Advancing trends in technology

Wed, Jun 11th 2014, 10:44 AM

The Bahamas government has teamed up with Microsoft in a partnership agreement to advance trends in technology that will result in changes in the way students and teachers work, learn and live. Minister of Education, Science and Technology Jerome Fitzgerald said the Microsoft Partners in Learning Education Transformation Agreement was a significant milestone in the development of education, in that it would allow the ministry to forge ahead with its goal of ensuring that teachers and students in The Bahamas are immersed in technology-enriched learning environments.
"[The agreement will ensure that] teachers are equipped to effectively integrate technology into teaching and learning, thus fostering innovation and ingenuity in our students," said Fitzgerald.
Benefits of the partnership included assisting the education ministry to increase digital inclusion of all students and schools in The Bahamas; provide technical assistance to refine the ministry's strategy that guides information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives; create a Microsoft 365 platform that is free to education and extends teaching and learning within and beyond the classroom.
Other benefits, he said, would include the provision of an email platform for all teachers and students in the public education system to have access to an education email address that they could have for their lifetime. The Microsoft Innovative Educator Programme will ensure that educators have 21st Century ICT skills; and will allow 1,500 teachers and 22,000 students to have the ability to download Microsoft Suite programs on up to five devices.
Fitzgerald said the government took the mandate to create an educational system that is technologically sound and competitive.
"Our commitment is demonstrated by the nearly $5 million in ICT initiative undertaken by my ministry since 2012. It is by far the largest and most successful technology initiative undertaken to date by the Government of The Bahamas under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) IDB INSPIRE Project Management Unit," he said.
According to Fitzgerald, since 2012 the government has invested in educational technologies in 76 primary and secondary public schools and in upgrading all school computer labs in the 14 districts throughout The Bahamas. He said that national libraries had been upgraded with computers and educational technologies and support had also been given to the Learning Resources Section, the Curriculum Section, resource centers in the Family Islands and programs including PACE and the Simpson Penn Centre for Boys.
The education technologies included desktop computers, laptops, interactive white boards, multimedia projectors, multimedia printers, document cameras, equipment to facilitate distance education and other technologies. Fitzgerald said the government had invested in assistive technology to facilitate learning for students with special needs and continued to upgrade the ICT infrastructure in schools. "We have implemented a very aggressive and diverse professional development framework to ensure that teachers are able to teach effectively in an increasingly ICT-enriched environment. To date, nearly 2,000 teachers have been trained in a multiplicity of ICT skills," he said. The investment of nearly $5 million on ICT was guided by the ICT in Education Strategy (e-Strategy) that was crafted after wide sector consultation and had the embedded vision, "To make accessible to the students of The Bahamas the technology required to make them globally competitive".
The education minister said that the ultimate aim was to create an e-culture in education that strengthened the system, and equipped the youth for the world of work and result in an improved Bahamas.
Minister Fitzgerald also congratulated Sharell Armaly-Edwards, an art and design teacher and subject coordinator at A.F. Adderley Junior School, who submitted a winning entry in the 10th Annual Microsoft in Education Global Forum and won an all-expense paid trip to Barcelona, Spain in March of this year. The forum recognizes the world's most innovative school leaders and educators who effectively use ICT in the classroom to transform education for the 21st Century. Armaly-Edwards submitted a lesson showing her students' versatility with using the Internet and the interactive white board for research, and to design their course work for the Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) Exams. The Bahamas joined Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Haiti in the agreement with Microsoft.

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