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Teachers urged to acquire ICT competence

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digitalLEARNING Network
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Education Minister, Andrew Holness ; Mission Director in Jamaica for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Dr. Karen Hilliard, and Principal of the Drews Avenue Primary School in Kingston, Yvonne Sterling, peruse the features of the Jamaica School Administrative System (JSAS) 7.0 software, which was launched at the school on Thursday. Holness was guest speaker at the launch. The JSAS is a management software system, which tracks school attendance and individual students' performances, providing fast and easy retrieval of information, as well as generating transcripts. The project is a joint undertaking between the Governments of Jamaica and the United States, and is being monitored by the Ministry of Education, through the Expanding Educational Horizons (EEH) initiative, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Education Minister, Andrew Holness, is urging educators, who are yet to attain competence in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to do so, as this will serve to lessen the digital divide, and guide and improve the decision- making process within the sector. Speaking at the launch of the Jamaica School Administrative System (JSAS) 7.0) software, at the Drews Avenue Primary School in Kingston on Thursday, Holness said competence in ICT is 'very critical.many things are happening in the classroom, but the teacher doesn't record it. And (even) if it is recorded, it's not reported. So we don't have the benefit of looking at past actions, to make our current decisions. we are, essentially, making decisions about education, in the dark,' he said. The Education Minister pointed out, that the Education Act, stipulates the need for some degree of compulsory reporting of incidents occurring within the sector, which underscores the need for logs to be maintained. This development, he said, will necessitate a deepening of the culture to this end. He further cited the need for stakeholders with a fear of the technology, to overcome this handicap.

Students to be ready for challenges

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Students of Government Higher Secondary School, Pitchanur, being trained to use computers at AJK College of Arts and Science in Coimbatore. (Right) Francis Xavier, Director, Outreach Foundation of India, at a session on improving soft skills at G.R. Damodaran College of Science in Coimbatore.

ICFAI National College conducted an inter-collegiate event, termed 'Xerephyrus 2008', for college students. Events like Admad, Business quiz, J3M, Best Manager, Collage, etc were held. R. Swaminathan, Managing Director, Sasi Advertising, urged the students to equip themselves to face the challenges in the corporate world. He also distributed prizes to the winners.

PSG College of Pharmacy organised a technical symposium on 'Advanced Approaches in Formulation Development and Drug Targeting'. There were poster presentations and expert sessions. Nearly 300 delegates from academics and industries participated. Department of Information Technology of Karpagam College of Engineering organised a workshop on 'Recent Trends in Networking'. Jamuna Swamy, Head, Information Security, Hexaware Technologies Limited, Chennai, spoke about emerging trends in networking in the corporate world. AJK College of Arts and Science organised a computer awareness / training programme for students of the Government Higher Secondary School, Pitchanur. Students were given training in MS Word, Power Point, etc. They showed keen interest in the programmes. After the programme, a quiz competition was held.

Korean Overseas Volunteer Program to donate PCs

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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The Korean Overseas Volunteer (KOV) program after being in some 25 provinces in the country has finally reached Samar. In an interview, Jaeyoung Choi, administrative officer of KOV Philippines, said that the programme may donate Personal Computers (PCs) to three high schools in Catbalogan City and train teachers and students to maintain and repair their damaged PCs. Jaeyoung who speaks fluent English and some Tagalog expressions like 'talaga' and 'di ba' talked with enthusiasm how his country through the KOV will help developing countries like the Philippines.

For a start, his country he said has deployed volunteers in the fields of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), agricultural productivity, early childhood and youth education, public health services and Korean language Teaching through TESDA. In Samar, one Korean volunteer has been with Samar State University (SSU) assisting in the fisheries development. The problem with PCs is someone has to maintain the unit to prevent total damage, he shared. If the PCs are not maintained, the schools would be requesting for new units every now and then, and that could be very costly, he sighed. However, with the training of teachers and students for free, the life expectancy of each PC is then assured, said the young Korean.

Private education forum by IFC

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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The International Finance Corporation has established an online discussion on what it calls 'the evolving regulatory context for private education in emerging economies.' Svava Bjarnason, a senior education specialist with the IFC, says the purpose is to provide a forum for stakeholders to discuss key questions relating to the evolving nature of regulation of private education. Bjarnason says that the forum should provide an opportunity for those interested to share experiences and examples of good practice so as to facilitate informed policy development and implementation.

'Prior to the IFC international conference in May, we hosted a colloquium that was attended by a small group of government representatives, accreditation body folk, private providers and World Bank Group colleagues,' says Bjarnason.

Academicians paid best by Saudi Arabia and worst by China

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Academics in Saudi Arabia are the best paid on earth while scholars in China are the worst off, according to a pioneering just-published global study of salaries conducted by the Boston College Center for International Higher Education in the US. The average academics salary across 15 countries surveyed is US$4,050 a month in purchasing power parity dollars – and lecturers can expect to earn triple their country's per capita estimate – International Comparison of Academic Salaries: An exploratory study. Overall, making comparisons using the World Bank purchasing power parity (PPP) index, the study finds that China pays academics the lowest salaries at all of three levels surveyed – entry points to the profession, national averages, and the highest levels of the academic job ladder. Canada pays academics most generously at entry level, while average and top-level salaries are highest in Saudi Arabia.

'China and India consistently register the lowest salary averages,' says the report, 'while Saudi Arabia, Canada, the United States and Australia hover near the top of the spectrum across the three salary levels analysed in this study.' Indian academics on average earn 8.73 times their country's estimated monthly GDP per capita figure – the biggest difference between academic and national income of the 15 countries. At the low end is France, where academics make on average 1.58 times their country's GDP per capita per month estimate. On average, says the report, academics can expect to make 3.2 times the monthly GDP per capita estimate for their country.

Software industry invests in talented youth

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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The Young Computer Scientists (YCS) awards 2008 held recently brought together some of the brightest young minds in ICT in Sri Lanka. Among the winning entries this year were: a simple wireless device that allows the user to control a computer and its applications, a word processing and Web page editor software programme and an information system on countries, the organisers said in a press release. The awards aim to expose the computing talents of school children at early stages and encourage them to develop their talents and earn recognition for their innovations.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Nayane Gunawardena, President of the Sri Lanka Association for the Software Industry (SLASI) which organized the event said most YCS competitors had understood that it is not just about building systems, but the real challenge is building ICT systems that meet the expectations of the stakeholder. The awards which are organized annually by SLASI in association with the University of Colombo are endorsed by the Ministry of Education and the Information Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka.

Obama and higher education: promises and problems in US

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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With a 'Yes we can' attitude and a five point platform for higher education, President-elect Obama represents a changing face for higher education and Americans are hopeful. Obama's platform targets loan programmes, access to higher education, community colleges, science and technology, and affirmative action. Between 2001 and 2010, about two million academically qualified students did not or will not attend college because of the cost. To alleviate this, Obama's platform recommends tax credits and simplification of the current labyrinthine college loan application process. Student access to bank credit has already withered, creating a trend to more federal lending. A direct loan programme, in which the US Department of Education is the lender, may occur by the autumn of next year, according to David Breneman, an economist and Director of the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.

Universities may also find themselves lending money directly to students, but this option is difficult for small colleges, many of which have fewer endowments. Obama also endorses access to higher education whereby students receive tax credits towards college costs in exchange for community service. Breneman believes implementing such a plan will come to fruition within Obama's first two years. Although the plan is not yet firmly defined, speculation is that it will mirror the GI bill of 1944. That plan offered tax-free monetary benefits to active and veteran military people while they earned a degree or obtained vocational training. In addition to improving students' access to credit, Obama wants community colleges to implement more programmes targeting emerging careers. Science and technology research is generating significant enthusiasm in academic arenas because Obama's plan calls for expanded financing of federal research in these areas.

Moodle to deliver student verification solution

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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Moodle rooms and Acxiom Risk Mitigation have teamed up to deliver a new solution to help verify student identities in higher education distance learning using Moodle, the popular open source learning management system. The solution is built around Acxiom's Fact Check-X Authenticate identity management system, which is being integrated into the Moodle learning environment by Moodle rooms, a Moodle service provider. Moodle rooms also provides integration, customization, and course conversion services. Fact Check-X uses a 'non-intrusive' method to verify that he student using Moodle is the student who's supposed to be enrolled in a given course using 'verification questions that only the student enrolled in the course is able to answer.' There's no additional hardware required to use the system, and verification is handled through the student's Web browser.

One higher education institution testing the new student authentication solution is Casper College in Casper, WY. According to Acxiom's Michael Jortberg, 'We can ensure colleges and universities can improve online academic integrity as well as meet the authentication requirements. This online student verification system does not require a broadband connection or any enrollment process, so online institutions can immediately begin using the solution.'

Rural students at Internet World-2008

By
digitalLEARNING Network
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A three-day Internet World-2008, which began at BVB College of Engineering and Technology in Hubli on Thursday, aimed at making rural students familiar with use of Internet began at the BVB College of Engineering and Technology here on Thursday with students from various schools participating in it. Most of the students who participated in the programme were familiar with the computer systems but not with the Internet. Naturally they were enthusiastic but the time (one hour) allotted to the “introductory Internet session” for each batch of students proved insufficient.

Before each Internet session, the students were given an introductory lecture of around 15 minutes on what was Internet, its benefits and related subjects. After the introductory lecture, which was held in the Department of Architecture in the college, the students were given a brochure on Internet, how it could help their studies and also widen their knowledge horizon. Rekha H. Medar, a class X student from Sri Jagadguru Shivanand School of Bhairidevarakoppa, was happy that she had got a chance to see and use Internet, which she had only heard about. So was her classmate N.S. Archana who had learnt to use the Paint Brush in the computer provided at her school.

Smart supports Balanga

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Smart provided Internet connectivity to the City's Cyber Library, which houses an IT Lab that will mainly cater to the City's 2,000 scholars. In addition, six more public schools in Balanga City were adopted under the Smart Schools Program, its flagship community service project that promotes Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education.'We are supporting Balanga because we share the City's vision to provide quality education and we believe that we are able to maximize our technology, services and programs in a city that is receptive to ICT in education,' said Orlando B. Vea, Smart Chief Wireless Advisor, during the program held at the Balanga Integrated School.

Smart also formalized its agreement with city officials on the Balanga City Infoboard. Infoboard is Smart's web-based group broadcast service. Using a Talk 'N Text customized SIM, the Balanga City Infoboard will allow the City to send out information like announcements, events, government requirements to constituents registered into the service. At the same time, the service's feedback module also allows constituents to easily send feedback to government on services and programs.

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