[LINK] Rudd's laptops send standards backwards

Tom Koltai tomk at unwired.com.au
Tue Jul 21 21:42:30 AEST 2009


>Jan wrote:  <,I would have to read the full study to understand....
>So, enjoy:  http://jacob.vigdor.googlepages.com/digdivide012508.pdf


Both Jan's link and the following article from: 

http://www.infoiranytu.hu/calibrate/letolt/mora.pdf

Would tend to suggest that the main benefit from ICT amongst primary
school age children is the extracurricular activities that the children
engage in.


George Soros' generous donation enabling laptops to be given to every
child in Hungarian schools in the nineties has resulted in a country of
highly capable ICT practitioners - with higher than average internet
connectivity throughout the entire country, a higher GDP rate of growth
than neighbouring countries and a lowering of the brain drain to foreign
learning institutions - i.e. resulting in a dramatic (34% increase in
admissions at Hungarian Universities in the current decade.)

I'm afraid that whilst I consider that higher learning institutions must
have a strict syllabus to ensure a uniformity of degree capability
<smile> I do not think that that is necessarily the case with younger
students. I think the important requirement there is not the syllabus
but the ability to instil a desire to learn. And in my experience,
nothing gives the urge/desire to learn more than a PC with no software -
i.e.: write your own.

Ergo, having first hand seen the desperate desire to learn from my own
relatives in Szentgothart, Hungary, kids who were ten and eleven yerars
old - Uncle Thomas - how do we do what you do on your computer ?I
applaud the Rudd laptop initiative and say - Well done Kevin. The
empirical evidence of a whole country - Hungary has proven without a
doubt that you have done (are doing) the right thing - and please ignore
the naysayers who no doubt have their own agendas for doing so.

Tom

 
Cut and paste of above linked PDF file:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
Móra Ferenc Általános Művelődési Központ, Hungary
Contact Details
Name: Ördögné Gárgyán Mária
Email: gmarcsi at morahalom.sulinet.hu
Date: 15 January 2007
The School
Country: Hungary
School name: Móra Ferenc Művelődési Központ,
Hungary
Address: 6782 Mórahalom, Barmos György tér 2.
School level: primary, secondary vocational, vocational
Number of students: 553
Number of teachers: 45
URL: http://www.morahalom.sulinet.hu
About the school
The school is situated in the South-Eastern region of Hungary, in
the so-called Homokhát region. It has been the intellectual
"engine" of the town, and an educational centre of the Homokhát
region. The key element of the pedagogical program is the
coordination of the schools in the region and the establishment of
an effective net of educational institutions.
With the coordination of the school different talent-support programs,
professional trainings
and teams have been established. IT content development and
environmental co-operations
have been launched.
ICT in the school
ICT investments are financed from projects and tenders.
The ICT equipment:
. The school has Broadband (ADSL) connection.
. Internal network, wired up but there are also access points in the
library and in some
science classrooms.
. They do not use any educational framework programs.
. Students have access to computers in the computer lab and in the
library.
. Movable settings: 11 laptops, 7 video-projector and a digital trolley.
. Pedagogical support is provided by in-service teacher trainings that
are available in the
school.
School's vision and ethos
The school aims at developing its secondary vocational training system
in accordance with the
new expectations and needs of the student population - based on the
support of the local
government.
ICT is set out as one of the main priorities of the school. In order to
be up-to-date in
development regarding the integration of ICT the school community is
strongly motivated to
take part in most of the national/international projects and tenders.
The most important events in the ICT development:
. 1988 establishing the first network of computers
. 1997 SULINET (Hungarian Schoolnet program) - 9 Petium, first computer
lab
. 1998 Csongrád Megyei Közoktatási Alapítvány - 8 Pentium 200
. 1999 Soros Foundation - joining the Jefferson program
. 2000 Soros Foundation - joining the Jefferson II. Program (school-TV,
school-radio,
school journal, student-web, informatics club)
. 2000 KHVM tender (Ministry of Environment and Water
Resources)
. 2001 Phare
. 2002 Phare
. 2004-2006 Phare IT tender (3 successful projects)
The school leadership supports the training of teachers as
regards their professional development. The school itself is
home of such trainings, workshops, the school community
is a highly motivated participant of international projects
and innovative initiatives.
The pedagogical concept of the school is based on studentcentred,
task-based processes, in which autonomous
learning is strongly recommended. Teachers are encouraged
to rely on the most up-to-date methodological concepts and practices -
this includes the usage
of ICT in in-class activities. Even though they communicate via email on
a regular basis the
integration of ICT in the teaching processes is occasional.
Innovation in the school
The school has participated in several international partnerships with
the
primary schools in Csíkszentmárton and Temerin, and has a
professional relation with the local governments of Chamerau and Pieve
Pelago.
The meaningful integration of ICT in the daily praxis and learning
activities has high priority.
Students use ICT in extracurricular exercises as well, both in
fulfilling individual learning
tasks and in case of collaboration: establishment of School-TV,
School-radio, Infoteka.
600 students took part in talent-supporting IT courses.
150 teachers were trained in the Homokhát region in the framework of the
Phare project.
The Calibrate project and the participating teachers
The main reason for integrating ICT in teaching and learning processes
is the aim to increase
student motivation, and establish a fair, student-centred
differentiation with individual skills
development. By using ICT autonomous student work increases, students
are able to take
more responsibility for their own learning. Their skills and competences
- filtering useful
information, adapting new learning strategies, communicative competence,
problem solving
skills - can be developed. Their creativity increases.
Learning activities that pupils do with ICT:
. Autonomous preparation for class
. Autonomous practice
. Research
. Using online dictionaries
ICT is used occasionally, however, in case of foreign language classes
on a regular basis. The
extra-curricular activities connected to ICT are significant.


_______________________________________
No viruses found in this outgoing message
Scanned by iolo AntiVirus 1.5.6.4
http://www.iolo.com





More information about the Link mailing list