On Jul 13, 2011 9:16 AM, "Suraj Shah" <suraj@surajshah.co.ke> wrote:
> Hi Andrea
>
> That is true to a certain extent only – the classmate is just a tool towards
> the greater goal of a holistic 1:1 eLearning in which Teacher Professional
> Development, content, connectivity play a bigger role. There is no such
> thing as “teaching materials developed for the Classmate and the use of
> digital media”, only the fact that delivery using ICT tools requires digital
> media which can be configured for a classmate, a netbook, a notebook, a
> desktop etc. Teachers if they were to integrate ICT in Education WILL
> require training.
>
> On the issue of Teacher Professional Development, this is overdue in the
> Kenya education scenario because traditional pedagogical approach does not
> maximize outcomes:
> 1. Increased amount of available knowledge and pace of change requires new
> approach to acquire and develop knowledge.
> 2. The current methodology for teaching is outdated and needs a more
> interactive approach
> 3. Foundation for Knowledge Creation is based on 21st Century Skills, which
> are:
>> * Technology and media literacy
>> * Effective communication
>> * Critical thinking
>> * Problem solving
>> * Collaboration
> 4. Different learners have different abilities to learn which are not being
> addressed by the current teaching practices. We must investigate
> personalized learning to a certain extent to be able to develop the majority
> of the learners ability to grasp and acquire knowledge with easier methods
>
> New technology trends mean:
> 1. Personalization has and can take place without technology, but not at
> scale
> 2. Technology dramatically increases a teacher's ability to identify and
> manage the needs of many students, and for students to access a large
> variety of interventions, content, resources, and learning opportunities
> everywhere at anytime
> 3. Optimal Environment for students to develop 21st century skills and
> maximize their academic potential using ICT
>> * Use ICT as a tool for students to learn at their own pace, and in their own
>> personal style of learning
>> * Focus on the student and the actual learning environment
>> * Create an immersive and personal learning experience, instead of
>> ―one-size-fits-all
>> * Enable learning outside the classroom (i.e. anywhere/anytime)
> 4. A 1:1 usage model is the ideal implementation of “Personalized Learning”
>
> Intel signed an MOU with Ministry of Education back in 2008 to promote
> training in the usage of ICT in everyday classroom. It does not endeavour
> to make ICT professionals out of teachers, but merely train them on the use
> of ICT as a tool for their everyday work. The course is Intel Teach
> Getting Started makes no assumptions of prior ICT knowledge of teachers and
> takes them through a face to face training on how to integrate basic ICT in
> Education and to move away from a teacher centric learning to a student
> centric learning where the teacher is still as important but plays a bigger
> role of facilitator instead of just spewing information. We have trained 9
> million teachers in 60 countries by 2009. In Kenya MoE has not played its
> part in funding this course so the uptake is slow. Through CEMASTEA, MoE’s
> identified training partners, we have trained 5000 preservice and inservice
> teachers in the last 12 months. The course is FREE for all teachers.
>
> Suraj Shah
>
>
> On 7/12/11 1:22 PM, "Andrea Bohnstedt" <andrea.bohnstedt@ratio-magazine.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I think I have probably mentioned this once already a while ago: A few years
>> ago, I did an article on Intel's Classmate mini-netbook. When kids use this
>> netbook, they made huge progress in learning. But, Intel emphasised, only
>> under certain conditions: the teachers have to be trained on how to integrate
>> the Classmate and the teaching materials on it into their lesson plan. And
>> they had to have teaching materials developed for the Classmate and the use of
>> digital media. If anything, using this gadget put higher requirements on the
>> teachers. 
>>
>> I think this is particularly important with young pupils because you
>> effectively need to teach them how to learn first. Once they've achieved that,
>> digital learning materials will be come a lot easier for them.
>>
>> That's aside from issues like having power, connectivity, and having a means
>> of ensuring that the gadgets don't get stolen. Those brick and mortar issues
>> are important. 
>>
>> Bridge International Academies here in Nairobi have chosen a different
>> approach: as far as I know, they don't use such gadgets for their kids, but
>> they have streamlined everything in the management of the schools as much as
>> possible to bring costs down. They invest a lot of money into their teaching
>> materials and lesson plans, though, and also in teacher training. That allows
>> them to keep school fees down to about the same sum that parents have to pay
>> in 'free primary education schools' for desk fee, motivation fee etc, but
>> provide a teaching quality that is infinitely higher.
>>
>> Have a good afternoon,
>> Andrea
>>
>> On 12 July 2011 12:35, <bitange@jambo.co.ke> wrote:
>>> Barrack,
>>> You can never replace the teacher.  By providing content to students, you
>>> only force the teacher to be more prepared or else the student gets bored.
>>>  You will enable lively discussions instead of teachers reading notes to
>>> studentsm
>>>
>>> There are content opportunities on tertiary education especially on how to do
>>> it yourself.   These opportunities lie from plumbing to carpentry.  We talk
>>> about unemployment yet we have broken cistern pouring expensive water, broken
>>> sewers spewing diseases, broken furniture, broken vehicles etc.
>>>
>>> Then there are economic opportunities in delaying consumption.  How to dry
>>> tomatoes, potatoes, mangoes etc.
>>>
>>> We must start to think beyond our selfish ends.
>>>
>>> Ndemo.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from my BlackBerry®
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack@gmail.com>
>>> Sender: kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke <http://jambo.co.ke>
>>> @lists.kictanet.or.ke <http://lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>> Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2011 07:17:26
>>> To: <bitange@jambo.co.ke>
>>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>> Subject: {Disarmed} Re: [kictanet] Open Data - Where does it sit?
>>>
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>>> -magazine.com
>>>
>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
>>> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation.
>>> The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support
>>> of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>
>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online
>>> that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share
>>> knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam,
>>> do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>>
>>>
>