In a recent focus group in Atyrau, eighth graders were asked if they would use an internet center in their school open daily to everyone from 8am to 8pm, and the responses shed light on the low internet penetration in the region. The first child didn’t get it, "No, I wouldn’t use it, because the director would lock it.” After reassurance that the center would be open, another child said, "No, I wouldn’t, because it would be chaos with all the kids there.” Ever since computers were introduced to schools more than 12 years ago, computer classrooms have mostly remained locked throughout Kazakhstan outside the teaching hours of computer science (informatika, a dated name and approach which includes everything information-related). When the government provided internet to all schools over four years ago, it was similarly bridled.
When the Tech Age Teens project started in Atyrau and the surrounding environs in April 2010, with the training of informatika and leadership teachers from 31 schools, none provided internet access directly to students. IREX invited an international trainer to teach how to support the local area network (LAN), set up a proxy server and handy cache, and provide safe, economic internet on the students’ computers. In addition to training teachers, IREX assembled and trained a team of third-year computer science students to assume responsibility for helping the teachers to improve and maintain their computer classrooms.
The traveling team set up a LAN in 23 schools and helped open the internet to students’ computers in 22 schools. In some schools, the team found boxes of the LAN cable and a teacher who feared trying to set it up on her own. In five schools, the internet was connected to a different room than the computer lab, which simply required extending the cable to the lab. Other schools had broken computers, but it was possible to exchange parts to increase the number of working machines, as the team did at one school with only three working computers. After the team’s work, the school’s only computer lab was transformed into a usable learning environment with eight functioning machines. The team also repaired broken keyboards, mice, and routers. In two schools, where computers were more than 10 years old and inoperable, nothing could be done.
As a result, the computer classrooms are ready not only for the project, but also for further advanced ICT for other students and teachers. Providing internet is the first step to introducing it as a helpful education tool in a system that requires teachers to buy their own materials and lacks a rich array of local language resources. Children can use internet at home if they have it, but teachers do not know the technology well enough to assign homework with internet or use it to improve their lessons. IREX plans to teach more teachers outside of informatika to use internet this fall. Accessibility and training will overcome the mentality and practical restraints of internet penetration.