Slide, swipe, tap and touch.

Children who are born in the early 2000s and after will be very familiar with these finger movements. With the invention of smart devices, most children today are exposed to technology at a very young age.

But smart technologies aren’t just changing our homes; it’s also changing our workplace and schools.

While tablets have been introduced in several Primary schools in Singapore, there is so much more potential to what technology or Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can do.

Who knows? In the very near future, your child could be learning about astronomy in Science while viewing the map of the solar system through a smartphone, with the help of Augmented Reality (AR). In fact, there is already an app that allows this.

Imagine having constellations and planetary systems appear right in front of your very eyes in the classroom! If only we had such a rich and ‘real’ experience during our school days.

Which is why we are very excited about the British Council’s first ever early childhood seminar, ‘Raising the Future: The Tech Generation’.

For many of us parents, who only started using these smart devices about 10 years ago, what does it mean for our children who will grow up as digital natives?

How will it affect our children’s future, and how can we prepare them adequately? Where can we learn more about these issues?

If you have any questions about your child’s future, and the role of technology in our children’s lives, grab this opportunity to ask a panel of distinguished industry experts!

Topics that will be discussed during the seminar:

• How can parents get the best out of children’s usage of technology

Speaker: Dr Jiow Hee Jhee, Assistant Professor of Health and Social Sciences, Singapore Institute of Technology

Insights and research into the cognitive and psychological impact that tech has on children, how children’s use of tech should be curated to help them in a heavily tech-driven future, and the type of skills they should build to manage their tech usage.

• How has technology transformed children’s education?

Speaker: Jay Thompson, Director of Educational Technology and Innovation at Dulwich College (Singapore)

Insights into how technology has changed and continues to change the way children learn, innovative teaching methods, where you see the future of education, are we moving away from traditional teaching methods, or is there the right mix that combines traditional methods and technology to prepare children to meet the demands of a tech-driven future.

• Exploring what skills today’s children should build in order to flourish in a tech-driven world

Speaker: Abhilash Murthy, Bus Uncle, Founder

Sharing the story of Bus Uncle, one of Singapore’s pioneer AI chatbot companies – from ideation to nationwide success.

The seminar offers 3 big takeaways for parents:

1. A holistic look into the reality of technology in your child’s world
2. What affects your child’s development, and
3. How this impacts their future

It also promises real and relevant ways to ensure that your children are ready to flourish in today’s tech world, not just in their academics, but in non-academic areas as well.

Walk home with the latest updates in the education scene in Singapore, and how you can raise your tech-savvy child to be equipped and prepared for the future.

Event details
Date: March 23, 2019 (Saturday)
Time: 2pm – 5pm
Venue: HUONE Clarke Quay, 3D River Valley Road, #03-01 Clarke Quay
Registration Fee: $15 per person (includes tea reception and a goodie bag)

Strictly no admission for children. Venue capacity is limited, so book your seats today!

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. In Singapore, their focus is to help adults and children achieve their literacy goals, offering programmes from nursery to pre-school, primary to secondary school, and teacher and corporate training courses.

Their pre-school English enrichment programmes aim to give children the best head start to Primary 1, by building a strong foundation in literacy skills and phonics awareness to help develop reading and speaking confidence.

It runs a daily pre-school that features an immersive bilingual programme, with a distinctive blend of best practices from the United Kingdom and Singapore. The pre-school’s teaching approach is influenced by the pedagogies of Montessori, High-Scope and Inquiry-based learning.

This post is sponsored by the British Council.

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