65 WP Govt. schools transformed to 'smart schools' from blackboard generation

Guru.lk, Sri Lanka's leading eLearning portal, has announced the completion of a multi-stakeholder initiative to convert 65 schools in the Western Province into 'Smart Schools' capable of deploying digital learning protocols.

The company collaborated with Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Microsoft Sri Lanka and the Western Province Education Ministry over a six -month period to complete the transformation of schools, including training and helping the teachers to embrace technology for the use of the hardware and software required for digital format education, a media release by the sponsors said.

The project involved providing the schools with content to use on computers, a learning management system, Microsoft Office 365 licenses, technical support and training on working with technology for education.

The objective of the project was to expose traditional classroom based teachers and students to the latest digital based learning technology and systems, stimulating wider use of existing IT infrastructure in schools.

This would enable students to make the best use of tablet computers proposed to be introduced to the government schools system in the near future.

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon supported the project by funding the creation of the 'Sipnena' website registered under the .lk and .com domains, and hosted free on guru. lk servers. The website offers students free access to content carefully selected to support their educational needs in line with local curricula, via more than 170 IT labs donated by the bank to schools around the country. The bank made substantial investments to develop lessons for all subjects in the GCE Advanced Level Mathematics and Bio Science streams and for Grade 10 Mathematics, Science and English. The bank also made investments to create an online Maths lab, Mathematics Revision lessons and even a section dedicated to vocational training.

Microsoft Sri Lanka provided its world class software to schools free of charge and also invested on teacher training for the project.

Guru. lk and its owning company Headstart (Pvt) Ltd provided the student Learning Management System free of charge, provided content, conducted teacher training and coordinated the implementation of the project. The company was also responsible for monitoring progress and activation at ground level in the 65 schools in the Western Province.

Commenting on the successful creation of 65 Smart Schools, the Secretary of the Ministry of Education Sunil Hettiarachchi said: "Amalgamating technology for learning is a challenge as many teachers belong to a generation that did not use computers for their day-to-day activities. We are pleased to be associated with this programme where the private sector partnered with us for technological transformation. We are thankful for the support given by the project partners and happy to see how teachers have progressed."

According to Guru. lk, the process of transforming schools under this programme has resulted in teachers learning more about the Internet and email and handling computers confidently; selecting learning content available on the Internet; creating learning courses for students with tools like MS Sway; and teaching students with tools such as interactive white boards which are essential to keep pace with technology.