OLE Nepal Newsletter | April - June 2016

Issue 34 | E-Learning Exchange (April-June 2016)

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The second quarter of 2016 has been quite an eventful one at OLE Nepal. We are making all the necessary preparations for the launch of the laptop program in Baitadi district in August. School selection has been completed with the help of the District Education Office, and now we are preparing the power, network and technology infrastructure that need to be deployed at the schools. We have also completed the refresher training for teachers from 20 schools in Bajhang, concluding the three-stage training program for the phase III schools.

Our field team visited program schools in Dadeldhura, Doti, Bajhang and Kavre to update the school server content. We have also been to Gorkha regularly to start the reconstruction of school buildings damaged by last year’s earthquake.

We are completing the development of grade 8 E-Paath activities for English, maths and science subjects, adding to the set of hundreds of free digital learning modules for grades 2 to 7 that we have been distributing to schools.

Laptop program preparations in Baitadi

June , 2016 | Baitadi : As reported in our last newsletter, OLE Nepal is planning to expand the laptop program in Baitadi district in the far western region of Nepal in partnership with Department of Education (DoE) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The program will provide durable laptops and solar power back-up at the schools, install offline digital library servers full of e-books and other resources, provide three-stage training to all teachers, and provide technical and programmatic support to the schools. Solar panels and backup batteries will be funded with support from the Embassy of Finland.

US Department of Agriculture visit to laptop school in Doti

June 2016 | Doti : Program Analyst from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Alessandra McCormack visited Mahadev Primary School in Mauwa, Doti to learn how students in this remote community are learning with the help of laptops and digital content. This was one of the schools in Doti where OLE Nepal and WFP had introduced the laptop program in 2011. Since 2014, the McGovern-Dole Food for Education program under USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Services has supported WFP and OLE Nepal in the implementation of laptop programs in the far western districts.

School visits by Embassy of Finland

May 2016 | Baglung and June 2016 | Bajhang : The Embassy of Finland’s Fund for Local Cooperation (FLC) has been supporting OLE Nepal’s projects on improving access to quality learning through the use of technology in classrooms. In addition to supporting laptop programs in 15 schools in Solukhumbu, Baglung and Banke districts. FLC support has been instrumental in the development of grade 7 and 8 E-Paath learning materials. Recently, officials from the Embassy of Finland traveled to Baglung and Bajhang districts to study the effectiveness of OLE Nepal’s programs and activities.

Watch video clip of students learning using laptops

Earthquake School Reconstruction Project update

June 2016 | Gorkha : Based on the MoU signed with the Department of Education in December 2015, OLE Nepal has started reconstruction activities in four primary schools in Gorkha district. During the last three months, we have made multiple visits to the construction sites and held community meetings to involve local people the reconstruction process. The construction site preparation at three of the schools has already been completed through the mobilization of local communities.The project is being implemented with the support from the Air Asia Foundation and donors who contributed to our online campaign last year.

Sample Student Achievement Data

June 2016 | Bajhang : We have received student achievement data from a cluster of five schools in Talkot area of Bajhang. The graph above shows the comparison of student achievement from last academic year before the introduction of digital resources and laptops at the schools, against the current year's data.

Refresher Training in Bajhang

May-June, 2016 | Bajhang : A total of 95 teachers from 20 primary schools in Bajhang participated in the four-day refresher training held in district headquarter Chainpur. OLE Nepal’s trainers conducted the training in four sessions, each involving teachers from five schools. Two of the sessions were held on May 11 - 18, while the other two on June 11 - 18. This was the final of the three-stage training program for teachers from the phase III schools. The trainers emphasized on the importance of proper planning and preparation to ensure effective integration of digital lessons in classrooms.

Kavre schools update

April 2016 | Kavre : Kavre was one of the districts that was badly hit by the earthquakes in April and May, 2015. Much of the infrastructure including school buildings were destroyed by the tremors. All of the eleven schools where OLE Nepal, with the support of Embassy of Finland’s Funds for Local Cooperation, had installed offline digital servers in 2014 experienced some level of damage. OLE Nepal had been in constant contact with the schools since the earthquake, and recently visited the area to help re-establish the school network and update the digital library servers in nine of the eleven schools.

Making Maths Fun in E-Paath!

We have completed the design and development of our grade 8 digital educational activities for English, science and maths subjects. These interactive lessons are based on the national curriculum and are designed to help students understand the concepts and to make learning fun and engaging. Here's a preview of our interactive maths lesson on Equation and Inequality.

Have you checked the latest updates in E-Pustalalaya?
There's something for everyone in our free and open digital library!

This wonderful repository of thousands of books, educational videos, audio-books, reference materials (Wikipedia, Open Street Maps, dictionary, etc), and learning softwares can be installed in mini-servers and placed in schools and community centers so that users can access the content and download books free of charge. And the best thing is that you don’t need Internet connectivity!!!

If you want to place E-Pustakalaya servers in schools or community centers, contact us at pustakalaya@olenepal.org. For a small investment of Rs. 33,000 (USD 310), you can provide limitless access to all the content for free.

Visit E-Pustakalaya to find a wealth of learning resources!!!