Page 213 - DCAP404 _Object Oriented Programming

Object-oriented Programming

Notes assessment between the ages 6-16. And finally they are awarded the Cambridge Starter
Award Certification in technology skills and applications.
Most of these courses are meant to equip students with computer skills needed in the
school environment. According to Asha Devi, “These courses are career-oriented in the
sense they help the students decide their area of interest and develop their skills
accordingly.’’
Says Suresh Kumar, “Today, IT application is an inherent part of any professional course
<147,1,0>and therefore, children will find that these have helped them prepare for careers
within and outside the IT industry.’’
Integration of academics and computer education is what most schools are looking at as
this will help in the familiarisation process. At IT Kids, says Kumar, “there is a lot of
integration of academics and value education, which is useful to all children alike,
irrespective of their ultimate choice of profession.’’
The learning packages and skill development packages vary according to the age. For
instance, a Grade I student will be exposed to programming skills such as Logo while a
Grade VIII or IX student will have to learn C and HTML.
And how do these programmes cover the school subjects? At IT Kids, at each class level,
students are trained to integrate computer skills learnt with lessons in other subjects
through sample exercises. A Grade V student will tackle prime and composite numbers in
Maths, Scramble words in English, Continents in Geography and Time and Distance in
Physical Sciences.

Asha Devi says at FutureSchools, the goal is to help each child think different and go
beyond what has been achieved. “The child is centric and places the teacher as a facilitator
in the learning environment. This lets the learning happen at the educable moment when
the grasping and understanding peak in a child.’’
But the traditional method of reaching to children through their teachers is well-understood
by all these institutes. FutureSchools, in fact, conducted ‘Futurecast’ an event for teachers
where technology infusion was the main focus.

The event provided teachers with a platform to infuse technology into classroom teaching.
Teams of teachers from various departments interacted with one another to learn new
methods of applying technology in the curricula.
FutureSchools also offers teachers Professional Development Programmes on teaching
methodologies. IT Kids did a survey and found that 90 per cent of the school teachers were
aware of the latest developments in IT and related areas.
Realising that teachers are the best resource people, Intel Asia has launched a programme
for teachers. Called Intel@Teach to Future, this worldwide training initiative plans to
cover 100,000 teachers by the end of 2002 and till date has covered more than 50,000
teachers.
It also has a programme for students to encourage them to enter technical careers. Called
Intel@Innovation Education, the programme aims to help students improve science, math
and engineering knowledge through the use of IT.
In this forceful era of IT revolution, it’s obvious the urban children are well-initiated into
the system. What happens to children in rural areas? Says Asha Devi, “We have tied up
with several schools in rural areas and are providing computer education to them at a
nominal fee, thereby accomplishing our mission to help schools become Future Schools,
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