Calabar mobilises

The e-Learning team of Dorothy Thompson, Implementation Officer, Robert Philips, Education Specialist, and Dr Doreen Faulkner, CXC Examinations Consultant, were guests at a staff meeting at Calabar High School on March 10, 2009.

Teachers described the successes and the challenges they have experienced since the acquisition of equipment and courseware, and committed to greater and more effective use of all the resources.

Principal, Captain Thaxter, enlisted the involvement of all teachers, in generating meaningful Powerpoint presentations, and in creating e-mail addresses for themselves.

The school was commended for securing the assets, and for participating in training events, and item writing.

The use of the document camera and a discussion about the opportunities for effective use capped the afternoon's proceedings.

Quality : Design for traceability-audit and accountability

The assets provided under the e-Learning project have only been made available through legislation-- the Telecommunications Act and through subsequent negotiation. The purpose for the provision has to be clear and justifiable at every juncture.

Good management systems would naturally ensure that procedures, decisions and actions which violate the intentions of the provision would be discouraged. The leadership of the e-Learning Jamaica Company has taken steps in designing processes to support the traceability and auditability of the provision, security, use and maintenance of assets.

Here are two examples below.

The first picture shows what you see when an e-Learning Jamaica computer is booted. If you have one in your possession and it is unauthorised or a teacher or student is not using it for instructional purposes , this may , minimally amount to unethical practice , or it could be viewed in similar ways to that unfortunate situation where several computers were removed from a school and criminal proceedings have now followed.

All the materials have been labelled and numbered, before delivery to schools, and these will be subject to audit. No doubt, leaders of educational institutions are aware of contemporary quality assurance and ethical standards and would want to be seen to be upholding these.

Audit entities include

• e-Learning Board Audit Committee,
• Ministry of Mining and Telecommunications-Internal Audit,
• Universal Access Fund Internal Audit,
• Auditor General's Department,
• External Auditors-e-Learning Jamaica,
• Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.

So there are lots of resource for inspection and detection of weak processes

The message is clear. Control, Regularise and Apply the resources to the task.

School 2.0

We got our introduction to School 2.0 in a webinar promoted by ISTE on January 15, 2009.

The US is desperately trying to extract value from technology for improvement of educational performance and School 2.0 is a set of leadership and technology resources developed to pursue this end.

Search on School 2.0 and on ISTE webinars for full information.

Librarians on board for universal access and learning

Resource persons from UWI Mona and UTECH give technical leadership to professional development of jamaican Library and Information professionals

The Library and Information Association of Jamaica held a symposium on Emerging Technologies in October 2008. The focus on Web 2.0 features is a clear indicator that thought leaders among Jamaican Library and Information Service professionals have every intention of continued relevance and value to learners at all stages of the lifespan, especially to those in the school system.

e-Learning Jamaica was invited to give the key note presentation, and the participants were charged to resolve apparent dichotomies in the designation "library and information". and advised to come quickly to a recognition of the convergent destinies of "library, information and e-learning".

The philosophical undergirding of the e-Learning project in the desire for equity through the provision of "UNIVERSAL ACCESS" was explained, and it was made clear that the vision for this access subsumed homes, classrooms, school libraries, and public libraries. The specific hardware and learning resource deliverables were stated. Librarians have always been at the forefront of using visual media, whether in displays, charting, so they have a natural role, in being at the vanguard of infusing such skills as video-editing to exploit newly available technologies and support subject teachers in improving their performance.

The realities of learning difficulties in communities where early stimulation is not the norm, presents problems which are evident in the statistics of school-leaving exam results. For example,the two schools with the lowest performance in English are in communities where the public libraries have been closed. One positive view of this situation is the challenge and responsibility that will fall on the school librarian in a technology-driven library, provided under the e-Learning project. There must be the will to keep re-tooled libraries open.

Instead of a focus on classification and division, the partners - librarians, information professionals, curriculum developers, education and media technologists, and broadband providers have to cooperate effectively to keep channels open, construct wholesome , interesting messages, and ensure the opportunities for human development are real and accessible.

out of service

Leading the charge--Charles Reid

Kingston High School is one of the pilot schools in the e-Learning Jamaica Project. It is perhaps best known as the alma mater of Dr Franklin Johnston and songbird Marcia Griffiths. It was chosen as the school at which the ceremonial handover of equipment installed under the project would take place.

For Principal, Charles Reid, the challenges of the urban school, are goals to overcome, as he encourages the young people in the school community to demonstrate their talents and strengths. He is determined to show that his team will make the best use of the investment, and the technology improvements, now available.

The students who performed and participated at the function demonstrated that talent abounds, and expressed sincere thanks in unique ways.

Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the delivery and acceptance of the equipment, there is a realisation that it will be at the subject and class level that change and improvement will take place.

Inclusive deployment--towards universal access and universal design

You may remember this teacher. He used to do the signing for the TV news, when our media was overtly concerned about accessibility.

e-Learning Jamaica has developed specifications for media that incorporate international standards, and has a mandate to provide learning resources for special schools, for children who have hearing , visual and learning disabilities or challenges.

At the Lister Mair Gilby School for the Deaf, Joseph Edwards teaches Science, Mathematics, Construction and Information Technology. Committed to his many and varied instructional tasks, Joseph participated in most of the instructional materials workshops that were preparatory to delivery to schools.

On World Telecommunications Day, where accessibility and disability as themes collide, it would be a tragedy if the able and the endowed could not demonstrate that they were making full use of provisions, of the equipment, software and print resources received in the spirit of universal access.