E-Learner 2.0.vi

E-learning 2.o - or learning through web 2.0 technologies - has been one of the most fascinating ideas I've ever been exposed to.

I remember the first time I taught computing skills to the children at the 15 May School last summer, I wanted to introduce them to the idea of web 2.0 and all the magic of the new technologies, with a view to bridging the yawning technical gap. However, at that time I didn't have any experience in teaching computing at all and it was more like help them to have fun rather than teaching them real computing skills. They did learn something, though.

Then, as I begin to embark on the new journey, the idea once again appears in my mind. And this time, with careful planning, I believe e-learning 2.0 will be a reality.

As the world is getting increasingly online, companies are shifting their products from an OS-based platform to a web-based one. Along the way, it opens the opportunity for people to get away with MS Windows, which in my opinion is a very evil thing (if you've ever worked with Microsoft, you know this!)

I'm talking about enabling children to blog about almost anything, specifically blogger, which has a Vietnamese interface. It's true that Yahoo 360 and other Vietnamese blogging engines are dominating the market here but blogger is much better than any of these things. I don't know, but maybe we will have a look at some popular Vietnamese blogging sites and choose one that we see fit.

There are also flickr, twitter, moodle, etc. But the difficulty is they are all in English and it is very hard to get the kids to these sites.

Another thing is helping children to learn language on their own in the new way. This is something I'm thinking about.

Anyway, it's more like a planning stage, at least I know e-learning 2.0 is the way to go, but more in-depth research needs to be done as a matter of fact.

Below are two very interesting slideshows that i found on slideshare.net:

E-learning 2.0 in Development

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Rongkun was the one I sat next to on the first lunch we had with the team. Somehow I felt he was very special, and of course, he was very friendly.

I tried to talk to him and learnt that he knew a lot about Vietnam. He then showed me a fan with an embedded picture of an ancient building of which I didn't know.

In the afternoon, we were basically recruiting team members for our separate components. Just a short explanation, we were in SEALNet's Project Vietnam 08. There were 3 components: leadership/ English Championship/ and Computing. I was leading the Computing component and therefore made a brief sale pitch to attract team member.

Rongkun was among the people that raised hands to join and that was surprising since he studied International Politics and he doesn't look like an IT man at all (later I learnt that working in a team from a diversity of background was such a blessing!).

So there he was, with us, the other 5 members of the team.

The most noticeable thing from Rongkun is that he never stops smiling. omg, how on earth can I do that, smiling all the time? I takes a very positive with great spirit to smile all the time. I truly admire that smiling skill of him (joking, but I truly admire that though!).

The second special thing about Rongkun is he is very gentle and a bit formal when drinking tea (as I observed).

The third thing is he eats a lot, by a lot I really mean a lot. He eats until his stomach cannot be stuffed with food anymore. I'm so jealous of that since I have digestive problems and should eat very little amout of food.

The forth thing is he is very special in the way that whenever he is silent, it means he's communicating with his own god. I don't know exactly what it really means since I've never seen him communicating with his god.

The fifth thing is he is always willing to serve and it makes him happy to serve silently. Actually my leadership style was very much affected by this attitude and this is something very new that I haven't encountered before.

The sixth thing is he is very intelligent, judging by the fact that he was one of the 10 candidates who were selected to enter Peking University out of 40,000 students. 10 vs 40000, that was freaking freak. And it was only decided in one exam. I don't know if I can ever dream of accompishing such achievement at all.

And after all this, Rongkun is very calm, has a great sense of humor, a very positive attitude, and an intention to serve people without asking for regconition.

I don't know if my limited vocabulary has described him as well as I intended to, but he's been one of the most special persons I've ever met in my life.

So I've decided to take on the new challenge. A US$30,000 grant for a project proposal that brings innovative technological solutions and internet applications to change lives.

Perhaps if it were at another time, I wouldn't even pay attention to the opportunity but it was just so in time when SEALNet Project Vietnam 08 was nearing its end.

As the co-leader of the Computing Component, I felt so excited to work on this new proposal. I've been a fan of technology and i feel that years of reading technology news and books has finally paid off.

Basically, the idea is to build a public computing library that runs on the educational version of Ubuntu, a Linux variant. Linux is an unknown to many but it's truly an OS of choice for developing countries like Vietnam and feel that if it is introduced properly, differences can be made. With a wealth of educational applications already there to serve, there's virtually no cost at all to run the system.

Then, the second focus is on E-learning 2.0, or using web 2.0 technologies to educate the children. Yes, I'm talking about the children, and about innovative technologies. The children should know how to blog, use Google to search for information, iGoogle, online collaborative tools such as Google docs, etc. Basically the idea is to bring power of 2.0 to the classrooms.

Until this point, the cost is $0.

What should be there in the computing lab is of course the computers. I've discovered the thin-client theory. It works in a way that thin clients (computers without harddisks) pull everything from the server computer (even the operating system itself) and display them to the users. As a result, the thin clients can be built from very low-cost components or from old computers, which means these can be obtained from the community or corporations who have computers that they wish to throw away. With approximately $3,000, such system can be set up.

Most of the investment will go to training. This involves empowring teachers and staff with the skills necessary to teach the children new knowledge and to maintain the system as a whole.

Lots of work needs to be done. I need to find a local organization to work with since I myself is not eligible to apply for the grant.

However, I'm very positive.