<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published March 30, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>BizIT FOCUS
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>NUS to leverage super-fast broadband
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THE National University of Singapore (NUS) will be a heavy user of Singapore's Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) once it's up and running.
Speaking to BizIT, NUS's Tommy Hor noted that the Next Gen NBN will transform the thinking paradigm and encourage innovations in technologies, business processes and service delivery.
'Constraints in bandwidth and speed stifle creativity and innovation,' Mr Hor, who is director of NUS's Computer Centre, said. 'I certainly see more opportunities for new players and service providers emerging in the market, and products and services of competitive pricing and values.'
Noting how NUS will be able to take advantage of the Next Gen NBN, Mr Hor noted that at present there is a huge gap in speed of access between local access on campus and remote access from homes. This has become a major obstacle for rapid adoption of technology-assisted teaching and learning.
'Today, rich multimedia materials are readily available to supplement and support the face-to-face teaching in the university. They could be video-based support materials, interactive games, animation and high-resolution images,' Mr Hor said.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>However, these materials are bandwidth intensive. 'The Next Gen NBN will enable the same online experience and seamless access, regardless of the access location, to the same teaching and learning materials provided by the university.'
He noted that the learning is anytime and anywhere, and must not be confined to classrooms only. 'The Internet is a very rich learning repository which complements the learning in the university very well. Today, social networking sites are abundant such as FaceBook, MySpace, Google Education Apps and these will form an important part of the learning.'
Mr Hor added that these sites will only get better in collaboration and information sharing, become easier to use, have richer contents, and more peer users in the coming years. 'The Next Gen NBN will eliminate the bottleneck of the slow speed access from homes or remote locations to these important global learning resources.'
The NUS official also noted that the focus of learning is content, not technologies or tools: 'A teaching pedagogy may involve a combination of lectures, video screening, group discussion, individual presentation, questions and answers.'
However, Mr Hor observed, the same pedagogy must be supported effectively for online learning to succeed. 'Instructors and students must not be required to spend time to master a technology, a piece of new tool or be adjusted to a new pedagogy before they can pursue the contents. The Next Gen NBN provides an enabling platform for a common pedagogy to be adopted for physical classes or online learning.'
Mr Hor noted that grid computing enables access to distributed computational resources such as CPU cycles, memory and storage as if these were on one single virtual giant computer. 'Certain research work may generate enormous amount of data that can be useful reference for others. The Next Gen NBN, enabling high-speed interconnection, will further break down barriers for cross-border and cross-disciplinary research work.'
He added that the network will create a new research capability by leveraging on a larger pool of distributed resources, cutting across organisation borders for solving increasingly complicated and large-scale research problems.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>BizIT FOCUS
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>NUS to leverage super-fast broadband
<TABLE class=storyLinks cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
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</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>THE National University of Singapore (NUS) will be a heavy user of Singapore's Next Generation National Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) once it's up and running.
Speaking to BizIT, NUS's Tommy Hor noted that the Next Gen NBN will transform the thinking paradigm and encourage innovations in technologies, business processes and service delivery.
'Constraints in bandwidth and speed stifle creativity and innovation,' Mr Hor, who is director of NUS's Computer Centre, said. 'I certainly see more opportunities for new players and service providers emerging in the market, and products and services of competitive pricing and values.'
Noting how NUS will be able to take advantage of the Next Gen NBN, Mr Hor noted that at present there is a huge gap in speed of access between local access on campus and remote access from homes. This has become a major obstacle for rapid adoption of technology-assisted teaching and learning.
'Today, rich multimedia materials are readily available to supplement and support the face-to-face teaching in the university. They could be video-based support materials, interactive games, animation and high-resolution images,' Mr Hor said.
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He noted that the learning is anytime and anywhere, and must not be confined to classrooms only. 'The Internet is a very rich learning repository which complements the learning in the university very well. Today, social networking sites are abundant such as FaceBook, MySpace, Google Education Apps and these will form an important part of the learning.'
Mr Hor added that these sites will only get better in collaboration and information sharing, become easier to use, have richer contents, and more peer users in the coming years. 'The Next Gen NBN will eliminate the bottleneck of the slow speed access from homes or remote locations to these important global learning resources.'
The NUS official also noted that the focus of learning is content, not technologies or tools: 'A teaching pedagogy may involve a combination of lectures, video screening, group discussion, individual presentation, questions and answers.'
However, Mr Hor observed, the same pedagogy must be supported effectively for online learning to succeed. 'Instructors and students must not be required to spend time to master a technology, a piece of new tool or be adjusted to a new pedagogy before they can pursue the contents. The Next Gen NBN provides an enabling platform for a common pedagogy to be adopted for physical classes or online learning.'
Mr Hor noted that grid computing enables access to distributed computational resources such as CPU cycles, memory and storage as if these were on one single virtual giant computer. 'Certain research work may generate enormous amount of data that can be useful reference for others. The Next Gen NBN, enabling high-speed interconnection, will further break down barriers for cross-border and cross-disciplinary research work.'
He added that the network will create a new research capability by leveraging on a larger pool of distributed resources, cutting across organisation borders for solving increasingly complicated and large-scale research problems.
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