PAN ASIA ICT R&D Grants Programme - UTM

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9. 9. Distance Distance Lear Learning Lear ning Pr Programme Pr amme (Solomon (Solomon Islands) Islands) Project Budget Grant Awarded: US$ 8,994 Project Purpose Provide improved educational opportunities for rural people by exploiting new possibilities arising from ICTs, in particular the People First Network. Project Objectives As a model for the national expansion of the PFnet rural e-mail network, the project aims to: 1) Exploit the existing community email facility to pilot a distance learning computer centre in a rural village school. 2) Provide baseline research data on the impacts of the distance learning centre and the general impacts of the email facility, to be used in the future expansion of PFnet. 3) Build rural and national capacity in the use of ICTs especially in the education sector. Target Audience Beneficiaries of this process are primarily the remote rural communities that currently suffer from highly deficient transportation and communication networks; students and particularly young people in the rural areas who wish to study in their villages. The Solomon Islands Education System benefits from the study and pilot application. Organizations working in rural development and servicealso benefits, because PFnet allows them to improve their operations through better logistics and information exchange, while improving the living conditions of their staff in remote locations, presumably helping to retain them in their functions. Distance Learning Programme Villagers in Buala Hardware & Software Two Toshiba 440 laptop computers Two external keyboards and mice, Canon BJ1000 Printer with 4 BC03 cartridges. Project Output 1) The Distance Learning ICT Centre established in a rural area which could be a model application for the national PFnet programme 2) USP Distance Learning Programme 3) Baseline data provided for expansion of network 4) Rural local capacity built Patson Taniveke demonstrating the computer Teachers of Sasamungga Community School now have basic office computing skills, and students of the school are exposed to computing as an educational aid, e-mail and the Internet. Some of the students at the workshop opening briefing The Project Team The team includes PFnet Manager Randall Biliki, with Project Coordinator Alan Agassi, Research Coordinator Glynn Galo, PFnet Coordinator David Leeming. Supporting the research activity and evaluation is Prof. Tracy Berno, Associate Professor, Coordinator Tourism Studies, School of Social and Economic Development, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Islands. Contact Address Ministry of Provincial Government and Rural Development Anthony Saru Building, 5 th Floor PO Box G35 Solomon Islands E-Mail: rdva@pipolfastaem.gov.sb Websites: http://www.peoplefirst.net.sb/ www.peoplefirst.net.sb/ 40
Educa Education Educa tion thr through thr ough Remote emote Netw Networ Netw or orks or ks Peter Rita giving one on one basic computer training Project Background In the Solomon Islands, communication difficulties are an obstacle to development. Social unrest in 1998 raised tension between Guadalcanal and Malaita and badly eroded national solidarity. Lack of trusted information, misinformation and the absence of reliable communication links have only served to heighten the misunderstanding and tension between communities. The People First Network, or PFnet, is a rural connectivity project, which aims to promote and facilitate Trainees trying out their new skill equitable and sustainable rural development and peace building by enabling better information sharing and knowledge building among and across communities in the Solomon Islands. The project was conceived and initiated by the UNDP and UNOPS project named the Solomon Islands Development Administration and Participatory Planning Programme (SIDAPP) under the Ministry of Provincial Government and Rural Development. SIDAPP was a UNDP and UNOPS project which closed in December 2001. From January 2001, SIDAPP initiated PFnet, which is now organised as a project of the Rural Development Volunteers Association (RDVA), which is affiliated to the Rural Development Division (RDD) of the Ministry of Provincial Government and Rural Development. All SIDAPP activities are now absorbed within the RDD. PFnet is now working with partners to develop further applications of the network in many other sectors. The objectives of the project are to: 1) facilitate point-to-point communications to and from the remote provinces of the Solomon Islands; 2) facilitate rural development and peace-related information flows among all social groups; as well as 3) facilitate the exchange of information between communities and development partners, NGOs, government offices, the media, businesses and other stakeholders. This project aims to utilize an existing rural Internet connection through the rural-development and peace Information Communications Technology (ICT) initiative PFnet, to pilot a distance learning facility in one of the rural Community High Schools in the Solomon Islands in partnership with the University of South Pacific (USP) Centre of Honiara. The project team successfully created a Solomon Islands SchoolNet as the resources and the learning system for the project. These resources are available to other schools. The project team created a strategy and policy for distance education. That strategy encompassed the Solomon Islands School of Higher Education, USP Honiara Extension Centre and all formal and informal learning networks using appropriate and cost effective technology. Under this strategy, the formal and informal education sectors built capacity for the delivery and utilization of distance learning resources and the development of local content. The project also aims to open centres for general community networking purposes by developing links with rural health service delivery and support, commerce, finance, legal services, gender development, reduction of vulnerability to natural disasters and other improvements in rural access, many of which have already been pioneered by PFnet. Some level of “virtual classroom” 41 Distance Learning Programme
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PAN ASIA ICT R&D Grants Programme - UTM

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