Deakin students pilot tablet technology in Ampara schools
Deakin University’s “Global Citizenship” Ampara Project took place in Sri Lanka’s Ampara District last month. The project saw an Australian project team of undergraduate students supply electronic tablets to schools lacking IT infrastructure to test the benefits of a flexible, intuitive and fun learning technology.
The pilot project was designed to gauge classroom response and the suitability of this technology in a predominantly Sinhala-speaking classroom.
Deakin’s own English Language Institute has sponsored the supply of 20 electronic 8” 3G-enabled tablets. Through its philanthropic partner, the Aspirations Education Foundation, Deakin students delivered Ampara district teachers with options for education apps designed to improve mathematics and English language skills. Local development experts hold the view that these knowledge areas greatly contribute to students’ social mobility and future employability. The trial took place at the Padagoda, Sirisanda and Polwatta schools in the Ampara district.
The programme was inspired by the successful UK-based ‘One class’ programme in Malawi. In 2014 The University of Nottingham psychologists found that an app designed to boost the education of children in Malawi has also proved to be a highly effective learning tool for UK primary schoolchildren. The study found that over just six weeks of using the maths app on personal tablets in the classroom, children made as much progress as would be expected in 12 to 18 months of class teaching. Produced by the charity Onebillion the app has been trialled extensively in Malawi by Dr Nikki Pitchford from Nottingham University’s School of Psychology, and featured on BBC’s Click programme.
In addition to the electronic tablets in the classroom program, Deakin’s Ampara project included Sports, Agricultural Development and Social Entrepreneurship with sustainable bamboo products. The first half of 2015 saw Deakin students conduct fundraising activities to support four Ampara projects. In Melbourne and Geelong, Deakin students conducted ‘sausage sizzles’ ‘bake sales’ and ‘silent auctions’ for the project – all staples of the Australian fundraising tradition – to raise over 155,500 Rs. Deakin students of Sri Lankan origin were heavy contributors to the fundraising. The University will build on the pilot, engaging its Melbourne, Geelong communities as well as Australian and Sri Lankan businesses in fundraising activities, through its local partner Art Building Childrens Dream Australia.
Deakin students were accompanied by Colombo-based colleagues at Deakin partner institutions including the Informatics Institute of Technology, SLiiT, the Royal Institute of Colombo and ANC. Program leader Carl Jones, from Deakin was full of praise for the Colombo-and Australian based students. “The Colombo crew really ‘put in’, Carl says, not only providing invaluable translation services in Ampara schools but also bringing tremendous ideas, enthusi- asm and humour. It’s great for Deakin’s Global Citizenship Program to play a small role in bridging Sri Lanka’s city-region divide, by getting Colombo based students into regional Sri Lanka for a project like this.”
The project celebrates the power of partnerships, with the Aspirations Education Foundation, Deakin University Australia, Art Building Children’s Dreams (ABCD), and Rotary International working together to serve rural Sri Lankan communities.
For seven years, the Colombo-based Aspirations Education Foundation has served Sri Lankan rural communities through a series of school-based development projects. Led by a Sri Lankan philanthropist, development professionals and community organisers, Aspirations Education combines modern development theory and an ethic of ‘duty to community’ to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for thousands of children in over 49 rural schools. The four principals, sustainability, accountability, integrity and efficiency drive an approach endorsed both by the United Nations, and Red Cross South Asia.
Art to Build Children’s Dreams (ABCD) has partnered with Deakin University’s Global Citizenship Program to deliver education infrastructure projects in the developing world. ABCD pays school fees for more than 200 children in various countries, and fundraises for vital school infrastructure.
Sri Lankan philanthropy inspires visiting Deakin Nursing student. A reflection from Elena Adams
Our small team pile into the van hot, sweaty and exhausted from the heat. We’ve just run an information technology class at the Padagoda School in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka. A group of school children follow us eagerly to the van cheering and chanting “BYE, BYE, BYE!”. I slide my window open to give a final round of hi-fives. The children push and shove to get their turn. I recognise one young girl from the class we just taught. She pushes her way through the crowd and grabs my hand tightly. She stares at me intently and smiles.
For a brief moment, I feel an overwhelming sense of joy, fulfilment and gratitude. Until now I have not been entirely sure of my purpose in this project, but now it all makes sense. Our community development work here is about empowering the people of Ampara, especially the school children, to make positive and sustainable change.
I realise that I have left an impression, introduced an idea and given these children something to aim high for. The van drives off along the dusty dirt road and tears well up in my eyes as we wave a final goodbye to the children. I leave this school more determined than ever to continue supporting the Aspirations Education Foundation and its work in the Ampara District. I have been amazed by the strength and kindness shown by all of the children I have met on this adventure. I only wish each and every one of them a bright and happy future.
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