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| | PRINT | | To Develop the Team Spirit |
 Addis Ababa, April 2006 – Girma Mitiku Aleme is Coordinator Coordinator of iEARN-Ethiopia as well as the Coordinator of ATN-SchoolNet Africa and the ICT Club in Addis Ababa. He will contribute his know-how to the congress section "Introducing eLearning to the School System". CHECKpoint eLearning requested his point of view.
Would you please give a short description of the eLearning experimentation in Ethiopian High Schools?
Girma Mitiku Aleme: The first eLearning experimentation, with three pilot high schools in Addis Ababa, was conducted in the timeline from June to August 2003 at the Menelik II General and Preparatory High School Computer Lab, with the coordination of the ICT Club. The eLearning experiments aimed at providing the proper skills to the thirty learners who participated in the pilot-program so that they would be able to take part in online global learning network projects or tele-collaborative projects.
The three projects they were involved in were the CivICT Project of the World Bank Institute, Think Quest Africa (TQA), which was later renamed Mtandao-Afrika: Internet Challenge Program, and - in 2004 – the IEARN Learning Circle (LC) programs. The eLearning experiments were conducted in the three pilot high schools in Addis Ababa with the aim of replicating the experiences in other high schools in Ethiopia or Africa.
What kind of Internet training programs form an alternative to teaching in school?
Girma Mitiku Aleme: The students should be given training in computer basics, Internet usage, including browsing, e-mail communication skills, chatting, participating in D-groups. They should also have the basic knowledge of netiquette and web page development. I think these basic skills will help them to be self-learners, with the teacher acting as the facilitator in the learner-centered approach in pedagogy. This way we will not only make the students Internet users, but we can also make them contributors to the net by designing their own web pages with their own content.
How is this different?
Girma Mitiku Aleme: This is clearly different from the old teaching method. In the learner-centered approach using technology, the students become creative and innovative when they choose their own content and work on it to develop their own web pages using the Internet and other educational resources, with their teacher being a facilitator. They can develop teamwork and team spirit in order to solve problems collectively and to aim toward and achieve common goals. They can also develop their communication skills when they aspire to address their content within a group, across groups, and across cultures globally, so that they can achieve the motto of the Information Society: think globally, act locally.
What is your vision of school reality in the future?
Girma Mitiku Aleme: School reality in the future will make a real paradigm shift. The teaching-learning system will become more learner-centered and more virtual, with the teacher and learner rarely having a face-to-face program. Quality and equity of education for all can be achieved very easily using technology. Most of the burdensome work of the teacher will be eliminated. We can teach a large number of students using high quality plasma display panels in class in a distance learning TV program online or with a repeat of programs within the week.
We can devise a method known as a multiplex system of networked computer labs where students can learn virtually without actually having direct contact with their instructor. They can even continue learning at their homes from their own laptops using the Internet. The teacher can also check assignments and exams from his or her own laptop virtually and report the results back to respective students and to the school administration, etc.
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| | | | | | | | | | Premium Content |  | Second Life as
an eLearning Platform | | 3D simulations and serious games are attaining ever-increasing significance for the learning world. A special case of its own is the virtual world Second Life. The CHECK.point eLearning Whitepaper "Second Life as an eLearning Platform" seeks to contribute to the discussion about Second Life’s suitability as a technological platform for education and training. The study answers questions like "For which application scenarios is Second Life suitable?" and "Which topics can be implemented successfully in Second Life?"
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