Teaching and Learning Model

Table 1. The techniques used by the three countries in promoting innovative learning.

COUNTRY

FINDINGS
The UK research organization Futurelab, designed an innovative new approach to learning which they called Enquiring Minds that looks beyond test results toward a different goal: enabling children to become effective researchers, innovators, and creators of knowledge. The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore(IDA), initiate BackPack.NET, an ambitious five-year program that aims to encourage inquiry, creativity, and student-centered learning through advanced applications of ICT. Through a partnership with Australias Department of Education, Training and the Arts, Australian Educators are at the vanguard of efforts to understand how computer games, spatial technologies, and other digital innovations can enrich teaching and learning, particularly with students who dont respond well to traditional teaching methods.

CONCLUSION
Because of the program, Enquiring Minds that take such an innovative and holistic approach to education, theres a strong technology component, but the real mission is to nurture independent, creative thinkers and lifelong learners. Through the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) and institutes of higher learning, the FutureSchools are developing new information and communications technology (ICT) solutions to support innovative teaching approaches. According to Autralias ICT Learning Innovation Centre, the Games in Learning and Spatial Technologies in Schools contribute in some instances, more fun learning activities and more relevant and meaningful the students will be.

United Kingdom

Singapore

Australia

CONCLUSION United Kingdom

Given the governments readiness to explore new approaches to education, and in light of the role technology can play in attaining the desired results, the UK Partners in Learning team enthusiastically supports programs such as Enquiring Minds. For quite some time, the UK has been committed to ensuring technology access for all its teachers and studentsnearly 100 percent of its schools have PCs and Internet access. In turn, Microsoft has embraced the opportunity to support the UKs efforts to use technology in innovative ways and in service of the governments broader education agenda. Theres a significant effort in the UK to transform teaching and learning, and to empower teachers and students with the flexibility to make their own decisions and adopt new practices, says Microsoft UK Academic Program Manager Sarah Armstrong. We love programs like Enquiring Minds because they take such an innovative and holistic approach to education. Theres a strong technology component, but the real mission is to nurture independent, creative thinkers and lifelong learners.

of higher learning, and supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the FutureSchools are developing new information and communications technology (ICT) solutions to support innovative teaching approaches. By exploring and pushing the frontiers of ICT in education, they have shown how the experience of teaching and learning can be enriched through the meaningful use of technology.

Australia
There is still much to learn about integrating games and new technologies into the classroom, but the unique partnership between Queenslands ICT Learning Innovation Centre and Microsoft underscores that educators dont have to make a choice between education that is relevant and meaningful and learning activities that are fun. Indeed, the Games in Learning and Spatial Technologies in Schools projects seem to suggest that at least in some instances, the more fun learning activities are, the more relevant and meaningful they can be.

SUMMARY
Technology has made this difference in the way we work. Fortunately, it also is making a difference to how we learn. This report contains much compelling evidence that learning is rushing into the 21st century with eyes wide open. Each of us can likely think of many more examples, but we also know that nothing about 21st-century education

Singapore
Working closely with the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) and institutes

is simple. The UK governments ambitious plan to rebuild all secondary schools by 2015 poses the complex question of what these schools should look like. The Enquiring Minds project, described elsewhere in this publication, is focused on creating a scalable, personalized, inquirybased curriculum that can begin to inform the design of those new schools and be complementary with the best of them. Similarly, in Singapore, the government has always understood the link between new learning and the new economy. To help make that ambitious vision of new learning a reality, Microsoft is collaborating with the Singapore government on a five- year, US$13 million initiativeBackPack.NETdesigned to foster creativity and align it with critical thinking and self-directed learning. BackPack.NET involves developing a strategy for testing new technologies in education by providing pilot schools with cutting-edge tools such as Tablet PCs for every student. This approach is helping ensure that while tomorrows technology might surprise us, we will be well prepared with strategies that help us to effectively embed it in the learning environment. Australia also has a track record in innovative learning that is as long as its history. Engaging students is easy, as we have all seen with computer entertainment and games; the challenge lies in keeping that engagement appropriate for ambitious and at-risk learners. Microsoft-funded initiatives in both Queensland and Tasmania involve state education officials and educators exploring the use of games and an innovative online curriculum to excite students through new models of learning. New technology has enabled some fascinating models of effective learning. Children can now chat with scientists, engineers, and other experts in online communities; become completely absorbed by ambitious tasks; support one another regardless of age; and find ingenious new ways to work . Nearly 15 years ago, in the early days of the Internet, pioneering projects like Learning in the New Millennium showed how effectively these new communication technologies could help make learning outcomes far more ambitious. Today, those online revelations are being repeated in physical school buildings and school organizations.

levels of government funding and of course the quality of teachers and staff. Considering the many differences between learning communities, we suggest that efforts to identify a one size fits all approach to innovative learning are likely to be unsuccessful. Rather than adopting an approach based on identifying and distributing educational best practice, we advocate a more flexible alternative based on the concept of appropriate practice. This involves assisting schools to identify the unique needs of their community and educating school leaders about the learning options currently available to help them address these needs.

2. Understanding the unique needs of a school community

It is our view that further research is necessary to develop ways to assist schools with the process of identifying the needs of their learning community. A focus of this research should be to find ways to incorporate the views of school leaders, teachers, students and parents. By developing a comprehensive understanding of the needs of the entire school community, school leaders will be well positioned to make decisions relating to hardware and software requirements, professional learning, curriculum development, and school leadership.

3. Disseminating examples of exemplary innovative learning approaches

Online approach is an engaging and easily accessible way to highlight exemplary learning practice in schools across UK, Singapore and Australia. We believe that there is value in expanding this collection to develop a library of exemplary learning environment. One way to do this would be to develop a community driven website that allows individual teachers to develop and upload their own work/lesson.

4. Plan, implement and evaluate

Once school leaders have clarified the needs of their learning community and identified appropriate learning approach from a library of exemplary options, it is our view that they will require further assistance to plan, implement and evaluate the practices in their own communities. Further research is required to identify ways in which to support schools with the process of integrating exemplary practice into their own learning communities.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings of this research, we present the following recommendations.

1. Appropriate practice rather than best practice

It is important to recognize that each school in UK, Singapore and Australia is a unique learning community made up of school leaders, teachers, students and parents. Each of these communities is influenced by a large number of factors including, the socio-economic background of the students and parents, the geographic location of the school,

5. Philippines must adopt innovative learning

To be included in the international multiagent organizations linked to innovative learning, Philippines should examine the level of implementation of Innovative Learning

Methodologies in other participant countries and developed an analysis of the national systems for training. Philippines should identify good practices in the implementation of Innovative Learning methodologies in all school levels.

[2]

http://www.elb2011.org/docs/ITL%20Research%20 Executive%20Summary.pdf http://www.elearningeuropa.info/files/media/media 23709.pdf http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/DigitalEducati onRevolution/Documents/exemplar_schools_report _pdf.pdf

[3]

REFERENCES
[4] [1] http://www.download.microsoft.com/download/.../P iL_Report_Innov_Learning.pdf