On April 13, 2019, the ISOC team began installing the Bilim Bulagy electronic library. The device allows you to access all educational resources without an Internet connection, in other words offline. Moreover, it should be noted that all data is stored in the device itself, and only power supply and wireless modem are required for connection. The uniqueness of the innovative project is that students can access educational resources at school without an Internet connection.
The first schools where the trip was organized were the secondary school O. Isaeva (Kegety) and Chui boarding school (Tokmok) located in the Chui valley. The choice of schools was due to several factors: there is no access to the Internet, the number of students exceeded the allowable maximum, thereby increasing the likelihood of poor performance in schools without a network connection, as well as the choice of the above-described educational institutions was influenced by the interest Of the Association of young entrepreneurs “JIA” and the club of professionals “ProKG”, as they have a project “My school” with supervised schools.
For example, in high school O. Isaeva (Kegety) 511 students study, and the number of computers is equal to thirty-three, there is only one computer connected to the Internet. The second school is Chui boarding school (Tokmok), which has approximately the same performance. In these schools was held a presentation of the project “Internet in a box” then testing the device with students and teachers. During the conversation, the importance of education and self-education were touched upon.
The third school was in S. Boroldai of Kemin district of Chui region. The plan of the meeting was built in the same way. Since the school is Russian-speaking, the appeal of teachers was aimed at increasing the materials in Russian, which would greatly facilitate the process of knowledge transfer.
There are more than 2,000 schools in Kyrgyzstan, some of which do not have access to the Internet and lack books. Accordingly, it affects the level of quality of education. In 2018, Kyrgyzstan declined to participate in the PISA world school rankings, as it was ranked last 65th in previous competitions.
Innovative solutions to two pressing problems such as the lack of books and the lack of the Internet can be seen in the project “Bilim Bulagy” (Internet in a box) – a digital library for schools and public libraries containing Wikipedia in Kyrgyz, Russian and English languages, Khan Academy, thousands of video lessons, audio and e-books. All these digital learning materials are available offline, in other words does not need Internet access. Access to Digital libraries will be carried out through smartphones, tablets, computers and any other personal devices with Wi-Fi technology.
“Bilim Bulagy will allow Kyrgyzstan to improve the level of education in the regions”, – said the Chairman of ISOC – Talent Sultanov, at the digital forum of Kazakhstan.
Thus, visits to schools helped to identify several important points: it is necessary to develop a manual in the Kyrgyz language for better perception of information, there is a need in the formation of the database of electronic books, materials should be both in Russian and in Kyrgyz, there is a need to create a list of the most necessary books. The goals and objectives of the project “Bilim Bulagy” coincide with the five-year strategy of digital transformation “Digital Kyrgyzstan 2019-2023” and contribute to the achievement of target indicators for the component “development of the digital state” and “development of digital skills”.
The project is funded by Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund 2018 (AEIF) as part of innovative solutions to global challenges.
