Microsoft helps make lessons more interesting for students

Over 3,400 IT-savvy teachers and more to come – that’s what Microsoft is doing together with the Ministry of Education to train school teachers on ICT.

The teachers trained under the programme said they noticed an increased interest for learning in the students when lessons were delivered through the computer instead of through the more mundane method of text book based learning.

For teachers like Y. M. K. B Yapa, a teacher from Heeloya Sri Sumangala Maha Vidyalaya from far-away Bandarawela, the access to such training is extremely helpful.

Yapa always believed that the main reason for the low levels of IT being used for teaching in Sri Lanka was the lack of computer facilities, Internet availability and training opportunities. “Earlier, in Sri Lanka Information Technology didn’t work as an integrated part of the education system and only operated as an isolated subject. But now the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Microsoft has stepped into distributing a training programme to teachers not restricting it to schools in Colombo. The knowledge I gained through the training programs has helped me design a special programme which has helped teachers incorporate Information Technology to deliver an effective lesson for their students,” he told The Sunday Times FT in an interview. After following the training programmes he was able to train other teachers to incorporate information technology in their day to day teaching process not only as a separate subject but a vital part of other subjects.

Only a handful out of over four million Sri Lankan students have access to informationa communication technology, creating one of the most under-exposed student communities in Asia in a country that boasts of a very high literacy rate.

Thus Microsoft’s Sri Lanka office, in an effort to bridge this gap, partnered with the Ministry of Education to train school teachers who will in turn impart their knowledge to the students. A non-commercial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Education and Microsoft last year unites the two institutions in their bid to bridge the digital divide both within the country and developed and developing world, by jointly improving the ICT literacy of Sri Lankan school students and teachers. “We believe that if we train a teacher, more students will benefit,” said Jinashri Samarakoon, Education Programmes Manager, Microsoft Sri Lanka, explaining the rationale behind training teachers.

The MoU was signed under the Microsoft Partners in Learning (PiL) programme. The PiL programme is a global programme, designed to transform the way the world learns and “it is available to lower – middle and middle income group countries according to World Bank ranking,” she said. Currently the programme is functioning in 101 countries around the world and has trained over 2 million teachers touching approximately 43 million students she further said.

Under this programme, Microsoft provides the financial assistance for the training of teachers, through the Ministry of Education.

The initiatives under the PiL programme are the ‘Navalova Labs’ initiative, assisting the Schools Re-awakening Project to rebuild tsunami destroyed schools and collaborating with the Secondary Education Modernization Project (SEMP) of the Ministry of Education.

Under the Navalova Labs initiative, 16 master trainers (who are also managers of provincial training centres), nominated by the Ministry of Education were trained by the National Institute of Education (NIE). These master trainers were thoroughly trained on the technical aspect and the NIE also carried out a separate course to teach them teaching methodology. They would in turn impart their knowledge on teachers from different schools.

The selection of teachers who are to be trained under this programme is done by the Ministry of Education. When doing this, they take into account factors such as provincial representation, male/female representation, language and religious representation among others, according to H. Jayasinghe, Director, IT Department of the NIE. “Teachers have to be taught how to teach about computers as well as how to use them” he said. The NIE has engaged in training master trainers with the assistance of the ministry of Education, he explained. Their main objective was to train teachers on how to use the knowledge they gained from the Navalova programme in the classroom.

Some of the teachers who have benefited from this training were full of praise for Microsoft for coming forward to empower teachers with IT knowledge, irrespective of their geographical location or affluence.

Rashmi Jayamini Alahakoon, the teacher in charge of the computer lab at Janadhipathi Maha Vidyalaya said, “The programme initiated by the Ministry of Education and Microsoft does a huge service by empowering all students with ICT knowledge which was previously limited to the upper classes.” She further went on to state that this training has enabled teachers to enhance their knowledge and skills through modern technology and they can also prepare lesson notes in a quick and more pleasant manner.

S. Bandara, a Master Trainer from the Provincial Computer Centre from Gurudeniya Kandy, said “I followed the training programs offered by the Ministry of Education and Microsoft for Computer Trainers and then was appointed as a Provincial Computer Centre Master Trainer, with the responsibility of training other teachers. The special training given by Microsoft and the Ministry of Education to us trainers, gave me indepth knowledge and helped me implement training for other teachers under the Microsoft Navalova Labs program.”

Microsoft’s Samarakoon said the Ministry launched a programme on October 5 to enable every teacher to own a computer. The Ministry of Education is underwriting the loan. Microsoft will support the training of all teachers who buy a computer, further illustrating the commitment of Microsoft to bridge the digital divide in Sri Lanka.