Introducing Productive Tools In Schools

By Author: Malaka Fernando
Total Articles: 3
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Mohamed Muhsin is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. He worked as Group Finance Director of the Zambian conglomerate ZIMCO, where he served as adviser to the president of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda on the State Enterprise reform. M.V.Muhsin also served as Vice President and CIO of the World Bank.

M.V.Muhsin is a product of the elite Trinity College at Kandy, Sri Lanka. He has been an inspiration to both - the teaching and student community world over. Based in Washington D.C, Mohamed Muhsin is a Strategic Management Consultant and the Vice Chairman of World Links. World Links, is a global organization, which promotes computer literacy in schools in the developing countries.
After completing his education from Trinity College, Mohamed Muhsin spent a year at the school as one of the teaching staff. He recollects this period as being one of the most satisfying periods of his illustrious career.

Arbiters in school
In the 1980s, a French program to introduce one hundred thousand computers in schools was a severe disappointment. It totally demoralized its proponents and ...
... made subsequent efforts more arduous. Many other countries had similar disasters. However, by 1990, with the development of multimedia PC’s, many schools opened up to introduce computers to its students. In 1995, the Internet and World Wide Web began to catch up and teachers and faculty started to create instructional web pages.

In the past decade however, the internet expanded far faster than most had predicted and has become the world’s largest database of information and resources for educators. Mohamed Muhsin promoted the use of Information and communications technology (ICT) to improve standards of education and health. In order to give wings to his vision of alleviating poverty and transforming the underdeveloped nations, M.V.Muhsin met up with several Government heads, public organizations and school managements to showcase the power of ICT in redefining governance. He defined various modes of engagement with citizens. These efforts have paid off and the goal of educators have become – to educate the students and preparing them for a globally competitive workforce. To meet this goal educators have faced numerous challenges — from paying for computers, to combating viruses, to training teachers, to helping students use new tools constructively. One of the major hurdles to introduce computers in schools was teacher training. Almost all evaluations indicate that lack of preparation of teachers as the number one difficulty. Teachers tend to only use the computer if they find that it benefits them. Teachers simply will not use them if it takes too long to master the skills of using the machine and its software; if it takes longer to prepare classes; if there is the risk of an embarrassing situation where the computer gets stuck or crashes; if its proposed use does not follow the curriculum; or if the skills learned are not required in tests. Any of these situations will kill the use of computers. But experience shows that teachers appreciate the infinite patience of computers to drill again and again in multiplication or division or any other repetitive task. Schools therefore have to train teachers efficiently and prepare them to use computers.

With most of these initial challenges now overcome, schools in developing nations have started providing high-quality education to students. They are also attracting, preparing, and retaining high-quality teachers. Schools have become more accountable for the results and provide more information about schools to parents, policymakers, and the public.

Mohamed.V.Muhsin, an alumnus of Trinity College, Kandy, saw the young at school as the world's largest resource in development. Mohamed Muhsin’s inspiring messages and speeches has been a source of inspiration to both the teacher and student community around the world. M.V. Muhsin used technology to break down barriers between people and nations. In some developing countries, education systems are now increasingly investigating the use of technology, to better understand a student’s knowledge base from prior learning and tailor teaching to both address learning gaps as well as learning styles. This change in focus over the last decade has transformed a classroom from one that teaches to the middle to one that adjusts content and pedagogy based on individual student needs – both strong and weak.

Introducing computers in schools may have its strengths and weaknesses but, computers are not just tools but also machines that teach and help develop thinking abilities. Educators have played a major role in fanning out IT knowledge and thereby supporting livelihoods.