Six Religious School Students Win Gold In Int'l Innovation Competition

KUALA TERENGGANU, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- Six students from Sekolah Menengah Imtiaz Yayasan Terengganu Kuala Berang won the gold medal for their learning tool innovation at the International Innovative Technology Summit 2024 in Beijing, China, held from Nov 7 to 11.

Virtual Geo Learning or VIGEEL was developed by Form Two, Three, and Four students, and Three Fourth Formers created The Repeater.

The accompanying teacher, Nurul Fatiha Mohd Ramli, told Bernama today that the students passed the selection round in Universiti Malaya in February this year and won gold medals at the second leg of the competition in Bangkok, Thailand, in April.

She said the students created the products with the help of supervising teachers and support from Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin in terms of expertise as well as Sekolah Menengah Agama Mahmudiah Kuala Berang and Sekolah Menengah Agama Marang for product feedback. 

Nurul Fatiha said that VIGEEL utilises virtual reality (VR) technology and augmented reality (AR), which focuses on the transportation topic in Form Two Geography.

"This product helps to engage students because they can see and experience transportation systems, in addition to having pop-up notes for learning," she said, adding that it allows students to virtually experience transportation modes such as the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and airplanes.

She explained that The Repeater is an application to store students' Quran memorisation that also functions as a reminder for them to recite verses before memorising them.

"...it reminds students…to memorise specific verses on that day. Suppose the student does not comply with the reminder, it will accumulate daily, eventually becoming a larger task for them to complete... this helps them maintain their discipline in memorising the Quran," she said.

She elaborated that The Repeater creators used free coding software on the Internet, while those in the VIGEEL group bought a less than RM1,000 second-hand VR headset to complete their innovation.

Nurul Fatiha said they are hoping for financial support from various parties, especially in their mission to participate in a similar competition in Cambodia next April.

She also said they plan to commercialise the products equipped with an English language setting for broader usage.

-- BERNAMA