SIs Newslog - Children

Huawei supports ICT training for disabled in South Africa

Some Other User — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:52:21 GMT

Huawei South Africa has partnered with Khulisani to launch a mobile Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Training Centre Project to provide computer skills training to schools for underprivileged, disabled children, in the South of Johannesburg.

Huawei South Africa is committed to contributing towards the reduction of unemployment and the alleviation of poverty, through supporting skills development and training initiatives. Whilst our focus is on improving the resources of schools and education in the rural and semi-rural areas, we also invest in special needs schools which are often marginalized due to limited resources, says Liu Wenjun (Wilson), CEO of Huawei South Africa.

Areas where the mobile ICT Centre will be active in are Meyerton, Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, Sasolburg and the surrounding low income residential areas and informal settlements in the South of Johannesburg. The five special needs schools that will benefit from the project will be J.N.S school for children with Cerebral palsy, EUREKA school for mentally disabled, Handhawer School, Sebokeng Technical High school and Thabavuyo School.

Wilson adds, Statistics show that five percent of the South African population lives with disabilities and that various factors such as poverty, unemployment, insufficient training and education are the most common stumbling blocks for them. In order to overcome this barrier Huawei made the decision to launch a pilot project in partnership with Khulisani, an enterprise development company that focuses on the ongoing upliftment of individuals with disabilities. Together with Khulisani, Huawei has invested in constructing a Mobile ICT Training Centre which supports computer skills training and in the process supports employment of individuals with disabilities. We conducted research into their needs and customized the training accordingly, in order to accommodate the different disabilities which the pupils experience, ensuring a positive outcome for the project.

The objectives of the ICT Centre are to provide a firm foundation in terms of computer literacy, focusing specifically on basic desktop training, MS Office Suite and internet access. E-learning initiatives have been introduced and two individuals have been trained and are being developed with the knowledge, skills and experience to provide computer literacy training and e-learning.

Huawei South Africa fully supports the South African Governments aim to integrate people with disabilities into mainstream society. Huawei aims to make a positive difference by implementing various projects like the Mobile ICT Centre which builds towards a better future and economy for all South Africans, concludes Wilson.

(Source: Biztech Africa)

Rwanda hosts OLPC Scratch Day

Some Other User — Thu, 30 May 2013 17:17:59 GMT

As a part of Scratch Day celebrations around the world, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) in partnership with the One Laptop Per Child Association, has hosted a Scratch Day event in Rwanda.

Scratch is basic programming language that makes easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art and share your creations.
The event was held in Kacyiru Sector at the OLPC Corner of the National Library, where students showed off the projects they had created using Scratch around different academic themes, including Environmental protection, Fight against drug abuse, Childrens rights, and Rwandan vision 2020.

The event aimed to show the true potential that Rwandan children have to lead and develop their skills and confidence using their XO laptops.

(Source: BiztechAfrica)

Ericsson joins Airtel to deliver tech education in Malawi

Some Other User — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:12:38 GMT

Ericsson and mobile operator Airtel have partnered to expand the Connect to Learn Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solution, now enables 600 students to use ICT through cloud-based technology.

The two institutions, St. Anthony and Maera secondary schools in the Malawi Millennium Village of Mwandama, in Zomba district, will now be connected to the initiative with students being joined by teachers in benefiting.

Fifty-five laptops, broadband internet access, online educational resources and training are included in the programme.
Matthews Mtumbuka, IT director of Airtel Malawi, said: An investment in the education of our young people is an investment in our future. We recognize the transformational impact our industry can have on education, and are proud to collaborate with Ericsson on this initiative.

Connect to Learn is a collaboration between the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Ericsson, and Millennium Promise in a bid to use ICT to deliver high-quality education to students.

Kara Nichols, Executive Director of Connect To Learn, said, Because of investments and work by our partners, Ericsson and Airtel, the students and teachers are able to benefit from access to global news, information and the latest educational content.
They can also collaborate with fellow students and teachers around the world through our School-To-School Connections program, even from their remote locations.

Further information

Integrating media and information literacy into Jordanian schools

Some Other User — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:03:54 GMT

In cooperation with the Jordan National Commission for UNESCO and Arab Women Media Center, UNESCO has been working to incorporate media and information literacy (MIL) into the Jordanian school curriculum by providing high school teachers and students the training to gather, analyze and utilize information through new and traditional media, and to develop debating skills so that they are able to express themselves in a professional manner.

A closing event was held under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Education, Dr. Mohammed Al-Wahsh, at Al Hussein Cultural Center to mark the achievements of this pilot project. The students practiced their newly developed debating skills and took part in a debating competition on the topic of Freedom of Expression via Modern Tools. Electronic newsletters produced as a part of the project that highlighted vital issues in their communities with a special focus on youth and gender were displayed at the event, while students gave testimonies of their experience and learning from the MIL training.

MIL is one of the essential capacities that enable people to interpret and make informed decisions as users of information and media, as well as to become skillful creators and producers of information and media messages in their own right, said Dr. Anna Paolini, Head of UNESCO Amman Office and Representative of UNESCO in Jordan.
Implemented throughout the second scholastic semester of 2012-2013, the project targeted 40 male and female students aged 16 and 17 from four UNESCO Associated Schools in Amman, Ajloun and Aqaba. The schools Princess Taghreed School and Modern Systems Schools in Amman; Prince Faisal the First School in Aqaba; and Kufranja Secondary School in Ajloun represented the southern, northern, and central areas of Jordan.

Officially titled Integrating Media and Information Literacy into Jordanian Schools, the project consisted of two phases. The first was training the teachers that would be involved in the project, followed by the second phase where specialists and teachers provided hands-on training to the students on journalistic writing skills, debating techniques, web search, website development, and management and dissemination of information through modern media tools. By introducing MIL and demonstrating its importance in education, the project aims for MIL to be adopted into the Jordanian curriculum so that it can be taught on a sustainable and impactful basis.

(Source: UNESCO)

WSIS Forum focuses on post-2015 development agenda. Emerging trends and innovation in ICT addressed

Some Other User — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:28:13 GMT

The annual meeting to review and measure progress towards targets set in Tunis in 2005 at the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) opened on 13th May. This meeting of the WSIS Forum also marks ten years since the first phase of the Summit was held in Geneva in 2003.

In the coming week, the WSIS Forum will focus on the future of information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly as an engine of growth in a post-2015 development environment. Participants will engage in discussions on a number of diverse topics, such as ICT infrastructure, cybersecurity, enabling environment, e-learning, e-health, e-agriculture, media, accessibility, and ethics. High level dialogues with government ministers and representatives from business and civil society will examine:

- Women's empowerment in the information Society: systematic, scalable strategies
- Smart climate change monitoring: Expanding access to information on weather, climate and water
- ICT innovations and standards: Creating technology for the next three billion
- Securing cyberspace in a borderless world: Vision 2015 and beyond
- ICTs and post 2015 goals
- Youth and ICTs

ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré said, This years WSIS Forum is a unique opportunity to develop multi-stakeholder consensus on what is needed for the WSIS process in the future, to ensure that the bottom-up approach of the WSIS process is preserved and that the decisions concerning modalities also respect the real requirements of the use of ICTs for socio-economic development, while ensuring growth in the ICT ecosystem itself.

More than 1500 participants from government, private sector, civil society and international organizations are expected to attend the WSIS Forum during the week.
Former UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan will address the WSIS Process beyond 2015 as well as his engagement with young people in a webinar to inspire them to contribute to the post-2015 development frameworks currently under negotiation.

Approaching ten years since the Summit in 2005, the WSIS+10 Visioning Track will bring all emerging challenges related to the information society into perspective, ensuring that the new vision for WSIS beyond 2015 builds upon real needs of people at the bottom of the pyramid.

The United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS), consisting of 30 members, will issue a joint statement on the Post-2015 Development Agenda to harness inter-agency expertise and experience in addressing development challenges of the 21st century.

Following the opening ceremony, a high-level session kicked off on Emerging Trends and Innovation in the Ecosystem, attended by over fifty government ministers from around the world as well as industry executives.

An exhibition will showcase global initiatives for a more efficient Information Society.
WSIS Forum 2013 Partners

This years WSIS Forum programme has been greatly enhanced through the strategic partnership and contribution of the Sultanate of Oman (government) and Intel Corporation (private sector). Contributions for specific activities have also come in from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mexico, Poland, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania as well as from Hewlett-Packard. The United Arab Emirates is the WSIS+10 Visioning Partner.
For more information, please see www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/2013/forum/

(Source: ITU Newsroom)

ITU partners with Kofi Annan Foundation and One Young World to launch Kofi Annan Dialogues: LIVE at WSIS Forum 2013

Some Other User — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:19:34 GMT

ITU, the Kofi Annan Foundation and One Young World are working together on a new series of youth-oriented online discussions designed to stimulate debate among young people around the world on challenges central to their lives and prospects, such as unemployment and democratic governance.

Former UN Secretary-General Annan will launch the Kofi Annan Dialogues: LIVE series on Wednesday, 15 May, with the first online discussion to take place over the Google Hangout platform from 11:00 - 12:30 CET.

With the topic of Young People and Leadership, this first session gives six aspiring young leaders the opportunity to share their views with Mr Annan, watched by a global audience who will be able join the conversation and pose their questions via social media.

The outreach to young audiences will form a key element of a direct youth engagement process building up to ITUs BEYOND 2015 Youth Summit in Costa Rica and the One Young World Summit in South Africa, to be held in September and October respectively.

ITU will host the first Dialogue from its Geneva studios on the occasion of the WSIS Forum 13 event taking place this week (13-17 May) at the Geneva International Conference Centre. The worlds largest annual gathering of the ICT for development community, WSIS Forum is focused on defining strategies to help countries and organizations more effectively harness the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, now less than two years away.

I congratulate Kofi Annan on an excellent and much-needed initiative to reach out to youth. These online Dialogues are an excellent example of using the power of ICTs to connect people to influence change, said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré. Our young new generation of digital natives feel completely at home communicating online and harnessing todays social media channels allows us to create a truly global platform that cuts across geographical boundaries and brings in voices from right around the world.

Participate in the first live Dialogue:

When: 15 May, 11h00 - 12h30 CET
Where: http://dialogueslive.kofiannanfoundation.org/
How: Send your questions via Twitter
#kofiannanlive #BYND15 #OYW #WSIS
Follow the Kofi Annan Dialogues: LIVE on Twitter and Facebook at: https://twitter.com/KofiAnnan #kofiannanlive
https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Kofi-Annan/228449696042

Learn more about ITUs forthcoming BEYOND 2015 Youth Summit here.

(Source: ITU Newsroom)

DINATEL (Uruguay) released a Report in the International Day of Girls in ICT

Some Other User — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:28:57 GMT

On April 25, 2013 we celebrate the "International Day of Girls in ICT", globally. The initiative, promoted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), seeks to promote the participation of girls and young women in careers related to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This celebration is an effort of great importance in a global context that fosters a growing expansion of employment in an industry predominantly male.

In accession to the celebration of "International Day of Girls in ICT", DINATEL has released the current status of the participation of girls and young women in the educational system and the labor market in Uruguay.

The study by DINATEL evidence the present challenges in the national reality regarding the participation of girls and young women in ICT careers.

Download the full report here.

(Source: DINATEL Uruguay)

Rwanda celebrates Girls in ICT Day 2013

Some Other User — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:49:35 GMT

On Thursday, April 25, 2013; Rwanda celebrates Girls in ICT day where hundreds of girls participated in this event held at Lycée Notre Dame de Citeaux; where young girls learn more from their elders.

This event has been dubbed Girls in ICT Career Fair to celebrate the International Girls in ICT day and to encourage girls and young women to consider careers in ICT. The occasion aims to inspire girls to consider a future in technology. This years theme is expanding horizons and changing attitudes.

Girls in ICT Rwanda was born out of the ITUs Girls in ICT day, today, the group consists of girls in ICT including entrepreneurs, professionals and university students whose mission is to inspire girls to consider ICT as a career option as well help them to understand and appreciate the importance of developing ICT skills in any career. Clarisse Ilibagiza from HeHe mobile speaking to the press said that Rwandan girls are able to use ICT tools effectively.

In his remarks The Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana advises young girls to embrace the culture of hard working and aim higher; When you are confident, determined, youre passionate about what you want, if you have a purpose, if you have a goal, if you have integrity and courage you can be very successful.

Oda Gasinzigwa, the Minister of Family and Gender Promotion noted that As you are aware, the government is highly committed to promoting ICT as a key driver for rapid socio-economic development. We have put in place an enabling environment for girls to participate and benefit in ICT along with their brothers.

International Girls in ICT Day in fact, has the aim to make everyone realize that girls are also able to use the new technologies, and that, due to the fact that girls are good at Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Informatics, they have new technologies which change the world on a daily basis.

Moreover, ICT is the fastest growing industry today and more jobs are created in this industry than any other. The same prospects are for the future. ICT has been identified as the industry that will lead forward world economies, improve lives of families across the globe and make the planet a smaller, more accessible place. Therefore, Women and Girls should take a more prominent role in this process.

Further details

Nigerian minister encourages girls to develop interest in ICT

Some Other User — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:39:43 GMT

Nigerias communication technology minister, Omobola Johnson, has encouraged Nigerian women to pursue careers in ICT and bridge the gap between males and females in ICT.

Speaking in Abuja on Girls in ICT Day, Johnson blamed the perception that ICT is only for geeks and men as the reason why, in spite of the advances recorded in ICT across the world, there are not enough women in the sector.

She expressed the commitment of her ministry towards the encouragement of more girls to develop interest in ICT and to erase the perception. When I was studying engineering, I was one of five girls in a class of about 80. My daughter has just graduated in an engineering degree and she was also one of about five or six girls, so nothing has really changed in 30 years, Johnson said.

We need to ask ourselves why and help remove all the barriers militating against girls and women embracing technology. Some of the barriers limiting women has to do with lack of support and encouragement and the ministry will provide the necessary support by encouraging women to embrace careers in ICTs.

The highest achieving girls in the sciences from various schools have been invited to a one-week event organised by the ministry to encourage and expose them to sciences with the goal of increasing the number of women and girls in ICT.

Johnson said the ICT sector in Nigeria has tremendous opportunities for women in areas such as software development, telecommunications, IT, space development and electronic engineering.

Addressing girls in Abuja, Johnson said: You just need to work hard and dont be retiring. Women tend to think that our work will speak for us sometimes it does and sometimes it doesnt. Speak out, work hard and dont be afraid! Women can do it if they try.

At the event, 35 girls who had excelled in sciences received Vantium Computer Tablets to empower and encourage them to strive for excellence in ICTs.

Further details

Samsung delivers first Solar Powered Internet School in Angola

Some Other User — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:32:56 GMT

Samsung Electronics, the global electronics giant, has delivered one container, the first of what could be a number of Solar Powered Internet Schools based in containers in the country.

The project is being made possible in association with the Angolan government and other partners.

The Solar Powered Internet School, which is geared to provide access to the Internet and electronic textbooks, will operate on a shift basis and will meet the needs of 200 children a day, according to Thierry Boulanger, IT director for solutions and business to business in Africa at Samsung Electronics.

This school represents a breakthrough in the delivery of education by helping to break down the technological barriers facing education in Angola, Boulanger said.
The facility, housed in a 40-foot shipping container, was delivered by truck to its site, he said.

Samsung said the school, which will be used on a rotational basis by children during the day, operates between 08h00 and 17h00 every day. Boulanger said: It may be a small beginning, but for the 200 children who will benefit, the school opens the door to huge opportunities. Finding the funding to create hundreds of similar facilities across Africa could, within a comparatively short period, transform education, quality of life and service delivery across Africa.

Samsung also said the school has the capacity to operate effectively for up to 36 hours without any sunlight at all. The power generated by the panels each day also means that the school can be used beyond the traditional learning day. After-hours it can operate as an adult education centre or a community centre over weekends.
Built to withstand harsh African conditions the solar panels powering the school are made from rubber instead of glass, to ensure that they are hardy and durable enough to survive long journeys across the continent, Boulanger concluded.

Further information

Rwanda: Girls in ICT Rwanda Take Campaign to Schools

Some Other User — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:08:32 GMT

When carrying out school visits, Girls in ICT members speak to teenage girls and encourage them to consider ICT as a career option and also help them to understand and appreciate the importance of developing ICT skills in any career, writes Doreen Umutesi.

About fifteen girls formed a group which they named Girls in ICT Rwanda. Its main objective is to tour schools and encourage more girls to take on courses in Information Communication technology (ICT).

The Girls in ICT Rwanda launched their annual activity calendar on March 22nd, 2013 at a Networking Night with their guest speaker, Ann Mei Chang, the Senior Advisor for Women and Technology in the US Department of State.

The activities stipulated in their calendar involve encouraging women entrepreneurs in ICT, visiting schools to talk to girls and encouraging them to take on courses in ICT.
When carrying out school visits, Girls in ICT members speak to teenage girls and encourage them to consider ICT as a career option and also help them to understand and appreciate the importance of developing ICT skills in any career.

In an interview with Akaliza Keza Gara a member of Girls in ICT and Founder of Shaking Sun a multimedia company, she said that the government supports initiatives that empower women in ICT.

"One of our main goals is to encourage more girls offering ICT courses to join Girls in ICT Rwanda. When I talk to young girls, a lot of them say that they see it as a man's subject because people we see in the media doing ICT initiatives are often men. Even when they go to school they are surrounded by men so the girls tend to lose interest because they feel they are the odd ones", Akaliza explains.

She also said that there are allegations that women feel intimidated when they are surrounded by men hence women work better when they are surrounded by fellow women.

"Girls are just choosing not to take on ICT so as Girls in ICT Rwanda, part of what we do is to encourage and show them that if we took on the ICT course they can do the same. We encourage them to join us as the rallying troupes' idea. Our target after this year is to find out how many schools we visited and how many girls are offering ICT courses to measure our impact", Akaliza Discloses.

(Source: All Africa News)

Intel and 10x10 announce new efforts to empower girls, transform Developing Economies through education

Some Other User — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:59:36 GMT

Intel Corporation and the 10x10 campaign, partners on the new feature film "Girl Rising", today announced they will work with policymakers in low- and middle-income countries to develop transformative education and technology policies that empower women, achieve gender equity in access to quality education and accelerate economic development.

Together, Intel and 10x10 will develop and host gender equity and education policy workshops, and develop regional policy frameworks based on key gender needs. The workshops will help governments think deeply about issues of gender equity as they develop national policy plans for broader education transformation.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations report, "What Works in Girls' Education", each year of secondary schooling increases a girl's future wages by 10 to 20 percent. At the national level, increasing the share of women with secondary education by just 1 percent increases a country's annual GDP by an average of .3 percent. Yet studies from the United Nations and International Labour Organization show that in 2009, girls accounted for 53 percent of all out-of-school children and 87 million women were unemployed in 2010, up from 76 million in 2007.

"We've seen first-hand the transformational change that can occur when girls have access to an education", said Shelly Esque, vice president of Intel's Corporate Affairs Group and president of the Intel Foundation. "By working with 10x10 and policymakers to improve gender equity in education, Intel is taking the vital message of 'Girl Rising' into action. Together, we can empower girls and help them become agents of positive change in their communities".

"By sharing the personal stories of these nine girls, 'Girl Rising' illustrates just how important education is in the movement to empower women and girls", said Holly Gordon, 10x10's executive director. "Our partnership with Intel to provide decision makers in developing countries with scalable policy solutions to expand gender equity in education marks the next step in our commitment to change both minds and policy to positively impact girls' lives".

Through the policy workshops, Intel and 10x10 will help leaders determine how to utilize technology to facilitate gender equity across school policy, curriculum and assessment, teacher development, and research and evaluation. These efforts will build on Intel's existing policy framework, which leverages education policy and information and communications technologies (ICTs) to create mechanisms for empowering girls and achieving gender equity in education at scale.

(Source: Intel)

Eduteka: How to celebrate the International Day of Girls in ICT with your students

Some Other User — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:33:29 GMT

In order to promote the interest of girls worldwide to study careers related to Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the specialized agency in Telecommunications of the UN commemorates every year the International Day of Girls in ICT.

The commemoration held annually on the fourth Thursday in April and this year will be held on 25th of this month by an urgent call to the school principals, teachers and guidance counselors to show to their female students the excellent job prospects that open for them in the ICT sector.

Another objective of the commemoration of this day is that companies are aware of the low participation of women in this area and hire, retain and promote women in charges related to the use of technology.

The UN initiative is born because the worrying global figures which shows the lack of interest of women in developing their careers around the use of technologies. For example, the proportion of women who work as computer science professionals in Europe is extremely small: according to a report by Eurostat, in 2006 only 0.7% of ICT professionals were women and this figure remained unchanged since 2001. In Latin America, the scenario is not different, so if you want to review documents related to this topic, we recommend the articles published in regional site of UNESCO Women, Science and Technology.

Activities to do with your students that day:

- Make field trips to government offices, non-governmental agencies (NGOs), businesses, museums,
science, etc.. These will let girls to have first-hand contact with women leaders who use ICT in their daily work.

- Conduct workshops to raise awareness about the importance of ICT in the daily operation of the world today and show how women can take a leadership role every day.

- Make a presentation in the classroom with pictures and posters what display the path of women with successful careers in organizations in the ICT sector.

- Develop biographies of famous women, leaders in ICT-related areas. Both girls and boys should conduct research on the Internet that will let them to prepare a list of women and write their biographies. The list should include many local women as well.

- Invite to an ICT industry leader to speak to all students. Ask whose words inspire young women to choose careers in this field study.

- Contact a local college or nearby and invite women teachers in ICT-related subjects to conduct workshops with students, professionals picnics, lectures, etc.

Finally, on the site http://girlsinict.org/ you can check how this day was celebrated last year and get ideas of how celebrate this day with your students. If you need more information you can contact the team of Girls in ICT in girlsinict@itu.int

(Source: Eduteka and Educacion 360)

Inclusive education: sign up now for online discussion!

Some Other User — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:24:45 GMT

Wanted: your views, experiences, ideas, suggestions and recommendations on inclusive education.

On behalf of the Education Taskforce of the Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities, UNESCO and UNICEF are organizing an online discussion from 22 April to 12 May to address the following questions:

- What do we understand by the concept of inclusive education?
and
- What are the key recommendations for an effective implementation of Article 24 of the Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities?

Take part in the discussion by joining the Knowledge Community on Inclusive Education at this link

Worldwide, more than one billion people live with some form of disability. Young people with disabilities have particular difficulty gaining access to both education and work and the right to education remains a challenge.

The online discussion will bring together civil society organizations, UN agencies, development agencies, NGOs, and academia who work to advance the rights of children with disabilities. This discussion is part of the Building Inclusive Societies for Persons with Disabilities community which has been established for the promotion of the UN Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities.

Further information

ICT Education in African refugee camps

Some Other User — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:19:06 GMT

ICT has become an essential tool for humanitarian aid work, and its role in both education and healthcare throughout sub-Saharan Africa is indispensable: particularly its use in educating large groups of young refugees, from diverse backgrounds and with varying levels of basic education and literacy.

The largest refugee camp in the world is located in Dadaab, in north-eastern Kenya, 100 km from the Somali border; more than 500,000 refugees reside here, many of them displaced by the civil war taking place in southern Somalia. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been working to provide not only food and healthcare for the camps residents, but also educational opportunities for its more than 80,000 young people. To achieve this, they have been integrating solar-powered technologies to support ICT delivery in the 39 primary and secondary schools and 4 vocational centres in the camp.

The difficulty in educating such a large and diverse population using traditional educational tools is in addressing language barriers, illiteracy, and the high drop-out rate found throughout the camp. Making the task more difficult is the absence of necessary infrastructure, materials and qualified teachers. This is where ICT is making a difference: the use of computers and portable devices has allowed young people to obtain quality education in a safe and secure environment, taking part in eLearning programmes that can be adjusted to the needs of the individual student.

The close-knit community in the camp has played an important role in the design, sustainability and success of the project, with meetings attended by teachers, students and parents at every stage of its creation. Additionally, each school was responsible for designing solutions to the challenges of security and computer maintenance, as well as for sourcing additional funding to ensure the projects sustainability. Erin Hayba, Associate Community Services Officer at UNHCR and a speaker at the upcoming eLearning Africa conference in Namibia, has been involved in the project for several years and explains the situation:

This particular project that I have worked on to bring computers, Internet and solar power into the schools has sparked a new trend amongst the refugee community and partner NGOs to be innovative. Implementing change and innovation is often extremely difficult, with many hurdles to overcome, including dealing with naysayers. Innovation, in my mind, happens when people come together with varying perspectives, experiences, and knowledge to address a challenge and work toward a solution. Once a solution proves viable and people see positive results, this encourages more innovation to occur.

The stakeholders involved in the project have been brought together to find innovative uses of ICT in education, particularly within the harsh and volatile environment of humanitarian work. And because the schools and communities are encouraged to participate in the design and implementation, as well as to invest in their own learning, the solutions found are more sustainable and appropriate. It has sparked a wave of innovative thinking within school- and education-focused humanitarian organizations. As a result, a foundation of learners, teachers, and community members who are more knowledgeable about ICT in education has been developed, creating a platform from which eLearning can grow and flourish.

(Source: eLearning Africa)

Government of Costa Rica will install Internet in all Public schools

Some Other User — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:23:41 GMT

The Government of Costa Rica announced the first week of April an initiative to install Internet in all public schools in the country in order to reduce the digital divide and improve educational tools.

Currently 4800 public schools have Internet and this year will reach 100% coverage with the installation of the service in the 151 missing schools, according to a statement from the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), State supplier of electricity and telecommunications services.
Connections, most broadband, are part of a joint project between ICE, the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MICIT), signed last Wednesday.

"We engaged to bridge the digital divide in education" said in the statement the Education Minister Leonardo Garnier, who also highlighted "the importance of this company for the future of education in Costa Rica".

In Costa Rica, a country of 4.5 million people, about 940,000 students began the school last February in public schools nursery, primary and secondary education.
Costa Rica's investment in education is 7% of gross domestic product and the level of literacy is 97.6%, according to official data. 96% of children attend school, although 2% do not finish primary school, while in the case of high school, 86% of young people are going to school, but the dropout rate is 11%.

(Source: El Carabobeno Newspaper)

Dominican Vice President is designated sponsor of the project that promotes Technology for Girls

Some Other User — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:51:51 GMT

The Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Margarita Cedeño de Fernández, was appointed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a sponsor of an educational project to promote the use of Information and Communication Technologies between children and adolescents through the project "Technology needs girls". In a letter sent by Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré, ITU Secretary-General, the body recognizes the work developed by the Vice President of the Republic through the 89 Community Technology Centers located in remote communities of the country, which have changed the lives of thousands of children and adolescents.

The project will allow children and adolescents to participate in local activities that allow them to remove barriers so that girls have the opportunity to explore careers in technology.

This recognition includes the Vice President to continue promoting the celebration on April 25 2013, the Day of Girls in ICT , date that has been commemorated as the "Day of the Tecnochicas", with the aim of integrating girls from 14 to 19 years old in technology.

The Day of Girls in ICT was established by Resolution 70, which was updated and adopted by the Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU held in Guadalajara, Mexico, in October 2010. The Resolution "Mainstreaming a gender policy in ITU and promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women through information technologies and communication" provides for the incorporation of a gender policy in all plans and ITU programs.

In May 2007, being the First Lady of the Republic, the Vice president Cedeño de Fernández received the "Award of the ITU World Information Society" for her contribution to ensure that technology services are available to residents of the poorest areas of the Dominican Republic. The ITU Award on Information Society is granted to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the construction of the information society. Personal achievement may take the form of social achievements, mobilizing public opinion or a key technical innovation.

(Source: Newspaper El Nacional)

Nicaragua: Ciudad Sandino, first digital township of Managua

Some Other User — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:23:52 GMT

A total of 12,500 students from first to sixth grade will benefit from the education program One Laptop Per Child, boosted by the Zamora Terán Foundation through the Ministry of Education, which will make Ciudad Sandino (in Managua) the First Digital Community. This undoubtedly will transform the current educational settings, improving the quality of education for girls and boys.

45 schools from the city will benefit and as part of the process, teachers will train on the use of computers XO.
The educational community, thanked those who will enable the project to convert the municipality of Managua in the first to be fully equipped with computers, and will be a tool to improve the performance of teachers and students.

In this regard, the municipal delegate of Education, Rolando Rivas, said that in April the first deliveries will start in nine schools, where 108 teachers will benefit.
"Teachers are happy to have a new educational tool that will benefit the quality of education and above all will provide instruction to students", said Rivas.
Students will have access to Internet and for helping them, teachers were trained in the use of this technological tool.

Notebook computers bring learning programs, virtual library, language programs, among others. And they are easy to use for students, allowing them to use tools such as Web browser and strengthen teacher content addressed in the classroom in different areas such as Literature, Science or Mathematics.

Also the Foundation Zamora Terán will be responsible for monitoring, maintenance and support to computers, in order of that the educational program will be stable and quality.

(Source: Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos - OEI)

Thailand updates OTPC tablet project in 2013

Some Other User — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:27:13 GMT

Following the Thai governments second year of the One Tablet Per Child (OTPC) policy to give new lot of 1.7 million tablets to students in 2013, ICT Ministry has recently updated the process and revealed different specification of the tablet models for the coming e-auction.

Off 1.7 million units, the first grade students would receive 850,000 units while the remaining would go to the hands of seventh grade students countrywide. Another 54,000 units of higher specification would also be purchased and provided to teachers, said Group Captain Surapol Navamavadhana, Advisor to the ICT Minister Thailand, and a committee member and Assistant Secretary to the OTPC Policy Commission.

The average price per unit for the tablets of the first graders is THB 2720 (US$ 91.70), while THB 2,920 (US$ 98.44) is the price for the tablets for teachers and the seventh graders, he added.

Tablets for teachers will come with HDMI slot, stylus pencil, and up to 8-GB SD card slot, he said. According to Navamavadhana, this year the purchase will be via e-auction with specification being re-announced. This is different from the last years purchase that the MICT identified the specification before giving to the winning factory to produce and supply the entire lot directly.

The e-auction is expected to be proceed on April 29, and the contract will be signed by May 10. The delivery of the tablets will be within 90 days of the signing date of the contract.

Meanwhile, the survey on the user satisfaction of the OTPC project showed that the first grade studentswho were given free tablets for education in 2012 in the North were 100% satisfied, while students from the North East showed 90% satisfaction on the device.

Further details

Ericsson launches 3G and Connect To Learn in the Millennium Village in Ethiopia

Some Other User — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:19:54 GMT

Ericsson has provided the network infrastructure and services to bring voice and data communications to the Millennium Village Project (MVP) in Koraro located in a remote part of northern Ethiopia. With access to 3G connectivity more than 4,000 students and their teachers at two schools involved in the Connect To Learn initiative will now have access to modern learning and teaching resources through Ericsson's cloud-computing solution. In addition, community health workers in the Millennium Villages will be using mobile phones provided by Sony Mobile and broadband access provided by Ericsson to deliver life-saving health care services directly to households to collect health information for improved monitoring.

Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, Vice President and Head of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility, Ericsson says: "Education is key to ending poverty and ensuring a better life for people. ICT can play a vital role in providing access to quality classroom resources for both teacher and student, and fostering social awareness and global understanding which has become a necessity nowadays in secondary education.

"Many of the residents in this area rely on the community clinic for health care, with otherwise little or no access to the most fundamental aspects of health care. Connecting the health clinic in Koraro is one part of a new joint continent-wide campaign that aims to train, equip and deploy one million community health workers throughout rural sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2015, reaching millions of underserved people", Weidman-Grunewald continues.

The deployment of Ericsson's cloud computing solution in Connect To Learn at Koraro, Masho Secondary School and Megab Secondary School, includes netbooks and wireless terminals that enable both students and teachers to access educational resources on the Internet, along with basic ICT skills training for teachers.
In Koraro, community health workers use the Open MRS (medical record system) and a smartphone-based health-data management system to collect information and report on malaria and other diseases, the number of births, and the incidence of malnutrition and the health status of pregnant women during household visits. Many of these residents would otherwise have little or no access to the most fundamental aspects of health care services.

In all, Ericsson has provided connectivity to Millennium Villages in 11 countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania Uganda and Liberia.

(Source: Ericsson)

Digital Primary Program in Argentina

Some Other User — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:45:46 GMT

This is a national government initiative aimed to reduce the social, digital and education gap, and provide equipment, technology resources and pedagogical inclusion of ICT to primary schools.

The proposal provides the distribution of mobile digital classrooms from Digital Primary line: this involves equipment but also the development of a multimedia environment in line with the proposals and level targets.

Access the multimedia environment here and the general introductory handbook in pdf. here.

The system is designed to allow teachers and students to download content from the server, recharge laptops, interact with the whiteboard and work on an intranet (internal network). The environment offers a number of activities with specific pedagogical approaches, content and resources in each of the netbooks and the server. No internet connection is required for appropriation. In the case of having connection, the proposal can be enriched and deepened from the contributions of teachers.
The media environment was developed as considering the potential of technologies to accompany the processes of teaching and learning level. It is proposed as a space where students and teachers can act and interact, build together a collaborative and creative territory itself.

In its first phase, this national program plans to reach with digital classrooms at 200 schools.

With funding from the IDB, through PROMEDU (Support Program Policy on Improving Equity in Education), 1516 mobile digital classrooms will be delivered in 2013 to schools that joined the program in 2010 and which had not received equipment.

Also, this program will provide training for 3800 primary schools covered by the Program, from May 2013, for an average of eight teachers per institution.

(Source: educ.ar)

Funny and educative Holidays in Peru

Some Other User — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 21:02:54 GMT

According to the Ministry of Education of Peru (Minedu), 51% of students in second grade cannot solve mathematics problems at thier grade level chords. To cope with this situation, the Minedu drives strategic alliances with private companies that use the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool to encourage improvements in the quality of education.

Through the portal Peru Educa, a virtual platform of distribution content, educational applications and services has been serving the schools and the education community. This is an innovative space for strengthening students learning and do not left anyone behind.
One of its main allies of Peru Educa is Telefonica Foundation (FundaciónTelefónica), with its portal Educared, a useful and free virtual platform, which in a fun and interactive way, test the knowledge of children in different courses. This space contains a number of own educational resources and external initiatives of professors and specialists from different countries.

Within Educared there are spaces which are designed to supplement mathematics, among which are:
1. - Mathematics for children: space with available games with exercises of comparing natural numbers, using symbols as "greater than", "less than" and "equal to". It also offers dynamic exercises as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, with a difficulty levels to practice further.
Link: http://math.cilenia.com

2. - Strengthening Mathematics: is a intended tool for students in fifth and sixth grade. On this website you can find colorful applications for mental calculation, multiply and divide both integers and decimals, fractions, make transformations of different measurements and more. However, children can find many other courses of their interest.

(Source: La Primera News Paper)

Digital Learning Day aims to change educations direction

Some Other User — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:45:29 GMT

Program organizers launch 'Project 24', which gives districts a customized digital learning plan; a Massive Open Online Course for educators to learn about ed tech; and more.
With an overwhelming 25,000 educators participating in Digital Learning Day on Feb. 6, ed-tech supporters used technology-based projects, lessons, and enthusiasm to mark what they called a perfect time to launch a national digital learning campaign.

Every day should be Digital Learning Day, said Karen Cator, director of the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Educational Technology. Access to technology has become as important to learning as access to a library, yet teachers remain the critical link between students and the content. Cator said teachers are setting expectations for multiple revision cycles of student productions, made possible with professional tools for writing, composing music, creating video documentaries, and design.

They are learning along with their students and modeling good questioning and internet research strategies, assigning more complex and challenging projects, and facilitating communication and collaboration even across borders, she said.

The president and I are convinced that with technology, we have an extraordinary opportunity to expand educational excellence and equity, and personalize the experience for students, said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who attended Digital Learning Day in Washington, D.C.

Further details

MinTIC launches campaign to promote the responsible use of Internet (Colombia)

Some Other User — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:36:37 GMT

On the occasion of Safer Internet Day, held yesterday (05 February ) in over 70 countries worldwide, the ICT Ministry launched six television commercials as part of the outreach strategy of responsible and safe use of the Internet in Colombia.

Lola, Abelardo and Elmo from Sesame Street are some of the stars of the commercials that launched MinTIC through En TIC Confío(I trust in ICT) strategy, which seeks to counter the risks in the network.

These promotions were conducted in partnership with Sesame Workshop and Channel Tr3ce. They are designed to raise awareness of the benefits and opportunities of Internet safety, so children do not fall into bad habits and be attacked.

The commercials are presented under the brand 'Monsters in Red' and initially launched four conferences:

1. When you want to chat online
2. Put down the video games and go out and play
3. With Internet there is no distances
4. What precautions do you take to surf on the web?

Similarly, En TIC confío advances the following campaigns "Ciberpapaya and Cibercuidado", directed to a larger population, which seeks to exemplify overconfidence, exposure and overexposure that youth and adults have in Internet use.
"We are convinced that Internet is not bad, bad is the use that we can give them, so in MinTIC we constant work in developing content that alert and prevent the dangers and risks in the network", said the Deputy of ICT of Colombia.

(Source: MINTIC Colombia)

Safer Internet Day 2013 focuses on online rights and responsibilities

Some Other User — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:54:46 GMT

The 10th annual Safer Internet Day -which took place on 5 February 2013 focused this years theme on Online Rights and Responsibilities.

In recognition of Safer Internet Day 2013, ITU Secretary-General Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré spoke of the fundamental role that ICTs have facilitated in driving social and economic progress, as well as opening new frontiers and opportunities for young people to cultivate their inherent creativity, innovation and dynamism in a digital environment.
The Secretary-General also talked passionately about the dramatic changes associated with the proliferation of ICTs, which also potentially brings with it new threats and risks to the safety and security of children who are the most vulnerable members of society.

Moreover, the President of Costa Rica, H.E. Laura Chinchilla and Child Online Protection (COP) Patron, during her video message, highlighted Costa Ricas efforts in implementing COP, through the appointment of a National Commission on Cybersecurity.

Under her commitment, Costa Rica has been working hard jointly with ITU to create and develop a national model to promote online protection involving not only government, but private sector partners, NGOs, schools, parents and abroad cross section of stakeholders across Costa Rica.
In addition, Miss Deborah Taylor Tate ITU COP Special Envoy also highlighted how COP is empowering children on how to navigate safely and with respect from one and other to achieve their own dreams.

COP aims at building an international security framework for children and young people in relation to online protection and creates an excellent platform, where working together, relevant stakeholders can ensure a harmonized and comprehensive approach and best practices related to online protection of young people.

Finally in September 2013, ITU under the patronage of H.E. Laura Chinchilla will be organizing the Global Youth Summit, which will be hosted in Costa Rica.

The Global Youth Summit will provide a global platform to bring youth together to join forces and create solutions for social good, enabled through widespread access to ICTs. This will be a unique occasion for youth to advocate their online rights and demonstrate how ICTs are empowering them to fulfill their own dreams and careers.
Watch the video messages here

(Source: ITU)

WITIN Opens Mobile Apps Challenge for Girls in Nigeria

Some Other User — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:45:57 GMT

As part of the ITU's Girls in ICT project & Tech Needs Girls campaign, Women in Technology in Nigeria, WITIN brings Technovation Challenge to Nigeria. The Mobile App Challenge was opened on Monday for secondary school girls (ages 13-18) who would work in teams of 5s to develop mobile apps, conduct market research, write business plans, and create a pitch for funding. Each team works with both a classroom teacher at their school and a female mentor/role model from the technology industry. WITIN will lead mentors in Nigeria who would guide teachers to train teams from now till April on how to build the apps. The training culminates in a global competition where teams compete for funding to launch their company and take their app to market.

The goal of the program is to promote women in technology by inspiring girls to see themselves not just as users of technology, but as inventors, designers, builders, and entrepreneurs in the technology industry.

The girls are taught life skills such as how to identify a problem, design and test a solution, collaborate with a team, and communicate to different audiences. It reinforces the following academic concepts: digital representation of information, algorithmic thinking and programming, and the societal impact of information and information technology.
Over this period girls will be trained 2 hours a week to develop a potential solution to a problem and program a mobile phone application to solve it. The app must solve a problem in their local community. This could be a health problem that affects their community, a social problem, or even a lack of a resource. They will learn how to study their competition, identify ways in which they can gather users and earn revenue. Each team will be guided by a teacher from their school and a female mentor from the high tech industry to support and act as a role model for her team.

The winning team will be celebrated in Nigeria on April 25th(Girls in ICT Day) and will travel to the Silicon Valley California to compete globally on May 1st, 2013. The overall winner will receive $ 10,000 in funding and support to complete their app development and release it on the market.

In the end, Girls learn about collaboration and teamwork, important skills in the technology industry.

To sign up- all you need is a team of 5 girls, a computer, an android phone, and a teacher or adult to support the team.
On February 2nd, Mrs Martha Omoekpen Alade, Chairperson of Women in Technology in Nigeria formally welcomed all teams in Lagos on the hackday to brainstorm on starting off.

(Source: WTIN)

South Africa: Broadband Access for Eastern Cape School

Some Other User — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:34:58 GMT

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Communications, Stella Tembisa Ndabeni-Abrahams said she hoped that this initiative will enhance learner education and help make their lives and their community better.

In our efforts to provide broadband connectivity to unconnected schools, the department has partnered with Vodacom because we believe that well-resourced and equipped learners will perform better and will improve the matric pass rate. Such partnerships are critical if we are to offer quality education to our learners and to schools, particularly those that have previously not been exposed to such learning opportunities.

We are delighted to be handing over the computers as it is part of our schools connectivity initiative. We are committed to connecting schools nationwide through both public and private partnerships, said Ndabeni-Abrahams.

Vodacoms Chief Officer for Corporate Affairs, Maya Makanjee, said the centre was not only expected to improve learner pass rates, but also ensure that learners have had some exposure to ICTs by the time they reach tertiary level.

School Principal Nombuyiselo Boya said she was humbled by the donation.

Our school had no computers. We are humbled to be recipients of the mobile computer centre specifically for our learners. This will expose our learners to the internet and will also help improve the quality of education we offer our learners, she said.

(Source: UNPAN)

How iPads can support learning for students with autism

Some Other User — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:00:21 GMT

Lesson personalization, interactivity can improve student engagement and social skills.

Ed-tech advocates are discovering the numerous benefits that mobile devices, including iPads, can have for students. But a growing number of special-education teachers are finding that iPads can have a positive effect on their students with autism in particular.

Students with autism often have trouble communicating and might struggle with transitions, such as changing classes, getting on a school bus, or taking a field trip. A report issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) last April indicated that one out of every 88 children is believed to have autism or fall somewhere on the autism spectrum.
Karina Barley, an Australian special-education teacher who runs Project Autism Australia, uses iPads with her students on the autism spectrum. Handheld devices such as the iPad offer students with autism the chance to personalize their learning while moving at their own pace, and the larger screen (when compared to a smart phone) makes it easy for them to manipulate various apps.

They have fantastic implications, Barley said. One of the greatest things about them is that you can use iPads across lots of curriculum areas. I saw significant improvements in my kids within the first term.

Barley uses iPads to teach math and English/language arts (ELA), and for customized learning programs based on each students individual needs. While some of her students with autism traditionally struggle with concentration, Barley said introducing the iPads caused a marked change.

(Source: eSchool News)

eLearning Africa 2013 Call for Proposals now open

Some Other User — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:02:41 GMT

The 8th eLearning Africa conference will be held from May 29th to 31st at the Safari Conference Centre, Windhoek, Namibia. The key networking event for developing eLearning capacities in Africa, eLearning Africa 2013 will be hosted by Namibia's Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Ministry of ICT.
eLearning Africa 2013 will focus on tradition, change and innovation, and the call for proposals is now open.

New technologies combined with a pioneering spirit to improve lives are already changing the way we learn, work, and play. How are African youth shaping their identities and navigating different learning spaces with these technologies? Are new technologies fundamentally disruptive to tradition or do they open up space for the digitization of tradition? How is innovation in Africa shaping the Continent's learning landscape?

These are some of the key questions that will guide our conversations at eLearning Africa 2013; let us know what you think! We encourage all practitioners, experts and academics engaged in an African context to submit a proposal and be a part of Africa's largest annual conference on ICT for development, education and training. For more information on this year's themes, deadline and how to submit a proposal, please click here.

eLearning Africa at a glance
   The key networking event for ICT-enhanced education and training in Africa
   A must for those who want to develop multinational and cross-industry contacts and partnerships, as well as enhance their knowledge, expertise and abilities
   The hub for first-hand information and real-life examples of how ICT advances the cause of education for all in Africa
   Over 1,500 decision makers and practitioners from the education, business and government sectors, with 80% coming from Africa
   Accompanied by an extensive exhibition and demonstration area.

(Source: eLearning Africa)

'QuijoTweet' de la Mancha: Promotion of reading and the language (Spain)

Some Other User — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:51:59 GMT

'Welcome to the project', so reads the foreword particularly literary lesson taught by Professor Sergio Tejero to 2nd grade students at ESO (Ekialdea institute). Chapter One: desks, whiteboard and laptop ready and connected to condense into 140 characters the passage 'which looks at the condition of the famous knight Don Quixote de La Mancha', as published Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Not surprisingly, the word 'post' in its infinitive tense, it becomes 'Trending Topic' in this computerized classroom.

The technology of this teaching academic method, which has attracted literary passion among his pupils, seeks to promote the reading and the language of Cervantes. "Each student is assigned a chapter to be summarized in a 'tweet', of not more than 140 characters text. Once finished, I correct it and then publish it live @ElQuijoTweet", explains Tejero.

More than 1,200 fans support this initiative. Julen, Irati, Jon, Jokin and other students have appreciated the story of Alonso Quijano.
"At first it seemed difficult, especially for the number of pages in the book -862 -. But now I find it amusing", Irune Valluerca perceived. The heavy old Castilian vocabulary has not been an impediment to their peers Joseba and Iñigo, boasting outstanding language. If you read Don Quixote at home, it could be not so much interesting. But one chapter to another is more entertaining", realize both students, reading lovers in its aspects of "adventure novel".

For their teacher Sergio, who has an experience of 12 years as a radio journalist, the motivation "is key" in teaching. Given the catastrophic connotations raised by the explosive mix of teens and social networks, Tejero commitment to seek "real value" of these tools. And the strict limitation governing on the Twitter text (no more than 140 characters), which is ideal for "summarize teaching" is not a trivial matter in academic development.

"Students who do not how to summarize, do not know how to study" he says. They are unable to absorb a lesson because they fail to understand: "They have difficulty making schemes". But thanks to the social network of the blue bird- dreaded from parent associations and schools directors", the students learn to search keywords and composing sentences". In short: make a good synopsis. "That helps them improve not only in language but in all subjects: science, history, etc".

As "the second most printed book in the world after the Bible", Don Quixote is the "universal classic" that every Castilian speaker should be conceived as "masterpiece" of Spanish literature. "Force them to read is not the solution. My goal is that they understand it, that they know the story, who was Cervantes, why the book is divided into two parts, everything that surrounds the Quixote de Avellaneda, etcetera". Undoubtedly, the method has permeated.

(Source: El Correo Newspaper)

IDB launches GRADUATE XXI, an initiative to prevent high school dropout in Latin America

Some Other User — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:44:58 GMT

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is launching a new initiative that seeks to raise public awareness of the high school dropout crisis in Latin America and generate solutions to keep more young people in school. By presenting the latest dropout research and data in engaging platforms such as social media, film, and interactive online forums, GRADUATE XXI aims to involve Latin Americans from all walks of life in efforts to improve education systems and increase the number of high school graduates across the region.

In recent years, access to education has improved significantly in Latin America. Primary education is virtually universal throughout the region. However, nearly half of the students in Latin America do not finish secondary school. Gaps in access to education persist among socioeconomic and ethnic groups, as well as between urban and rural communities. Indigenous youth, the poor, students with disabilities and youth who live in rural areas are disproportionately represented in dropout rates throughout Latin America.

The IDB is working in partnership with Latin American governments to close these gaps in access, as well as to improve the quality of secondary education. According to household surveys from Latin America, most students between the ages of 13 and 15 who are not in school list lack of interestabove economic, access or family problemsas their primary reason for dropping out. GRADUATE XXI seeks to further research, analysis, and public discussion on the underlying causes of high school dropout.

In addition to videos, blogs, educational materials, and the most recent dropout data, GRADUATE XXI will host a series of ten online contests. Each contest will culminate in the announcement of a winning idea and the screening of a short film on the contest topic. The first online contest, launched on December 10, centers on barriers faced by students with disabilities and solicits ideas to make education more inclusive and accessible.

Argentine director Pablo Fendrik and Colombian director Carlos Gaviria will lend their story-telling talents to GRADUATE XXI in the upcoming contests. Fendriks short film will discuss barriers to accessing education in rural areas of Latin America. The impact of conflict on graduation rates will be the subject of Gavirias short film. The other participating Latin American directors will gradually be revealed over the course of the contest series.

Chenillo, who filmed a short documentary about deaf students in Mexico City for GRADUATE XXI, said, I am proud to be associated with this project because educating the next generation is the single most important investment that Mexico, or any country, can make in its future. There is no future for a region in which half the population does not have a high school education. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that all of our youth have equal access to quality education. The need for action is urgent and I think GRADUATE XXI will inspire more Latin Americans to get involved.

Further details

One Tablet Per Child Policy: stepping up education reform in Thailand

Some Other User — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:10:40 GMT

An ambitious election campaign promise realized as a government mega project, Thailands One Tablet Per Child Policy (OTPC) is a crucial milestone in the countrys education reform. It has the aim of empowering young students with latest pedagogy and learning experience regardless of location, distance, and socio-economic standing.
A total of THB 3 billion (US$ 96 million) were spent on the worlds largest ordernearly 900,000 tablet PCs for education, from which the government has successfully placed 868,886 in the hands of first grade students countrywide.

We are the pioneers in ordering a large number of tablets and handing them out to elementary students, says Gp Capt Navamavadhana, Advisor to the ICT Minister in Thailand.

Navamavadhana was involved in all elements of the OTPC process. He is a committee member and Assistant Secretary to the OTPC Policy Commission, a chairman of Technical Sub-committee purchasing the tablets, and a technical advisor to the Tablet Inspection and Reception Commission.
The OTPC project is collaboration between the Education Ministry (MOE) and ICT Ministry (MICT) in which the former is responsible for the projects implementation and the later for the purchase of devices, and software integration.

Navamavadhana headed his teams visit to China to carefully inspect, compare and select appropriate devices. Finally, the MICT decided to spend THB 2460 (US$82) per device, each of which features Googles Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, 1GB RAM, 1.2 GHz single core CPUs, and storage capacity of 8GB. The MICT was given from February until early November this year to complete market research, purchase, software development, and distribution of all the tablets including an additional 55,000 tablets with different specifications for teachers.

Although the purchase was completed and the devices have been securely delivered to students, Navamavadhana cannot sit back and feel relief. For him, this is merely a small step towards reforming the countrys education system.

To further expand the OTPC project to successfully reform Thai education, the government has in mind the idea of giving tablets with different specifications to students from different grades.

Future details

What community radio can do for education in Africa

Some Other User — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:11:22 GMT

Radio broadcasting is a powerful tool that enables communication to many isolated rural villages and towns in developing countries. For many of these rural communities, radio broadcasts are often the only effective way to solicit important information to a large audience.

Most recently in Uganda, community operated educational programmes are being broadcast to remote localities in an effort to reach students that have limited access to educational resources.

Since its establishment in 2003, Nakaseke community radio has served as a forum and knowledge portal for poor rural communities in Nakaseke, a newly created district located 75km north of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. Nakaseke radio operates in the Nakaseke Community Multimedia Centre (CMC), and is part of a piloted series of Multipurpose Community Telecentres (MCT) established by the African Information Society Initiatives to test and assess the impact and viability of MCTs in rural Africa.

Education is one the stations main programme foci and recently Nakaseke Community radio, together with primary teachers from government and private schools, started a special programme called The Radio Quiz Competition as a challenge to students to perform better and hopefully raise the low literacy levels and poor academic performance of students in the impoverished district.

The programme targets all schools in the district, which has a total of 95 primary schools (both government and private), and 13,401 pupils, with a 1:75 teacher pupil ratio.

These schools are scattered in different localities, thus making transport to the radio station difficult and unfortunately limiting participation, but the radio broadcast bridges the geographical gap and helps educate the students who are unable to compete.

Radio Quiz Competition runs live every Sunday over the community radio. Three schools are hosted, with each school represented by two pupils in a live question and answer session that is conducted by a panel of teachers from local schools. These teachers set the questions and also provide answers and explanations if the students are incorrect for the benefit of listeners.

Winning schools are often awarded prizes, mostly scholastic materials, donated by the radio programmes listeners (parents), NGOs/CBOs and some local leaders. The successful school advances to the next round and this process continues up to the final stage.

Further details

(Source: eLearning Africa)

Free online tool enables users to create digital stories

Some Other User — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:30:52 GMT

Meograph helps easily create, watch, and share interactive stories. Their first product combines maps, timeline, links, and multimedia to tell stories in context of where and when it happened.

The website is structured into a few simple prompts on an intuitive interface. Viewers get a new form of media that they can watch in two minutes or explore for an hour. Sharing is easy: the two most viral types of media are videos and infographics, Meograph is using both types.

Educators around the world are using this free website to create more interactive lesson materials, to flip their classroomor to have students create their own projects.

Authoring what the site calls four-dimensional stories occurs via a few simple prompts on an intuitive interface, and users can share their creations online and via social media when theyre finished.Access to Meograph website here: http://www.meograph.com/educationexamples

(Source: eSchool News)

Child Online Protection: accessible but safer Internet

Some Other User — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 15:25:11 GMT

Promoting universal access to digital technologies for all children everywhere, while protecting them from the dangers present in cyberspace, is one of the key challenges of modern times.

As parents and educators, political leaders and responsible adults, we want children to navigate the oceans of information and knowledge, protected by appropriate legislation, by preventive monitoring tools, and by education based on sound values and personal responsibility.

The need to improve online safety for the worlds children is one area about which there is no doubt. Hence, the new phase of concrete activities, which ITU announced for the global Child Online Protection initiative in November 2010 in San José, Costa Rica, aims to identify the risks of cyberspace for the worlds children, improve awareness of them, facilitate exchanges of experience, and design effective protection tools.

In Costa Rica, a solid coalition has been created of governmental agencies, private companies and civil society bodies with experience of child protection. In that context, the National Online Security Commission has been set up to coordinate efforts pertaining to child protection and the Governments Digital Agenda.

This has led, as part of the Digital Agenda, to the setting up of the National Online Security Programme, under the leadership of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The programme is geared towards prevention, emphasizing the development of institutional and social capacity, and safe empowerment of citizens. Many teachers, students and parents have been given training on online safety and responsible Internet use.

To complement these preventive measures, work is going ahead on a draft law amending the Penal Code with a view to protecting children from violence and abuse involving information and communication technologies.

Costa Rica has set a target of universal access to digital technologies for all students in the country, and the process will also involve efforts to promote their safety and protection online. In these areas, prompt action is needed.

(Source: ITU News Magazine)

ICRW conducted an assessment of the Intel Learn program. The Intel Learn Program Through a Gender Lens

Some Other User — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:58:12 GMT

ICRW conducted an assessment of the Intel Learn program, an education initiative that provides technology education to youth around the world, in order to understand its impact on female learners. ICRW found that Intel Learn has been able to reach large numbers of girls and women and enhance their technology skills, critical thinking, and self-confidence, improving their effectiveness as students, community members, and businesswomen.

The program equips learners with skills in digital literacy, collaboration, creativity, and critical problem solving. Intel Learn increases students access to technology and also teaches them how to use the technology through hands-on projects to address real-life problems. The program has been implemented in sixteen countries and has reached more than 1.75 million youth. It does not focus on any particular population of students, but rather has a goal of reaching all groups equally poor and rich, males and females, urban and rural, and ethnic minority and majority groups. Approximately half of Intel Learns program participants are female.

Growing evidence demonstrates that educating girls enhances the health, productivity, and development of communities and nations. ICRWs assessment found that the strategies and components of the Intel Learn program have successfully targeted girls needs and interests, provided girls and women with necessary skills and resources, empowered them to have control over their resources and make decisions, and set them on a path for economic empowerment. Thus, the program offers important lessons on how to enrich the lives of girls and women through technology education.

Access to the report: The Intel Learn Program Through a Gender Len s

(Source: ICRW)

Thai schools pilot e-classroom project

Some Other User — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:38:06 GMT

Two government secondary schools in Bangkok have piloted a Future Classroom Project to encourage the students to enhance the latest innovative technologies as learning tools and preparing for the governments roll out of free tablet pc for the seventh graders in2013.

Taweethapisek School and Wat Rachathiwas School, in collaboration with the Office of the Basic Education Commission and Intel Corp, are working on a trial project for grade seven classrooms on adopting education IT solution as part of supporting the governments One Tablet Per Child (OTPC) policy.

The Future Classroom model is an education IT solution tailored for one-to-one e-learning in classrooms starting on the first of December 2012.

Under this pilot project, ICT infrastructure including content distribution network, firewall, content catching and classroom management is supported by Intel together with its Learning Series 1-to-1 e-lLearning Professional Development Programme to train teachers using Intel Teach. This is to address the challenges of internet connectivity and content accessibility at the two schools.

E-Learning hardware such as 10 units of 10-inch screen tablets have been provide to Wat Rachathiwas Schools standard one class and a class of autistic students, and Taweethapisek Schools standard one class during the pilot period between December 2013 and January 2013. The evaluation of the outcome will be in February.

The tablets are equipped with classroom management software programme, which allows teachers to monitor on the devices used during the class.

Using the content distribution solution, a team of pedagogical experts select and create appropriate content. The content gets automatically pushed from a central server to the server appliance, which is located at each school. There the content is accessible to the students and teacher via the local area Wi-Fi network, which is fast and reliable regardless of the school Internetconnection.

The server appliance also provides firewall protection, caching, and other networking services that every school requires. With one-time configuration, the server appliance requires no further support to maintain its performance, and is even remotely accessible should a problem arise.

Students can access learning content from the Office of the Basic Education Commission and Intels provided content from Skoool, Wikipedia, and Khan Academy through the server appliance of the school.

(Source: FutureGov)

ITU members resolve to end discriminatory access to Internet

Some Other User — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:45:26 GMT

WTSA-12 affirms commitment to an inclusive Information Society

ITUs membership has adopted a Resolution inviting ITU Member States to refrain from taking any unilateral and/or discriminatory actions that could impede another Member State from accessing public Internet sites and using resources, within the spirit of Article 1 of the Constitution and the WSIS principles.

Meeting at the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-12) in Dubai, ITU members revised and adopted a Resolution first agreed at 2008s WTSA in Johannesburg: Resolution 69, Non-discriminatory access and use of Internet resources.

Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General, ITU: Just days away from the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12), the adoption of this Resolution underlines ITUs commitment to a free and inclusive information society. This should send a strong message to the international community about accusations that ITUs membership wishes to restrict the freedom of speech. Clearly the opposite is true. It is in this spirit fostering an Internet whose benefits are open to all that I would like to head into WCIT-12.

Noting the global and open nature of the Internet as a driving force in accelerating progress towards development in its various forms and that discrimination regarding access to the Internet could greatly affect developing countries; Resolution 69 invites affected ITU Member States to report to ITU, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) on any unilateral and/or discriminatory actions that could impede another Member State from accessing public Internet sites and using resources, within the spirit of Article 1 of the Constitution and the WSIS principles.

ITUs work, along with many others, has played a key role in enabling the Internet. Without ITU standards providing the access technologies to homes and businesses and the transport mechanisms to carry information from one side of the world to another the broadband services that we have come to rely on would simply not work.

(Source: ITU Newsroom)

UNICEF Philippines uses ICT to improve health outcomes in rural areas

Some Other User — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:08:11 GMT

UNICEF Philippines, in cooperation with Globe Telecommunications, embarked on an initiative which aims to leverage the use of Information and Communication Technologies to achieve better health outcomes among women and children in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas in the countrys provinces and municipalities.

The initiative is dubbed as rCHITS which stands for Real-time Monitoring of Key Maternal and Child Health Indicators through the use of the Community Health Information Tracking System. It is a computerization project aimed at achieving a more effective and efficient system of managing health information on children and women living in disadvantaged areas. Globe Telecom donated Php one million (USD 24,000) as support to UNICEFs programme.

According to Tomoo Hozumi, Country Representative of UNICEF Philippines, the donated money will go towards expanding the rCHITS program to reach more provinces in the coming year.

Through this program, we are able to gather and consolidate real-time data on mother and child health indicators and help the local government make informed and well-planned decisions on health issues in their provinces, said Hozumi.

He added that the project was originally conceived as a tool in support of community based injury prevention, but evolved to what is known today as rCHITS through the collaborative efforts of the University of the Philippines National Telehealth Center, UNICEF and Globe.

The multi-stakeholder cooperation moved towards developing a system specifically designed to monitor and obtain key maternal and child health indicators in selected municipalities towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals four and five, which is reduction of child mortality and improvement of maternal health.

(Source: FutureGov)

The Philippines launches twitter account to save homeless children

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:52:41 GMT

According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary, Dinky Soliman, citizens can take part by indicating the location or name of the street, time when they found the homeless child together with other relevant details such as nearby landmarks and tagging it to DSWDs designated Twitter account @savestreetkids.

Information submitted to the DSWD will then be relayed to the agencys reach-out team for immediate action. In addition, the agency will also be updating the status of each reported incident by indicating the location of the reception action centre where the homeless child is temporarily sheltered.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development is seeking to engage the public, via the popular microblogging site called Twitter, to help save the lives of homeless children in the streets of Metro Manila.

(Source: FutureGov)

Ghana Library Board - The Northern Regional Library

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:46:48 GMT

Librarys maternal health SMS service reaches over 90 women

Northern Regional Librarys Technology for Maternal Health Project has got off to a flying start: 94 pregnant women are now receiving vital health information sent directly to their mobile phones; the librarys health corner has been formally launched, and 10 health workers have been trained to use computers to conduct research.

Northern Regional Library in Tamale is working in partnership with the local development agency Savana Signatures to implement the maternal health service. Savana Signatures provides technical support for the SMS service, helped install the library Health Corner and provides information and communication technology (ICT) training for health workers.

The librarys new Health Corner has five computers where health workers and members of the public have free access to the internet. The library reports that health workers especially are using the computers to seek information for lectures and presentations they conduct at antenatal clinics in Tamale and rural areas.

Each computer has been installed with content provided by international agencies, including Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA); Medical Aid Films, and the Ghana health service. All content for the Heath Corner and the SMS service is carefully checked by a committee of local health workers to insure that it is accurate and locally relevant.

In addition to providing free access to computers, the librarys Health Corner is a training centre where Savana Signatures provides essential ICT training for health workers, to improve their research and communication skills. Ten health workers have received training, and another ten are to be trained in October.

The library Health Corner was officially commissioned by the Deputy Northern Regional Minister and the Northern Regional Health Director of the Ghana Health Service. It is attracting intense interest, and other health service providers, for example, the Tamale Teaching Hospital, are approaching the library with requests for information in different formats film, audio and text and for their maternal health education programmes.

(Source: EIFL Ghana)

Integrating ICT into education

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:35:38 GMT

Leveraging the power of ICT to help improve the quality of education for students through access to teaching and learning resources has become a useful tool within an increasingly networked society.

Technology improves educational opportunities by enabling personalized study. It also enhances the potential for learning through community-based education and access to educational resources, even in remote rural schools.

Connect To Learn was launched in 2010 as a collaborative effort between the Earth Institute providing advice on development, education, and evaluation; Ericsson as lead technology partner; and Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization.

Building on the expertise of each partner, Connect To Learn identifies strategies to integrate teacher professional development with 21st century ICT-based teaching, tools and practices in classrooms.

Connect To Learn also combines a cloud-based ICT solution developed by Ericsson for schools with the on-the-ground experience of partner NGOs. It aims to remove ICT support tasks from teachers and provides them with technology that is simpler to manage, so teachers can focus on improving the quality of education.

The solution is provided as a service, and is designed for users with little or no IT competence.

Improved access, energy efficiency and reduced costs are possible because users do not have to worry about virus protection, software updates and content-control capabilities for safe Internet browsing, application installation or maintenance. All tasks which are managed in the cloud.

Connect To Learn partners recognize the transformational role that broadband and other ICT solutions can play in scaling up access to quality education through innovative programs such as this one.

(Source: ICT4U)

Ghana establishes ICT club for girls

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:18:57 GMT

In a bid to help expose Ghanaian female students to the world of technology and new opportunities, the government of Ghana has established an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) club for Tamale Girls Senior High School.

This novelty club is expected to be replicated across the length and breadth of the country, according to the Ghana's Ministry of Education.
Member of the Female ICT Teachers Association of the Ghana Education Service, Barikisu Seidu added that the "club is to stimulate the interest of the students in ICT learning and application to improve the number of females participating in ICT, which has become the source of opportunities".

Seidu said women were the bedrock of the society arguing that women would always be in a better position to impart the ICT knowledge onto their children as opposed to men.

"The ICT could enhance girls' chances of acquiring jobs as well as exploring other vital opportunities", Seidu said.

The director of Savana Signatures, Stephen Agbenyo urged the students to make good use of the opportunities offered by the club.

He noted that the new club would teach the female students about website development, blogging, internet researching, and other use of ICT tools for teaching and learning.

(Source: Biz Community)

Chile: educational website wins international award

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:32:30 GMT

The Chilean website PSU Educarchile, which helps students to prepare the entrance examination to college, was the only Latin American project awarded (September 27) with one of the six WISE Awards 2012, presented annually by the Qatar Foundation for distinguish innovation in education.

PSU Educarchile is a free and interactive online platform which allows students from last years of secondary education prepare to the University Selection Test (PSU), an examination of language, math, science and social science prerequisite to enter the Chilean universities.

While schools prepare their students for this exam, those who can pay in pre-university parallel courses tend to receive better training and achieve higher scores on admission.

The platform - which works with publicly, private and philanthropic funded -is an alternative to these paid centers, because it allows testing using tools including a website with more than 57 000 test questions, exam podcasts with content and messages text to cell phones. It also offers support through Facebook and Twitter.

The site receives 120,000 visits a month across the country. The 60 percent of all users come from public schools, ie, students with not so much economical resources and who has difficulties to pay Preuniversitario or private tutoring.

"This is an innovative solution that aims directly at reducing inequity gaps due to the distance and social vulnerability, or generated by the inability of many students to attend classes for specific situations such as the 2010 earthquake or shots year colleges past, said the director of EducarChile portal.

(Source: SciDev Net)

Jakarta provides smart cards to poor students

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:28:46 GMT

Indonesias capital city will be distributing an estimated 3000 smart cards to underprivileged students on 5 November 2012, as part of new Jakarta Governor Joko Widodos campaign promise to make sure no child is unable to go to school because of school expenses.

According to Jakarta Education Agency Chief Taufik Yudi Mulyanto, the smart card works like an ATM card where students would have to enter their PIN so they can withdraw money to cover their personal expenses. As part of the program, 10,766 senior high school and vocational school students will each receive Rp 240,000 (US$24) per month for one year to cover school related expenses such as transportation, food, clothing, textbooks and other school materials.

Taufik added that the city administration is currently conducting a survey in five municipalities to identify the recipients of the smart cards and to formulate an effective distribution mechanism in those areas once the program is extended to cover students in both elementary and junior high school by 2013.

On other hand, the authorities of the city are also planning to distribute health cards to poor citizens, so they can get medical attention at local community health care centres and as well as third-class service at public and private hospitals in Jakarta without fees of an expensive medical bill.

(Source: FutureGov)

ICT lessons in Castilla y León schools, an evaluation in Valladolid seminar (Spain)

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 22:03:27 GMT

Learn and assess the global progress in the application of ICTs, as well as identify relevant experiences, based on their innovation and educational impact, were the targets of the seminar "Educational use of Information and Communication Technologies" organized by Fundación Universidades Castilla y León, Santillana and Fundación Telefónica, and hosted by the headquarters of the Department of Education of the Regional Government of Castilla y León, in Valladolid.

Juan José Mateos, Minister of Education of Castilla y León, delivered the opening speech of the seminar, entitled "Situation and Review of the use of ICTs in the Education System of Castilla y León". He was followed by Mariano Jabonero, director of Institutional Relations of Santillana, who offered some data on the use of ICTs worldwide, and Joan Cruz, Director of Fundación Telefónica and Escuelas Amigas (Friendly Schools) project, focused on the status of digital implementation in Spain.

Also Mr. Cruz reflected on Fundación Telefónica's commitment to facilitating access to knowledge, improving educational quality, and promoting experimentation in the field of ICTs as the basis for the new education of the 21st century. He also remarked on Fundación Telefónica's Escuelas Amigas project, which seeks to strengthen ties and foster cultural exchange between students in Spain and Latin America over the Internet, where students, teachers and Telefónica volunteers - who act as catalysts of the activities - play the leading roles.

The fundamental premise of Escuelas Amigas initiative is the use of ICTs in learning processes, as an element that helps to tear down geographical and cultural barriers. As for today (with the 3rd Edition of the project concluded) 13 Latin American countries and Spain and some 280 schools, have taken part in the initiative, benefiting almost 11,000 children with the support of nearly 330 volunteers.

(Source: Fundación Telefónica)

Bangkok pilots smart classroom project with different Operation System

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 21:59:52 GMT

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) initiated a Smart Classroom Project to test the efficiency of tablet PCs with different operating systems in teaching and learning at four pilot schools in the capital.

This program is aimed at testing the effectiveness of tablet-PCs as learning devices in the classroom, said Bangkok Deputy Governor Taya Teepsuwan.

The program is as part of the BMAs strategic plan to enhance ICT management for education. The fourth-grade classes in four different schools across Bangkok are involved in this pilot project. The supplied tablets were equipped with four different operating systems and were given to each of the four schools.

They are Android for the Prachaniwet School, Window 7 for the Rittiyawannalai School, iOS for the Wat Pathumwanaram School, and Window 8 for the Na Luang School. Na Luang School is the first school in the world to pilot the Window 8-based tablets, which is scheduled to be officially released by the last week of October.

Department of Education and the BMA is now hiring King Mongkuts University of Technology Thonburi to evaluate the four schools results after using the tablets to expand the project in the future, according to her. She also said that the evaluation result will come out by the end of this year and the BMA will consider whether to continue the trial or expand the Smart Classroom project.

Technologies for education are an important thing that we cannot avoid. The challenge is how to apply technologies in education with the most efficiency, said Taya.

The project is in partnership with Microsoft who donated 43 Window-8-loaded Acer Iconia tablets to Na Luang School. The Window 8 tablets comes with Window 8 apps from the Windows Store, the Microsoft Learning Suite including Microsoft Math and Math Worksheet Generator as well as other edutainment tools like Kodu Game Lab, Microsoft AutoCollage, Window Live Movie Maker, Interactive Classroom and etc.

(Source: FutureGov)

Maasai School Teachers Increase Accuracy of Attendance Rates and Grades

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:14:59 GMT

The administrative staff and teachers of AIC Girls Boarding School in Kajiado, Kenya managed to increase the accuracy of the schools grades and attendance figures and save time in one go, simply by using digital spreadsheets.

Here, this used to be our schools administration, With a wide grin on their faces, four teachers of AIC Boarding School, show a huge stack of written paper that contain attendance rates and grades of students. These papers represent about three days of work for us, says one of the teachers. She then grabs about ten pieces of paper. And this is the same information, but then created by using Excel. Its exactly the same, but this only took us half an hour to make.

Since June 2012, this boarding school for Maasai girls is using four computers for administrative purposes. With the support of IICD and Edukans in the Connect4Change Consortium together with Kenyan partner Dupoto-e-Maa (a Kajiado-based indigenous NGO), all teachers and administrative staff were trained in basic ICT usage and how to use the system, which will help to generate more accurate data about grades and attendance of students.

In the near future, the system will also be used to keep track of payments. Maasai parents are often on the move, but in the beginning of the school year, they come to the school and pay the school fee for their children, which often include boarding fees. Payments records will be kept digitally which makes it easier to see which parents already paid. The system will also help with keeping track of payments in terms, as many parents do not have the full amount at the beginning of the year. If payments are tracked better, this means that the school will increase its income which can then be spent on teaching materials and better facilities for the school.

(Source: IICD)

Ethiopian Teachers Use Video to Evaluate and Improve Teaching Skills

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:19:35 GMT

Primary school teachers and teachers-to-be throughout Ethiopia record their classes on video. They use these videos to evaluate and improve their teaching. Teachers also make use of computers to plan their lessons. The motivation of my students has increased.

Teachers of 75 schools throughout Ethiopia and in teacher training colleges are learning how to use computers to plan their lessons more efficiently. Video cameras are used to record their lessons and to evaluate and discuss them with other teachers.

I learned how to use video in my own classroom to evaluate myself, says a teacher from Gafat Primary School in North central Ethiopia. On the latest videos I can see that because of this, my teaching skills have improved. I also learned to use new teaching techniques. In the classroom, my students now do more group work and talk more. I see that their motivation has increased and I already see some improvement in their results.

This programme is supported by IICD and Edukans in the Connect4Change consortium and by Ethiopian partner Development Expertise Centre Ethiopia.

In most of the 75 schools, the video and basic computer programme is up and running and some schools already use a digitalized lesson plan that allows teachers to better organize their lessons and activities. In ten schools, there are still some issues with getting reliable electricity. This will be solved by using solar panels to run the computers and charge the cameras that the teachers use for their teaching learning processes.

So far 324 primary school teachers, school assisting staff and 91 supervisors and principles are already trained in a more student centered teaching approach. In addition to this, 2014 members of school management teams will receive trainings about leadership, supervision, digital human resource management and they learn how to organize various reports digitally.

(Source: IICD)

Indian State Digitizing 1471 schools

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:17:18 GMT

The government of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has awarded a contract to implement next-generation solutions for teaching and learning in 1471 schools across 12 districts in the state.

The INR 1.57 billion (US $29.62 million) project will provide computer-aided learning solutions to schools across Himachal Pradesh. The schools involved in the project will acquire digital classrooms equipped with interactive white boards and multimedia content.

618 government senior secondary schools, 848 government high schools and five smart schools in the state will be involved in this project. In addition, 7500 teachers will receive training on how to understand and use these technology solutions, and how to facilitate ICT education of their students.

Digital learning solutions are making significant inroads into India. The government of the state of Punjab recently announced the development of 795 new computer labs in government schools across the state.

This initiative was launched as part of Phase V and VI of a centrally-sponsored ICT scheme in Punjab. During the first four phases, the government focused on enhancing ICT education in schools through new classes and curriculum, and training teachers in effective use of ICT tools in teaching.

ICT-enabled schools in Punjab have been given access to power generators and broadband internet connections to facilitate implementation of state-wide school management of information systems (MIS) and geographic information systems (GIS), which are under development.

(Source: FutureGov)

SIs Newslog - Children

Huawei supports ICT training for disabled in South Africa

Rwanda hosts OLPC Scratch Day

Ericsson joins Airtel to deliver tech education in Malawi

Integrating media and information literacy into Jordanian schools

WSIS Forum focuses on post-2015 development agenda. Emerging trends and innovation in ICT addressed

ITU partners with Kofi Annan Foundation and One Young World to launch Kofi Annan Dialogues: LIVE at WSIS Forum 2013

DINATEL (Uruguay) released a Report in the International Day of Girls in ICT

Rwanda celebrates Girls in ICT Day 2013

Nigerian minister encourages girls to develop interest in ICT

Samsung delivers first Solar Powered Internet School in Angola

Rwanda: Girls in ICT Rwanda Take Campaign to Schools

Intel and 10x10 announce new efforts to empower girls, transform Developing Economies through education

Eduteka: How to celebrate the International Day of Girls in ICT with your students

Inclusive education: sign up now for online discussion!

ICT Education in African refugee camps

Government of Costa Rica will install Internet in all Public schools

Dominican Vice President is designated sponsor of the project that promotes Technology for Girls

Nicaragua: Ciudad Sandino, first digital township of Managua

Thailand updates OTPC tablet project in 2013

Ericsson launches 3G and Connect To Learn in the Millennium Village in Ethiopia

Digital Primary Program in Argentina

Funny and educative Holidays in Peru

Digital Learning Day aims to change educations direction

MinTIC launches campaign to promote the responsible use of Internet (Colombia)

Safer Internet Day 2013 focuses on online rights and responsibilities

WITIN Opens Mobile Apps Challenge for Girls in Nigeria

South Africa: Broadband Access for Eastern Cape School

How iPads can support learning for students with autism

eLearning Africa 2013  Call for Proposals now open

'QuijoTweet' de la Mancha: Promotion of reading and the language (Spain)

IDB launches GRADUATE XXI, an initiative to prevent high school dropout in Latin America

One Tablet Per Child Policy: stepping up education reform in Thailand

What community radio can do for education in Africa

Free online tool enables users to create digital stories

Child Online Protection: accessible but safer Internet

ICRW conducted an assessment of the Intel Learn program. The Intel Learn Program Through a Gender Lens

Thai schools pilot e-classroom project

ITU members resolve to end discriminatory access to Internet

UNICEF Philippines uses ICT to improve health outcomes in rural areas

The Philippines launches twitter account to save homeless children

Ghana Library Board - The Northern Regional Library

Integrating ICT into education

Ghana establishes ICT club for girls

Chile: educational website wins international award

Jakarta provides smart cards to poor students

ICT lessons in Castilla y León schools, an evaluation in Valladolid seminar (Spain)

Bangkok pilots smart classroom project with different Operation System

Maasai School Teachers Increase Accuracy of Attendance Rates and Grades

Ethiopian Teachers Use Video to Evaluate and Improve Teaching Skills

Indian State Digitizing 1471 schools

ITU partners with Kofi Annan Foundation and One Young World to launch Kofi Annan Dialogues: LIVE at WSIS Forum 2013

Digital Learning Day aims to change educations direction

eLearning Africa 2013 Call for Proposals now open

Jakarta provides smart cards to poor students