The Intel team proudly holding the flags of Namibia and the African Union

Recently Namibia embarked on an exciting initiative to equip schools with education technology based on the Intel Learning Series. I was lucky to be selected to lead an Intel Education Service Corps (IESC) team to support the Ministry of Education by providing additional teacher and technical resources for two of the first 23 schools to deploy the technology.

Working closely with the Ministry of Education and Intel’s education team, we devised a plan to support two “model schools” in the Oshana and Omusati regions of Namibia. Our primary objectives were to (1) Inspire educators on the effective use of technology for Namibia’s primary and secondary schools, and 2) Create a blueprint for the technical environment required to deploy and sustain the use of Intel Learning Series solutions in Namibia’s schools.

Our smiling customer Ms. Hambira

By the end of two weeks, our team made great progress. To inspire educators, we taught 45 teachers and administrators how to use a variety of educational software, content, and resources such as Khan Academy, internet search, email, YouTube, Facebook, Skype, and Microsoft Office, with a focus on developing and delivering effective lesson plans. They were also introduced to the Intel Learning Series classroom management software that allows teachers to share content with students.

For our second objective, IESC Team Namibia optimized 35 Intel classmate PCs and a teacher laptop at each school and enhanced them by adding a number of education software packages. The team ensured the proper configuration of internet connectivity to the school, the wireless local network and the classroom server to allow for the smooth functioning of all elements of the solution. And by documenting our work, our efforts will be shared with the other schools in the deployment to maximize the effectiveness of the technology.

Learning new tools to teach new skills

Our visit was near the end of the academic term, and the teachers taught all day before attending our training sessions. Despite their busy schedules and the intense heat, the teachers showed high interest and particular enthusiasm for our instruction on email and social networking tools as well as Microsoft PowerPoint for its capability as a story telling medium. Before IESC Team Namibia left, a number of teachers expressed how technology helps them feel more connected to the rest of the world.

Making friends and building connections

Our team was honored and humbled to represent Intel and help expand the use of Intel Learning Series solutions in Namibia. Using their new skills, these teachers and administrators will reach more than 1,200 learners at the Ondjora and Oshikulufitu Combined schools. We are optimistic that our work can help Namibia’s teachers and their students hone new skills necessary to become self-sufficient, proud participants in today’s global world.

Likewise, the educational environment is one of the human development fields that have been influenced by the rise in popularity of Internet, promoting the modernization and updating of the teaching and learning processes, together with factors such as: programs and plans reforms, graduation profiles that require the development of competencies and skills for competitiveness, changes in paradigms about the teacher figure, etc.

Even though having an Internet connection may not be a priority for carrying out teaching tasks, the use of web tools can impact areas such as:

1. Learning anytime, anywhere (permanent learning). Internet provides mediums that promote continuous interaction for people interested in specific subjects and allows them to not only share information, but also to collaborate and enrichen said materials. At the same time, these “virtual communities” (forums, blogs[1], wikis[2], etc.), stimulate the development of a self-directing attitude in learning. This learning self-management that Internet provides is not attached to a classroom, educational institution or specific time, allowing people to learn anywhere and anytime.

2. Selection and analysis of information. One of the situations that characterize the use of Internet is the vast amount of information available through a single click. However, the abundance of information does not only generate confusion, it also helps develop selection and analysis skills. The new educational parameters state that information gathering alone is not enough, it must be known what to do with it, as well as implementing creative ways for its construction and assessment.

3. Development of a global and multicultural conscience. The notable ease with which Internet puts us in touch with the world makes communication take shapes so diverse that it is practically impossible to be isolated. Internet provides applications such as e-mail, videoconferences, online courses, forums, etc., that shorten the distance between collaborators, enhance productivity and reinforce the processes of educational modernization.

To sum it up, Internet provides mediums that add to the achievement of more and better educational quality levels around the world. The use of Internet, each day more extensive, will provide, without a doubt, new communication methods that will be more interactive and productive, and that will generate more knowledge and applications for them. Despite all the situations that can be described about the use of the World Wide Web, such as coverage problems in developing countries, the need to ensure and safeguard the confidentiality of information and personal identity, or even the prevalence of the English language in terms of the information that can be consulted in web browsers. The use of web tools is in constant growth and the quality of educational proposals that can be found on the web should not be doubted and therefore, a first step for the use of this type of resources is the awareness of teachers and parents about the benefits that can be achieved in the teaching and learning processes with the use of Internet.

In the same way, etiology for all of these is multi-factorial, with causes ranging from congenital factors, pregnancy and/or birth problems, illnesses during the first development stages, traumas, chronic-degenerative diseases, poor psychosocial stimulation, etc. However, and despite the needs that a child may have or the causes that originated them, areas susceptible of developing should be considered in accordance to the specific characteristics of his/her special condition.

There are worldwide proposals that strive for equality of opportunity and participation in social life for persons with some type of disability. WHO[1], ILO[2] and UNESCO[3] (2004), propose a Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR), which establishes a series of recommendations to transform communities into spaces where these type of people can find development opportunities in areas such as community participation, education and employment.

In the case of children with special educational needs, and their inclusion into a regular school, references to the term “curricular adaptations” are common. This term establishes, besides modifications to the teaching techniques and curricular content to learn, infrastructural and equipment incorporations that enable and ease access to educational services. Among this group of children with special educational needs we find those referred by the literature as having “print disabilities”, or those that suffer from some of the following conditions: visual weakness, blindness, dyslexia or dysgraphia. Particularly, this group has obtained the support from a growing number of technological solutions available according to their age and particular condition.

Some of these technological solutions for people with print disabilities refer to the use of software and electronic devices that include specific design and usability features.

Therefore, we can find graphic calculators with wide screens that show bigger characters, which can be easily read by persons with some type of visual weakness, and digital reading devices. All of these offer opportunities for people not only with visual deficiencies, but also with dyslexia or other type of reading and writing problems.

The use of software has also extended to educational and literary recreational applications for people with print disabilities. Such is the case of the “Digital Accessible Information System” (DAISY) format texts, which synchronize text with audio elements. Recently, the DAISY consortium joined efforts with Microsoft Corporation to make its digital text conversion technology available in Microsoft Office Word applications, making it available for an even greater number of individuals.

As can be seen, the field of technological resource application to the educational needs of children with print disabilities, on top of being a modulating element for educational system reform around the world, is also a growing area that has innovated creatively and efficiently, offering technological solutions that ease access to education for this type of children. However, there is still much to do, and the development of better inclusion technological alternatives must go hand in hand with the development of a social conscience that recognizes equality of opportunity, tolerance and respect for individual differences.

The first issue frequently related to the concept of learning economies is the economic and industrial development through technology. However, it is important to mention that learning economies do not depend directly on the possibility of people having a high technology environment because, even if technological resources are important, the individual competencies and skills are the ones that really make a difference.

Above all, learning economies are about the capability to innovate, creating new ideas, new use values, new products and services. Companies, workers, professionals and students are called to improve what they know and do through the production of new knowledge and procedure.

According to the OECD[1] (2001), knowledge and learning are two aspects that distinguish competitive companies and workers, therefore, the difference between being and not        can be summarized in the following phrase: it is not enough to have information, it is also essential to know what to do with it.

Learning economies have brought forward a generation of knowledge through varied methods that range from book reading and class attendance to the interaction via social networks and online conferences. This new way of generating knowledge has made local content even more relevant in comparison to universal content. This, far from being a problem for knowledge exchange, has generated opportunities for crossing borders and consolidating knowledge networks.

Intel® Learning Series[2], aware of the potential that this new perspective of content generation holds, has consolidated a series of educational solutions that meet the highest quality standards. These solutions answer to current demands, and allow teachers and their students to make a positive impact in the teaching and learning processes through the use of technological resources such as the Intel-powered classmate PC[3].

Intel® Learning Series solutions meet parameters for innovation, skill and competency building, and different levels and types of educational content generation that cover satisfactorily the demands of the learning economies: competitiveness, innovation, creativity, productivity and assertive attitude.

Footnotes:

[1] Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Authors such as Perrenoud (1999) and Hargreaves (2005), dissert about the existing need for teachers to develop teaching strategies through the incorporation of currently available tools, such as: computers, software and Internet.

To this end, it comes into discussion the structuring of a new teacher profile characterized by professional competencies that makes possible in students the development of XXI Century skills[1]. It is mentioned among these teaching competencies the fact that teachers need to mobilize their knowledge areas through the use of new technologies (Perrenoud, 1999).

The change of paradigms in the teaching and learning processes is also a matter that the teaching profession faces when trying to answer to the needs of a postmodern society (Hargreaves, 2005).

In turn, UNESCO (2008), in a work where Intel was directly involved in, established what it called “ICT competency standards for teachers” or ICT-CST, which attend to three basic components:

1. Basic ICT notions[2]

2. A deepening of knowledge

3. Knowledge generation

These three components are additionally approached under the premise of the socio-political scenarios unique to each country and region. All these visions contribute on their own to obtaining better levels of quality in children and young students’ education, with an emphasis on the modernization needs of said processes, foreseeing for this not only infrastructure requirements to be covered, but also the strategies and curriculum and professional content to take it to good term.

It is therefore vital that educational authorities of countries around the world include within their social development programs, a section that places special attention to the development of strategies that involve:

1. Founding teacher training programs in terms of the inclusion of technological resources for education. To this end it’s convenient to put interest into those needs that teachers express regarding the adoption of the new educational paradigm: ICT training, curricular adaptations, infrastructure improvement, etc.

2. Making educational programs for the incorporation of technological resources that attend to the specific needs of each region.

3. Motivating teachers to know and elaborate strategies and models of incorporation of technological resources for education.

In some occasions, the use of technology to drive forward collaborative work has awakened opinions that have led to consider these type of incursions as impersonal or de-personalizing. However, the incorporation of technological resources into collaborative work adds components that could not be obtained in any other way:

1. Technology shortens distances between individuals, allowing for cooperation between people regardless of their geographic location.

2. Easy, safe and versatile information transmission provides not only different means of communication, but also powerful instruments for the creation and sharing of content that add value to the ever growing “knowledge society”[4].

3. The use of different technological resources that support distance cooperation favors productivity, which has an impact in the development of societies and learning economies[5].

Now, what are the 1:1 electronic learning environments[6]? According to the “Implementation of 1:1 electronic learning environments Program” from Intel® World Ahead, they are environments where: “…children can develop the knowledge and skills that they need in the 21st century in order to triumph in the current economy, which include familiarization with media, critical thinking, abstract problem solving, collaboration, awareness about global issues and familiarization with civic duties. In 1:1 electronic learning environments, technology is used to create a 1:1 relationship between students and their learning environments. A 1:1 learning environment includes a portable computer exclusive to each student and to the teacher, which can be used at home and in the classroom”[7]

This skill and knowledge development that results from the implementation of 1:1 electronic learning environments is not only achieved through the use of student or teacher computers, but above all through the right combination of technological resources which, on top of a personal computer, might need classroom and Internet management software.

As an indispensable part of these type of classroom management tools, Intel® Learning Series[8] provides teachers and their students with a solution that, without a doubt, takes the experience of collaborative work in 1:1 electronic learning environments beyond their expectations: SMART.

SMART Teacher and SMART Student convert the classroom into a space where interactivity is the pattern that sets a difference in the teaching and learning processes. SMART applications give teachers and students tools that allow:

a) collaboration (chat[9], workgroup creation, capability for sharing and transferring files);

b) order and discipline in class (program and content blocking, student work supervision, student activity history backup);

c) evaluation of students’ skills and knowledge;

d) class planning;

e) content creation;

f) and access to a variety of subjects that teachers and students can perform.

It is therefore important to remark on the need that modernity imposes upon us to incorporate the use of technological resources that make use of XXI Century skills (such as collaborative work) an experience that, besides being stimulating, can be seen as nurturing, current and fun!

Although as a matter of fact no curricular content is exempt of seeing benefits from the deployment of technological resources, it has been the formal and natural knowledge areas that have had a more widespread development in subjects such as:

a) Management of educational modernization policies in several countries around the world.

b) Software development.

There are some pedagogical postures that support the use of software and computing tools to promote in children improved knowledge appropriation and construction. One of them, the constructionist[1] approach, affirms that best results in the teaching and learning processes are achieved by providing children with a wide array of instruments that lets them interact with reality and phenomena in close, concrete, fun and stimulating fashion; in such a way that abstract content such as that reviewed in math classes, makes more sense and relates better to children’s everyday lives by being worked in class using computers, virtual simulation software, spreadsheets, etc.

At the same time, there is research that has revealed the close relationship between the mathematical thinking development levels (problem solving, information analysis, logical reasoning), and the use of technological resources in the classroom. Other research affirms that the sooner a child enters the field of mathematical concepts learning, such as unknown factors and variables, the better his performance in math at the subsequent school levels.

At Intel® Learning Series[2], we are aware of the potential that can be developed in our children if they are properly stimulated by appropriate and interesting content, and that is why we have consolidated a series of educational material of exceptional quality that, without a doubt, facilitate the development of mathematical thinking levels through games and exercises that can be accessed through several storage mediums or downloaded from Internet. Among these solutions are:

1. Childtopia: online games and activities that make learning fun and easy.

2. Destino Matemáticas: content that conforms to local and international standards; proven success in the acquisition of better mathematical thinking levels throughout all grades of primary education.

3. MathPro: math software with a wide set of exercises.

4. MathPro Plus: lab applications that allow students to perform experiments with graphs and functions.

5. Positivo Informática: math activities contextualized and dosed in order of complexity.

6. Interacursos Matemáticas: exercises that allow students to comprehend mathematical concepts by means of games and multimedia activities.

With these educational solutions, Intel® Learning Series proves not only being at the vanguard regarding technological innovations in math teaching, but also reaffirms its commitment to offer high quality educational content that makes a difference and adds value to the teaching and learning processes.

Footnotes:

Intel's "Team Inshuti" in Rwanda, which means "friendship" in Kinyarwanda

The tea break would be shorter on this muggy day in the Land of a Thousand Hills. Why? The teachers from G.S. Nyamata Catholic and G.S. Nyamata E.P.R. were eager to return to their Intel classmate PC’s so that they could spend more time improving their computer skills.

Our IESC team was assigned to work with World Vision Rwanda in Nyamata, a city 19 miles south of the capital Kigali, with two main objectives: 1) Train local teachers to improve learning through the use of technology, and 2) Help World Vision establish a Community Knowledge Center (CKC) where residents can receive computer training and use the Internet to open their horizons.

Our training was based at E.T.O. Nyamata, a vocational school that offers courses in topics ranging from carpentry to computers, and where the new CKC is based. Our training included the E.T.O teachers as well as World Vision staff and teachers from local secondary schools. Topics delivered to the 17 recipients included computer basics, productivity suite skills, Intel’s classroom collaboration software, and social media. We also incorporated pedagogical concepts from the Intel Teach program on how technology can improve the quality of education.

Teaching programming with LEGO WeDo kits

Participation was great, and you should have seen their excitement when we demonstrated a Skype video call! Also, they loved working with the LEGO Education WeDo Robotics kits. It was fun to watch the participants, some with little or no computer experience, construct an alligator, connect it to the classmate PC, and write code to make the alligator sing and move about!

After our initial training modules, we divided into two groups, honing computer skills with the secondary teachers, and working with the World Vision staff and E.T.O. teachers around how to run a self-sustaining CKC. Jacky, one of the teachers at G.S. Nymata E.P.R., role-played how she would teach spreadsheets the following week. Innocent, one of the E.T.O. teachers, created an impressive flyer to draw community members to the new CKC.

Rwandan students learn computer skills on Intel classmate PC

In our second week, we found ourselves training at the Nyamata Catholic Church, which 18 years ago during the genocide was the site of a massacre that claimed 10,000 lives. We watched proudly as our teachers delivered OpenOffice lessons to their students, most of whom had little computer experience, and all of whom were born after the genocide. It was gratifying for our IESC team to observe the newly-trained teachers and to interact with students as they all learned new skills.

Amandine demonstrated formulas for adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying cells on a spreadsheet. We had 19 classmate PCs for 66 students but no one complained about sharing. One student would take a turn typing as their neighbors watched attentively, often with arms of friendship around each other. Many didn’t understand how to select more than one cell, so with one hand I guided a student’s finger to the shift key, and with my other hand I helped another student slide his finger on the touch pad.

After computer lessons, we taught the students how to throw a Frisbee.

Towards the end of this session, which also included word processing and creating slides, we rewarded the students with a fun diversion: WebCam Companion! Through this Intel Learning Series software, students stared at their animated faces on the screen, and then turned away laughing. At this point they were sold: one student asked how he can get his own Intel classmate PC.

It was a privilege to work with World Vision staff and my Intel teammates to help introduce Intel classmate PCs to schools in Nymata, Rwanda. I now have a better perspective on the challenges that the Nyamata students face and am optimistic that the technology can help them to acquire additional skills to help them compete in today’s world. I look forward to learning about their progress in the coming months.

Jean-Robert from Intel works with a student on the Intel classmate PC

There are some moments in life that you will never forget. One of those happened today for students at L’Ecole de Choix, when they sent their first email.

We had been at the school (which means “The School of Choice” in French) for nearly two weeks, providing technical and training support to the teachers and students. This was our last day, and we were all tired, hot, and looking forward to seeing our families after a successful project.

Then it happened.

The 4^th grade students walked into the computer lab and powered up their classmate PCs. They didn’t know it, but today they would be sending their very first email to Laura Hartman, founder of L’Ecole de Choix. It took nearly two hours, but under close supervision of our team and the teachers, each student opened their anonymous account, composed and addressed a new message, typed a brief message, and then hit “send”.  

They were content to have accomplished their assignment, and they had little idea what would happen next. Within minutes of hitting “send,” each student received a personal reply from Laura, with an attached photo from her office in downtown Chicago. Each student read their email, and beamed, as their connection to the world took on a new dimension. 

4th grade student reading his very first email

This may not sound like a big deal to people in the US or Europe, but in the town of Mirebalais, Haiti, this is little short of miraculous.  These children are the poorest of the poor.  None of the other schools here have computers. And very few Haitians have ever experienced a conventional postal service, let alone email.

I emailed Laura and thanked her for responding so quickly to the students, and to tell her how much each of her messages meant to the students.  Her response summed it up nicely:  “You do not know how important this is….To give their voices life throughout the world, you have given them power.”

This two week assignment has been marked by other milestones, including working closely with the teachers on integrating technology into their classrooms and leveraging the computer lab in their teaching. We also provided additional training on the reporting features of Waterford Early Learning so teachers can better track the progress their students are making in learning English. And we upgraded the computer lab to run Waterford’s rich multimedia content wirelessly to increase mobility.

Our team feels proud that our assignment has made a small contribution towards the larger effort that is L’Ecole de Choix, which is profoundly changing the lives of hundreds of children in Mirebalais.

IESC Haiti 2H'12 team (L-R): Jean-Robert, Cheryl, Eric, Alice, Emiliano

Ramon Morales, Americas Education Regional Manager at Intel®

October 17th-19th. Mexico City

Like every year, Intel ® met with media people from different areas to demonstrate how people’s lives can be transform through technology.

In Intel ®, we are creating and promoting  educational solutions, in order to achieve the transformation of education, professional development and economic impact.

These solutions are focused on developing in students the skills of the XXI century, fundamental to help us collaborate, solve problems, expand our creativity and make the best of ourselves.

On this occasion, Ramon Morales, Intel ® Education Director for the Americas, brought the audience the opportunity to have fun and live experiences and emotions, through technology, learning music with Intel ® Learning Series: ”We know today that different activities such as music and education, need a facilitator to help the user to create something wonderful. Although some have experienced playing music before, is different to play together and create something with rhythm and harmony, something similar happens in education where the teacher has to understand the potential of all its students to help them use their full capacity. You can have the best technology and the best applications, but we all need a facilitator”

Through this innovative musical activity, was demonstrated how Intel’s technology applied on their products and applications work together to provide the best experience for end users, and in our case, students, highlighting the experiences and emotions that are part of our daily life.

Four teams of Intel employees have traveled to Senegal and Zambia to set up Intel classmate PCs in schools, as well as to provide training to teachers and students so they are able to effectively use technology to improve the quality of learning.

Students at World Vision sponsored school in Senegal gain PC skills with training from Intel

The importance of this program was best summarized by one of the teachers in Senegal, who told the team of Intel volunteers: “It’s a high tech world, and if we can’t use computers, then we are illiterate.”

Currently, two IESC teams are assisting World Vision with new projects in Rwanda and Tanzania. I asked Russ Earl, a software engineer at Intel in Hillsboro, Oregon, to describe his team’s preparations to travel to Rwanda this October to work in a World Vision Community Knowledge Center.

“What kinds of computer skills should we teach?” “What software should we bring?” “How should we dress?” These are some of the questions that my Intel colleagues (Harini, Cong, Daman, and Mani) and I have had over the past month.

This journey started in July when I submitted my application for IESC. Shortly after getting the exciting news that I had been selected for this competitive program, I met my teammates and we shared our motivations for participating. I talked about serving as a missionary in French Polynesia, where I often had to go without luxuries such as hot showers and microwave. My teammates talked about volunteering in Costa Rica, working at a women’s shelter, starting a tutoring business, and having a life objective to “leave it better than I found it.” I felt renewed in my efforts to volunteer as I considered the examples of my colleagues.

Teachers in Zambia use LEGO robots to inspire students to learn computer programming

In addition to our training plan, gathering software, and planning our wardrobe, we also needed to start getting vaccinations. And I mean a LOT of them! I received seven shots in two visits to the Intel clinic in Oregon, a dizzying list including rabies, yellow fever, typhoid fever, DTaP, hepatitis, and meningococcal. On the final visit for my third rabies shots, the nurse asked me if either of the first two caused me any soreness. I certainly felt soreness but didn’t know how to determine which of the shots was responsible!

I have always found that volunteering greatly enriches my life. I’m looking forward to my experience in Rwanda and am proud to work for a company like Intel that gives such opportunities to its employees.

Russ is one of the 30 IESC volunteers who have put aside their busy day jobs for two weeks to assist World Vision in their mission to help children around the world. Again, please vote for Intel and World Vision today in the 2012 Corporate Citizenship Awards sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center!

 Numbers around the world point to the fact that abuse performed against minors via Internet is rising, and that the age group more vulnerable to these acts is between 11 and 15 years. Only in the United States, in 2008, somewhere around 7% of teenagers between 12 and 14 years have received Internet messages soliciting nude pictures of themselves[1]

 One of the most common forms of child abuse on the net is known as “child grooming[2]”. Some of the indicators that parents and teachers can detect as signs of a minor being object of this type of abuse are:

1. Spending too much time online.

2. Mood swings (irritability, excessive stealth and privacy demands, anxiety, sadness).

3. Low school performance.

 However, and despite these situations, the benefits that the correct and safe use of Internet brings to the education, entertainment, collaborative work[3] and communication in general, should not be underestimated: e-mail, chats[4], forums, social networks[5], wikis[6], etc.

At Intel® Learning Series[7] we are concerned about offering parents and teachers content administration and Internet browsing tools that confer a safe space for children to learn, collaborate and play. Such is the case of Parent Carefree[8], an integral element of the software stack included in the Intel-powered classmate PC[9], which lets parents and teachers configure access not only to applications, but also to web pages that children can and cannot visit, besides managing the amount of time that children and students can spend using their classmate PCs. Also, Parents Carefree stores information about children’s use patterns. This information can be reviewed in the form of reports or screen snapshots that capture the applications and e-mail addresses that the child is using at the moment the system gathers said information.

On top of the options that Parents Carefree offers, it is necessary to promote an education among our children and young ones that can guarantee their information’s confidentiality and the correct use of communication channels such as Internet. To that end, it’s convenient that parents and teachers take into consideration the following suggestions:

 1. Talk to children to know what they did or watched while they were online.

2. Try to know whom children talk to on chats and social networks.

3. Establish clear rules about the use of the computer (time for learning, time for playing, time for Internet browsing, etc.).

4. Talk to children about the importance of keeping personal information (name, age, address, etc.), safe and confidential.

5. Guide children around the problems that can arise by clicking on unsafe links or by downloading contents that have not been confirmed as coming from a reliable source.

6. Promote children’s trust in us by listening to them before criticizing, reprehending or punishing them.

There are several ways to see, analyze and understand the integration of technological resources into education. These perspectives depend greatly on the pedagogical models and the infrastructure and tools of each individual educational institution, community, region or country. However, the primary resource still is, regardless of the model or material resources, the teacher.

The teacher figure as a promoter and manager of the educational change models is not only important, but fundamental and a priority. The demands of the educational modernization processes require that teachers, on top of being masters of their subjects and teaching practices, have the knowledge and skills related to the use of technological tools that can be integrated into the teaching process. Thus, it is not surprising that some teachers feel overwhelmed when facing this “new necessity” that society raises: integrating the use of new technologies in the teaching and learning processes.

However, the use of technology should not be seen as a burden that adds to the long list of responsibilities that teachers need to cover during their workday: lesson preparation, student skills and competencies management, creation, review and comparison of evaluation instruments, promotion of order and discipline in the classroom, etc., but as something completely opposite.

Intel offers educational technology solutions through Intel® Learning Series . These solutions promote, among other things:

a) A better distribution of effective class time;

b) More simplicity in the creation of questions and the subsequent evaluation of said questions;

c) Improvement in student motivation and participation by providing digital mediums that transform the classroom and create an enhancing and stimulating environment;

d) Administration and discipline tools that allow teachers to focus their efforts on the dynamics of the class and help them avoid exhaustion while looking for students’ attention and order.

If, as discussed, the benefits are plenty by integrating the solutions offered by Intel® Learning Series, the question is: How can we provide teachers with orientation that allows them to include, effectively and with increasing frequency, technology in their teaching practice? Some of these orientation options are described below:

1. Including a teacher development program that precedes and goes along every project related to the implementation of this type of tools. Depending on the unique characteristics of the group of teachers attending the course, it can include from basic computing subjects to content creation based on technological tools and solutions.

2. Creating guides, templates or work plans that teachers can easily review once the training program is over. These documents should point to the situations that teachers must anticipate in the planning and execution of classes using technological resources.

3. Handing out catalogs, brochures, e-mail addresses, etc., where teachers can look for applications and tools that these new technological solutions offer in order to enhance their professional practice. It is very important that both the solution and the relevant information are in the teacher’s language.

4. Promoting spaces among teachers to share and discuss their experiences on the use of technological resources. These spaces can not only generate a greater familiarization with the use of technological tools, but also, and above all, encourages continuous training on these subjects throughout the academic body.

5. Identifying such teachers that, due to their abilities in the use of technological resources and/or the results they have achieved with their students through this type of deployments, can testify to their peers, and at the same time, serve as promoters for an integration methodology of technological resources in the classrooms of their work centers.

An educational modernization plan that takes into account these orientation options as a part of the deployment process of Intel® Learning Series educational solutions will definitely see the teacher figure as a key element in the successful adoption of the new educational model. However, it should not be forgotten that there are other actors in this process: students, parents and educational authorities. Therefore, an educational project of technological inclusion in education that involves all and each of these parts in the process will be, in essence, a successful project.

There are many and varied theories about the human development. One of them, the constructivist approach[1], considers concepts based on psychogenetic conditions in the individual, which means plausible potentials to develop, inherent to every person. These potentials are carried out according to well defined stages, bracketed by age (from 0 to 12 years). However, and despite de delimitation of said stages of development, Piaget (main theorist of this trend), does not underestimate the possibility for the development of more complex thinking throughout life.

 The cognitive behavioral approach[2], (with theorists such as Vygotsky), takes up again several precepts from the constructivist approach and adds to the psychogenetic conception, the influence of the environment (culture, interaction, society, etc.) as a key factor in the stimulation and later development of children. One of the most relevant concepts in this development approach is the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The ZPD establishes a difference between the development level that can be achieved autonomously and that achieved through the collaboration or assistance that an experienced (or more capable) individual can offer.

 Now, when speaking about favoring children’s intellectual development by bringing them closer to the use of computers from an early age, there are some factors that have to be considered:

1. Children up to four years have a notorious brain growth, characterized by constant neuron production. In the same way, it’s during this stage that infants acquire a great part of the communication skills that will later turn more complex in terms of abstraction and vocabulary that they are capable of handling.

2. The need of physical development (muscular tone, fine and gross motor skills, spatial location, etc.) that children must fulfill parallel to the intellectual and emotional development.

3. Activities of a computing environment that are suggested as appropriate for children according to their age, content, work methods, etc.

 Therefore, the question that will be presented to us now would be: what age is recommended for a child to start using computers?

 This question has spawned a whole series of debates about whether it is convenient to bring young children close to this type of tools. For example, authors such as Hohmman (1998), do not recommend this until after the 3rd or 4th year, likewise, there are other researches (Clements, 1994 and Papert 1998) that far from making estimates about the appropriate age for it, speak about the benefits that children can acquire with the use of computers, making a series of recommendations to teachers and educators in general to integrate these resources effectively in schools.

 Intel® Learning Series[3] offers teachers and parents cutting-edge tools that favor bringing children and students closer to the use of technological resources. Such is the case of the Intel-powered classmate PC[4], a computer specifically designed for children and conceived to be used in school environments, among its many characteristics are a rugged construction, drop resistance and a keyboard that offers protection against liquid spills.

 Therefore, some of these recommendations are proposed to the reader in order to positively influence development in children from 3 to 7 years:

1.  Allow children to freely explore, although under supervision of an adult or advisor, the features and applications of a computer (clicking, opening and closing windows, launch and use of software and games, etc.).

2. Foster classroom environments where children can interact with their peers on the use (shared or individual) of computers.

3. Consider activities with the computer that promote the development of fine motor skills [5] besides collaborative work[6].

  As can be noted, the use of technological resources, such as computers, can notably influence the comprehensive development of children in early stages. However, this practice should not be extenuating and even less, exclusive, of this type of resources. It should instead focus on the use of a diverse set of tools in a flexible and fun manner, in order to achieve an adequate stimulation that can lead to more and better levels of intellectual development.

Footnotes:

JSims students using Intel classmate PCs

A red dust cloud trails our Land Cruiser as we bounce along this dirt road in rural Zambia leading to Jonathan Sims Chikanta High School. Corn and cotton fields line the road, but no signs can be found. If you aren’t careful, you’ll drive all the way to Zimbabwe.

Luckily for us our journey has been expertly coordinated by Alf and his World Vision Zambia colleagues. World Vision supports Jonathan Sims, a school that changed dramatically in May 2011 when Hoops of Hope provided funding for a solar-powered computer lab with 20 Intel classmate PCs. The first IESC team set up the lab and provided initial training, and this year’s team returned to build on the foundation of PC literacy skills and help the school’s teachers integrate technology into their curriculum.

The team: Jason, Naveen, Merciless (deputy headmaster), Sisley, Mr. Kanjambo (headmaster), Andris, Cristina, Wendy

We hit the ground running, and in our first week we worked with teachers using Open Office Calc, Impress, and other software to teach PC literacy classes to more than 300 students. We demonstrated resources like Khan Academy and the Intel Learning Series classroom management software as well as the eGranary (a hard drive containing Wikipedia and 14 million educational resources). We even helped the deputy headmaster create the school’s first student ID cards.

We also demonstrated WeDo Robotics kits donated by the LEGO Foundation, showing the teachers how to create a program that lifts a robot man using a LEGO crane. The headmaster and teachers were excited about helping the students organize a robotics competition, as they were looking for an engaging, hands-on way of teaching engineering concepts.

Teachers using LEGO WeDo Robotics kits

After a year of having classmate PCs at the school, change is already palpable. Charles, the World Vision regional coordinator, noted that “enrollment is up this year because word is spreading that Jonathan Sims has a computer lab.” This is a significant leap since high school students in Zambia rarely have a chance to interact with computers. In fact, we were told that even university students often don’t get to use computers until their final year of studies.

During the second week, our team would travel to Makonkoto Basic School, but not before enjoying a rousing farewell assembly organized by the school’s headmaster, Mr. Kanjambo. Add a few speeches, a photo session with students, a final lunch with teachers, a few more speeches, and we were starting to feel like Justin Bieber. But it was time to get back out onto that dirt road, tired, but satisfied with what we accomplished.

After long day of training, enjoying a soccer game at dusk

Meg teaching Kisaruni students to use their new Intel classmate PCs

Most teen girls love to sing and dance, and that is how our week began at the Kisaruni Secondary School on a rural hillside village Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Our IESC team was welcomed with a touching and profoundly memorable cultural ceremony, and we quickly found ourselves on stage, learning the rhythmic moves alongside the school’s 91 students.

These students are amongst the fortunate few to attend the first girls’ high school in the area. Our assignment was to empower them by expanding the school’s classmate PC deployment and training the students and teachers on Intel Learning Series software and basic computer skills through the Intel® Easy Steps program. The school now has 50 classmate PCs, and the teachers and girls have embraced computing into their curriculum and daily lives.

In return for our efforts we received far greater enlightenment from the girls, the school’s fantastic teachers and our Free The Children guides: Justus, who taught us about sustainable development across Africa; James, a Maasai warrior, who protected our team and shared stories of his rich heritage; and Jane, a local Kipsigi mama and community leader who has helped her own beekeeping business and many other woman-owned enterprises to prosper through a “merry-go-round” lending program.

Kisaruni welcome ceremony, which included dance lessons for our team!

An Internet connection is not yet feasible at Kisaruni, so we trained the students to use their eGranary – a hard drive containing Wikipedia and millions of other educational documents – which dramatically changed their world. After introducing them to the concept of search, they quickly began looking up areas of interest: Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai was most popular, followed by Michael Jackson and articles on Maasai and Kipsigi culture. It was a thrill to see them empowered with all this information at their fingertips.

One morning we discussed what they were most curious about in the world. Given their introduction to computers, they asked a series of fascinating and intelligent questions: What is the Internet? What is this Facebook thing a previous visitor had mentioned to them? What is email? Would they get to use these tools when they went to college? What makes a computer think? How would computing affect their future careers in medicine, social justice law and teaching?

Meg and team visit with Jane, a community leader, in her new house

Their curiosity created a euphoric buzz at the school. After each lesson, one student would stand up and graciously share her appreciation for what she had learned. At the end of the day, the girls had to be convinced to leave the lab – as they were so energized to discover and absorb new skills.

Technology is only as good as what it will do for people. Experiencing the Kisaruni girls connecting their new access to information to the ability to realize their dreams was the thrill of a lifetime. It reinforced my passion to help others change the world – which these girls are certain to do. “Asante sana” (thank you) to Intel and Free The Children for giving us this opportunity!

Group photo after goodbye ceremony and "we will never forget you" song. Asante sana!

Rusinga's solar lab brings Intel classmate PCs to the furthest corners of the island

“Our dream is that someday, every classroom in Rusinga Island will have computers.” This hope was expressed by one of the teachers we are working with here in Kenya.

Rusinga Island is a remote location by Kenyan standards, with many men catching fish at night and women drying it and selling it by day. It’s safe to say that computers have not been a part of most people’s education here.

The Rusinga Island Trust is helping to bridge the digital divide through its mobile computer lab that visits this teacher’s school and several others on a weekly rotation. The lab uses Intel classmate PCs charged by an SUV with solar panels mounted on the roof, so it can provide training in even the most remote places.

Meet Mike, Vinesh, Vera, Haw and Glenn!

But, as we learned on our first day, it’s not always easy to get there. In fact, we were stuck in the mud for an hour en route to our first class (this article talks more about the extreme rains this year) and are getting plenty of exercise digging our car out of the mud on a regular basis, often with the assistance of complete strangers.

Our team’s mission is to deploy new classmate PCs purchased by the NGO and to provide training on advanced applications, including Excel, PowerPoint and the internet for the teachers, and working with the students on Scratch and LEGO WeDo, two simple computer programming tools.

After arriving on the island, our team and our NGO liaison Alphonce sat down with the local teacher’s council to discuss our training agenda, which was extremely useful to understand their priorities and also logistics for dividing teachers into groups. Since then we have visited five primary and secondary schools in addition to the Orphan Community Center.

Vinesh leading a class on Scratch animation

Our trip has been an adventure since we arrived. Every day has been very demanding, with multiple morning and afternoon sessions with the children, and then evening lessons for the teachers. Time-permitting, we squeeze in a soccer game where the Intel team gets to show off whatever little skill we have! In between our sessions, I am greatly enjoying the feel of the air, the smells, and the weather, which brings back childhood memories of the Fiji Islands where I grew up.

All of us are exhausted at the end of each day, but the excitement on the students’ faces and the warm greetings from the principals and teachers tells us how appreciated and welcome we are. Also exciting for the students is our two teaching assistants John and Eve. They grew up on Rusinga Island and are now university students in Nairobi, which is a huge inspiration for the students here who can now begin to dream about university and even a career in computer science.

One year after implementing Orphan Impact’s after-school program, administrators of an orphanage in Tam Binh, Vietnam have observed an interesting benefit: the “run away rate” has decreased.

Tri Tin, Tad, Erin and Duc setting up classmate PCs for new orphanage

Orphan Impact currently operates after-school programs using the Intel classmate PC in more than a dozen orphanages in Vietnam. The organization wants to ensure that they are able to impart the necessary skills and values on new teachers as they expand their program to new locations, which is part of the scope of work of our IESC team.

After observing classes at Tam Binh to learn more about their teaching methodology, our team returned to Orphan Impact’s office in Ho Chi Minh City to facilitate “train the trainer” sessions with three staff teachers. Our goal is to develop training content for bringing new teachers on board, with a focus on promoting skills in areas ranging from collaboration and problem solving to “love and care,” which includes showing respect for the children and recognizing their accomplishments.

No IESC teacher training is complete without Intel t-shirts!

It was very nice to see the kids so engaged, and it’s exciting to learn that a child’s ability to create something using the classmate PC and share it with their teacher and peers can have an impact on their desire to stay at the orphanage and continue learning.

Next week we travel to Can Tho, where Orphan Impact is launching a new program at an orphanage there. This involves training a new teacher, which will be a great chance for the teachers to practice what we are helping them to prepare this week.

Because Intel has a site in Vietnam, we were able to add two local volunteers to our team – Aikido and Tri Tin, who along with Duc (based in Santa Clara, CA but originally from Vietnam) have provided valuable Vietnamese language skills to our team. We have divided into two groups, one focusing on “train the trainer” sessions and the other configuring classmate PCs and setting up network connection protocols for the new site.

Trying a local umbrella on walk to orphanage

Can Tho is a three hour drive southwest of Ho Chi Minh city and the orphanage is in a much more rural area, so we are preparing for issues like power outages and intermittent internet connectivity.  All of our hard work and preparation will be put into action as we set up the new classroom, meet new children, and prepare the next Orphan Impact instructor.

Karibu students using new Intel classmate PC convertible to study the alphabet

A toddler navigating a computer is an impressive sight anywhere, but it’s especially head-turning in the slum areas surrounding Thika, Kenya. At the Karibu Centre, pre-schoolers receive a hot meal and an education – including lessons on the Intel classmate PC – thanks to Orphans Overseas.

During our IESC assignment in Thika, a local TV channel ran a story praising these “Computer Wizards at the Age of Two.” That’s a slight exaggeration (the 3-5 year olds get most of the computer time at Karibu), but it’s not far off, and we marveled at students navigating the mouse to breeze through literacy and numeracy exercises.

It’s clear evidence of the ability of computers to not only teach ICT skills, but increase student engagement, attendance, and as NGO director Jorie Kincaid aims to demonstrate, test scores. In Karibu’s case, they are looking closely at the admissions test given by local primary schools prior to enrollment.

On a tour of Gachage slum, this boy caught my eye

In the nearby Gachage slum, John the tribal chief led us on a walk through the neighborhood to show us the daily challenges that families face. Despite the power lines overhead, the single room dwellings are un-electrified, and most parents are lucky to find work busting rocks at a local quarry. During the rainy season, standing water is everywhere. 

One of the highlights of our trip (in addition to the adorable students!) has been working with the Karibu Centre teachers. Karibu recently launched an initiative to take classmate PCs into nearby public schools to teach basic ICT skills. Our team is helping to develop an ICT training curriculum that maps to the Kenyan learning objectives for early childhood development.

Jane is one of Karibu’s field teachers and is the perfect embodiment of the organization’s mission. Jane comes from the Gachage slum, where she experienced the challenges of growing up on one meal per day and going to public schools.

Now Jane is helping to lead the organization’s expansion into the community. Jane takes classmate PCs to local schools on a rotation, providing computer lessons to students, and in the future teachers so they can improve their own PC skills using the Intel Easy Steps program.

Jane demonstrating lesson plan, using classmate PC on a chair instead of monitor due to power cut

I asked Jane if anything like the Karibu Centre existed when she was growing up. “Oh no,” Jane recalled, telling me about her school. “It was made using mud, so sometimes when it rained it would be swept away.”

The solid foundation of the Karibu Centre was evident to our team, as we hunkered down in the school’s covered courtyard while rain pounded for hours on our first day. Personally, I feel that empowering teachers with technology has felt as satisfying as building a school. After training them on how to document a lesson plan using PowerPoint, the teachers told us it was the first time they had ever given a presentation to their colleagues using a computer.

“Working with Intel is something that is so awesome!” Jane told me when I asked her for a message to take back to my colleagues in the US. “I so enjoy every visit.” We feel the same way about working with Orphans Overseas!

Teacher learns new PC skills while baby sleeps

IESC is back in Tattaguine, Senegal! Our assignment is to deploy Intel classmate PCs and train teachers at a primary school (Ecole Elémentaire El Hadj Moustapha Sarr) in collaboration with World Vision. 

We are building on the foundation of the last IESC team, which deployed classmate PCs at the local high school. Besides the age of the students and working with new teachers, the main difference with this deployment is the weather. At this time of year, Tattaguine (around three hours southeast of Dakar) gets extremely hot, note the “feels-like temperature” of 129 from our iPhone weather app (photo below)!

The community has welcomed us with open arms; teachers, students, Parent Teacher Association (PTA) members, and local leaders were anxious to begin using the classmate PCs. Their goal is to give students early exposure to computers and the Internet, enabling a smooth transition into the high school curriculum.

Note "feels-like temperature" of 129F (or 54C)!

The teachers are enjoying the combination of hands-on classmate PC training and the Intel Teach Getting Started program, which blends 21^stcentury technology with pedagogical training.  “I’m excited to learn some new methodologies and incorporate them with technology into my classes,” said Professeur Augustin, one of the teachers participating in our training.

It’s also exciting to see the results of last year’s IESC training six months later. Two teachers from the high school are attending some of our sessions and one of them, Professor Ba, who is also the IT Manager at the high school, volunteered to present the Intel Learning Series classroom management software sessions. It’s great to see “train the trainer” in action.

IESC team with community members, World Vision staff and students after arriving in Tattaguine

Besides the heat, challenges we are working through include power outages, internet connectivity issues, and LOTS of dust!  As an experiment we left a classmate PC open all day in the lab to see how much dust accumulated:  the results are visible in the photo below… you might see a familiar logo!  Luckily the classmate PC is built to withstand tough conditions, and has even been used in the 4 Deserts race across Antarctica and the Sahara, Gobi and Atacama deserts!

Check back soon to read more about how the teachers incorporate their learning and technology into their lesson plans at the Tattaguine Ecole Elémentaire El Hadj Moustapha Sarr, the latest school in Senegal to benefit from the Intel Learning Series.

Last week you may recall our focus on getting the school’s systems running smoothly and working closely with Jean-Claude, the computer lab manager. After that, we moved to our next major objective: to provide extensive training to the teachers with the goal of integrating technology more deeply into the classroom.

To start things off, we organized a teacher training party at Mary the principal’s apartment and invited all the teachers for food and games on our first Sunday in Mirebalais.

We used LEGO Education’s WeDo Robotics kits as an icebreaker. The second grade teacher Moise was joined by his 8 and 10 year old sons, who provided much needed expertise in LEGO assembly. After that we used the Intel Learning Series Classroom Management software to deliver a quiz on what we had covered. The teachers appreciated how this software lets you do real time assessments in the classroom.

Programming LEGO robots with the teachers

We were struck by how motivated the teachers are. Many of them traveled a long distance for the party; in Jean Claude’s case, he had a two hour journey home, in the pouring rain, on his motorbike!

The following week, we continued working closely with the teachers, providing follow up training on a variety of software and content. The teachers love BrainPOP, which provides educational videos on a variety of subjects in English and French. We watched first graders learn how caterpillars turn into butterflies, while second graders got lessons in arithmetic. More importantly, the teachers practiced searching for relevant lessons and developed appropriate usage models for Haiti, such as playing a video with a projector, and pausing for Creole translation.

Working with Romain, 1st Grade Teacher

Previously I wrote about the Waterford Early Learning program, which contains thousands of lessons that students take individually with headsets. But Waterford didn’t forget about the teachers. In fact they created a powerful reporting tool that closely tracks the progress of individual students. A teacher can see that Christophe is doing well in letter recognition, or that Francine needs extra instruction in counting.  

We also reviewed the science sensors and software donated last year by PASCO. These USB-powered probes can be used to perform science experiments with very simple materials like a cup of water, which is great in an environment like Haiti where not all supplies are readily available.

In addition to training, our team focused our final days on the unglamorous task of documentation. Our tri-lingual team was able to document important processes in English, French and Creole, and we even shot videos showing step by step how to connect, boot and shut down the Critical Links server.

On our last day, we received the best reward for our hard work, as the second graders demonstrated the LEGO robots that they created. The students called each other “Engineer Joseph” or “Engineer Whitney” which was so inspiring. These children are beginning to see a bright future ahead of them!

We also were treated to a message on the blackboards that said “Thank you Intel, please come back.” We would love to! In return, we would like to thank all the teachers and the students at L’Ecole de Choix for this wonderful experience.

Professor James Paul Gee, himself an expert on the topic of games and learning, shared this vision with Intel today during a thought provoking lecture.

Professor Gee talked about Foldit, an intriguing puzzle game that suggests this future has already arrived. In Foldit, players without any formal scientific training manipulate proteins to find the lowest energy shape. He cited a study showing that people could find the ideal shape better than a supercomputer 7 out of 10 times, even though there are billions of ways to fold a protein.

Besides being a kind of maddening and addictive alternative to Sudoku, this game can also help to develop drugs that target proteins in an optimal way. Think about that missed opportunity the next time you see someone scrutinizing a book of puzzles at the airport.

If tapping into collective intelligence through games can have world-changing implications, it’s logical to ask how to extend this approach to formal education. Not so fast, cautions Professor Gee. Unfortunately, he argues, our schools are stuck in a paradigm that favors memorizing information to pass a test.

But, he does see promising embers starting to glow, such as Quest To Learn and Institute of Play.

Professor Gee outlined the three requirements for any game to be successful in achieving learning. First, it should have an interesting problem statement. In other words, the problem the player is asked to solve should be difficult, interesting, and even addicting.

Second, the game needs what he calls an “affinity space.” Think of this as the social network component of any game. As an example, he talked about communities of people who discuss games such as The Sims, where players modify the game by creating custom worlds, scenarios, and even Mohawks as shown in the photo.

And finally, a game should have an educational toolkit that provides what you need to know in order to advance in the game. This is, where many of today’s games fall short, and where professional educators need to play an active role.

By combining these elements, a game developer hopes to escape the Pareto Principle, whereby 10% of participants are absorbed in advancing in the game and actively creating content, with the other 90% taking a more passive, consuming role. This is obviously essential in a classroom environment.

These insights tie directly into the Intel Learning Series and how Intel designs its purpose-built education platforms like the classmate PC and the studybook, our new tablet design. We strive to create devices that allow students to engage in a variety of learning activities through mobility, ruggedness and relevant software and content. 

From now on I’ll be thinking more carefully about the three factors that Professor Gee mentioned and look forward to seeing games that can appeal to students, drive learning, and advance our education system.

The 1H12 IESC Haiti Team: Yvonne, Anne Mieke, Nancy, Jonathan and John

Upon arrival at the airport in Port-au-Prince, we were greeted by a band playing tropical music. This is an impression of the country that would stay with us throughout our two week IESC assignment: warm, colorful and lively.

Maybe a bit too lively, we realized on our first day at L’Ecole de Choix, when 30 youngsters stormed into the school’s computer lab and started hitting every key on their Intel classmate PCs simultaneously. As computers crashed and the students grew restless, we huddled with the lab manager Jean-Claude and came up with a new process. All the students were told to line up outside the computer lab, and they entered one by one to learn how to sign-in to their computer.

L’Ecole de Choix (The School of Choice, or simply “Choix”) was conceived in 2010 to educate the future leaders of Haiti. Choix opened in 2011 with a beautiful campus, 180 students (pre-K through 4) and a computer lab installed by the Intel Education Service Corps..

Lab Manager Jean-Claude with students

We knew from our communication with the school that the students had been using the classmate PCs – mostly basic apps for typing and drawing. But a problem with the school’s server had developed shortly before our arrival, preventing the use of the Waterford software for learning English, Math and Science.

Thanks to their thorough preparation, our technical gurus John and Jonathan upgraded the server platform and had the Waterford software up and running quickly.

Jonathan sets up the Critical Links appliance

Soon students were tugging at our sleeves to show us their screens as they advanced through their Waterford lessons. They called us maman (mommy), papa (daddy), mademoiselle, and blan (white person), which they used to address even Yvonne, who is from Ivory Coast!

Most of the students at Choix are from poor rural households and have never been to school before. We were reminded that it takes time to learn how to be a student: to sit quietly, line up, use the toilets, wash your hands, and raise your hand to ask a question.

It’s incredible to see how quickly the children learn and to watch their dedication to the computer lessons: at the end of one session, one of the girls tried to hide under her desk, hoping she could join the next session too!

Smiling students at L'Ecole de Choix

In our next week at Choix we have a great deal of training material to cover with the teachers on educational software and content. Please look forward to my next blog about these hard-working educators – the key to the sustainability of the school’s e-learning efforts.

Preparing Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Careers:

• Key characteristics for workers in the future; Problem Solvers, Critical Thinkers, and Team Players! Our kids need to learn collaboration and reasoning skills
• Students today are still, for the most part, being driven by Content Knowledge versus Application of Knowledge…in other words they are learning the content, but not really learning how to apply that content to real world problems…linking back to the key characteristics.
• To get kids interested in these jobs of tomorrow, we need to peak their interest in school – and early on! We need to develop visionary thinkers with our education programs…that means kids need to be able to think, need to have hands on experiences, and need to have fun!
• Agree we need to build the fundamentals, but we also need kids to be curious…how do we do that? We excite them about what they are learning! This will also foster a desire for lifelong learning…which is very important!
• Part of the problem is that Educators are asked to do one thing – teach a set of content that matches core curriculum standards – but that is different than what business needs in its new employees…
• To better align and cross this needs gap, we need to build within our students a curiosity! This becomes a driver for them to learn more about their environment, how things work, why things happen. When they start asking these types of questions, they start to explore and learn!
• Books and Worksheets are not going to cut it anymore – we need learning to be hands on and fun.
• We also need to teach our kids that it is OK to fail…but learn from your failures. Experimentation is what happens in real life – we try things we think will work…if they don’t we understand why they didn’t work and do something different to overcome those issues.
• To do this stuff, we need to change what we measure…test scores are not the answer alone. We need to measure the real results of kids learning and becoming curious. We need to measure the assimilation and application of those knowledge concepts!
• We need to bring in programs that pull industry into the classroom – Job Shadowing opportunities, Internships, Mentorships, Industry visits, speakers in classroom, have industry partners co-teach in a class, and many more things like this. Schools/Districts should also setup Program Advisory Committees that bring in local industry to help form and develop innovative programs! Even do joint projects with a local company…that would get kids really excited – I know mine would!
• Can you imagine a student graduating from high school with a portfolio of projects they have done with local companies, internships, and real world experience? That would give them a huge leg up for college and for their career path!

How Technology is Shaping STEM Education: This was my panel and here are some of the key points I discussed…

• On technology intersecting hands-on experiences in the classroom…There are three major areas where technology should be intersecting in the classroom for hands on activities; Collaboration, Replacement/Augmentation of existing manipulatives, and Delivering New Ways to Learn. For collaboration, technology can be a great connector of collaboration. It will allow the teacher to easily setup collaboration sessions, monitor that everyone is on track, and allow students to interact together with the hands on elements – technology can make it easy to collaborate in the classroom. For the hands on manipulatives, technology is perfect for this part! Technology can bring to the table some amazing ways to interact with real world. From simulating real things that you might not be able to bring into the classroom – like art and electricity for example – to being the manipulative itself. For example, having Smart blocks that can change and interact with other blocks to help guide and reward students for doing things right and then communicating with their laptop to track their progress is just scratching the surface. Technology is the ultimate manipulative! And lastly, delivering new ways to learn – technology can really help drive the experiences in a classroom for both the teachers and students. Technology solutions can help keep pace with the students by constantly evaluating them and making things easier or harder. This allows those that are struggling to get the guided personalized help they need, and for the advanced student, it can adjust to be challenging for them to keep their interest. Technology solutions can help bring a personalized approach to learning and help the teachers be better teachers by augmenting their skills and tools and by helping students get more of what they need.
• On what three technology trends that will change the classroom in the next three years…Touch interaction, Digital Curriculum & Assessment, and Social Media. Touch (and now gestures and voice) are the interaction tools of the future. They are more natural and make interacting with technology so much more simple and logical. Touch devices in tablets, ultrabooks, and note/netbooks will change how students interact and will also allow technology to be adopted by the lower grades. See how easy it is for a kid to play with a smartphone…they just pick it up and go – it is intuitive! My younger daughter, Emerson, was using a classmate PC convertible tablet with a touch screen since she was 2-1/2! It is simple and easy and makes technology solutions more meaningful and relevant. Secondly is digital curriculum and assessment. For the digital curriculum, it is only natural that we move in this direction. Books are heavy, non-interactive, and take forever to get updated. Moving to a digital text allows them to be very portable, very up to date, and insanely interactive and fun! As I mentioned above, personalized learning is where technology in the classroom is taking us and that is here too on the assessment and delivery of the content side. A student can be tested for ability or comprehension in and area and presented material that matches their ability and as they increase, the material gets harder. An example of this is a language arts program from McGraw Hill called LEAD 21. It delivers interactive digital content to the students – the topics are the same so the teacher can discuss the story and themes in class, but each student gets the material tailored to their ability. So a student in the lower end would get simpler words and sentence structure, but the above grade level students would get harder words and more complicated structures. It allows each student to learn and get help at their level while allowing them to stay engaged and excited about learning – that is really the future of where text books need to go. And lastly, Social Media – this is a tougher one as it has it’s pros an can’s that are all over the news, but all in all, there are many positives for social media and our kids in school if we supervise appropriately. Students can now collaborate and get exposed to people all over the world. They can get different perspectives on things and they can talk to experts that would normally not be available to them. One class I have seen actually publishes their own articles to social networking and has a group of worldwide education followers that engage the kids in their work and provides other insights and critiques…it is very cool and powerful. These three technologies can really take our kids education forward in leaps and bounds!
• What about helping teachers? Well, this is a great point – many teachers are embracing technology full force in schools while many more are intimidated by it and potentially even their students who they perceive may know more than them and in some cases do. That is ok…we need to realize that teachers need the right resources to help them. Some of that is Professional Development for the bigger concepts like 1:1 and personalized learning, but we also need to encourage teachers to use what they have…embrace the student that knows more than them to help them AND their class of other students. They need to reach out into the community to bring parents and local businesses that can bring in experts to help teach a topic and they will likely pick up some new things as well as the students. They should not be afraid, but embrace what is around them! Additionally, the school systems need to encourage, embrace, and reward those teachers that go the extra mile on embracing new ways to teach and using technology…it is a tops down and bottoms up approach as we say!

There was so much more there that I could go on for a bunch more, but you are getting my point…the major themes here are technology is coming, embrace it, it will truly help the students now and in the world when they graduate – businesses really need and expect more from our students when they graduate. Also, we need to change the way we think about education – we need to create better Problem Solvers, Critical Thinkers, and Team Players – and we do this by getting our kids EXCITED about learning and encourage them to be hands on and explore…ask questions and truly be eager to understand the world around them. It shouldn’t be just a job for them to do, but an experience they will remember! This is a tall order, but I truly believe in this approach. Watch a kid who is having fun and interested in what they are being taught – they are more engaged, motivated, and are learning more…try it!

Showing off classmate with PASCO

The new Intel classmate PCs are being showcased in about 20 booths here at BETT, by computer and software vendors from our network of over 500 Intel Learning Series Alliance members from 70 countries. These Alliance members, like PASCO Scientific, have optimized their education content and peripherals to run on classmate PCs, and they are showing some amazing applications here at the show.

Latest Intel classmate convertible tablet

All the latest educational technology here at BETT is thrilling, and what makes me really excited is to imagine how it will be used by students around the world. A few weeks ago, I had the chance to visit some of our Intel Learning Series projects in China, Russia, Turkey and Germany, and once again I came away amazed by the ways students and teachers are using our technology to transform teaching and learning. 

Meeting Moby from BrainPOP

For example, in Russia, we visited a high school where they have set up telescopes in a special roof tower, their own planetarium with a spherical projector, and their own professional video studio with a “green room” for virtual reality projects. Students at this school are using their classmate PCs for scientific experiments and activities both inside and outside the classroom. I can’t wait to see what these students will be able to do with our new platforms!

classmate PC Billboard in London

Today we also announced that we have now shipped more than six million Intel classmate PCs in over 70 countries since we first launched in 2007. I can’t wait to see what these six million students and the millions more to come will be able to do with our new platforms and the new technology on display by our Alliance members here at BETT. We have big goals for 2012, and we hope you’ll join us in building a more engaging, student-centered learning model for all 1.5 billion K-12 students and teachers out there around the world.

First of a three-part series written by Nassim Lewis, one of Intel’s leaders in education interactive design

The last few decades have brought significant changes to the economies of the world. Forces like globalization have changed the where and what of our workplaces. Countries that once focused on manufacturing have transitioned to more knowledge based industries and former agrarian nations have become global manufacturers. Technology has been a key driving force in many of these changes. Developments like personal computing, cell phones and the internet have changed the how and when of information. People across the globe now have faster, broader and more mobile access to information. At the individual level these changes have had a major impact on the skills a person needs to be successful in the 21st century. It is thus critical that our education systems adapt to focus on 21^st century skills building, in order to maximize the potential of each individual student.

The skills of the 21st century are focused around higher order processes like critical thinking, collaboration and effective communication. Traditional pedagogies which depend on a top down flow of information and rote memorization are not sufficient. We live in an information age where students more than ever need to know where to find information and how to analyze the information they receive. Technology plays an important role in delivering these skills. Not only will most students enter a workplace that is dependent on information and computing technologies but technology also fosters 21st century skills like information literacy, communication and collaboration.

A growing number of organizations like Partnership for 21st century Education (P21) have responded to the changing education needs and are providing direction for educators, administrators and policy makers. In the Framework for 21st Century Learning, P21 describes the knowledge and skills that students must master to succeed in life, and also the critical education support systems that must be in alignment for students to master 21st century skills. As providers of education solutions, we must share the same goal, and strive to create 21st century solutions. To help guide our decisions regarding research and development, we must explore and address the needs of each education support system: standards, assessment, curriculum, professional development and the learning environment.

In future articles of this three part series, we will delve deeper into each of the 21^st century education support systems. We will explore the history, current state and emerging trends associated with each system, beginning with standards and assessment in the next article.

The Intel Education Service Corps (IESC) is a short-term service and career development opportunity for a select group of Intel employees to support the deployment of Intel-powered classmate PCs in developing countries. In this blog, Heather Levin, an applications engineer at Intel, recaps her team’s second week of experiences in India working with CARE in Kushalda.

The last afternoon in Hardoi was full of tears as the teachers wrote long letters thanking us and the girls made us a card with a flame and told us that we were a light in darkness. We felt like movie stars as we said our goodbyes to little girls as they waved, and asked us to return soon.

Today we were introduced to the Udaan school in Kushalda (Orissa province). There were some noticeable differences with the Kushalda School. First, it was warmer in Orissa, and for the first time since arriving in India, the sky was blue, instead of the usual white. Unlike Hardoi, the girls appeared more shy, and they wore uniforms of pink, blue, and green dresses. The computer room was bare; the only objects within the confines of the cement walls were pigeons, tatami mats, and the classmate PCs. Where in Hardoi we relied heavily on Deepak’s Hindi, here we were relying on Deepak’s translation of our lesson plans into Hindi and the teachers’ translation of his Hindi into Oriya.

Though different, it did not take us long to warm up to Kushalda. Where in Hardoi we were regularly served warm chai, here we get fresh coconut water. Within an hour we were served tea in tiny little cups, biscuits, sev puri and a mixture of salty snacks. Spoiled and well fed, we got to work creating a single “golden image” of the classmate PC to clone the others, and then we connected them to a wireless network so that we could use Intel’s Classroom Management software to remotely control the student computers. We ended the evening with a meeting with the teachers and introduced ourselves to the entire school of wide eyed little girls.

We were greeted this morning with a class assembly of a 100 girls, singing and dancing in a circle around us. It is not clear to me whether it is a difference in local customs or whether these girls have seen more suffering but they do not smile as easily as the girls from Hardoi.

However, as we started our lessons the girls began to come out of their shells. They were surprisingly fast and maneuvered themselves around the computer and games with nimble skill. There is something very rewarding and comforting in the low hum of little voices, practicing their addition, subtraction, and multiplication in a way that had been foreign the day before. In the evening we listened to a few of the girls sing heart-wrenching melodies in their local tongue. Later we exchanged dance lessons as we taught them the Hokey Pokey and the girls taught us a local dance.

As we drove the one hour trip to and from the school each day, we observed children farming, fishing, working in construction, and walking through the streets. We realized that the girls in the Udaan school are here because of the hard work and vision of many people. It is hard to know where these girls will be in 10 years but it is clear that they at least have a chance, and their communities will prosper because of it.

Imagine growing up in an orphanage in Vietnam and getting to take a field trip to the Intel factory. While touring the office, you recognize one of the employees as one of the older children from the orphanage. Our IESC team was able to organize just such a field trip and see the excitement on the faces of the children when they recognized their friend.

Orphan Impact is an organization that provides skills training to orphans in Vietnam, skills that they hope can allow children to grow up and find good jobs like the one mentioned above. Our team – consisting of five US-based employees and four Intel Vietnam employees – is working directly with three orphanages supported by Orphan Impact, two in Ho Chi Minh City (Linh Xuan & Tam Binh, the latter incidentally being the same orphanage where Angelina Jolie adopted her son Pax) and one in a town called Vung Tau. One of our goals is to design and test a distance learning system to help provide high-quality lessons to five other remote orphanages in Lai Chau, Ha Giang, Quang Tri, Tuyen Quang & Cao Bang.

The field trip, where we took ten students from Tam Binh to visit the Intel factory in Ho Chi Minh City, was an amazing experience for us and for the children. We took them to the Intel cafeteria for lunch and allowed them to choose whatever they wanted. They took one of everything, and they ate it ALL! After lunch, we led the students on a “window tour” of the factory and visited the exercise room, play room, and some fancy conference rooms. It was inspiring for the students to recognize their friend, who had just started as a manufacturing technician, as it helped them see that they can get a good job if they study hard and pursue their dreams.

We will also never forget our visit to the Linh Xuan orphanage, where all of the children are HIV positive. Visiting this orphanage was very powerful experience for our team. “Visiting Linh Xuan has made me feel heavy hearted,” said volunteer Huong Huynh. But as volunteer Hung Pham noted in a sentiment shared by everyone on our team, “Helping and learning with the kids makes me realize and appreciate what we have in our life.”

The students we meet in all of the orphanages we visit show incredible strength and happiness despite their situation. We also have great admiration for the teachers of Orphan Impact, who are full of energy, love, care, dedication and time.

It is exciting to see the teachers and students using the Intel-powered classmate PCs, clearly benefiting from the training that the previous IESC teams delivered. We all feel the technology is a great tool to help improve the students’ education, and we hope that the time we spend with the teachers and students will help them create even more success stories like the one mentioned above.

From high school freshman using Wikipedia to toddlers clapping their hands with glee after coloring a picture, it is exciting to see the classmate PC used in such different settings. Our IESC team -Tawny, Joe, Ferg, Max, and Megan – just concluded an incredibly successful second week with Orphans Overseas at the Karibu Center. Our mission was nothing less than to help provide 120 preschoolers with a new medium for cognitive development.

Orphans Overseas is a fantastic organization that provides free education and meals for impoverished youngsters from Thika (a town 25 miles northeast of Nairobi) while helping their mothers to find work. One of the center’s challenges has been dealing with limited teaching resources. With one teacher for every 60 students, teachers often engage in “listen and recite” type learning, which has limited the teachers’ ability to address individual student needs and provide more advanced methods of learning.

Orphans Overseas founder Jorie Kincaid’s ICT experience both as an educator and with her own children has led to her conviction that using computers can augment a child’s development. This planted the seeds for the relationship between Orphans Overseas and the Intel Education Service Corps. And because the Intel classmate PC is rugged, compact, and energy efficient, it is ideally suited for the classrooms at the Karibu Center.

Our team’s deployment was focused on providing the maximum opportunity for learners to engage with the center’s 25 new Intel classmate PC (the convertible tablet version). We started by teaching 60 4-5 year old learners with three half-hour sessions to learn how to use the mouse and keyboard. By the fourth lesson these first-time computer users were able to independently navigate and interact with a coloring book and basic counting application. Now, the students are able to independently engage with educational software such as Rusty and Rosy Learn with Me™ from the Waterford Institute, provide customized reading instruction, memory retention exercises, and more advanced mathematical concepts.

On the first day we introduced a simple program that required the learners to use the mouse/touchpad to drag a crayon across the screen, after which the picture would fill with color and come to life with animation and sound. The learners would burst into jubilation upon accomplishing this challenge – clapping their hands and cheering “Yeah!”

The next lessons focused on finer mouse manipulation and using the left click button by having the students pick colors from a palette then clicking areas of a drawing to fill them in with color. We could hardly keep up with all the learners calling us over to show us their wonderful work and skills (see embedded video above)!

In our last session, students were able to use a basic counting program, counting different objects on the screen then using the mouse to navigate and click on the correct answer of four possible answers presented. The highlight of the week came when the learners demonstrated all of this to their parents during an open house on their last day with us. Simply amazing!

In addition to training the 4-5 year olds, we were also able to provide 60 three-year-olds with the same experience of using the mouse to color the picture. In addition, we were able to train teachers and staff on various educational software titles, PC maintenance tools, and also programs for single mothers that teach typing and improve their reading and writing skills. Our team also helped reduce Orphans Overseas internet costs by 90% and greatly improved the effectiveness of their local area network.

At the end of the week our team couldn’t help but feel a tremendous amount of pride and satisfaction knowing how our work positively impacted Orphans Overseas ability to serve the needs of these extremely worthy children and the Thika community. To see the awe on the youngsters’ faces as they experienced these new learning tools was priceless, and we consider ourselves extremely lucky for the chance to be part of that.

As we walked through the gates of the Sarvodaya Ashram on Tuesday morning, it was clear that we had entered a sanctuary. Four groups of 25 girls were seated on the floor, engaged with each other, their teacher, and their studies. Perhaps these girls have known suffering but you would never have known it from their faces. It was clear that the Udaan school – supported by CARE India and designed to help girls catch up from a gap in their schooling – has created a nurturing family where the girls feel safe and are able to focus on their development.

The girl’s faces were shy and curious as they began their first computer class. Within minutes, they were engaged and actively exploring what we had shown them. We had prepared more advanced lesson plans, but we had to adapt and adjust as so many of the fundamental skills that are engrained in us are new to them. In addition, we had created an Excel wedding budget lesson plan, but the girls informed us that weddings come only after their studies.

So we focused on practical skills like navigating the desktop, using a mouse, opening, saving, and formatting but always ended class with an activity that thrilled them. The girls were mesmerized by the use of the classmate PC’s camera, snapping pictures of themselves, their teachers, and us.

The typing and math games we introduced not only reinforced the children’s ability but inspired a teacher, who had previously stated that she only wanted one hour of computer usage per week, to say that she would start using the software as part of her math curriculum. The girls quickly grew more confident and began navigating the computer and practicing addition, subtraction, and multiplication. We tried to plant at least one seed in their imagination, and each day they left class sparkling with delight, waving, and shouting Namaste to us.

On our last day we taught the girls basic robotics by having them build crocodiles, monkeys, and planes from a LEGO Education product called WeDo, which contains not only LEGO pieces but a USB-powered motor with various sensors and a visual programming interface that runs on the classmate PC. Yesterday, none of the girls knew what robots were, but today they built and programmed their own. The click of their minds as new neural networks were manifested, on some level, seemed to shift our future. Set in motion, inspired by the congregation of forces – locals, CARE, Intel, and us – there is no bound to what these girls can do. Each girl that we help helps another, and thus, not only the girls themselves, but our dreams of a better world, take flight.

It’s always nice to be greeted by 40 smiling faces. And this is exactly what our IESC team found when we arrived at Kisaruni Secondary School for Girls in rural Kenya. But it’s especially meaningful after you’ve had time to think about what odds these girls have faced just to get to high school.

Kisaruni was opened in 2010 by the Canada-based NGO Free the Children, and the talented teachers and staff embrace a philosophy of “active learning” – a higher level of interaction, inquisitiveness and participation than one might find in other schools in the region. Technology was identified as a necessary tool to facilitate the progressive curriculum.

After a touching welcome ceremony, we quickly worked to get the classmate PCs ready along with the network infrastructure. As the girls had never used computers before, they could hardly contain their enthusiasm to finally get started. They attacked our lessons with tenacity and focus, quickly learning how to operate the PCs, proper typing technique, mouse control, and how to run programs. Kisaruni’s philosophy of active learning was in full swing now – girls that grasped concepts faster were the first to help their fellow learners; as a result the entire class progressed quickly without stragglers. Application of the basics soon followed, as the girls built a personal journal complete with pictures, created a research project, and produced a weather trend chart after inputting data into a spreadsheet.

Perhaps the biggest door we opened for the students was the installation of an eGranary Digital Library. Think of this as an offline copy of the latest snapshot of the internet – over 14 million documents, including all of Wikipedia stored on a 2 terabyte hard drive and accessed over a server. Because this remote school does not yet have internet access, the ability to research almost any topic represents a monumental improvement over their existing library. It was amazing to watch the learners as they internalized the impact of this resource. Imagine being able to instantly receive an explanation for concepts that had previously remained a mystery – this was what we witnessed, and it was incredible.

The impact made this week at Kisaruni was at the absolute core of what the Intel Education Service Corps stands for. Our IESC team converged in Kenya from three countries -Joe, Meg and I from the United States, Fergal from Ireland, and Tawny from Costa Rica – to introduce new technology that will enhance the learning process. It’s clear that the computers, software and infrastructure presented to the school will not only continue to be well used after our team has departed, but will provide critical tools to help the girls make the most of their potential.

Here in the school courtyard, I am hiding from the equatorial sun in the shade of a neem tree. Students chat as they stand in line to pay their fees for the new academic year about to begin. A few goats roam eating anything they can find. Lycée de Tattaguine (Tattaguine High School) looks today just like it has looked on the first week of school for many years. But just a few feet away, the world is changing.

Just after arriving in Senegal last week, our IESC team unloaded 24 Intel Classmate PCs into a sweltering classroom to kick off a “programme de formation en informatique” (IT training course) for the nine teachers and head of the PTA who will oversee the new computer lab at the school, supported by World Vision.

While “computer class” might sound passé to the American ear, here in Tattaguine it’s part of the serious business of community development and educational reform. And shortly into our project we understand why: only a small fraction of the students have ever used an “ordinateur.” Computer education is not unknown in Senegal, but for many students in this rural area, concepts like using a mouse and typing on a keyboard are simply not a part of everyday life. The few desktop PCs currently in the school are used very rarely. And tellingly, there is no connection to the academic curriculum or the teaching process.

Being a lycée, the school is responsible for preparing students for university entrance exams; which are often computer based. Professor Fall soberly sums up the situation facing his students in the information age: “It’s a high tech world, and if we can’t use computers then we are illiterate.”

As we launched into the training, the teachers were immediately interested and engaged. And as we got deeper into the explanations, they became even more excited – it was better than they had imagined. They started to see what computer-based education could be!

The Intel team stresses that the point of technology is not using computers and consuming information, but rather using it in a way that helps with every academic subject, improves the quality of delivery and automates time consuming tasks such as grading exams. Through examples, the teachers have seen how the Intel classmate PC can enable a teaching style that is appealing to their students and serves as a valuable addition to traditional teaching methods. They also see an opportunity to incorporate faster feedback and bring more objectivity to testing and scoring.

We are halfway through our two-week program, and already these hardworking teachers have evolved from technology consumers to technology users as they create and present example lesson plans to each other using their computers. They connected the technology directly to their role as teachers, what they want to accomplish academically, and how they want to deliver their materials.

Professor Fall expresses his urgent hope for the students: “If they have the opportunity right here, right now, it will help them in the future.”

So even if the courtyard looks the same as it has in years past, I believe that when students arrive on Monday for the first day of classes, they have a chance to believe the world is changing.

What’s the connection between Zynga - a company that “wants to give the world permission to play” – and rural Haitian schoolchildren learning to use a computer for the first time?

The answer is L’École de Choix, a new school in Mirebalais, Haiti supported by Zynga.org. Over the last two weeks, I joined a team of five Intel Education Service Corps (IESC) volunteers to help set up 35 Intel-powered classmate PCs purchased by the school for its computer lab.

We also taught the children how to use their purpose-built education laptops. Focusing on the basics of the classmate PC’s touchpad and keyboard, we didn’t quite get to building chicken coops in FarmVille or playing Words With Friends. But Zynga.org’s mission in Haiti goes way beyond games. L’École de Choix is teaching its students science, math, technology, social studies, history, language arts, and other subjects too, all in an English-immersion environment.

After several days of technical set-up, we trained nearly 150 of the school’s kindergarten through 4th grade students, one class at a time. We also introduced them to Waterford Early Learning (WEL), an impressive English language learning program that will accelerate the students’ transition to English. The WEL content is served to the classmate PCs by a Critical Links EA100 education appliance.

In addition to Critical Links, a number of Intel Learning Series alliance members including BrainPOP, British Council, e-Learning for Kids, LEGO, PASCO, and skoool.com, have provided their products to the school at a discounted rate or even for no charge, and I want to thank them for providing so many ways for the students to enrich their education.

Many of the students had never heard the alphabet before when they sat down for their first class. A few were clearly overwhelmed; one girl had to be led out of the room by the hand because she wasn’t feeling well. But all of the students left with basic computer skills upon which they can continue to build. And the teachers knew how to make their first lessons memorable: for example, Moise (first grade) taught the alphabet through a rap. It was fun to hear the students say “ellemmennoPEE!” with enthusiasm.

In a country where less than one in three children finishes the 6th grade, L’École de Choix is an ambitious project addressing an enormous need. And the excitement is palpable. Before our classes, students wrapped around the building waiting to be admitted into the classroom, and other children and parents crowded outside the windows to catch a glimpse.

All of us at Intel look forward to hearing about the school’s progress and seeing how technology can make a difference for these children.

With a very successful first week of training behind us at Escuela Fiscal Mixta in Machala, Ecuador, our attention shifted to how to cover as much as possible in our last five days. The students attend school in the morning until just after lunch, when they head home. The afternoon is teacher preparation time; so our strategy was to attend the classes in the morning and support the teachers in using the computers in their lessons, and in the afternoon provide training to the teachers to help them in preparing for their next day’s lessons.

Because of varying levels of computer experience with the teachers, we continued to divide into groups and teach them at their level. Also, the teachers represented different grade levels, and so the lesson plans for second or third grade were much different than those for sixth or seventh grade.

The biggest reward came in the mornings when we were able to work with the teacher and the children and actually see their excitement as they used the computers in their lesson. Their eyes would light up as they got to use the computers to complete the activity assigned. Although there were varying levels of experience with the computers, it was amazing to see how quickly the children learned, especially the younger ones.

The students completed various activities using the Intel Classmate PC. The younger children practiced identifying the letters of the alphabet or colors, while the older children were able to research a topic and then actually take a quiz on the topic that the teachers had setup previously and administered via the computers.

Other companies are developing products that integrate with the Intel Classmate PC as well. For example, we brought some Lego Education WeDorobotics kits that allow the children to build various Lego creations, such as a parrot that flaps its wings through the use of a small USB-powered motor, and then control them through the computer with a simple, visual programming interface.

We also brought science sensors and lab experiments donated by PASCO. PASCO makes Probeware that connects via USB to take measurements on temperature, noise, and light levels. PASCO also provides science lessons on the computer that the teachers are able to easily integrate into a lesson plan.

As we wrapped up the week, the reality that we were going to be leaving began to set in. It’s amazing how attached you can become to a group of people in just two weeks. On the final day the school presented us with formal certificates of our work completed as a gesture of gratitude. We took turns sharing thoughts on what a wonderful experience it had been. We took some pictures and shed a few tears as we prepared to leave this humble school, feeling good that we were able to make a difference there.

Last Friday evening, I gathered with my Intel colleagues and 1,800 locals in a small city outside of Guayaquil, Ecuador as Lizeth González from Colombia was crowned the “World Banana Queen.” Needless to say, this was not the purpose of our visit to Ecuador, but it was a fun way to celebrate the midpoint of our IESC project.

Besides its bananas and other excellent fruit (including “sweet tomatoes”), Ecuador is investing in technology. Our project with Fundacion Nobisto support a new Intel® Learning Series deployment in the Manuel Centeno Garzon primary school in Machala is just one example.

Earlier in the day, we attended a celebration at the school where the Vice Mayor of Machala, the director of the school, and Tatiana Jimenez from my team made remarks to inaugurate the deployment of the 40 classmate PCs.

We had previously trained the teachers and the director to use the Intel Learning Series classroom management software, and with seven classmate PCs connected to a teacher laptop, the director demonstrated giving seven students a quiz on the computer. A group of children, parents and community members watched.

Our team has also spent a lot of time training and configuring the technology. For example, we are working with the teachers in two groups, with simple tasks like mouse and keyboard usage for the beginners and Excel and Word for the others.

On the technical front, we have been working to improve the school’s wireless network performance, which included configuring and testing a second wireless B/G radio.

So where exactly is Machala, you might ask? Machala is the capital of Ecuador’s El Oro province and is a couple of hours by car from Guayaquil. It’s a bustling city, with buildings, buses and people everywhere. Our school – located outside the city – is much more rural. There are six open air classrooms on two sides of an old basketball court, and there are dogs, cats, chickens, and even a duck that roams the grounds.

Before the arrival of the classmate PCs on Thursday, we met with a number of government officials including the Ministry of Education’s regional director, and the Vice Mayor of Machala, to discuss the projects and their hopes and expectations.

We also spent time visiting classrooms to observe the style and atmosphere of teaching. I visited the class of the youngest group of students. They were learning about shapes with wood blocks and they sang a few songs. At the end they all gave me high-fives!

We plan to do a lot more training in our second week, and we are hoping for more high-fives as the students and teachers get more familiar with the new technology at their school.

Inaugurated on September 13, 2011, the Intel® Learning Series UAG lab is the first of its class to be established.

Located in the Engineering Faculty of the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, the lab will perform pedagogical and technical evaluations on technology education oriented solutions and research new technologies with an educational focus. University students from Engineering, Education and Marketing fields will form a multidisciplinary team and have the opportunity to work on projects from around the world.

The Intel® Learning Series UAG Lab is equipped with 80 Intel® Learning Series Classmate PC’s, a dedicated server, connectivity equipment and electronic whiteboards creating an optimal lab environment to perform lab testing activities.

This joint effort between the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara and Intel® represents a benefit not only to the students that will have access to these facilities but an opportunity to gain experience with cutting edge educational technologies with the full support of Intel® Learning Series.

- 5 years: It has now been five years since we showcased the first classmate PC reference design in 2006.

- 500 members: We recently surpassed the milestone of over 500 members of our Intel® Learning Series Alliance, working to enable localized, holistic education solutions around the world.

- 5,000,000 units: We announced on Wednesday at the Intel® Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco that we have now deployed over five million units of the Intel-powered classmate PC in more than 70 countries!

And there is so much more to accomplish. As a preview, we showcased at IDF this week our new clamshell and convertible tablet classmate PC platforms, running on a new Intel Atom™ processor, code-named Cedar Trail. These classmate PCs (available by end of year) will have longer battery life, improved ruggedness, and an even better user experience with premium writing and touch options.

We set up a simulated classroom at IDF with students from one of our pilot schools in the San Francisco Bay Area so that visitors could see the classmate PC in action. The kids wore Intel “bunny suits” (see photo) and competed against members of the press on a quiz, using the classroom management software that comes with the classmate PCs. Everyone enjoyed the fact that nine-year-old Joseph won the competition in terms of both speed and accuracy (we did give Intel pens as consolation prizes to the press so they wouldn’t feel too badly).

When I stop to reflect on our progress over these past five years, what comes to mind are the educators and children I have had the pleasure to meet in some of the 70 countries where we are working, from Argentina to Brazil to China to India to Portugal. Hearing their stories – about how learning is now more engaging and fun, how teachers and students come to school on the weekends and in the rain to use their new computers, how students with disabilities are now able to participate in the learning process, how children have gained the confidence to pursue their dreams – is both inspiring and humbling.

Our team is passionate about improving the quality of education with technology, and we have so much more we want to do. More children we want to reach. More solutions we want to enable. More impact we want to deliver.

Let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has made this Intel Learning Series journey possible so far – our customers who have helped us design technology solutions for their local educational needs, our partners who have enhanced and delivered the solutions, and my dedicated team members at Intel who have worked tirelessly to reach these milestones.

We invite you to join us as we work even harder to accomplish bigger and better things for education in the years to come!

The event featured the following speakers: Dr. Chris Dede from Harvard, Dr. Robert Tinker from the Concord Consortium, Dr. Elliot Soloway from the University of Michigan, and Dr. Roy Peafrom Stanford, with Dr. Wayne Grant (EMPG’s Director of Research & Planning) moderating the discussion.

Dr. Dede focused his presentation on EcoMUVE, which he described as an “Alice In Wonderland” style virtual world that allows students to figuratively dive into an ecosystem (like a pond or forest) over a period of four weeks, investigating their surroundings, gathering data, and developing hypotheses in a vividly real environment that would be impossible in a typical classroom.

Dr. Tinker highlighted 13 ways that technology adds proven value to STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). He talked about how you can use technology to simultaneously teach concepts that are normally taught separately even though they are connected. For example, by letting students build an atomic model to explain how detergent breaks down oil (like the stuff floating around in the Gulf of Mexico last year), you can teach solubility, assembly, and folding at the same time.

Dr. Soloway focused on the Age of Mobilism, looking at devices in three categories – mobile, carry along, and laptop. In an era where smartphones are taking over, and where children too young to read or even speak are using mobile devices, Dr. Soloway thinks of the Age of Mobilism as an environment where mobile devices allow people to be connected to technology, not “anytime, anywhere, but “all the time, everywhere.”

Moving into discussion of several technology deployments around the world, he addressed the question of loss through an example of a school piloting 80 mobile devices. At the end of the school year the students had lost only lost five styluses. Why? Because the kids loved using their devices, and they knew that if they came to school without them, they’d be handed a pencil and a piece of paper!

Dr. Pea focused on the importance of informal learning and reminded us that you spend only a tiny fraction of your life in school (although it may not feel like that at the time!). He highlighted the intensely social nature of learning, and the ability of technology to amplify the social aspects of learning. He believes that technology can be harnessed to help people leave their mark on the world (his definition of “agency”) as well to lower the barriers of gender and racial bias.

Overall it was an excellent deep dive into some very important concepts with implications for not only product design but how technology can be deployed more effectively inside and outside of the classroom. I know it was inspiring for me and my Intel colleagues, and I hope it gives you some food for thought as well.

I was afraid that I might find myself drooling on my desk as I sometimes did when I was a student, but sure enough the chat itself was very engaging.

Featured were Intel’s very own Dr. Wayne Grant, Director of Research & Planning for Intel’s Education Market Platforms Group. Also joining was Johnny Kissko, a tech savvy educator who runs the blogs K12 Mobile Learning and KinectEDucation (devoted to using the Xbox Kinect for education), James Paul Gee – professor of literacy at Arizona State (and an expert on the use of games in education), and Shelly Blake-Plock, faculty associate at Johns Hopkins and head blogger at TeachPaperless.com.

There were dozens of guests with various creative nicknames (in case you were wondering, yes, that was me, “guest525502″) who asked questions on a variety of topics ranging from professional development to games and social media.

I was impressed by Wayne’s ability to look at the process of student engagement from multiple perspectives – thinking about the needs of students, teachers, administrators, governments, etc.

His comments reinforced the breadth of the solution we offer through the Intel Learning Series and our alliance partners. I’ve seen it in action – kids programming LEGO robots on the Intel-powered classmate PC, and I can tell you that they were very engaged indeed!

Some exciting things are happing in the publishing world! Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a global education and learning company, announced a solution offering today based on the Intel-powered convertible classmate PC at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference in Philadelphia. This solution will empower students and teachers with a broad range of interactive digital content. In addition Skills Tutor, a leading skills improvement program plans to offer the classmates as a promotional offer to include PCs developed for students with their content sales. This is an innovative new approach adding value to software sales and provide schools with the purpose built hardware they really need.

Skills Tutor will team up with Equus Computer Systems, a local US based computer manufacturer selling the Intel Learning Series line of classmate PC products, to configure, deliver and provide post-sale support for the PCs.  

Skills Tutor program highlights:

• All digital interactive online skills building program

• Wide range of subject areas including reading, writing, language arts and math

• Built-in quizzes and tests

• Teacher tools
• Professional development services for educators

We are excited and pleased that two of out Intel Learning Series Alliance  member, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt together with Equus Computer Systems, have taken this leadership step forward…and this is just another example of a great holistic  education solution based on the Intel powered classmate PCs!

Click here for the official press release.

]]> http://blogs.intel.com/intel-education-solutions/2011/06/28/skilling_up_with_classmate_pcs/feed/ 0 http://blogs.intel.com/intel-education-solutions/2011/06/21/about_this_blog/ http://blogs.intel.com/intel-education-solutions/2011/06/21/about_this_blog/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:51:00 +0000 http://blogs.intel.com/learningseries/2011/06/21/about_this_blog/ Read more >]]> Welcome to the Intel® Learning Series blog. This blog was created to foster discussions about trends, research, and products in the education technology space. The bloggers in this forum will focus on how education can benefit from technology; how true education transformation can occur through the use of the right holistic education technology solutions, as exemplified through our Intel® Learning Series program. We will bring a breadth of viewpoints on this field, both from senior technology evangelists at Intel, like Jeff Galinovsky who has been blogging about these topics at our Technology @ Intel blog, and also outside of Intel at other companies doing amazing things around education.

This blog offers you direct dialogue with Intel’s education experts and they look forward to you joining the conversation.

To foster a meaningful and constructive discussion, we follow these guiding principles:

- We will provide unique, individual perspectives on what’s going on at Intel in education and in the world;

- We will post comments, except for spam and remarks that are off-topic, denigrating or offensive;

- We will reply to comments promptly, when appropriate;

- We will respect proprietary information and confidentiality; and

- We will be respectful when disagreeing with others’ opinions.

We invite you to visit the site regularly to read about what’s on the minds of Intel’s education leaders and our passionate employees. But to be truly successful, we hope you join in the discussion as well.

What are Feeds?

Web feeds are XML formats for distributing news headlines on the Web. Our blog’s feed will keep you informed whenever we post new content. The advantage of feeds is that you can read headlines from multiple sites in one application. There is no charge to subscribe.

If you’d like to subscribe to our newsfeed, use a newsreader application like Newsgator, FeedDemon, or NewsFire. You can also use a web-based application like Bloglines or MyYahoo.

Modern browsers like FireFox, Safari, Camino, Opera, and Internet Explorer 7 all read and support feeds.

What’s a Tag Cloud?

A tag cloud is a visual depiction of the content folksonomy, or tags, used on our blog. Tags are visually weighted in a tag cloud to indicate frequency of use. Selecting a tag within the cloud will lead to a results page showing entries associated with that tag.

Privacy Policy

This blogs adheres to Intel’s Privacy Policy.

Disclaimer

Opinions expressed here and in any corresponding comments are the personal opinions of the original authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Intel. All Intel names and trademarks are the property of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Legal Info

Please read these legal terms carefully before using this blog.

]]> http://blogs.intel.com/intel-education-solutions/2011/06/21/about_this_blog/feed/ 0 http://blogs.intel.com/intel-education-solutions/2011/06/21/welcome_to_our_new_education_b/ http://blogs.intel.com/intel-education-solutions/2011/06/21/welcome_to_our_new_education_b/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:41:26 +0000 http://blogs.intel.com/learningseries/2011/06/21/welcome_to_our_new_education_b/ Read more >]]> So I am very excited to christen this new Blog space with our first blog entry! I have been hoping we would break out a blog specific to the discussions around education technology solutions for K-12 and we have done just that! As laid out in the About This Blog section – and I will repeat it here – this blog is setup to foster discussions about trends, research, and products in the education technology space. The bloggers in this forum will focus on how education can benefit from technology; not just point solutions, but how true education transformation can occur through the use of the right holistic education technology solutions.

I agree that is a mouthful, but to boil this down, the goal here is to really highlight and discuss cool ways technology SOLUTIONS can help change the way we do education in this country and throughout the world! The hope is that these discussions can help change the landscape of how we teach our kids and the tools we provide them for the 21st century and beyond!

Now I use the word “SOLUTIONS” a lot and there is a reason for that. For me and many of my Intel education colleagues, solutions mean a very specific thing and in this space it is about bringing together the right technology, the right hardware, the right software, the right content, the right training, the right services into something that improves, builds on, or changes in a positive way the real usage models in a classroom or education situation. I believe it is not good enough to deliver a single piece of technology – be it a piece of hardware or a piece of software for example – and expect transformative things to happen. I believe that a good technology “SOLUTION” is what is needed in our education system to truly drive positive change in this space.

I hope you all will engage with us in this blog – add your perspective, debate with us on these solutions, and add some real value at the end of the day that will positively impact what tools we can give our children to make them more successful in their future lives and careers! So some join me and our new blogging team in these discussions and hope to see you all getting involved! Thanks for joining us!

]]> http://blogs.intel.com/intel-education-solutions/2011/06/21/welcome_to_our_new_education_b/feed/ 15