IBM推廣鄉區KidSmart活動

Giving rural preschool kids the right start

Malacca, 18 November 2007 – At the Young Explorer Program (YEP) at the KidSmart Conference 2007 held in conjunction with the “Pameran Program Perkongsian Pintar Ke Arah Pembestarian Sekolah Kebangsaan 2007”, IBM announced that over more than 10,000 pre-school children across rural areas in Malaysia in rural areas have benefited from an innovative early learning program through IBM’s KidSmart Program designed to help preschoolers get a head-start on their academic development. These children were able to access the latest in educational technology, while having a strong early start to education, particularly in the areas of reading, mathematics and language.

The KidSmart program goes beyond simply donating computers for the classroom. The program includes training for pre-school teachers at every centre to effectively incorporate computer technology into an age-appropriate learning curriculum.

The Ministry of Education has endorsed the program and is in partnership with IBM to identify the schools in need.

“Our objective of developing the younger generation to fulfill the needs of Malaysia’s human resource needs are one step closer to being achieved with the implementation of the Kidsmart YEP and the pooling of best-practices between the educators of our future leaders,” said Dato’ Hajah Noor Rezan bt. Bapoo Hashim, Deputy Director General (School Department), Ministry of Education.

Over 50 teachers selected by the Minstry attended the two-day conference to exchange best practices in running IBM’s KidSmart program The innovative early learning program goes beyond simply donating computers for the classroom. It includes training for pre-school teachers at every centre to effectively incorporate computer technology into an age-appropriate learning curriculum.

The ministry and IBM Malaysia recently held a conference for fifty pre-school teachers to share their best practices in introducing computer-based learning into early education with the Young Explorer Program (YEP) at the KidSmart Conference 2007 in the Holiday Inn, Malacca. The conference was set to coincide with the “Pameran Program Perkongsian Pintar Ke Arah Pembestarian Sekolah Kebangsaan 2007”.

The pre-school teachers attended a two-day workshop where forums and training sessions were held on the best teaching techniques that they have used in their schools in utilizing the YEP to provide a more fun and immersive experience for their preschool students.

Teachers from across the nation have agreed that the KidSmart initiative has contributed value to what they are doing in schools to get pre-school students hyped-up about education and the technology that provides endless learning opportunities. The KidSmart YEP units are designed with aesthetic and intellectual ergonomics that work for young children such as user-friendly interfaces, and physical designs that appeal to them.

“The children do get excited when they look at the units, and they treat the lessons based on the KidSmart YEP as gaming sessions. In reality, what they really are doing is going through a part of our education syllabus, and having a fun time learning and absorbing knowledge,” said Puan Marina binti Sirat, a preschool teacher from SK Kg. Rinching, Beranang, Selangor who has been leveraging on the KidSmart units in her teaching lessons since 2001.

“Education is of critical importance to our society, for now and for the future. Technology is one way to enhance education, and at IBM we have made education a priority in our community programs,” says Ali Munawar, Marketing Director for IBM Malaysia. “With KidSmart, IBM has combined its technical expertise with the experience of educators and teachers to make a real difference to children. The conference enables the sharing of best ideas and knowledge from preschool teachers across the nation through open discussions on how best to utilize the technology that we have provided to make learning through computers more effective for children of young ages.”