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Jordan: Premier Inaugurates
Digital Community Centre in Wihdat
Wednesday, May 19, 2004 AMMAN (JT) — Prime Minister Faisal Fayez
on Tuesday paid a visit to the Wihdat Youth Club where he opened
an IT centre and discussed issues of national concern with notables
from the Wihdat refugee camp. The IT centre inaugurated by Fayez was the early fruit of an association between the leading technology solution provider, Hewlett Packard (HP) and Relief International — Schools Online (RI-SOL) that yesterday launched their first joint initiative for the creation of digital communities in Jordan. Under the initiative, Digital Community Centres (DCC) will be opened in several locations across the country. These DCCs are the cornerstones of a programme that aims to provide local communities with greater accessibility to the Internet and information technologies, as a means to learn, work and benefit from the most appropriate technological advances, according to a joint statement released by HP and RI-SOL. At the Wihdat DCC, 30 computers serve the core training and service programmes and additional 40 computers are installed in four schools in the neighbourhoods surrounding the club: Two government-run and two UNRWA schools. In addition to the computer equipment, the programme provides printers, scanners, a digital camera and other equipment that will be utilised in a variety of education and community development projects benefiting youth and adults. The project is also designed to open up job opportunities for local women. At the launch ceremony, Minister of Education Khalid Touqan said his ministry “has been working with both HP and RI-SOL for many years and it is deep impacting programmes like these, which target Jordan's community youth as well as working adults that will contribute to the country's economic growth.” In addition to the equipment, HP and RI-SOL are providing the Wihdat DCC with human capital including system administrators, technical support and training staff. The centre and the satellite schools are connected to the Internet through leased lines, ensuring 24-hour access. In his remarks at the launch ceremony, Joseph Hanania, managing director for HP Middle East, said HP “works with communities to build a team of partners.” Together, these partners “will bring the infrastructure, the tools, equipment and content for learning, developing and contributing in the digital economy to these communities that need them most.” In Jordan, he said, “His Majesty King Abdullah has set a clear vision of how ICT can help catalyse economic and social growth.” “One of the most rewarding aspects of this programme has been HP's focus on community involvement. It is not often that we see corporate philanthropy, as well as word seeking community governance,” said RI-SOL CEO Farshad Rastegar. “This centre [in Wihdat] serves a population of 250,000 and will be a leading resource,” he added. HP introduces itself as the largest IT company in the Middle East employing about 500 professionals in the region. HP has been present in the Middle East since 1968, and opened its first regional office in 1994. RI-SOL says that its mission is to help students gain access and use the communication and information resources of the Internet for learning and cross-cultural dialogue. Since 1996, over 5,700 underserved schools in the US and over 400 schools in 35 other countries have received equipment and support necessary to get online, the statement said.
A Collaboration between Abu Bakr El Sedeek & Watsonville High Schools Teachers and students from Abu Bakr El-Sedeek (ABES) Experimental Language School in Giza, Egypt, and Watsonville High School (WHS) in California, U.S.A. are using the Internet to engage in a cross-cultural dialogue and collaborative project on issues of teen health. 'What color are your beans?' This might seem an odd question to begin an online conversation, but put into the context of students communicating from two rich agricultural communities, not so out of the ordinary. The students almost immediately began exploring things they have in common as teenagers in today's world. Food was one of many topics students from Egypt and the United States explored in their first online meeting earlier this year. The project involves designing, implementing, and documenting this international collaboration. To allow for better integration into the schools' curriculum, participating teachers from ABES and WHS will co-design the project. In each school, teachers from departments such as science, computing, English, and social studies are working together to provide a multidisciplinary experience to their students. As an Egyptian teacher shares, "I strongly believe that these type of programs enrich the learning process and help the students to be critical learners … [this project] has empowered students to think in a more constructive way but also more creative too." With guidance from their teachers, students will use the Internet and the Web to continue their dialogue. Each group of students has created introductory videos of their schools and communities, which they will be sharing online. Through these activities, the students share information and experiences to create cultural bridges based on tolerance, harmony and respect. These young participants will not only have the ability to learn about these important issues from what they research, but also voice their opinion based on their analysis of their situations. An Egyptian student exclaims, "we are very proud to have the Internet Learning Center at our school. But we need more activities especially the collaborative and group programs. We would also need more training, as well as international collaborative projects such as the one we are currently working at with Watsonville. I'm very proud to be part of this team and I have learned a lot in the course of the last few weeks of the project. Thank you!". The project, which began in January, will
run through December of 2002 and is supported by a grant from the
Donald and Rachel Valentine Foundation.
On the trip to Macedonia, a country facing
political unrests, we stopped in a Resen Elementary School and sat
in an Informatics class for 7th graders. Through out the class,
one teenage boy walked from workstation to workstation answering
students' questions and helping them with assignments they were
working on. The teacher's workstation was left empty in order to
allow him the necessary access. This boy had the best knowledge
of computers and its applications not only among students, but also
among teachers. What is worth recognition is the approach of the
teachers, administrators and the principal. Most of the time, when
teachers know less than students, they suppress the student to cover
up their own lack of knowledge. In this case, the entire administration
and faculty embraced his knowledge and allowed him to expand his
skills. They invited him do the official web site of the school,
they sought his advice while using computers, and they asked him
to co-lead the class (therefore ensuring that he wouldn't be bored).
This empowerment allowed for personal and academic growth of the
boy and encouraged other students to exceed in their skills.
An hour's drive from Asuncion, Paraguay is the small town of Villeta. Schools Online has provided an Internet Learning Center (ILC) at the Colegio Nacional Virgen del Rosario, a secondary school. My colleague and I arrived in the early July evening to visit with teachers and students benefiting from the ILC. We were surprised and somewhat embarrassed by the reception we encountered. As we entered the school's courtyard a gauntlet of applauding students lined our way, leading us to a decorated table and chairs middle front of a temporary stage. I turned to see every seat in the courtyard filled, with students and teachers standing on the perimeter of the seating area. Not knowing what I was to come, I noticed the evening was warm and filled with the smell of Jasmine or some other fragrant flower. After the formalities of opening the evening's events, we were asked to award certificates of achievement to more than 80 teachers from neighboring schools that had attempt workshops in the ILC we had provided. That would have been amble evidence that the ILC was a benefit to the school and the community. But, there was more. A unique experience that I had not anticipated was to come. To the side of our table was another set up with a computer and borrowed projection system. Several students gathered around the computer, with one fellow sitting down to power it up. The principal stepped to the microphone and called upon the parents of the student sitting at the computer to stand behind him. The lights in the courtyard dimmed. The
projector turned on. And then something unexpected and magical happened.
This school, this community, this small town connected to the world.
The student, who had won his school's competition for designing
the school's website, launched the site publicly for the first time.
The audience of students, teachers, parents, president of the school
board, community members, even the chief of police rose to their
feet in applause. The parents of the student who designed and launched
the site, beamed behind him, possibly unknowing to the significance
of the moment. I was privileged to witness a school and a community
bridging the divide to share with and learn from the world beyond
their town and country.
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