Jun 2009 Newsletter: Pangaea ring - Mr. Alvin W. Yeo
This month Pangaea Ring writer is Alvin, from the Universiti Malaysia
Sarawak. He is one of the main staff at the Malaysia site. I appreciate
his understanding of Pangaea activity. I also love his three pretty children.
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Good day all from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia! My name is Alvin Yeo, and I am the Director of the Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), within which the PANGAEA programme is run. In UNIMAS, 22 local school children, 34 facilitators and 4 technical support persons, are involved. Ably headed by Fitri Mohamad, we have now had four Pangaea activities since Feb 2009.
My first introduction to Pangaea was in December 2008 by co-founders Yumiko Mori and Toshiyuki Takasaki in UNIMAS. I have to admit that I was quite impressed by Yumi and Toshi's passion for their work. In addition, it was an eye opener to see how they used technology and typical activities (such as drawing) in engaging school children to not only forge friendships locally, but to create international bonds (through the messaging and also webcam activities).
In the four sessions held thus far in UNIMAS, it was obvious that the school children were enthusiastic in taking part in the various activities. There were also those that were initially timid, but who were ultimately coaxed out of their shyness by the facilitators involved. I was also pleased to see that the facilitators, comprising undergraduates and research assistants from different faculties, showed similar enthusiasm in going about the activities. The forging of bonds was occurring not only among the school children, but also among the facilitators, technical staffers, academics, and the staffers in Japan. I look forward to the Webcam activity in July, and to see how the school children in particular will respond and interact with school children from Japan.
At present, the Pangaea activity is held in UNIMAS, very much in an urban setting. All things going to plan, we are aiming to run the Pangaea activities in Bario, a remote and rural community, by the end of this year. While in the city, we enjoy facilities (which we sometimes take for granted), communities such as those in Bario have neither 24 hour power supply, nor fixed-line telephones. Thus, it will be an interesting challenge to run the Pangaea activity in a location where power is generated by solar panels and diesel generator sets, and where the Internet access available via a satellite telecommunication systems (VSAT). Would the school students in Bario respond to the activities as per their counterparts in the city? Stay tuned...
Alvin W. Yeo
Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics,
Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
http://coeri.unimas.my
http://www.unimas.my
Good day all from Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia! My name is Alvin Yeo, and I am the Director of the Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), within which the PANGAEA programme is run. In UNIMAS, 22 local school children, 34 facilitators and 4 technical support persons, are involved. Ably headed by Fitri Mohamad, we have now had four Pangaea activities since Feb 2009.
My first introduction to Pangaea was in December 2008 by co-founders Yumiko Mori and Toshiyuki Takasaki in UNIMAS. I have to admit that I was quite impressed by Yumi and Toshi's passion for their work. In addition, it was an eye opener to see how they used technology and typical activities (such as drawing) in engaging school children to not only forge friendships locally, but to create international bonds (through the messaging and also webcam activities).
In the four sessions held thus far in UNIMAS, it was obvious that the school children were enthusiastic in taking part in the various activities. There were also those that were initially timid, but who were ultimately coaxed out of their shyness by the facilitators involved. I was also pleased to see that the facilitators, comprising undergraduates and research assistants from different faculties, showed similar enthusiasm in going about the activities. The forging of bonds was occurring not only among the school children, but also among the facilitators, technical staffers, academics, and the staffers in Japan. I look forward to the Webcam activity in July, and to see how the school children in particular will respond and interact with school children from Japan.
At present, the Pangaea activity is held in UNIMAS, very much in an urban setting. All things going to plan, we are aiming to run the Pangaea activities in Bario, a remote and rural community, by the end of this year. While in the city, we enjoy facilities (which we sometimes take for granted), communities such as those in Bario have neither 24 hour power supply, nor fixed-line telephones. Thus, it will be an interesting challenge to run the Pangaea activity in a location where power is generated by solar panels and diesel generator sets, and where the Internet access available via a satellite telecommunication systems (VSAT). Would the school students in Bario respond to the activities as per their counterparts in the city? Stay tuned...
Alvin W. Yeo
Centre of Excellence for Rural Informatics,
Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
http://coeri.unimas.my
http://www.unimas.my
Posted by: kumakinoko | 3. Newsletter , 4. Pangaea Ring
