Overall Reflection of ES2007S

ES2007S is the best module that I have taken so far in my 2 years in NUS. I am able to learn many practical skills in communication in the professional realm and to apply these skills real time in the various platforms of the course. The following are some important aspects of this module that I would like to highlight:

Communication

I have learnt to systematically manage my own communication in both written and real time communication (verbal & non-verbal) and the 7 Cs brought a very clear picture as I evaluate my own communication methods. Ultimately, the manner I bring my ideas across is as important as the ideas themselves.

Project Management

The heavy work load of the project (proposal + oral discussion + oral presentation = 40%) is worth the amount of experience that I got. I have revisited the basics of holding a meeting, building the team dynamics, liaising with external agencies, proposal writing and presentation management. It is very rewarding to synthesize a project that could really worked in the actual cooperate environment.

Leadership & Self-management

While others associate leadership with leaders, I believe everyone is a leader in a form or another. Emotional management, time planning, goal setting and resource organization are essential to both the individual and team. Through this module, I have gained insights to my own personal flaws that would hinder my career in the future. I am grateful that I can work on these flaws before stepping into the workforce.

In conclusion, ES2007S provided me the highest quantity and quality of these soft skills per module as compared to others. I really recommend this module to students who are seeking skills to bring out the best of themselves and to get a head-start as they step into the corporate world.

Oral Presentation Reflection

I am proud of the whole team as the oral presentation was done at a higher standard than I initially expected. The efforts that all individuals of the team were excellent as we all have outdone ourselves and improved as compared to the beginning of the team’s formation.

The Slides:

As the coordinator of the team, I was in charge of the compiling of the slides. I was greatly inspired by Brad’s ‘clean & simple’ style and I tried the ‘simple is better’ and ‘picture story’ methods together for the first time in my life. Pictures and words leverage on the pictorial and audio method of input into the human brain while stories leave an impression in episodic memory of the audience. Therefore, I am delighted to witness the effectiveness of the ‘new’ slide design and I will continue to use and refine it.

The Play Making:

The effectiveness of a team depends on the synergy rather than summation of individual strength of the members. We are able cover the weakness of one another during the presentation and the Q&A section. It is almost impossible to know every detail of the project but it is vital to know who has the details at the ‘back of his/her hand’. I am very happy to see the way we developed each other’s persuasion during the Q&A in a ‘fluid’ manner where the ‘transition’ is smooth.

I also anticipated the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of our presentation, which is the weak relevance with URA. Therefore, we laid ‘ground works’ like defining the roles and details of various civil service departments for each team and gave out hand outs to explain their roles. We also gave URA a more advisory role rather than the operational role in the proposed project in order to keep URA’s linkage to the presentation. This argument was weak but we managed with the ‘smoke screen’ effect of our ground works.

My Delivery of Presentation:

I am very much a Mandarin speaking person and most of my stage experience is with the Chinese language. For years, I have been borrowing my Chinese experience into the English field. In recent 2 years, I am able to speak and think with both language separated and independently. However, I know my command of my English vocals still has much to improve. Thus, I only use simple words and avoid complex words that I will most likely stumble. I think I should sing more English songs rather than Chinese ones on my Karaoke sessions =)

Presentation Videos:

• Part 1 of 3 : http://youtu.be/zRVjmeGg1Oo
• Part 2 of 3 : http://youtu.be/VWXKcYHw8YY
• Part 3 of 3 : http://youtu.be/RFV8XFhqsQI

Intercultural Behavior: Adapt or be Overwhelmed (Edited)

Even though I seldom travel, I have my own fair share of interaction with people from different cultures during some of my working experiences. The cultural group that I have been interacting with the most is the Chinese from the People’s Republic of China.

I worked as an event coordinator in a series of seminars that hosted many delegates from People’s Republic of China. The seminars involved meetings of regional managers of the company in Asia and main event involved speeches of certain VIPs to the rank and file and members of affiliates. The main event that I am about to elaborate on was held at the Suntec, Convention Hall 10. In addition to being in charge of escorting the VIPs, my colleagues and I had to organize the security of the vicinity. We drew up plans, protocols and equipped everyone with the best equipment. However, we did not realize that we were far from ready. Everything would have worked if we were dealing with a crowd of Singaporeans but the addition of a larger crowd from China proved to be very challenging. Our assumption that one way fits all proved to be ineffective.

On the actual day, we put up sign boards that gave directions in both English and Mandarin to decrease the manpower needed to direct the crowd from the Suntec main lobby to Hall 10. These sign boards worked well for Singaporeans as most of them were able to follow the directions with minimal intervention from us other than a few who asked for the direction for the restrooms. In contrast, the Chinese, who arrived later, did not follow the directions as effective as the Singaporeans. Many of them tried to take short cuts and they often rushed and squeezed their way through the queue. Therefore, I had to deploy additional manpower up to two times as planned to maintain order. We were lucky to have spare manpower that was initially planned for emergencies.

Moreover, the Chinese was nosy when queuing and this added more difficulties to us. My colleague wanted to use the loud speaker but I told him that it should be the last resort and we should resort to a more subtle method. I talked to a few of their group leaders and it proved to be more effective as these leaders were more understanding and they were able to manage their people much effective than us.

Since Singapore is a city where the influx of foreigner is high, we will have to deal with people of different cultures in our career. Instead of being overwhelmed and be passive towards these foreigners, we should be flexible and adopt an active attitude to learn to deal with such cultural differences.

Rights & Love in Education

I knew there is a phrase that Brad talked about in class that impacted me but I just could not remember it the whole day until now! I was doing my daily reflection & walla! that came back to me.

" Students should have the right to choose to fail"

It felt like the adding of the concept of zero to numbers (1 to 9). It's just so important. We are so used to a 'industrial processing' type of education & the concept of choice of not to take up the learning of subject just no longer make sense to us. Therefore, we can't force a student to learn something that he/she does not want.

As applied to us, we got to understand the reason of learning. Do we still remember the thrill of learning something new when we were little? Do we still feel excited about learning? The love for learning became 'materialistic' as we grew older. Perhaps it's meritocracy (stated by Issac today). Thus, the job of the education in the future would need to include awakening the love of learning.

Students must have the experience of 'true love' with learning so they would be committed to their love of learning so as not to give up despite failing in a current model of testing that is yet to be perfect.

If your future spouse does not earn as much as others or were to be not as brilliant, will you still love him/her?

Since some of us may be teachers, some of us may have kids in future. Some of us were still half-way through undergrad, it's good to ponder a bit =)

Application Letter (Draft 02) - Edited

Lim Yu Tian

BLK 123 Toh Guan Road

#04-05 Singapore 600123

HP: +65 9876 5432

Email: limyt88@gmail.com

1^st February 2011

MC Online Pte Ltd

Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road

Singapore 536196

The Human Resource Department

Dear Sir/Madam

Enquiry for Instructional Designer Internship

I came to know of the position vacancy of Instructional Designer on Job Street and I am keen to discuss this opportunity for a potential internship in greater details. I have great interest in education related career and have been seeking for opportunities to further develop the relevant skills. Seeing that Marshall Cavendish Online has been at the frontier of e-learning and has been developing educational materials extensively, I believe that my experience and skills will be of service to the company in these areas.

My experience in public school teaching and freelance collaborations will be useful in assisting the Instructional Designer in the development of educational materials. As an intern teacher in Hong Kah Secondary School, I pioneered the development of their next generation science teaching material that runs on the Windows platform. The experience with Theo Education Pte Ltd in developing teaching materials for educational workshops and being on board as the representative for their science department in clinching business deals will prove useful. In addition, being an event coordinator for Ultra Global International Pte Ltd to assist the organizing of seminars and events from an audience size of over a hundred to over 3000 had improved my logistical skills greatly. Therefore, I will be able to help the company develop materials that are not only adapted for different learning styles, but are also tailored to meet the unique needs of each client

With my academic knowledge, planning, logistical skills, leadership and relevant working experiences, I am confident of serving the company well. This is because I thrive in a dynamic environment which demands from its workers flexibility and the ability to mount effective situational responses while at the same time, manage the large scale planning and coordination that is a part of product development. Thank you for considering my request for an internship for the Instructional Designer. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Lim Yu Tian (Mr)

Application Letter (Draft 01)

Lim Yu Tian

BLK 123 Toh Guan Road #05-06 Singapore 600123

HP: +65 91234567 Email: limyt88@gmail.com

MC Online Pte Ltd Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road Singapore 536196

1^st February 2011

The Human Resource Department

Dear Sir/Mdm

Enquiry for Instructional Designer Internship

I came to know of the position vacancy of Instructional Designer on Job Street and I am keen to discuss this opportunity for potential internship in greater details. Seeing that Marshall Cavendish Online has been at the frontier of e-learning and has been developing education materials extensively, I believe that my experiences, skills and passion will help the company in these areas.

I am currently an undergraduate student in National University of Singapore (NUS), pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Life Science (specialization in Molecular and Cell Biology) and I am expecting to graduate in May 2013. Besides pursuing academic excellence, I have been actively engaging in free lance opportunities as I believe the best form of work and life experience comes from the real working condition. I believe my experiences can assist the Instructional Designer in the development of educational materials. During my stay in Hong Kah Secondary School as a teaching intern, I have pioneered the development their next generation science teaching material that runs on the PC platform. In addition, I have been working with Theo Education PTE LTD as a free-lance project manager. I have developed teaching materials, conducted camps and workshops and had been on board as the representative for their science department in clinching business deals. Therefore, I will be able to help the company to develop materials that can adapt to different learning configurations and to tailor them according to the needs of clients effectively.

I believe that my planning, logistical and leadership skills and my ability to coordinate different working groups in a dynamic environment will serve the company well. I have assisted in organizing events as an event coordinator for Ultra Global International PTE LTD. For instance, I have helped to coordinate a seminar that had more than 3000 participants and organized company celebrations that involved over a hundred staff. Thus, I can serve the company well in a dynamic working environment that demands flexibility and effective situational response while managing large scale planning and coordination of product development.

With my academic knowledge, planning, logistical skills, leadership and relevant working experiences, I believe am able to work well with people to contribute to your company.

Thank you for considering my request for an internship for the Instructional Designer. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Lim Yu Tian (Mr)

Details of Instructional Designer (refer to Application Letter)

Link http://www.jobstreet.com.sg/jobs/2011/1/default/20/2459632.htm?fr=J

Marshall Cavendish Online is one of the largest e-Learning solution and service provider in Singapore. Its flagship product, the LEAD e-Learning portal, integrates a full featured e-Learning platform with rich multimedia interactive content, and is being used by more than 120 schools and 200,000 students in Singapore. Marshall Cavendish Online trainers are sought by and deployed to many Singapore schools to assist in their infocomm technology needs and training.

Instructional Designer (Educational Products)
(Singapore)

Responsibilities:

• Plan, design and develop IT-based educational courseware based on curricula requirements
• Prepare scripts / storyboards for interactive courseware and create questions for test banks
• Work with external parties such as content writers, audio production house, voice talents and media production team to ensure smooth delivery of content
• Work with our developers to ensure the correct implementation of IT-based courseware

Requirements:

• Possess a Degree in Science or Mathematics
• Have teaching, instructional design or editorial experience
• Meticulous, organised, pro-active and flexible
• Able to deliver high-quality work under demanding deadlines
• Possess good project management skills and interpersonal skills
• Good command of English Language is a must

Interested candidates, please send your detailed resume stating current and expected salaries to the following:

The Human Resource Department

MC Online Pte Ltd

Times Centre, 1 New Industrial Road

Singapore 536196

Email: hr@sg.marshallcavendish.com