A group of Maltese teachers have benefited from two very successful education programmes already tested in other countries, as part of the Vertical Strategic Alliance (VSA) signed between the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology (MIIIT) and IBM.
TryScience website
TryScience.org is the first worldwide science from more than 660 museums consisting of a gateway to the fun and learning experiences offered by science and technology centres worldwide. The website contains interactive multimedia features that change as new experience and exhibits are created for visitors. It also permits children, parents and teachers to have instant access to experiments, exhibits and scientific breakthroughs from anywhere and anytime.
This website was created in collaboration between IBM scientists and the New York Hall of Science and the Association of Science-Technology Centres. It is now available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese as well as Chinese and Japanese. Since its introduction in 2000, this site has received tens of millions of hits and has been included in Popular Science’s “50 best of the Web”
KidSmart website
According to independent studies, the IBM KidSmart Early Learning programme, designed for children aged three to seven, is achieving dramatic results with the world’s youngest students. The website offers support to teachers and parents for ICT-based learning, training and development opportunities. In addition, teachers participating in KidSmart training are more confident in their approach to using technology effectively in the classroom and parents are more involved in their children’s learning.
The website was developed in partnership with the Centre for Children and Technology in the USA and provides multi-lingual best practice support for teachers and parents using ICT with young children.
A two-day seminar was organised in Malta by IBM in collaboration with MIIIT to demonstrate the whole programme to two different groups – mainly secondary science teachers and peripatetic teachers.
During the TryScience session, the trainer provided guidance to teachers and allowed discussions on how to map the TryScience programme to the curriculum. The trainer touched on the important elements of high quality teaching and learning and the key organising principles which form the basis of good practice.
The training was held at the Department of Technology in Education on 30 and 31 October, when an IBM expert, Carol Berry, delivered the training to both groups. In addition, KidSmart participants received a copy of the software for their own professional training purposes whereby the TryScience participants can download the tool from the Internet.