Literacy, Technology & Expression in Uzbekistan

This article describes the motivation and methodology behind Uzbekistan's School
Connectivity programme (now known as Global Connections and Exchange - Uzbekistan), and examines the experiences of teachers
over the first 18 months of programme implementation.
The programme aims to provide "students and teachers the opportunity to integrate the use of electronic
resources into the learning process and link them with their peers and
colleagues abroad." The programme is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State, and
administered by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).



The programme, according to the author, faces a twofold challenge:

1. Change the understanding of technology in the school into something
   holistic. Computers and the internet could be used as tools to strengthen the
   teaching of any subject, from music to physical education to physics and
   English.
2. Apply this new concept to student-centred, skill-based
   teaching. Use technology as a means of creating, facilitating, and gathering
   native experience in producing education applicable to the challenges the young
   country faces.

Sixty schools, selected through a competitive application process, were
outfitted with an internet connected, 6-10 workstation computer centre and provided with training and support
to help teachers make the most of computer and internet resources. Online resources
were centrally located on
a programme
website.



This article describes several challenges faced by the programme. Teachers generally need secondary incomes, so
little extra time is available for professional development. The teachers are
also often inexperienced in evaluating
the validity or reliability of an online resource. Most are new to the idea of
student-centred learning, and may treat the internet as a large library of facts, rather than as
an interactive learning environment. Plagiarism was cited as another significant issue:
"Raised in a system where what was in print was authorized and therefore
acceptable, and independent thinking actively discouraged, there is a very weak
concept of any of the legal, educational, or moral standards for creating
one's own work."



Since the start of this programme, the author notes that schools "report higher levels of involvement on the part of both teachers and students, a
decline in absenteeism, and more active parents as a result." Interactive learning methods are beginning to take
hold, although the author argues that changes in evaluation methods are needed so that "argumentative skills and thinking patters are systematically rewarded."
The programme has, however, achieved its goal of generating interest in the use of
computers outside informatics classes, and the author hopes that it will continue to help bring the "benefits of technology into Uzbekistan’s classrooms."