Kiishaan, 6 years, was one of ten students who raised hand to speak about the program to the literacy in English Literacy Planet. “I develop the various activities and learn a lot.” Then pointed to the wall of the classroom, where his name was recorded inside of a star, showing that he got the best performance of the class in the week. Kiishaan study by the computer early on and is an example of how, when used well, new technologies can help in learning.
a year Ago, Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa (GGSK College, London, uses the program in the early grades to help teachers and students in literacy. About 70% of the school students are immigrants or children of immigrants and have English as a second language. It is a private school low-cost, with rates four times smaller than the other schools. With 375 students, the unit is among the three with the best performance in the national assessments in the region.
The family of Kiishaan is from Sri Lanka. At home, he has the opportunity to train what is taught in the classroom. The program offers challenges and exercises that can be accompanied by their parents and teachers. There are exercises of pronunciation and writing. The program allows students to proceed at different paces, always guided by a teacher.
“In the classroom, the Literacy Planet is only used in specific situations and in group activities. The intention is that the students do the exercises at home. It is a fun way, they like,” says Susan Atwal, co-ordinator of the primary school, a stage that serves students from 5 to 11 years. The program, developed by the australian company of the same name, costs the school 4,50 pounds per year per student – about$ 18.
the visit to The GGSK College was part of the parallel programming especially for the brazilian delegation that was to visit the British Educational Training and Technology (BETT) Show in London. This year, the programming began yesterday (25) and goes until the 28th. This is one of the great events in the world of education and technology, where many companies and educators gather to discuss the teaching and to present the trends of the market. Account also with the participation of politicians and ministers of Education from several countries.
Use technology
For the participants of the BETT Show, the use or non-use of technology for teaching and learning is discussion loser. “It is not a question of discussing whether or not to use technology in education. The technologies are out there. Today everyone has access to a smartphone or computer. The discussion is how they should be used to effectively help in learning,” says Vera Cabral, director of content of the BETT Educar in Brazil.
In a presentation to 1 thousand people packed the senior vice president of worldwide education at Microsoft, Anthony Salcito, argued that the jobs and companies are changing and that the new dynamics established require creative people, and with skills that are not restricted to good grades in school. “We are talking about new dynamics both in the classroom and in new working relationships. We have to develop something that can develop these capabilities for success in the students,” he says.
One of the products introduced by Microsoft, is Minecraft, a game that allows students to create and copy places and worlds. If used in education, the tool can, for example, to assist in the teaching and in the observation of details in works of art from the copy of the screens. “Our discussion is at this point, we’re measuring and weighing how we use technology inside and outside the school to connect students and to make collaborate on projects,” says Salcito.
Good examples
With the aim of promoting good examples in education in the world, the portal hundrED.org brings together initiatives from different countries. “Things change very fast around the world, much is lost and we do not know interesting initiatives. The intention is to bring together these initiatives and make them accessible. We make explanatory materials of each one of them”, said Saku Tuominen, director of the creativity of hundrED.
The hundrED is a project of Finnish, non-profit. The initiatives range from encouraging the socialization by means of a wheel of conversation in a café until the use of 3D printers to teach in a concrete way the content of various disciplines.
“There is a certain temptation to believe that technology can revolutionize education, our vision is a little more realistic. We think that it is not the tool itself, but the people who are using, teachers in the classroom, the managers, they will make change happen,” argues the director of the Latin America of the Canvas, Lars Janér. According to him, the role of business is to develop products that can be easily used by teachers and students.
The Canvas is an open platform that allows, among other resources, the sharing of lessons, exercises and online tests. Everything is stored in the cloud and can be accessed from any electronic equipment. The company is present in Brazil for eight months. The platform is free for individuals, that is, teachers and students can use it. Already, institutions should pay for the storage of information.
*The reporter traveled at the invitation of Ascential, an organizer of the BETT Educar in Brazil
Edition: Lílian Beraldo
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