G-Funze by Google for Teachers

Google and the Kenya ICT Board want to bring the skill of search and sort to Kenyan teachers. Through a one-day event named G-Funze, Google and the Kenya ICT Boardwill show teachers how they can use Google to bring interactivity and knowledge to the classroom. The event will be offered free of charge, open to 500 ICT- literate teachers from Nairobi and its environs.

Objectives and Benefits

G-Funze hopes to benefit teachers by giving them skills that would make them not only more confident to use ICT in the classroom, but expose them to knowledge and information that can be passed on to their students. The objectives of G-Funze are to:

a) Expose teachers to Google tools – Google Search, Google Apps and Google Earth

b) Increase efficiency in internet search including search for web-pages, articles, photos, news, books

c) Enhance communication and collaboration between teachers and their classrooms through Google Apps

d) Demonstrate the value of Google Earth to bring any topic with a geographical context to life

Structure

Date: Friday April 29, 2011 Venue: KICC Time: 7:00 am – 5:00 pm Entrance fee: FREE – workshops, refreshments, lunch and take-away materials sponsored by Google Guest of Honor: PS Ministry of Education, PS Ministry of Information and Communications

The day long event will be opened by the PS Ministry of Education and the PS of Ministry of Information and Communications. The opening will be followed by a key-note address by a Google education specialist visiting from San Francisco. This keynote will address the value that technology can bring to teaching and will feature specific local case studies.

Participants will then split into three working streams and spend the rest of the morning and afternoon in focused, intensive workshops. The workshops streams are:

1. Google search: how to find quality information online

2. Google Earth, Maps and YouTube: Bringing subjects alive through visual tools

3. Google Apps: increasing productivity through Google’s communication and collaboration tools

The interactive and information-rich day will end in plenary with a final session to discuss lessons learnt.

Participants

The organizers invite Kenyan high school teachers to participate in the event. Teachers should have access to computers and the Internet at their school and be ICT and internet literate (i.e. experience and understanding of using the internet)

Partners

In organizing G-Funze, Google and the Kenya ICT Board are honored to partner with the Teacher Service Commission (TSC) and Association of Head Teachers who will support the event by organizing and managing the invitation of teachers.

A request has also been made to the Kenya Institute for Education (KIE) to work with Google to ensure the content is localized and relevant for Kenyan teachers.

In addition, the event is supported by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Information and Communications.

Budget

Google Kenya will cover all costs for hosting the event including meals, conference package and giveaways

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Background

Kenya’s vision 2030 aims to build Kenya into a knowledge society. At the core of a vibrant knowledge society is universal access to information—and currently the most powerful tool for information dissemination is the Internet. The internet is often described as the most democratic technology offering information to anyone with access. In Kenya, access to the internet has increased tremendously since the first fiber optic under sea cable landed in Mombasa in 2009. At the end of 2010, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK)reported that 8.6 million Kenyans now have access to the internet.

Among those with greater access to the internet are teachers and students. For teachers, the internet offers a variety of opportunities to support self-development and teaching in the classroom through access to information. Once universal access to information is achieved, what will separate the good from the great is the ability to efficiently search, sort and analyze the vast amounts of information made available. Being proficient in searching and sorting information is a key skill for Internet users.

Contact

For more information on G-Funze contact:

Farzana Khubchandani Country Marketing Manager, Google Kenya email: farzanak@google.com Mobile: 0732 629 393 | office: 020 360 1100

KaburoKobia Project Manager Local Digital Content, Kenya ICT Board email: kkobia@ict.go.ke mobile: 0729466260 | office: 0202211961

kenya ICT Board

Teleposta Towers, 12th Floor, Kenyatta Ave P.O. Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya t: + 254-020-2093040 | m: + 254 (0)729466260 | e: kkobia@ict.go.ke

Visit: www.ict.go.ke Become a fan: www.facebook.com/tandaakenya Follow us on twitter: @tandaakenya --------------------- Our Vision: Kenya becomes a top 10 ICT hub Our Mission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for socio economic enrichment