MINISTER OF EDUCATION Ronald Jones has called for telecommunications providers to lower their Internet costs in an effort to allow more Barbadians to utilise the technology.
Jones, who was at the time speaking at the launch of the new ezLearner computer software for students between ages nine and 13, said his call was “a simple, humble request.
He said the high costs were hindering the move into the 21st century realm of technology and could be lowered.
“I believe the cost is too high and I believe that the telecommunications providers can look at it again. [This is] a simple, humble request from one who uses the Internet daily. They need to bring the cost down . . . . I believe you can take the bandwidth up and bring the cost down so that more and more citizens will have a part of this massive explosion of the use of technology for knowledge,” he told those gathered for the special launch.
Jones added that some time ago Government had made it possible for persons to access technology and the cost had come down significantly.
“It’s a costly exercise but necessary if we are to have technology centres and raise the technology within schools so they become part of the total movement of the information technology,” he added.
The minister, in praising the launch of the ezLearner, which seeks to strengthen the literacy skills involved in writing, reading, comprehension and vocabulary, also cautioned parents to monitor the negative aspects of technology to which children could be exposed daily basis.
He spoke of Peter Ram’s recent Pat And Crank video that attracted hundreds of negative comments on the Facebook pages.
“We have to be able to screen what our children encounter in their daily lives, so when we find a product that enhances learning and keeps students focused and allows them to clean their minds, to clarify their perspectives, then you promote that as much as you can, so that the barrage of the negativity is further negated and the accentuation of the positive is encouraged.
“There has always been a battle between the harbingers of good and the harbingers of evil,” he cautioned.
The minister, while heaping praise on the young entrepreneur Troy Weekes, who had realised that scope still existed in the tuition sector for innovative ventures that offered new learning perspectives, lamented the fact that the education sector had not done as well as he wanted over time with the integration of technology.
Different learners
“We are still very comfortable with the chalk and talk, but children learn so differently now . . . . But what we did, because of the lack of knowledge, is push them aside, because they did not conform to our own teaching and learning styles, so we pushed them aside and called them one-removed or the duncy class, but every child has a creative talent,” he pointed out as he highlighted the positive aspects of the ezLearner.com
The new Composer Software Launch was conducted at six pilot schools, including one in Trinidad and Tobago.
The software, which can be used by both students and teachers, aims to promote critical thinking by appealing to visual learners. It generates useful, reliable and timely assessments and creates modern jobs for graduates, teachers and photographers, while generating foreign exchange and diversifying the national economy.
Weekes noted students would also have access to online tutors and archives of essays and parents would be able to monitor students’ progress. (CT)
