I could see my own journey as a girl waiting for more than one hour outside of the computer class just to get a glance of the computer and observing the seniors changing screen saver on the computer 20 years ago. I recall the excitement when I finally got a chance to use the computer on my own at class 4, which caused a revolution in my life. From then to even today, almost 20 years later, I can still see a shadow of a 7 year-old me in the many students of government schools who are excited just to see laptops in their school and are dreaming of using the device for themselves.
Digital Divide
The gap in technical education was in existence from many years back in the private and public schools. Bridging the digital divide in public schools has never been more important that came into light especially after covid-19. Private schools having access to the resources continued their class online whereas the governmental schools were mostly shut down for more than 7 months during the pandemic. Taking action on severe disruptions in the education of our scholars among many students of government school, we successfully deployed 20 laptops to provide some relief with online training and offline courses for them and staff of the foundation in 2020.
DEEP: Lighting the Digital Pathway
Continuing the Digital Education & Empowerment Program (DEEP) program, we were constantly working to improve the condition of students and scholars working together with our many partner schools. Fortunately, this year, the government supported many schools in the area to establish an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) lab. DEEP further enhanced the government project by successfully delivering 25 laptops to one of our partner schools of Dakshinkali municipality, ward nine named Setidevi Secondary School, Talku, to improve the standards of our partner school. The government budget covers the expenses of a printer, smart board, and lab furniture; the foundation is responsible for laptops. The laptop handover to the school happened on the 19th of July, 2022. Before the final deployment of laptops, the devices were rechecked, ensuring each device was working properly.
Reflection
There is the saying from the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association, Nicholas Negroponte, an author and Greek American architect, “The laptop brings back a more seamless kind of learning.” It is all about using computers/laptops and technology as tools to enrich learning in various subjects effortlessly and more effectively, which we believe can lead to improved student practical learning and better teaching methods. There is always the excitement to learn new things, especially when linked with technology. Thus, handing over the laptop to the school with the enthusiastic teacher and student team, we provide two days of computer training for teachers on the 15th and 16th of July to develop teachers’ skills and confidence in integrating technology and digital learning resources in the classroom lessons.
On the day of the handing over ceremony organized by the school, the excitement level of students was at next level. I was visualizing 7 years old excited me to enter the lab and to use the laptop for the first time. They couldn’t wait for the next day to enter the lab and insisted on taking class for them, so we took the first informal class. The school team has requested us for the support for the first few months both for the teachers training and to integrate the lab in the class for students which we are currently working on and will be continued.
- A Fair Like None Before in Pharping - January 30, 2023
- Teaching Self-Defense Because We Are Worth Defending - September 29, 2022
- Bridging the Digital Divide: Taking the First Steps - July 31, 2022
- Menstrual Health: The Silence is Killing Girls and Women - June 30, 2022
- DEEP Learning – Empowering Girls through Technology - May 30, 2022
