Global eScools at Work

The Global eSchools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) was established in 2004, a result of the work of the United Nations Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Task Force. This organization believes that education is an area desperately in need of development. And, ICTs have the potential to create vast positive changes in the educational system. The UN ICT Task Force approved a proposal for a UN-affiliated organization to work in this field. Providing demand-driven assistance to communities in developing countries who are seeking to channel the potential of ICTs into improving the quality of education in primary and secondary academic institutions. GeSCI is headquartered in Dublin, with the support of the governments of Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland and Canada which was one of the founding partners.

To get a better grasp on this, let us get an idea of what some of these acronyms mean. By now we should all know the the UN is the United Nations, which is composed of 192 countries world wide. Next, we have ICTs which is Information and Communication Technologies a general term that refers to "any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, the Internet, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications associated with them, such as video conferencing and distance learning." ICTs are helpful in two ways: they help teachers and students be aware of the vast amount of information resources available to them via the Internet, “and by providing teachers with basic IT training to ensure that they have the appropriate skills to access, use and create new educational resources.”

GeSCI provides expert, strategic advice to the Ministries of Education in the communities of developing countries on the effective implementation of ICTs. Using a demand driven, supportive and comprehensive approach, GeSCI aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning through the appropriate and effective use of ICTs, thereby transforming education, empowering communities and promoting development. At its core, GeSCI's basic goal is to facilitate sustainable and quality education and community development, through the effective deployment of ICTs in schools.

At the local, national and regional level, GeSCI works to support the creation and effective implementation of ICT4E strategies, using a collaborative, comprehensive and demand-driven approach. Acting as guide, GeSCI fosters country ownership of ideas, strategies and implementation, allowing communities to maintain sustained development.

The ICT4E is:

- Learning with ICT to bring about a variety of instructional events surrounding the idea of learning and what that means, how it changes, how to implement it and so forth.

- Learning though the use of technologies such as computers, the Internet, and other digital platforms in and outside of schools.

- Having technology applications and digital learning need to be on the same page as the service objectives of the institutional and learning design.

- The technologies and application user interface, and multimedia selections must be aligned with the learner profiles and the learning process.

Placing a GeSCI ICT into community schools allows the system to begin teaching the people that there are ways to get information, how to question that information, how to develop the information and how to take ownership of the information. So, in the end result the individual and community become empowered to further perpetuate positive sustainable development.

Thanks to organizations like this and others around the world communities and countries in need of education are receiving help that will enable the people to pick up the touch of knowledge and pass it on.