DYD is a program of the United States Embassy in Kyrgyzstan. GCE is a program of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

>> Global Connections & Exchange

Digital Youth Dialogue <<

APRIL 2011

Deputy Minister of Education

Now Online, Using Skype to

Keep in Contact with School

Directors

GCE Teacher Plays Important

Role in Organizing 8th Annual

FORUM Conference

Schools in Kyrgyzstan Con-

nect withTesting Expert on

Skype, Get Advice on

University Entrance Exams

Talas Students Make Virtual

Connections, Face to Face

Karakol School Conducts

Seminar for Rural Teachers

on Using ICT in the Classroom

Thanks to GCE-provided In-

ternet Connection, Sixteen

Satylganov Students Win at

Regional Olympiad

The Internet Connects

Librarians from Ukraine and

Kyrgyzstan

Jalal-Abad Library Hosts

Presentation to Celebrate

Website Launch

Students of Gagarin School

Launch their First School

Newspaper

Unemployed Individuals Im-

prove Their IT Skills at Jalal-

Abad Library Training

Teachers are Learning New

ICT Skills Thanks to DYD Stu-

dents

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>> Global Connections & Exchange: >> Digital Youth Dialogue:

IN THIS ISSUE:

On April 5, Deputy Minister of Education Gulzhigit

Soronkulov took part in his first IT training session

with IREX staff members Akjol Joroev and

Tynchtyk Zhanadylov. Soronkulov learned how to

use Gmail and Skype to stay in touch with school

directors around the country.

Following his lesson, the Deputy Minister put his

new skills into practice, and placed a video call to

school directors Evgeniy Uvarkin, of School No. 2

in Talas, and Yury Vasiliev, of School No. 2 in Ky-

zyl-Kiya. During the call, the three discussed

school Olympiads, teachers’ salaries, and the

FORUM conference which was recently hosted in

Talas.

Deputy Minister Soronkulov was pleased with the

technology helping him to more effectively carry

out his duties: “Skype allowed me to hold discus-

sions with school directors about educational is-

sues taking place in Kyrgyzstan’s schools; [using

Skype] saved time, as many issues can be dis-

cussed and solved over video conference

[technology].”

Talas School No. 2 director Uvarkin agreed, noting

that “[Using] Skype calls can help us get direct

and accurate information from the Deputy Minis-

ter; Skype is a very effective tool to help us solve

problems at our schools.”

This March, GCE participants and staff attended

FORUM’s 8th Annual Conference held in Talas that

hosted 140 participants from across Kyrgyzstan.

This year’s conference theme was “Using Technol-

ogy to Enhance Education,” proposed by GCE

teacher and FORUM Branch Coordinator Rakiya

Kamchibekova, to highlight how information tech-

nology can improve teachers’ effectiveness and

give students greater opportunities to learn.

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Deputy Minister of Education Now Online, Using Skype to Keep in Contact with School Directors

Deputy Minister of Education Soronkulov uses Skype to discuss school issues with

directors

GCE Teacher Plays Important Role in Organizing 8th Annual FORUM Conference

GCE Training Officer Tynchtyk

Zhanadylov presents about GCE at the 8th

Annual FORUM Conference

Kamchibekova played an important role in the

event’s organization: she helped coordinate the

hosting of participants in Talas, and took part in

the planning and logistics for the Conference.

GCE Training Officer Tynchtyk Zhanadylov demon-

strated GCE’s online projects and videoconfer-

ences with U.S. schools during his presentation.

He also introduced participants to Kyrgyzstan’s

Educational Network (link) and gave a tutorial on

how to launch a school website using the free

Google Sites platform.

Kamchibekova took a moment to express her

thoughts on the work that went into the event’s

success: “It was a great challenge to organize this

conference in Talas, but I am glad that the par-

ticipants were able to make it happen.”

On four dates in April, 16 teachers and 170 stu-

dents from Digital Youth Dialogue (DYD) and Glob-

al Connections & Exchange (GCE) program schools

participated in a Skype call with Chinara Batra-

keeva, Media Specialist of the Center for Educa-

tional Assessment and Teaching Methods (CEATM).

The call was organized so students could ask ques-

tions about the National Scholarship Test, de-

signed to gauge students’ preparedness for uni-

versity study and make access to higher educa-

tion more equal, basing admissions off concrete

assessment results.

While giving advice on how best to prepare for the

test, Batrakeeva directed students to

www.testing.kg, an online source of detailed in-

formation on the examination, including results

from previous years and practice materials. Fol-

lowing the call, students were able to ask further

questions via hotline numbers provided on the site.

Aizada Tynchybek kyzy, a student in attendance,

found the call informative: ...We got lots of new

information on how to take the test successfully,

and learned where to find all the necessary infor-

mation. Before [this call], I did not know the dif-

ference between the national examination and

the test prepared by this center…”

Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Education and Science

recently decreed that students must pass this test

to attend university in the country; as a result of

this call, these students will be more informed,

and more prepared.

In April, 60 students at GCE partner School No. 2

in Talas took part in a video conference call with

students at Del Valle High School in Del

Valle, Texas. The call was organized through the

United States Peace Corps’ World Wise Schools

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Schools in Kyrgyzstan Connect with Testing Expert on Skype, Get Advice on University Entrance Exams School No. 14 Students in Jalal-Abad

during Skype call with the Center for Edu-cational Assessment and Teaching Methods

Talas Students Make Virtual Connections, Face to Face

Correspondence Match Program (link) and was

made possible through the internet connectivity

provided by GCE. Students in Talas have sent

about 30 email messages to their counterparts in

Texas, and have received back more than 50 since

their correspondence began, all of which were

written in English, providing students with crucial

practice of their language skills. Additionally,

their call gave the students in Talas the chance to

practice understanding and conversing with native

speakers – something they can’t do at home.

Jibek Tursunkulova, a tenth grade student, shared

her appreciation for exchanges like this in helping

to improve her educational opportunities:

“[During online exchanges], I have had the chance

to practice my English and it helped me prepare

for the TOEFL test…. I got fourth place and an

award from the Republican Olympiad! I also was

accepted to an exchange program in the United

States, and I am writing to my penpals in Texas –

maybe I can meet them when I go to the USA!”

On April 12, Satylganov School English teachers

Akylbek Kojobekov, Samara Janybekova, GCE

Teacher Exchange Alumna Aizat Omurbaeva, and

Peace Corps Volunteer Jennifer Isely conducted

demonstration lessons and a seminar for 23 Eng-

lish teachers from rural communities in the Issyk-

Kul oblast. The teachers showcased the different

ways that ICT can be integrated into a language

lesson to benefit students’ learning. The trainers

showed how to integrate research via Google into

language lessons, and how to use PowerPoint as a

flash card and vocabulary presentation tool.

The trainers held a seminar for the attending edu-

cators on integrating ICT and communicative

methodology into their lessons, showing how

these practices can save time, increase engage-

ment, and improve their lessons overall.

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Karakol School Conducts Seminar for Rural Teachers on Using ICT in the Classroom

Students at Talas School No. 2 greet a peer at a Tex-as school for the first time

On April 12, a GCE Teacher trains her colleagues on ICT integration in the classroom at

Satylganov School

Ainura Sarybay kyzy, a teacher in attendance,

shared that “I liked this seminar very much; I

learned a lot of new and useful things, like how

to use PowerPoint – I see how using technology

can save time and make lessons more interesting

for learners.”

Thanks to the internet connection available in

their computer lab, sixteen students from Satyl-

ganov School, Karakol became winners of the re-

gional Olympiad. In the past, students prepared

for the Olympiads every year using only old text-

books. Today, the skills the students developed

during training and lessons given by GCE teachers

helped them to effectively use web resources to

do research and be better prepared.

The students were proud of their achievements;

several spoke about what helped them get this

far, and what will help them as they move for-

ward to the next round of competition:

Begimai Tilekmat kyzy winner in the Computer

Skills Olympiad shared, “I used the internet a lot

to prepare! My achievement was thanks to the

GCE program.”

Nursultan Shakitov, a winner at the Algebra com-

petition said, “Next month I will go to the Repub-

lican Olympiad and I am sure I will continue pre-

paring with online materials. The sites I found on

[Kyrgyzstan’s] international mathematics Olympi-

ads and the National Olympiads on mathematics

were very helpful to win in a strong contest.”

Azim Kadyraliev, the winner during the chemistry

competition, shared that “I am very glad that I

could use the internet to prepare for the Olympi-

ad. Reviewing chemical experiments online was a

great way to learn. I will continue to work; victo-

ry comes to those who work hard.”

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Thanks to GCE-provided Internet Connection, Sixteen Satylganov Students Win at Regional Olympiad

Begimai Tilekmat kyzy of Satylganov School, takes a break from studying — she is one of sixteen winners

at the recent Regional Olympiad

On April 21, 11 participants from Kyrgyzstan par-

ticipated in their first international video-

conference with their colleagues from Molodaya

Gvardia Library (Young Guard), in Kiev, Ukraine.

The video conference brought together librarians

and directors of Jalal-Abad Oblast library, Central

Kyzyl-Kiya Library, and Alay Central Library, as

well as Rosa Sultangazieva, Director of Republican

Children’s and Youth Library and Head of Library

& Informational Consortium of Kyrgyzstan. Prior

to video-conference, participants from Kyrgyzstan

visited the library’s website and compiled ques-

tions they were interested in to. Galina Konash-

ko, Director of Molodaya Gvardiya Library, then

addressed those questions during the conference

call. Questions that interested librarians from Kyr-

gyzstan ranged from the type of methods their

counterparts use when working with youth to

their experience working with people with disabil-

ities as well as what methodological assistance

Molodaya Gvardia provides to other libraries.

Konashko spoke about how her library works, what

type of outreach activities they conduct in order

to attract Kiev youth to the library, which types

of events that they offer, and which methods and

activities they use to partner with different or-

ganizations in the area of education and youth.

She mentioned that constant intensive training for

library staff is needed and has increased her em-

ployees’ skills. All Molodaya Gvardia library staff

use the computer and other technology in their

work. "Our first video conference experience was

effective and I can see that library employees in

Kyrgyzstan know their job and understand the

importance of technology in advancing libraries’

work,” remarked Konashko after the call. “We

look forward to further cooperation.”

The Librarians from Kyrgyzstan greatly enjoyed

their first international video conference: "We

have received useful information on using tech-

nology and how the library staff develops their

computer and Internet skills by reporting and

working with projects. We will definitely use

their experience in improving [our] library ser-

vice” said Seyilkan Atalieva, director of the Jalal-

Abad Library.

Thanks to the internet connection provided by the

US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan through Digital Youth

Dialogue program, librarians in Kyrgyzstan can

now communicate with their colleagues abroad

and exchange information that will help make li-

brary services better and relevant to their pa-

trons. Participants both from Kyrgyzstan and

Ukraine seeing benefit of such an exchange

agreed to continue their virtual meetings and

sharing information and next conference call is

planned to take place in May.

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The Internet Connects Librarians from Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan

Molodaya Gvardia Library director Galina Konashko greets her peers in

Kyrgyzstan

"We are glad to have this online dialogue; I liked their work with mass media and how effectively they involve [it] in their library's work… We will also try to get some experience from their work and will im-

prove the work of our library too."

— Shakarkan Maksutova, Director of Kyzyl-Kya Library

On April 4, the Jalal-Abad Oblast Library held an

event for all branches of their library and employ-

ees announcing the library’s website launch. The

presentation, held by DYD librarians Ulan Jaichiev

and Sveta Krasovskaya and their director Seyil

Atalieva, aimed to introduce the new website and

explain to users how it will benefit them in their

search for information about the library’s ser-

vices, operations, and history. The site is record-

ing more hits every day since its launch in April,

and is now working with branch librarians to teach

them how to develop their own web presences.

DYD librarian Krasovskaya shared her thoughts on

the website: “Our website is the face of our insti-

tution, where visitors can view all of the achieve-

ments that have contributed to our image. The

exchange of information through this new method

increases our reach to attract new patrons. In

working on this website, our staff improved their

skills, gained new knowledge, and developed fur-

ther as a team.” Link: Jalal-Abad Oblast Library

Following training by DYD on how to get a journal-

ism club started, students at Gagarin school in

Isfana just launched their school’s first newspa-

per. Elnur Mavliankul uulu, who currently serves

as the leader of the journalism club, worked with

his peers to make the paper a reality.

For the first issue of Interkosmo, named in honor

of the Cosmonauts, the first of whom is their

school’s namesake, the students did their own

research to create an article on the historic figure

Alay Queen Kurmanjan Datka as a larger piece.

The students also made sure to include all the

sections to be expected of a newspaper, even a

sports section. They created the newspaper using

Microsoft Publisher after receiving training on the

software through DYD.

Teachers have caught on to their work, as well:

Jarkinay Alykulova, a Kyrgyz language teacher at

Gagarin, expressed her impressions from the stu-

dents’ hard work: “I was excited to help them

work on their ideas, and provided some consulta-

tion on good writing in Kyrgyz. I think their paper

will be an excellent platform for sharing stu-

dents’ ideas, and to promote our school’s web

presence as well.”

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Jalal-Abad Library Hosts Presentation to Celebrate Website Launch

Patrons from three generations take a look at

the Jalal-Abad Oblast Library’s new website

Students of Gagarin School Launch their First School Newspaper

Gagarin School recently published

their school’s first newspaper

On April 10, nine unemployed community mem-

bers attended a training session on computer ba-

sics and the internet at the Jalal-Abad Oblast Li-

brary. All the attendees hold degrees from higher

education institutions, but due to economic and

skill set circumstances, have yet to find perma-

nent work. They attended these training sessions

to improve their chances and their abilities for

the future job hunt, as at present many careers

are linked to computer skills.

As many of these youth lack sufficient computer

skills and the opportunity to practice, turning to

the library was a natural option when they discov-

ered that it started offering these services since

partnering with DYD.

During the training, they developed new compe-

tency and confidence in using Microsoft Word,

performing basic research on the web with search

engines like Google, and learned how to create

presentations using Microsoft’s PowerPoint soft-

ware. The participants also learned how to print,

communicate over Skype and instant messaging

programs, and how to compose and send email.

Nazgul Osmonova, a participant in the training

sessions, holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics.

After taking the course for two weeks at the Jalal-

Abad Library, she found a vacancy in Kyrgyzstan

with the French NGO ACTED, and submitted an

electronic copy of her CV, which she learned how

to make at the training. She says, “Today, my

dream is to become a good business manager to

work on projects. To meet that goal, I learned to

create a resume and will improve my computer

skills and knowledge; I hope to get a better job

with my new skills!”

Tech Age Girl (TAG) Shahnoza Zokirova and DYD

student Muhiddin Yuldashev conducted a training

for their teachers in the American Resource Cen-

ter at Chingiz Aitmatov School in Osh. Zokirova

and Yuldashev trained their teachers on internet

and computing basics, including productivity with

the Microsoft Office Suite, using email, conduct-

ing web research, and finding news online from

local and national websites like 24.kg and Ferga-

na.ru.

During the training, teachers were also directed

to bilimkeni.kg, Kyrgyzstan’s Educational Portal,

where they were able to read about new lesson

plans, educational news in Kyrgyzstan, and partic-

ipate in discussions on the teaching profession. As

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Jalal-Abad Public Library is offering IT training to the

unemployed, above, who are learning skills in comput-

er basics and the internet

Unemployed Individuals Improve Their IT Skills at Jalal-Abad Library Training

Teachers are Learning New ICT Skills Thanks to DYD Students

a practical and creative outlet, the teachers were

given an assignment to compose their own Power-

Point presentations on a subject of their choosing.

Before long, they were successfully working with

the programs across the whole Office suite, im-

pressing their students at what adept learners

they were.

For the teachers, however, developing these skills

is not a hobby, but a crucial element in their on-

going professional development. Zamira Djuraeva,

a Russian language teacher in attendance, noted

“We [teachers] need to study the computer even

more than students; we must learn how to mod-

ernize our lessons and make them more relevant

with new technology.”

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Students teaching teachers at a computer and

internet basics training at the American Re-

source Center