Mexican classrooms go hi-tech
By Duncan Kennedy
BBC News, Mexico City
Ping ping, beep beep, tap tap. What would you think those noises are? A
new video game? A children's toy, perhaps? Or even some exotic musical
instrument?
Well, in some ways, you would be right about all three. In fact, it is
the sound of the new digital education system being used in Mexico.
A brain seen on a screen
The system is used in a variety of subjects
The noises are the kinds of sounds you hear when you put your finger on
the giant electronic screens attached to the walls of about 165,000
Mexican classrooms.
Some five million 10- and 11-year-olds now receive ALL their education
through the screens. It is believed to be the most ambitious project of
its kind in the world.
From maths to music, from geography to geometry, black and white boards
have given way to electronic screens.
"I really like it," says one six-year-old at the John F Kennedy Primary
school in Mexico City.
"It's fun and therefore you learn more."
'Active'
Five years in development, the entire school curriculum for 5th and 6th
graders has now been digitised and is accessible on the screens. Soon,
other grades will follow.
The system is called Enciclomedia.
Take an English lesson: the teacher taps the screen and a video starts,
instantly.
The children concentrate more, they interact more and so they get more
out of each class
Arturo Vazquez
Teacher
"Good morning, how are you," says the voice of one English-speaking girl
on the video.
" I'm fine," comes her friend's reply.
Soon, the pupils in the classroom watching the screen are saying the
words out loud.
During a biology lesson we watch as pupil after pupil comes to the
screen to piece together the human body... electronically.
One boy taps his finger on the screen and brings up the human heart. He
then slides his finger across the screen, taking the heart with him and
places it where he thinks it belongs on the body located on the other
side of the screen.
"Ping!" goes the sound of the screen when he places the organ correctly
in the middle of the chest.
"Beep, beep," goes the screen when another child fails to put the lungs
in the right place. This brings howls of laughter from his classmates.
This is putting the "active" well and truly into interactive education.
'Improvement'
"It is fabulous," says the teacher Arturo Vazquez. "The children
concentrate more, they interact more and so they get more out of each
class".
School pupil
Pupils concentrate more, according to teachers
Enciclomedia was brought in to raise standards in Mexico.
The current system can give teachers access to about 20,000 items of
information, ranging from three-dimensional images of the body to clips
of movies like Gladiator, so children can learn the history of ancient Rome.
In text alone, it is believed there is the equivalent of about 14
full-sized books inside Enciclomedia.
"It is a revolution," says Professor Ana Maria Prieto, an independent
educationalist who is monitoring the project. "Research is continuing,
but I believe it is really improving education standards," she says.
Already the United States, China and India have shown an interest in
buying Enciclomedia.
Delegations from these countries have seen its screen bring up video of
harps for music, rotating panoramic views of archaeological ruins for
history and the insides of a plant's cellular structure for nature lessons.
Roulette wheel
In a nearby office are 400 people, the team behind the project. Here,
graphic designers are working on the next phase of the system.
Coming soon, real satellite pictures of the globe to show rivers,
population densities and climate change, a tool useful right across the
curriculum.
There have been some mumblings about excessive teacher workload, but
those we spoke to say it is possible to adapt to a different way of
teaching.
The question of whether it is working and improving standards is still
being assessed.
And there are issues of cost, too. It takes about US$5,000 (£2,500) to
equip each classroom with a big screen and associated computer. In
Mexico, central government pays, after decreeing that education is a top
priority.
"Me, me, me," comes the chorus of enthusiasm in another classroom we
visit, as children urge the teacher to pick them to answer a question.
Why the keenness? Well, yet again, the one chosen gets to go to the
screen and interact in another subject. Here, you don't just put your
hand up, you get up.
This is learning with all your senses.
And when children do not answer? Well, the system even has an tool for that.
Having already entered the names of all the pupils into the computer,
the teacher can tap the screen to bring up an electronic roulette wheel
that randomly picks a child's name. No more hiding at the back of class.
In a world where video game consoles, computers and television are
already integral parts of young peoples lives, it was only a matter of
time before someone harnessed them all in the classroom. This, is the
world's first digitally-educated generation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6443241.stm
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