Recognizing that schools and their communities are intrinsically interdependent, Relief International- Schools Online Bangladesh began launching school-community dual use telecenters in Bangladesh in 2003. Over the last three years, we have found this approach to be viable in terms of educational, societal and sustainability goals. As the pilot phase now winds down, the project encompasses 27 telecenters, involves eighty schools and reaches almost one hundred thousand students and community members.
This project represents the third generation of RI-SOL’s educational telecenter concept, the Internet Learning Center (ILC). Not long after the introduction of the worldwide web, its value as an educational tool was recognized by industry leaders in Silicon Valley; in 1996, they created a not-for-profit organization: Schools Online (SOL, www.schoolsonline.org). SOL promoted the use of computers in classrooms and the integration of technology into all aspects of teaching and learning. The concept spread quickly, buoyed by the rampant optimism of the time for any project involving technology and the internet. The dot com crash was a harsh blow to these and similar projects, and forced SOL to re-evaluate its strategy.
In 2000, Schools Online merged with Relief International (www.ri.org), an international NGO known for both its emergency relief operations (most recently, its responses to the Boxing Day Tsunami and the Kashmir Earthquake) and efforts directed towards rehabilitation and development. The merger reflected a growing commitment by Relief International to the education sector, while enabling Schools Online to make its programs global in scope. Thousands of existing ILCs in western countries began to interact with the next generation of ILCs being established in developing countries. This second generation effort added an intercultural dimension to the educational objectives.
Building on ten years experience, we have introduced three evolutionary changes during the rollout of ILCs in Bangladesh: increased reliance on the host schools, increased emphasis on sustainability through community involvement, and greater willingness to customize ILC structure and operation according to the needs and capacity of the schools and their communities. Organization of ILCs into local clusters has also proven valuable.
The role of RI-SOL is to support the educational mission of each school through our expertise in technology and education. We solicit schools competitively in areas where we think we can make the biggest educational impact. Typically, this excludes elite institutions and focuses on schools that have minimal or no access to computer technology.
Objectives of the project
• Expand opportunities for students and teachers to improve education using information and communication technologies such as computers, internet resources, website, online forums, wiki, digital camera, multimedia projector.
• Expose teachers to modern teaching methodologies and interactive lesson plans
• Provide teachers with a forum to exchange ideas with their colleagues nationally and abroad for improving education;
• Establish online venues for collaborative student projects, empowering students to share their culture, history, and perspectives with the young people around the world;
• Provide community members with access to information which matters to their livelihoods;
In which way does it try to achieve its objectives?
The focus of our program is not, however, on IT – we consider computer technology to be a tool rather than an end. A major thrust of our educational effort is to enable teachers to integrate technology into their own subjects: math, spelling, geography, etc. In order to achieve its objectives, the project utilizes information and communication technology including internet to advance education in the broad sense: education of students, but also of teachers and community members. Administratively, the project is divided down the middle, with about half the effort invested in establishing and developing Internet Learning Centers (ILCs) and half spent on developing teacher capacity and educational content.
Teacher education occurs first in breadth and then depth. Immediately after equipment installation, every administrator and teacher in host and partner schools participates in a one-day computer fundamentals course designed deflate anxiety about the technology. By putting every teacher in the drivers’ seat, this simple lesson has proven effective in mobilizing teacher support for the ILCs from the first day of operation. We have found that the majority of computer teachers in Bangladesh lack practical experience with computers and require training to perform the technical aspects of the position. Consequently, we have developed a localized technical instruction curriculum for these teachers to improve their technical proficiency. Of course, there is a side benefit as well: they become better computer teachers.
During the training for teachers, they are introduced to the program’s educational goals and methods by example. They sit where their students will sit, and the training itself employs group-based and participatory methodologies promoted by our project. The predominant teaching modality in Bangladesh is didactic and authoritative, relying heavily on rote memorization and pattern replication. We supplement that strategy with methods designed to encourage creativity and analytic thought. During the week of training, teachers also receive instruction on preparation of lesson plans and how to build projects around available computer resources.
Beyond the lessons developed by the teachers, RI-SOL facilitates collaborative lessons each month on local, regional and international scales. These lessons involve other internet-equipped schools within or outside RI-SOL’s own ILC network around the globe. The local and regional lessons are developed in our education specialists in the Bangladesh County Office. Most of these are developed in Bangla, while English is the language of wider communication for international projects. Some international projects are within RI-SOL, others employ lessons developed by online resources such as iEARN and Global SchoolNet.
Through the online collaborations, the children from around the world collaborating on GCE projects learn about each others cultures through direct interaction over the internet. Along the way, stereotypes are discarded and students gain an appreciation for the diversity of cultures connected by the internet.
Which opportunities/problems does it addresses?
The project tackles two related issues, education and access to technology. The educational aspect of the project is holistic, not just technical – it involves every member of the project who contributes to the project’s commitment to sustainability: our own financial staff, community-outreach coordinators, education coordinators, local managers, and field technical staff. At the telecenter host schools, it includes the school headmasters, administration, school management committee and the school’s community committee. All of these people need to be oriented to the project and personally buy into the project’s educational and sustainability goals. Before the project ever trains a teacher in the school, and before any hardware is plugged in, this administrative training is accorded a high priority.
Teacher training is a two-tier process. At the basic level, all teachers at participating schools receive a basic training, which permits them to use computers for both their own productivity purposes and in classroom teaching. The apex of the program, however, is the intensive teacher professional development training program which focuses on technology, but conveys broader pedagogical principles. Teachers improve their lesson planning skills and learn methodologies such as two-way participatory, group and project-based instruction. Technology skills, such as internet searching and use of A/V materials, are taught in a supportive mode: the emphasis is on using technology to enhance and extend the existing curriculum and educational objectives. To date, eight hundred teachers have received the basic training, and three hundred have completed the intensive professional training. Teachers remain networked in the program and attend monthly regional meetings to share their experience and to continue the learning process.
Computer and communication prices are too steep for most Bangladeshi families to consider owning a computer and having their own internet connection, isolating them from the resources and opportunities afforded by this revolutionary communication medium. Economic, infrastructural and environmental conditions strongly favor creation of central telecenter facilities to manage power, communications, and technical maintenance of the equipment.
The telecenters are hosted in schools because schools are the link between education and accessibility; they are local hubs accessible by all elements of the project: teachers, students, and community members. Placement of the center in a school emphasizes that the telecenter is not a cybercafe or commercial operation, but that it is a whole-community resource.
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Youth in schools that we work with have the opportunity to learn about computers and internet in theri schools and have cultual exchanges with children in other schools in our projects around the world (Syria/Palestine, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and the United States)
Ana Sayfa
Kaynaklar
Misyon/Vizyon 
