On September 10-11, 2019, the ISOC team installed the electronic library “Ilim Box” in secondary schools in the southern part of Issyk-Kul region. The device allows you to access all educational resources without an Internet connection, in other words offline. Moreover, it is worth noting that all data is stored in the device itself, and only the power supply and the box itself are needed for connection. The uniqueness of the innovative project is that students can access educational resources at school without an Internet connection.
Preparation for the trip took more than two weeks, because in addition to the presentation, the team has developed a new logo that reflects the essence of the project “Ilim Box”. Identification marks were made for the trip: branding boxes, roll-ups, spiders, t-shirts, stickers.
The choice of schools was due to several factors: no access to the Internet for students, lack of books, as well as the number of students exceeded the permissible maximum, thereby increasing the likelihood of poor performance in schools without a network connection, as well as the choice of educational institutions influenced the list of proposed schools by the Ministry of education and science of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The devices were donated:
School № 10 Manas (Balykchy)
School №7 (Balykchy)
School B. Alakhov (Kara-Taala)
School R. Jangaziev (Kara-Koo)
School Erkinbaeva (Bar-Bulak)
School-gymnasium №11 (Karakol)
School Esimbekova (Tegizchil)
School D. Turebekov (Boz-Bulun)
In these schools was held a presentation of the project “Ilim box” then testing the device with students and teachers and handing the device. During the conversation, the importance of education and self-education were touched upon. Our visit to these schools has caused positive responses from the school administration, as none of them have access to the Internet for students, and most of them stressed the problem of not completing books in both Russian and Kyrgyz languages. It should be noted that in most of the rural schools it is forbidden to use a mobile phone on the territory of the educational institution, as teachers notice children’s gaming preferences during lessons. We showed the guys that with the advent of “Ilim box” smartphone can be used exclusively for educational purposes, and all this can be fun through video lessons.
In Kyrgyzstan, there are more than 2,000 schools, among which there are those that do not have access to the Internet and do not have enough 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 Internet can be seen in the project digital library for schools and public libraries “Ilim Box”, which contains Wikipedia in Kyrgyz, Russian and English, Khan Academy in English, 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.
“Ilim Box” will allow Kyrgyzstan to increase the level of education in the regions”, – said the Chairman of ISOC – Talant Sultanov, at the digital forum of Kazakhstan.
Thus, visits to schools helped to identify several important points: need to develop a training manual on Kyrgyz language for better perception of information is needed in the formation of a database of electronic books, the materials should be in Russian and Kyrgyz languages, there is a need to create a list of the most useful books, and download online tests for the preparation to ORT. The goals and objectives of the project “Ilim Box” 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 and by program
Beyond the Net ISOC.
The project previously had various names “Internet in a box”, “Bilim Bulagy”, “Spring of Knowledge”and is not related to the World Bank project “Bilim Bulagy”.
