technology

In tight budget environments it is tempting to view ICT equipment and training as a luxury to cut. We can all think of a case where technology for technology’s sake hasn’t worked: an unused laptop in the corner of an overfilled classroom, an interactive whiteboard at a school without adequate electricity to support its use, a smartphone game developed for a population of youth without access to smartphones. 

In fact, now is the time for a focus on smart technology integration in all levels of education.

Looking back on the past twelve months, I am thrilled by the results of IREX’ work and excited to consider the prospects for the coming year.  In 2012, with our generous donors’ support, it was possible to benefit more people than ever before. Over half a million lives have been touched this last year because an IREX’er -- in the U.S. and around the world -- was there to provide support. In doing so, we’ve had the privilege to work with more than 400 local partners in 125 countries.  

Last month we discovered that our enthusiasm about exchange 2.0 was exceeded only by that of our international exchange students in Pakistan. A select group of forty students, all alumni of the Global UGRAD-Pakistan program, shattered every quantifiable participation record at TechChange for online learning. Read more from guest bloggers Gerard McCarthy and Christopher Neu.

As today is International Corporate Philanthropy Day, we salute private-sector partnerships that seek to make a better world. IREX's work is supported by a mix of funding from government agencies, private foundations, and individual donors. Corporate philanthropy also plays an important role in IREX's programming, especially in such areas as education, technology and media development.

Congratulations to USAID on its 50th Anniversary

As part of United Nations' International Year of Youth, I asked our Chief of Party for the Azerbaijan New Media Project Angela Nicoara about her experience with youth and their involvement in media. Angela says that media tools and skills can help youth have an outlet to affect their own communities and futures in Azerbaijan and throughout the world.

Here are more of Angela's answers.

I am writing from the Philippines, where I spent the past week meeting with representatives of the vibrant civil society sector to discuss the potential for programming related to youth and conflict mitigation on the island of Mindanao. On the surface, the Philippines is perhaps the most accessible country in Southeast Asia. In a country of more than 7,000 islands and numerous languages, English is the common language and there is a fondness for anything from the United States– from fast food to malls to jeeps refashioned as the uniquely Filipino form of mass transport known as the “jeepney.” Yet, I discovered that everything in the Philippines is more complicated than it first appears.

“The only constant is change.” -- Heraclitus

On July 1, 1968, a new international nonprofit was created, IREX (the International Research & Exchanges Board). As we prepared to celebrate Founders’ Day this year, we reviewed some archival materials recently sent by the organization’s first President, Allen Kassof. The Communications team and I enjoyed going through the old photos, comparing IREX then to the IREX we know now.

Zhanara is from Kant, and is currently a freshman at the National University of Kyrgyzstan, pursuing a degree in Economics. Before TAG, Zhanara used the internet rarely. Now she uses it every day and says that without it she feels like she is cut off from the rest of the world. “Without internet, I am deaf and blind,” she says.