Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Today, in the world of Google, Gizmos and Gadgets the global community is taking rapid strides in the areas of science and technology. The teachers in the Indian 'public' education system continue to play catch-up with technology. Limited resources and lack of a real information technology policy for public schools continue to restrict their adoption of 21st century education technologies. There is now an unofficial race that exists between public and private education.
St. Stanislaus High School - a renowned school in Bandra, Mumbai that will celebrate a glorious 150 years in 2013 clearly recognizes the challenges facing it. The current principal of St. Stanislaus, Fr. Jude Fernandes SJ is acutely aware the important role that teachers play in the development of society and the need to bring technological advances of our times to the teaching community. Recognizing the gap that exists between public and private education, Fr. Jude has fully embraced the idea to bring the benefits of technology to the doorstep of teachers and students alike.
The technology divide does raise some very fundamental questions - Can the school bring access to the latest technologies to every child and every teacher? Can it create a Stanislite who not only learns from the reams of paper called a textbook but is able to go beyond and capture the true essence of learning via Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)?
St. Stanislaus is clearly looking ahead and hopes to take its campus wireless coupled with increased access to computers and internet to its teachers and students. The school is already working towards re-launching its website that will be the focal point of exchange of ideas and a launch pad for future educational technology integration. In addition to the above initiatives the school has also formulated a task force - 'The Stanislaus Vision 2013 Team' comprising of the alumni organization, Parent Teachers Association and school administration to bring together a diverse pool of ideas and resources to serve the future technological and educational needs of the school.
The school is now collaborating with non-profits such as Comet Media Foundation and intellectuals alike to realize the dreams and aspirations of many who would otherwise be left behind in the digital divide of the Technology Haves and Have Nots.
Comet Media Foundation led by Chandita Mukherjee was founded in 1985. It evangelizes the need to build awareness of science and technology in Indian society at large, focusing on issues such as the environment, education, health and the history of science in South Asia. Comet has won a number of awards, including the Jules Verne Prize of the European Union, an international award given for outstanding efforts in science communication. One of the major areas of Comet's activity currently is the COSMOS New Media Initiative encompassing teaching, research and production. It offers workshops and short courses to people from diverse backgrounds to
help them to adopt ICTs.
Comet is partnering St. Stanislaus High School to bring "yuva vividha" - a festival of new media in education between May 1 and 3 to the school campus in Bandra, Mumbai. The festival features opportunities for hands-on learning and demonstrations of ICT applications and free software including a chance to make your own film and upload it on the Internet.
The festival highlights include an interactive seminar - "Careers for tomorrow: ICTs & U" on May 2, featuring presenters like Manisha Mohan, creative head of Tata Interactive Systems; Jayashree Shinde, Instructional Design expert, SNDT University; Jitendra Shah of Indictrans, trainer in GIS (Geographical Information Systems)
*The St. Stanislaus Ex-students Association (www.stanislites.org) can be reached at mc@stanislites.org
*St. Stanislaus High School (www.stanislausbandra.in) can be reached at principal@stanislausbandra.in
*The Stanislaus Vision 2013 Team can be reached at vision2013@stanislites.org
Source: St. Stanislaus Ex-Students Association (Business Wire India)
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