Libyan pupils ‘to have laptops’
The government of Libya is reported to have agreed to provide its 1.2m school children with a cheap durable laptop computer by June 2008. According to One Laptop per Child sources, the laptops offer Internet access and are powered by a wind-up crank. They cost USD100 and manufacturing begins next year.
Audio Haptics for visually
impaired information technology Audio Haptics, the project seeks to improve the inclusion of workers or trainees who are blind or visually impaired in vocational training programmes using visual materials, by delivering these in a non visual format, which is touch and sound. The project in European Union will design, produce and test pilot learning materials, as well as create an online training programme for teachers. By the innovative methodology, accessibility to visual graphics for the visually impaired can be improved. This project is about making learning materials that are visual by nature accessible to those who are partially sighted or blind. e-ISOTIS (Information Society pen To ImpairmentS), the non-profit making organisation founded in December 002, working with People with Disabilities, Elderly, their spouses as well as embers of the ICT (Information Communication Technology) community, orldwide, is the dissemination leader of this project.
TechnoFuture introduces Educators’ ICT Training
A “Train-the-Trainers” programme for teachers of primary and secondary schools, as well as lecturers of Colleges of Education has commenced in six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The modular-based programme, known as TechnoTeacher is being promoted by an company TechnoFuture Nigeria, in collaboration with the Education Trust Fund (ETF). It would teach educators ow to optimise their skills using the computer and other Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools to maximise the learning experience. TechnoFuture was introduced in Canada in 1993 initially to teach learners from the age of four to 18 as a unique combination of technology and business skills, using theme-based projects.
Nigerian higher education has less than 5% ICT applications
With less than 5% application of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in Nigerian institutions, according to published studies on institutional echnology application, most of these institutions have little or no nfrastructure for cyber centers, computer-equipped classrooms or high–speed internet and do not even have the fund to implement such infrastructure on their own. Available statistics shows there are more than 181 institutions of higher learning in Nigeria but a sizeable number of these institutions have enrollments of more than 20,000 students, with computer ratio at 200 students to 1 computer, or worse for most state universities. These institutions lack the expertise on faculty to provide students with practical hands-on training in ICT, either for basic computer skills, or for more advanced capabilities.
Science GCSE with online exams
British school pupils can now take a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE – the name of a set of British qualifications, taken by secondary school students) entirely online – including doing the coursework and exams electronically. The new environmental and landbased science course is said to be the first totally non-paper GCSE. It is being offered by the OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA {Royal Society of Arts}) exam board and is aimed at those considering careers such as horticulture, farming, waste management and conservation. OCR said candidates would sit computerbased tests under normal controlled examination conditions and submit their coursework electronically – so they could incorporate video, photographs, presentations and written reports