On May 25, IREX staff completed basic computer trainings for the last of five groups of high school teachers in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia, as part of the Armenia Education Quality and Relevance project. The World Bank Group funded this two month-long pilot project that was conducted by IREX in the Vayots Dzor region with the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science’s support. IREX has a long-standing commitment to supporting educators in Armenia. IREX opened an office in Armenia in 1992, where it currently administers a wide variety of educational programs, including four curriculum development and teacher training programs for elementary and middle school teachers, school principals, and pre-service teacher training institutions. IREX paired its expertise in teacher training with its extensive experience in administering the Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) [7] in Armenia. Educators, alumni of US government-sponsored programs, and others can receive computer training and access the Internet free of charge at any of the 13 IATP access sites in Armenia.
IREX was given the task of conducting trainings for teachers from 13 schools in the Vayots Dzor region and choosing the four teachers from each school who would best be able to pass along their newfound computer skills to their colleagues. Starting on April 21, IREX began training the first of five groups of eight to 12 teachers. As the teachers had never used computers before, IREX staff walked the participants through everything from using a computer mouse to basic computer software. After five days of intense computer training sessions, the teachers learned to use word processing programs, spreadsheet software, the Internet, and e-mail. These new skills will allow the teachers to use more technology in the classroom and research information on the Internet that is not available in their local library.
The IREX trainers tested the participants on their computer knowledge on the first and last day of the course and found that the teachers, on average, performed 50% higher after the course. All of the teachers were enthusiastic about using their newly-acquired knowledge to improve their curricula and the majority planned to update their lesson plans right away. As the teachers will need access to the Internet and more advanced computer trainings to allow them to best utilize technology in their classrooms, IREX encourages all the teachers to use IATP access sites and to bring the other teachers from their schools.
