British Council workshop calls for more multimedia in schools [Archives:2008/1211/Local News]
By: Ola Al-Shami
SANA'A, Nov. 24 ) The necessity to equip public schools with multimedia was strongly emphasized by 25 members of academia and business participants at a workshop organized by the British Council at Sheba Hotel in Sana'a.
A number of useful websites for learning English online were suggested and the need to make use of teaching videos, computers and pod casts was stressed.
Presenting the 'Learn English' websites, British Council lecturer, Maggie Milne, expressed the importance of surfing the sites on a regular basis and encouraged teachers to improve the teaching by making use of the learning tips for their students.
Milne showed the participants a number of websites, including “Serious fun for learners” which consists of educational cartoon films tailor-made for younger students. The “Your Global Home” website provides busy teachers with everything from lesson plans to worksheets and teaching tips.
Zaid Mohammed Al-Shadibi, the Education Director in Education in Al-Wahda explained that English is taught in Yemen through direct translation and added that public school students have no access to internet. Al-Shadibi demanded the Ministry of Education to find means to develop the education sector.
In suggesting solutions for schools which aren't equipped with technology, Julia Cave Smith, the Project Manager at the British Council, said that having no technology assistance was not an excuse at all. She suggested that teachers, instead of waiting from the government to provide the multimedia equipment they want, split the expense of a laptop for example, and share its use between them. She added that even non-English teachers would benefit from the programs of the British Council websites if they use them regularly.
“The necessity for equipping public schools with multimedia is very important