Technology

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Technological innovations have improved quality of education

Louis Fourie

By: Louis Fourie.

 

History has proven that education is one of the most powerful tools to drive positive social, economical and technological change, and, therefore, create a more prosperous future for a country.

In South Africa many approaches to enhance the educational experience and quality have been tried in the past, but none of them were dramatically successful in improving the results of students, giving them greater access to post-school studies or enhance their employability.

There is a constant drive for educational policy change at national level, yet the attempts generally seem to be perennially futile. We have tried the appointment of more teachers, pedagogical methodologies that did not work elsewhere, and instructional designs that are outdated in the Fourth Industrial Era.

Perhaps the answer (partly) lies in technology. In our endeavours to increase the access and quality of education in South Africa, the Internet of Educational Things (IoET) may provide the much needed support. Historically, technological innovations and enhancements have improved the quality of and access to education all over the world.

In particular the Internet has had a profound impact on teaching and learning. Due to the many free online resources such as Massive Open Online Courses from leading institutions such as Harvard and MIT it is possible to take a class at home.

High school learners can access the rich sources of the Khan Academy and digital encyclopedias. Almost any skill or theory can be learned via YouTube and TED.

It is possible to find an online tutor for a child in any subject for a reasonable amount and children can even (illicitly) outsource their mathematics homework and other assignments to an unknown person on the Web.

But the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has not left education untouched. The Internet of Things (IoT), one of the building blocks of the 4IR, is an important innovation to create smart learning environments in schools and universities.

The IoT can improve the education system and can also add value to the face-to-face teaching environment and to structured learning.

The IoT makes it possible for schools to implement an unparalleled number of systems and methods that could enhance the abilities of students. It also revolutionises classroom dynamics, from primary school to university education.

The IoT, with its inherent connection of numerous devices and people to the Internet, will significantly transform our learning processes, as is evident from recent research that confirmed the educational potential at lower grade levels of the IoET devices.

Dr Jim Ang and his team from Kent University in the UK investigated how IoET technology could be effectively designed and used to support education in primary schools in rural Northern Thailand.

They developed a bespoke IoET platform called “Observation Learning System” (Obsy) that made the learning process more “real, local and fun”.

The toy-like Obsy device was based on the inexpensive Raspberry Pi mini computer and had several ports to which the learners could connect environmental sensors to measure ambient light and temperature. The recorded data was then transferred wirelessly to the tablets of the children. The Obsy was specifically designed to look like a toy to rouse the curiosity of the children and to minimise any possible technology anxiety or distrust.

At the back-end the system consisted of an IoET platform, which processed the context of learning activities, how the experiments have been carried out, as well as the results, allowing for improvements.

The children had to undertake three science-based learning activities with the aim of improving their understanding of certain science processes while simultaneously learning to work in teams.

They had to study the growth of mould in different conditions; learn about the factors that influence the growth of mushrooms; and determine how much light can pass through different objects by taking photos or videos, monitoring temperature changes, and measuring the amount of light with the Obsy device.

All the information that was wirelessly transmitted to their tablets, visualised in the form of graphs to assist the learners in making comparisons of the results and also in understanding how different conditions can lead to different results.

The device not only encouraged observation, but also invited students to share their results with the rest of their classmates.

From the research in Thailand, the researchers were able to demonstrate that the children using the IoET device had a significant higher learning engagement and obtained better scores than a control class that undertook the same experiments without the use of the Obsy device.

The current growth in the IoT has the potential to cause a move towards a new class of ubiquitous learning applications that rely on inexpensive sensors, edge devices, IoT middleware, and web-based protocols like HTTP to enable innovative ubiquitous and personalised learning designs in language and social sciences learning, science and technology learning, and domain independent learning.

Through the confluence of physical objects with the digital world, IoT allows the development of new hybrid systems. One solution is the powerful combination between Virtual Reality (VR) and IoT that was researched by Mohamed Fahim and others in Morocco.

IoT makes physical objects part of the virtual and digital environment, while VR makes digital environments seem realistic. Due to the increase in learners and shortage of physical resources in Morocco, the researchers resorted to VR and the IoT to create a credible virtual learning space where the learners could perform practical activities like in the real world – in this case the measurement of ultrasonic velocity in the air.

Thirty students were randomly divided into an experimental and a control group. A post-test revealed that the experimental group using the learning system based on IoT and VR were significantly better than the control group who only had a theoretical course.

Fourteen learners in the experimental group averaged 93.3percent, while the control group averaged between 46.7 and 53.3percent in the test.

The study indeed indicated that IoT and VR could widen the possibility for innovations in the teaching and learning, especially by creating a virtual environment where the learner is an active participant that can “learn by doing”, through the interaction with the 3D virtual objects.

An educational environment based on VR and IoT can further solve the problem of the equipment/product insufficiency often experienced by institutions. Such an environment can provide learners with a rich, interactive learning experience where they can perform tasks safely; participate in learning situations that require repetition; and participate in learning situations that are too expensive to implement in the real world.

It is evident that IoET technology in the classroom can bring major educational benefits. It can significantly improve learning outcomes and participation and allows learners to grasp more complex concepts.

Given the high percentage of children and students with smart phones in South Africa, the smart phones with their various sensors could easily be integrated into the learning activities of schools.

Learners live in a world where digital devices constitute a vital part of their daily lives.

It is time that the educational system harnesses this proficiency of students in the use of modern tools in order to stimulate their appetite for learning and their understanding of complex concepts.

Educational institutions can benefit greatly by using IoT in their regular educational activities. Perhaps the biggest problem is not the readiness of the students, but the readiness of the teachers.

Source of the article: https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion/opinion-technological-innovations-have-improved-quality-of-education-26220202

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Why education must keep pace with technology to stay relevant

Ikuko Tsuboya-Newell

The information-technology revolution over the last few decades represents the latest development in the innate desire of humankind throughout its history to thrive at an optimal level through the use of technology.

We now take for granted instant access to information anywhere on the planet, and the pace of advancement shows no sign of abating. Technology confined to the realms of science fiction and futuristic fantasy not that long ago is now embedded in our everyday life and is unfolding at a rapid pace.

The new kids on the block — artificial intelligence, big data with data log via AI, the “internet of things,” robotics and so forth — are even pushing us past the information-technology era. Self-driving cars, drones, artificial interpreters and care robots are just a few already in practical use.

As always, advancements bring challenges, not least of all in the field of education. Education has to keep pace with technology and utilize its benefits at the grassroots level — or risk creating a disparity between the classroom and the real world.

A working group under the umbrella of the Cabinet secretariat’s education reform council, of which I am a member, focuses on education innovation using advanced technology. The group meets every three or four weeks to discuss strategies to meet these challenges. One area of development that excites me is the possibility of producing personal records for each student containing their learning history. Using AI technology, such records could include continuous evaluations, achievements, health condition and more, from elementary to secondary and even to higher education.

Analyzing such information holds great potential. Students, for instance, could be offered a personalized study plan with suggested content identified to address their weaknesses as well as programs for improving their established strengths. A student who demonstrates manual dexterity could be made aware of that and guided into pathways leading to fulfilling opportunities in such fields as craftwork. A student with exceptional social skills could be made aware of possible careers in sales or services.

Such information could be particularly useful when choosing a field of study in higher education, and ultimately one’s career. Until now, university admission has been mainly determined by fixed points of observation and evaluation through testing. However, the method would enable an approach to observe students continually over a sustained period of time, helping to create a custom-made program for a student’s particular strengths and passions.

This continuous recording or portfolio approach could also be useful for businesses and improve the function of their human resources departments as they decide where best to place their newly employed college graduates.

The son of one of my friends recently quit his job two years after being appointed to the general affairs department because his strengths and personality were not suited for such a post. This had a devastating impact on his confidence and self-esteem.

This is not a rare case. Many high school students are advised to apply for any field of study in higher education depending on the level of their academic scores. It is not unusual for a student to apply for law at one university, economics at another, literature at yet another and even education at a fourth. Evaluating a personal portfolio record with AI would thankfully make this kind of practice in university admission a thing of the past.

Another area where technology can bring about dramatic and significant changes is with regard to resources made available to students at schools. Up until now, textbooks have been the main and almost only resource being used in classrooms. But technology offers a huge range of resources such as apps, YouTube videos and other online content. All of these can support students to have deeper and broader understanding in their learning.

Of course the proliferation of such resources requires that a new set of critical thinking skills should be developed; new and constantly changing information must be critically appraised for trustworthiness and appropriateness.

It is inconceivable that any school utilizing new technology would not have the support of IT engineers or technicians. Installing apps to support downloading resources, managing and running servers for information, sharing information with students to provide a network that respects privacy, and so on, means the work will be extensive. The support of IT sectors should be requested so that engineers would be dispatched to help such work at public schools.

The government should not be tempted to order schools to use teachers to take on IT roles of any kind in addition to their teaching task. It is no secret that teachers at Japanese public schools work notoriously long hours, in fact more than in any other OECD country. Implementation of advanced technology for education requires specialist skills, which take years to develop.

It is essential that manpower is made available to provide material for teachers to use in the classroom. The material should be derived from a wide array of resources and follow the national curriculums for every grade.

If this manpower cannot be provided, then a solid resource database updated almost daily can be provided for teachers to use. Teachers should be able to scan the database with ease and choose the content suitable for their class to use.

The challenge is to bring the latest technology effectively into schools and at the same time allow teachers to concentrate on the important job for which they are trained: nurture and care for our future generations

Source of the article: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/01/31/commentary/japan-commentary/education-must-keep-pace-technology-stay-relevant/#.XPWFl9IzbMx

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Embracing tech in early childhood education

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Asia/Vietnam/25.09.18/Source: vietnamnews.vn.

Learning is fun: Kids at the Lùng Vai Kindergarten in northern mountainous Lào Cai Province during playtime. Experts advocate initiatives to draw resources from both the public and private sectors to promote equity in education and ensure access to learning opportunities for all children, regardless of their age, gender, residence, ethnicity, social status. VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Hà

When Minh Hạnh’s five-year-old daughter Mai told her she had a class presentation about her favourite pets later that week, Hạnh knew just what to do.

She gathered all the photos and videos she had of little Mai with the animals her great grandparents have in Hải Phòng City, 100km from Hà Nội. There were photos of a cow, a dog and a mother pig with her herd of adorable newborns. After making them into a short clip, she used Google Photos to share it with Mai’s teacher.

She asked the teacher to help screen the clip for the class when it was her daughter’s turn to present.

When Mai came home from the presentation, she said all her friends liked it so much that they gave the clip a big round of applause.

“Some of my friends say they have never seen a real cow before,” the little one said happily.

Hạnh used to think that screen time was not healthy for children, as it can easily replace face-to-face socialising. She still holds that belief, but her views have evolved.

“I think modern technology has its advantages here – helping children to better understand what they’re learning,” Hạnh said.

“We are no longer living in a world where it’s practical to prohibit or avoid ‘screen time,’” she said. “Digital technology is certainly here to stay, and most of our children are using a smart phone as soon as they’re old enough to hold one. We can help our children by using technology in a productive way rather than fighting against it altogether.”

Lê Anh Lan, an education officer for UNICEF Vietnam, agrees.

“It is now common to apply technology in every field of life, including early childhood education,” she said. “The period from zero to eight years old is a critical phase in childhood development; a child at this age learns an incredible number of skills and retains a lot of information he or she will need to function throughout life.”

While no official statistics are available on the use of technology in preschools in Việt Nam, Trịnh Thị Xim, head of the Early Childhood Education Faculty at the Hà Nội National College for Pedagogy, said new technologies have been implemented in many cities and provinces across the country.

“We’ve seen the benefits technology brings about for the children – they’re more involved in class activities and more interested in discovering things around them when photographs or animations are presented. Visual aids help them remember better than traditional methods,” Xim said. “With thoughtful guidance, teachers can use classroom technology to help early childhood students learn age-appropriate skills.”

Xim said that while screen time used to have a bad reputation for detracting from social interaction, educators are changing that perception by embracing it as a tool.

“For instance, little kids often find it easier and more exciting to use a touchscreen rather than a mouse or a keyboard. Using tablets allows them to physically interact with the content they’re learning,” she said. Xim added that practising the use of digital tools will serve students well for years to come.

John Jeon Huh is CEO of the Jello Academy in Hà Nội, one of the schools implementing a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and arts educational approach that is popular in the United States. Huh claimed the application of technology in early education has led to remarkable results.

“The integration of technology into STEM classes has created useful new experiences for young children, enabling them to have fun while discovering and testing the theories they are taught,” he said.

“Parents nowadays actually care more about our approach,” he said. “They welcome the addition of technology and STEM activities into the curriculum.”

The role of technology in early childhood education has long been recognised elsewhere in the world: the UK government sees in computers the potential to improve educational standards, and they have invested accordingly. The 2009 Home Access scheme was designed to promote the educational benefits of home computer and internet access. The Digital Britain report, produced by two UK government departments in 2009, stated that “we need a change in approach in education and training for digital life skills, starting with the youngest students.”

The No Child Left Behind legislation, introduced by the United States government in 2002, shared similar aims. One of its sections, titled “Enhancing Education Through Technology,” was designed to improve student attainment through technology. It also aimed to ensure that every student is technologically literate by the end of eighth grade.

Necessary support

Although researchers do not deny the potential benefits of technology for accelerating language and literacy development in young children, they have said that these gains are reliant on the way specific technologies are applied at home and in the classroom.

Lê Anh Lan said technology in early childhood education and early learning only proves to be effective with good preparation for teachers, parents and child care givers.

“Whether a child can benefit from technology depends largely on how it is applied by educators and adults,” she said.

Trịnh Thị Xim shared this opinion.

“Simply investing in technology or offering training in the use of new equipment will not be enough to achieve the sought-after changes; the education sector should support teachers so they can be confident enough to help students,” she said.

In order to do this, Xim believes policy makers will need to be involved.

“Training for teachers, investment in facilities for schools and the determination for change among education sector officials are critical,” she said.

John Jeon Huh said that a coordinated system is needed to ensure a lifelong foundation for young children.

“We need an educational system in which technology is applied consistently from the lowest level to the highest level – technology application in early childhood is just the first step on a lifelong path,” he said.

Despite great effort from the Government in investing in early childhood education, lots of constraints remain including limited investment for technology, Anh Lan from UNICEF Việt Nam said the state could play a stronger role.

“I also advocate for initiatives that draw resources from both the public and private sectors to promote equity in education and ensure access to learning opportunities for all children, regardless of their age, gender, residence, ethnicity, social status and their perceived capabilities, including informal learning.” VNS

Technology connects parents and teachers

The KidsOnline app was initially designed by a Vietnamese group to keep parents of young children updated on classroom activities. Over the last two years, KidsOnline has become the most popular cloud-based platform for kindergartens in Viet Nam to communicate with parents. It has almost 83,000 users.

The app, available on iOS and Android, allows parents to communicate directly with teachers. It shows what the kids are doing in real time, allowing interested parents to monitor their child’s daily learning progress. Photos of school activities are uploaded by teachers and sent to each parent’s app. It also provides information on upcoming school activities that parents may want to participate in.

Later on, the app evolved to help school managers with administrative tasks. These include managing school finances, healthcare and recruitment. Teachers can also use KidsOnline to receive notes from parents and send feedback instead of communicating with parents solely through paper-based reports, email or face-to-face interaction.

“Of course in-person contact would still be the preference of every parent when it comes to talking with their child’s teacher, and we never hope to replace such an important communication channel,” said Lê Huy Long, CEO of KidsOnline. “We hope to supplement this by providing regularly updated information on how children are doing at school, and keeping a record of all relevant activities.”

Source of the notice: https://vietnamnews.vn/society/education/465157/embracing-tech-in-early-childhood-education.html#jRmjP2PyGcI0jlJ8.97

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How kids in a low-income country use laptop —lessons from Madagascar

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Africa/Madagascar/17.09.18/Source: mg.co.za.

Every child, no matter what country they’re from or their social background, should have the chance to use and learn about technology. That’s the thinking behind a number of projects led by international organisations like UNESCO and UNICEF. They hope to bolster education and economic growth by making digital technologies available in the developing world.

The One Laptop Per Child project was a pioneer in this field. This educational project, launched by the MIT in 2005, produces laptop computers suitable for children aged between 6 and 12. These are loaded with an operating system that features free educational software called Sugar. The programme has been rolled out at schools in more than 30 countries.

The project aims to equip all primary school children and all teachers with computers in a way that involves communities and that ensures everyone feels a sense of responsibility for the equipment. For example, kids aged six to 12 own their computers and can take them home to use.

Research shows that using technology in school makes children more engaged with learning. We wanted to know how children in low-income countries use laptops in their everyday lives; in school and after class. To find out, we embarked on a study in a village in Madagascar four years after the project was launched there.

Our results show that the use of computers in low-income countries supports formal and informal learning activities at home. It provides easy access to information, educational games and tools for self-expression.

Use at school

Madagascar, an island nation off Africa’s southeast coast, is extremely poor: 75% of the population (25 million) live below the poverty line, and the country scores low on the human development index, performing poorly in areas like education and living standards.

The study was conducted in a village located on the island of Nosy Komba, in the northeast of the country. Laptops are seen among residents there as high status objects because they cost a lot of money. None of the parents we interviewed could afford to buy one. They also have a high symbolic value: parents believe that if their children can master laptop use they will become more intelligent and develop professional skills.

A programme was rolled out in the village by One Laptop Per Child France and another French organisation, Gducœur. They supplied laptops and provided technical, logistical, administrative, financial and educational support. The laptops were given to 160 children aged between 5 and 15 enrolled in the village’s primary school.

Our analysis was both quantitative and a qualitative. We examined logs that showed which applications the children had used on their laptops during the previous 12 months; we analysed what they’d produced – for instance, recorded files. And we interviewed the children and their parents.

The results showed that the laptops were used very differently at school and in the children’s homes. At school, computers were generally used to learn about word processing, to play educational games and to support creative activities (drawing, digital story telling). Computers were also used as a virtual learning environment that offered a range of resources unavailable in the classroom like calculators, ebooks, maps, a watch, measuring tools and so on.

At home the children, like their peers in developed countries, largely used computers to take photos or make videos, listen to music, play games, share content and do homework. The younger children tended to use fewer reading and writing applications. Those in the equivalent of fourth and fifth grade used more digital books; they also shared images and videos more frequently with their friends.

Similarities and differences

Our findings suggest that developing countries like Madagascar have something in common with western nations when it comes to laptop use, such as how the children used the computers at home.

But there was one marked difference: computer use in Madagascar tended to be a collective rather than an individual practice. Children and their families would gather around one laptop to play educational games, take photos or make videos. Computers were being used to strengthen existing social relations among siblings, parents and peers.

All of this is important and valuable. Laptops have introduced the children of Nosy Komba to previously inaccessible tools. But we found that original projects were limited. While applications used were designed to foster creativity, children need support to develop creativity skills.

Educators have a crucial role to play here. They can help to nurture children’s creativity: the can help them to connect their lived experience and to express their imagination to produce original content. This will unlock new forms of expression and different kinds of literacy, including visual.

Source of the notice: https://mg.co.za/article/2018-03-20-how-kids-in-a-low-income-country-use-laptop-lessons-from-madagascar

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Africa: Mahama wants re-engineering of university education curriculum

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Africa/ June 27, 2018/Source: https://www.myjoyonline.com

Former President John Mahama has called for re-engineering of the curriculum of University education in Africa to stimulate accelerated development if the continent is to remain competitive and relevant in the global space of skills acquisition and training.

He identified the mismatch nature curriculum bequeathed the continent from colonial mastership, which currently under-rights the content of syllabi at the Universities.

Speaking on the “Future of Work and Industrialisation” on the sidelines of the 53rd Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank in Busan, South Korea, Mr Mahama said churning out graduates of humanities for example in large droves would not unlock the quest for accelerated industrialisation in Africa.

It was on the theme, “Accelerating Africa’s Industrialisation,” which is underpinned by the Bank’s High 5 strategy including light up and power Africa, feed Africa and improve the quality of life of Africans.

He said stringent measures should be instituted to achieve a 70 by 30 parity in the sciences against the humanities to place the continent in pole-position to advance economically, socially and in the fields of science and technology, which is the catalyst to reaching accelerated development of the continent.

Mr Mahama said Africa was ready to break into the legion of industrialised continent, when the right pillars of development was activated and matched-up to the global competition even in the face of deployment of hitech artificial intelligence and robotics saying “we can start at our own pace and leverage to succeed.

“Rethinking Africa’s development paradigm will lead us to the desired destination.”

Mr Ken Ofori-Attah, Minister of Finance, also a panellists said stakeholders in Africa should pursue radically reforms in education pedagogy especially teaching programmes in entrepreneurship to jump-start changing the psyche of students to leapfrog Africa’s industrial.

He said political stability, investment in infrastructure as well as in technology, energy, macro-economic stability were essential.

Mrs Kanny Diallo, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation said frequent changes of governments and non-adherence to time-bound blueprints or development plans even makes Africa’s quest to notch accelerated development looking remote.

She insists huge investments in the agricultural sector and harnessing of the gains in the mining industry could be ploughed into the social services sector would enhance development in the agri-business value-chain to generate the necessary jobs for the youth.

She said long-term planning and solutions would assist the private sector to partner state institutions to absorb the defenceless and teeming youths with skills of engagements.

Source:

https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/May-26th/mahama-wants-re-engineering-of-university-curriculum.php

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China: New platform to inspire children to become the future building blocks of technology development

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China/By Yang Meiping / Source: https://www.shine.cn

Chinese corporations are looking into new ways of educating children in technology development as the nation strives to become a world leader in artificial intelligence and coding sectors.

Most children are familiar with computers, tablets and smartphones and play digital games on them. Some of those children have gone further than any of their peers and even are able to create games and apps. Yuma Soerianto, a 10-year-old from Australia, has created six apps and became the youngest attendee at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference last year.

Inspired by Soerianto’s achievements, some companies are now trying to cultivate such ability in every child. Shenzhen DianMao Technology Co Ltd is taking the baton with its web-based education platform called Codemao. It includes a series of applications of teaching coding and programming to children.

Li Tianchi, the co-founder and CEO of Codemao, said he and his partner Sun Yue started the company in 2015 when they noticed that some countries have already added coding subject in their school curricula. Meanwhile, the demand in China also grows rapidly due to technology development, such as artificial intelligence and the Internet.

“The world will need more new talent as computer or AI can replace human beings to some extent. Therefore, people should learn coding to make computers or AI work for us, rather than letting them manipulate us,” Li said. “Coding skill will be a basic and essential tool in the future as an international talent. For example, if a journalist can write a program to sort out data and analyze it for a financial issue, it will be more efficient for he/she to work out a report.”

The efficiency of AI has already been widely proved and began to influence lots of areas. For example, Goldman Sachs Group has laid off hundreds of traders in the past few years because of the adoption of computer programs.

According to Li, coding is becoming a basic subject for students, which has been put into primary curriculum in America and some European countries.

China’s state council also released an notification last year, requiring schools to incorporate coding into computer course. It also encourages social forces to develop interesting learning tools for coding education.

Li believes that, although China has begun to popularize computer education since the 1980s, coding education has not been fully developed yet.

Decades back, computer lessons focused on basic skills and knowledge such as document processing.

Since 2000, Computer and Information has become a compulsory course for students, but the focus was still on learning to use existing software, such as Microsoft and Internet Explorer.

“It was about how to work a computer, not how a computer works and how to make it work for us,” said Li. “Only after 2008, coding tools started to enter primary education.”

The difficulty in promoting coding education is because there are only a small number of qualified teachers who know both coding and education.

“It’s not a problem only in China, but worldwide, as outstanding computer professionals are sought by companies with high salaries. Schools could not offer that high payment,” said Li. “Meanwhile, the traditional programming code and tools are difficult for students and even primary school teachers to learn.”

However, the difficulty brought an opportunity for Li and his partner. They are professionals in computers and programming and have invited experts from education and cognitive psychology to create Codemao together — a platform designed on the learning characteristics of children. The aim is to make coding as simple and interesting as building blocks for children.

Based on Chinese national curriculum on computers, it divides its teaching system into nine levels.

It starts with teaching kindergarten or primary school students the basic ideas of coding through game-playing experience, with guidance from cartoon characters and graphic instruction options shaped like blocks. Then it gradually grows into algorithms, data structure and programming languages.

“On our platform, kids can learn to design graphic changes at the very beginning and then create simple games, such as whack-a-mole,” said Li. “When they finish all the nine levels, they will be capable of building and managing big databases and developing large-scale websites.

“We estimated that most students expect to spend approximately 10 years to go through the nine levels, but some students can learn surprisingly fast when their learning motive and potential are triggered. Thus, I think some will finish the nine levels in advance.”

Li pointed out that learning coding languages is not the ultimate goal when learning computation algorithms and creating games, animations and other programs. Students are also learning logical thinking and learning how to apply their knowledge to physics, archaeology, aerospace and other subjects.

“They are no longer addicts to online games, but learners, thinkers and creators,” he said.

There are free prerecorded online courses on the platform, one-to-one courses by teachers offline and an AI system that can answer questions from students and debug students’ work. Offline activities are organized during summer and winter vacations for themed coding learning, and famous coders from home and abroad are also invited to give lecture.

More than 2 million students from more than 3,000 schools, and some off-campus training organizations in China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Australia, South Africa, UK and France are now using the platform, according to Li.

Apart from teaching students, Li’s company also trains teachers to benefit more kids. It’s now cooperating with famous universities, such as Shanghai Normal University and Beijing Normal University, to deliver courses to embed coding and coding education ability in future teachers.

In less developed areas, it’s also cooperating with training schools to set up joint programs to cultivate coding education teachers.

It is also going to set up a research center in Finland to study issues including coding and interdisciplinary education, such as STEAM, a task-oriented education approach that guides students to solve real problems combining knowledge of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

“We would like to transfer our research findings into applications to improve our products and provide better education for children,” said Li.

The company has won many startup and innovation rewards and attracted US$18 million of financing, the highest amount K12 code education area .The two founders were listed on the “30 under 30 Asia” ranking, and 30 elites under 30 years old in Asia.

Source:

https://www.shine.cn/archive/feature/education/New-platform-to-inspire-children-to-become-the-future-building-blocks-of-technology-development/shdaily.shtml

 

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Latvia and Norway have potential for expanding cooperation on start-ups, education and tourism

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Latvia – Norway/April 24, 2018/Source: http://www.baltic-course.com

Latvia and Norway have the potential for expanding cooperation on start-ups, innovation, education and tourism, Latvian Economics Minister Arvils Aseradens (Unity) said while meeting with Roy Angelvik, the Norwegian State Secretary of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, on April 23rd, reports LETA.

LETA was told at the Economics Ministry that the meeting between Aseradens and Angelvik dealt with bilateral cooperation as well as possibilities of expanding this cooperation.

«Latvia appreciates the successful regional and economic cooperation with Norway. Moreover, our countries share the same values and goals – to develop the Baltic and Nordic countries as an affluent and secure region of Europe in the long term,» Aseradens said during the meeting.

Both Angelvik and Aseradens noted that it is important to both countries to develop cooperation on start-up businesses and innovation. At the same time, officials also voiced interest in developing educational cooperation, including professional education, particularly by developing joint study and student exchange programs.

Aseradens praised existing Latvian-Norwegian cooperation on the regional level, stressing the need to move towards closer Baltic-Nordic regional integration, especially in areas like energy, innovation, construction and green technology. The minister also thanked Norway for its contribution to the Baltic region’s security.

Aseradens also noted the significance of Norway Grants program, which has helped deepen bilateral toes and find new cooperation opportunities, including for Latvia’s SMEs to develop innovative, environmentally-friendly products, technologies and services. Norway Grants have supported 102 projects, as well as helped create 126 new jobs and develop 40 environmentally-friendly products and technologies.

Aseradens indicated that many Latvian construction companies are operating in the Norwegian market and that it is therefore important to align the two countries’ construction standards and requirements.

Angelvik, on his part, said that Norway wants to develop more expensive cooperation with Latvia on tourism, which is essential for the region’s further development.

After the meeting with Angelvik, Aseradens opened the Norwegian-Latvian business forum which had brought together more than 300 entrepreneurs from Norway, Norwegian entrepreneurs already doing business in Latvia, as well as Latvian entrepreneurs interested in building business contacts with Norwegians or starting a business in Norway.

As reported, the Norwegian-Latvian business forum has been organized as part of the visit of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway to Latvia.

Source: 

http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/Technology/?doc=139521

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