“Already
from the four weeks of operation we are seeing tremendous improvement in
attendance, and the level of interest, especially from the boys. We are seeing
already some improvement in the reading skills of our students, so we believe
that this project will have to be enlarged (and) in enlarging it we have to
establish some cost sharing”
Minister of Science,
Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell speaking at the Official Opening
of the Canterbury Homework and Computer Lab at the Redemption Chapel Church in
Montego Bay on Saturday November 1st 2014
Despite
reports of a male students figuring a way around the security features built
into the Tablets given to students under the JA$1.4 billion TIS (Tablet in
Schools) Project as I'd reported in my blog article
entitled “Male
Student hacks TIS Project Tablet as Distribution Expands - Tablets Problems
require Creative Jamaican solutions to deliver Lessons to the Learners We Teach”,
the TIS is off to a great start!
Minister
of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell has now confirmed
that the Tablets being distributed across some thirty (30) schools in Jamaica
in a TIS Test Pilot is having a marked effect on the students, particularly the
males as noted in the article “Parents
will soon be asked to pay for tablets”, published Tuesday, November 04,
2014 BY HORACE HINES Observer staff
reporter, The Jamaica Observer.
He
made mention of this while speaking at the Official Opening of the Canterbury
Homework and Computer Lab at the Redemption Chapel Church in Montego Bay on
Saturday November 1st 2014 which now boast a Computer Lab with 22
Computers funded by the USF (Universal Service Fund) to the tune of JA$4.8
million.
He
remarked during the presentation that early indications are that the High and
Primary schools involved in the Test Pilot are seeing the following
improvements:
1. Increase
in attendance
2. Improvement
in Reading
3. Improved
interest in School work
4. Increased
interest in School overall being shown by Male students
But
it was during that presentation he dropped a bomb that I'd been expecting foe
some time, that being the cost of the Tablets as noted in my blog article
entitled “Tablets
in Jamaican Schools by September 2014 – e-Learning Project II Public Education
Campaign needed to be successful”.
The
Tablets rollout over the past four (4) weeks has been a success with some
30,000 Tablets now being distributed free to some thirty (30) schools under the
TIS Project Test Pilot! That bit should have the doubting Thomases at the MICO University College who though it
would create work for idle hands taken aback.
Rather
than being a distraction, it has basically proven some of the very Theories
about Learning Styles relating to Boys to be true, that being that they are
mostly Kinesthetic and Visual learners (Dunn, R., Dunn K., & Price, G.E.,
1985) who learn best by watching what other do (Bandura A., 1977) and to have
their hands occupied.
This
was the argument I’d used in my presentation entitled Profile of the DC Sniper and a Recommended
Learning Style Inventory on Tuesday November 4th 2014 in my
Professional Studies Group Class, the Learners We Teach.
TIS Project a Success
with Boys - JA$5000 to JA$9000 may be what parents will pay for the Subsidized
Tablets
Yes,
you read that caption right.
That
the price I’d originally estimated that parents would pay for the Tablets being
provided by the Four (4) contractors based on the cost of a typical low-end
Chinese Tablet, the US$200 Huawei MediaPad Lite 7 Tablet as mentioned in my blog article
entitled “Ministry
of Science and Technology signs four Contractors in March 2014 to procure
Tablets - Test Pilot Project in September 2014 means Teachers can monetize
e-books”.
To
quote Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell, the
ballooning costs of the E-Learning II Project being implemented under the TIS
Project Test pilot, if successful, will require that students pay at least a
portion of the costs for the Tablets and the content if it is to go islandwide,
quote: “We recognise that this project is very costly and when you think about
the pilot only being able to deal with approximately 30,000 tablets and we have
about 600,000 students we have to find a way to enable the full roll-out of the
project for the entire country and to minimise the cost”.
Minister
Paulwell noted that PATH (Programme of Advancement Through Health and
Education) will continue to get the Tablets and the associated Content i.e.
E-book and access to the E-Learning Platform and the CAP (Community Access
Points) free of cost, quote: “We will as a Government continue to fund the
softer side of the business. So for example the books; all the E-books we will
pay for those. We will also pay for free Internet access and it is broadband
technology. But we are thinking that apart from those PATH students who cannot
afford the tablet, and who we believe we need to assist, we will have to ask
parents to contribute towards the acquisition of the tablets”.
TIS Project replace all
School books and Texts with e-books - Full rollout come July 2015 to some
600,000 Students
Just
that everyone else will have to pay. But it's not as bad as you think.
The
eventual plan is to replace all School books and Texts with e-books available
for download as well as via Web Apps and E-Learning Certified Websites and
Webpages as predicted in my blog article
entitled “Ministry
of Education Select Content for Jamaican TIS Project - How Tablets will Empower
Interactive Learning and make Students Aim High”.
Definitely
an opportunity for Teachers with a knack for creating content in e-book as well
as on interactive websites built by animators and Video Game designers, a
concept endorsed by Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites as noted in my blog article
entitled “Prof.
Joseph Saulter's Digital Game Design and Development Conference - US$112 Billion
Video Gaming Industry may be Jamaicans Next BPO”.
Those
cost savings come 2015 when the TIS Project is rolled out across the island
will mean that parents will no longer need to buy books, saving that can be
instead spend on acquiring a single Tablet that can be used for their children
in different Grades of School.
To
quote Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell: “I
think the families now have to become real stakeholders in some of the funding.
We won't be able to provide the tablets free of cost and I believe that if the
parents are able to save, and they will save substantially from the books they
will no longer need to purchase, then that could be an investment in the tablet
for the children. So I believe with that we could roll out the project much
faster than we would otherwise if we have to provide the tablets for the
600,000 students”.
July
2015 can't come fast enough when the TIS Project will end........and the Full
Assessment Report published and made available to the Press to gauge how well
this Project has succeeded.
Hopefully
by then when September 2015 rolls around for the new School Term, parents will
not mind spending JA$5000 to JA$9000 on a Tablet that would otherwise cost
upwards of JA$20,000 just to get their children, especially boys, excited about
going to school, even if it is to hack the Tablets!
Here’s
the link to my project:
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