The document summarizes activities of the Digital Youth Dialogue (DYD) and Global Connections & Exchange (GCE) programs. It discusses how: 1) The Deputy Minister of Education learned to use Skype and discussed school issues virtually with directors. 2) A GCE teacher played a role in organizing an education conference on using technology to enhance learning. 3) Students and teachers participated in Skype calls to get advice on exams and learn new skills. 4) Schools connected online to share experiences and information across borders. 5) Libraries launched websites and held trainings to improve services through new technologies.

1. >> Global Connections & Exchange
Digital Youth Dialogue <<
APRIL 2011
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.

2. IN THIS ISSUE: www.irex.org
>> Global Connections & Exchange: >> Digital Youth Dialogue:
Deputy Minister of Education The Internet Connects
Now Online, Using Skype to Librarians from Ukraine and
Keep in Contact with School Kyrgyzstan
Directors
Jalal-Abad Library Hosts
GCE Teacher Plays Important Presentation to Celebrate
Role in Organizing 8th Annual Website Launch
FORUM Conference
Students of Gagarin School
Schools in Kyrgyzstan Con- Launch their First School
nect withTesting Expert on Newspaper
Skype, Get Advice on
University Entrance Exams Unemployed Individuals Im-
prove Their IT Skills at Jalal-
Talas Students Make Virtual Abad Library Training
Connections, Face to Face
Teachers are Learning New
ICT Skills Thanks to DYD Stu-
Karakol School Conducts dents
Seminar for Rural Teachers
on Using ICT in the Classroom
Thanks to GCE-provided In-
ternet Connection, Sixteen
Satylganov Students Win at
Regional Olympiad

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sues taking place in Kyrgyzstan’s schools; [using
Deputy Minister of Education Now
Skype] saved time, as many issues can be dis-
Online, Using Skype to Keep in Contact cussed and solved over video conference
with School Directors [technology].”
On April 5, Deputy Minister of Education Gulzhigit Talas School No. 2 director Uvarkin agreed, noting
Soronkulov took part in his first IT training session that “[Using] Skype calls can help us get direct
with IREX staff members Akjol Joroev and and accurate information from the Deputy Minis-
Tynchtyk Zhanadylov. Soronkulov learned how to ter; Skype is a very effective tool to help us solve
use Gmail and Skype to stay in touch with school problems at our schools.”
directors around the country.
GCE Teacher Plays Important Role in
Organizing 8th Annual FORUM
Conference
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
Deputy Minister of Education Soronkulov
uses Skype to discuss school issues with Kamchibekova, to highlight how information tech-
directors nology can improve teachers’ effectiveness and
give students greater opportunities to learn.
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
GCE Training Officer Tynchtyk
out his duties: “Skype allowed me to hold discus-
Zhanadylov presents about GCE at the 8th
sions with school directors about educational is- Annual FORUM Conference
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Kamchibekova played an important role in the formation on the examination, including results
event’s organization: she helped coordinate the from previous years and practice materials. Fol-
hosting of participants in Talas, and took part in lowing the call, students were able to ask further
the planning and logistics for the Conference. questions via hotline numbers provided on the site.
Aizada Tynchybek kyzy, a student in attendance,
GCE Training Officer Tynchtyk Zhanadylov demon- found the call informative: ...We got lots of new
strated GCE’s online projects and videoconfer- information on how to take the test successfully,
ences with U.S. schools during his presentation. and learned where to find all the necessary infor-
He also introduced participants to Kyrgyzstan’s mation. Before [this call], I did not know the dif-
Educational Network (link) and gave a tutorial on ference between the national examination and
how to launch a school website using the free the test prepared by this center…”
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.”
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
On four dates in April, 16 teachers and 170 stu-
dents from Digital Youth Dialogue (DYD) and Glob- Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Education and Science
al Connections & Exchange (GCE) program schools recently decreed that students must pass this test
participated in a Skype call with Chinara Batra- to attend university in the country; as a result of
keeva, Media Specialist of the Center for Educa- this call, these students will be more informed,
tional Assessment and Teaching Methods (CEATM). and more prepared.
The call was organized so students could ask ques-
tions about the National Scholarship Test, de-
signed to gauge students’ preparedness for uni- Talas Students Make Virtual
versity study and make access to higher educa- Connections, Face to Face
tion more equal, basing admissions off concrete
assessment results. In April, 60 students at GCE partner School No. 2
in Talas took part in a video conference call with
While giving advice on how best to prepare for the students at Del Valle High School in Del
test, Batrakeeva directed students to Valle, Texas. The call was organized through the
www.testing.kg, an online source of detailed in- United States Peace Corps’ World Wise Schools
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Correspondence Match Program (link) and was
Karakol School Conducts Seminar for
made possible through the internet connectivity
provided by GCE. Students in Talas have sent
Rural Teachers on Using ICT in the
about 30 email messages to their counterparts in Classroom
Texas, and have received back more than 50 since
their correspondence began, all of which were On April 12, Satylganov School English teachers
written in English, providing students with crucial Akylbek Kojobekov, Samara Janybekova, GCE
practice of their language skills. Additionally, Teacher Exchange Alumna Aizat Omurbaeva, and
their call gave the students in Talas the chance to Peace Corps Volunteer Jennifer Isely conducted
practice understanding and conversing with native demonstration lessons and a seminar for 23 Eng-
speakers – something they can’t do at home. 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.
Students at Talas School No. 2 greet a peer at a Tex-
as school for the first time
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 –
On April 12, a GCE Teacher trains her
maybe I can meet them when I go to the USA!” colleagues on ICT integration in the classroom at
Satylganov School
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Ainura Sarybay kyzy, a teacher in attendance, Azim Kadyraliev, the winner during the chemistry
shared that “I liked this seminar very much; I competition, shared that “I am very glad that I
learned a lot of new and useful things, like how could use the internet to prepare for the Olympi-
to use PowerPoint – I see how using technology ad. Reviewing chemical experiments online was a
can save time and make lessons more interesting great way to learn. I will continue to work; victo-
for learners.” ry comes to those who work hard.”
Thanks to GCE-provided Internet
Connection, Sixteen Satylganov Students
Win at Regional Olympiad
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 Begimai Tilekmat kyzy of Satylganov School, takes a
do research and be better prepared. break from studying — she is one of sixteen winners
at the recent Regional Olympiad
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.”
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work,” remarked Konashko after the call. “We
The Internet Connects Librarians from look forward to further cooperation.”
Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan
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 Molodaya Gvardia Library director
well as Rosa Sultangazieva, Director of Republican Galina Konashko greets her peers in
Kyrgyzstan
Children’s and Youth Library and Head of Library
& Informational Consortium of Kyrgyzstan. Prior The Librarians from Kyrgyzstan greatly enjoyed
to video-conference, participants from Kyrgyzstan their first international video conference: "We
visited the library’s website and compiled ques- have received useful information on using tech-
tions they were interested in to. Galina Konash- nology and how the library staff develops their
ko, Director of Molodaya Gvardiya Library, then computer and Internet skills by reporting and
addressed those questions during the conference working with projects. We will definitely use
call. Questions that interested librarians from Kyr- their experience in improving [our] library ser-
gyzstan ranged from the type of methods their vice” said Seyilkan Atalieva, director of the Jalal-
counterparts use when working with youth to Abad Library.
their experience working with people with disabil-
ities as well as what methodological assistance Thanks to the internet connection provided by the
Molodaya Gvardia provides to other libraries. US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan through Digital Youth
Dialogue program, librarians in Kyrgyzstan can
Konashko spoke about how her library works, what now communicate with their colleagues abroad
type of outreach activities they conduct in order and exchange information that will help make li-
to attract Kiev youth to the library, which types brary services better and relevant to their pa-
of events that they offer, and which methods and trons. Participants both from Kyrgyzstan and
activities they use to partner with different or- Ukraine seeing benefit of such an exchange
ganizations in the area of education and youth. agreed to continue their virtual meetings and
She mentioned that constant intensive training for sharing information and next conference call is
library staff is needed and has increased her em- planned to take place in May.
ployees’ skills. All Molodaya Gvardia library staff
"We are glad to have this online dialogue; I liked
use the computer and other technology in their their work with mass media and how effectively they
work. "Our first video conference experience was involve [it] in their library's work… We will also try
to get some experience from their work and will im-
effective and I can see that library employees in
prove the work of our library too."
Kyrgyzstan know their job and understand the
importance of technology in advancing libraries’ — Shakarkan Maksutova, Director of Kyzyl-Kya Library
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Jalal-Abad Library Hosts Presentation to Students of Gagarin School Launch their
Celebrate Website Launch First School Newspaper
On April 4, the Jalal-Abad Oblast Library held an Following training by DYD on how to get a journal-
event for all branches of their library and employ- ism club started, students at Gagarin school in
ees announcing the library’s website launch. The Isfana just launched their school’s first newspa-
presentation, held by DYD librarians Ulan Jaichiev per. Elnur Mavliankul uulu, who currently serves
and Sveta Krasovskaya and their director Seyil as the leader of the journalism club, worked with
Atalieva, aimed to introduce the new website and his peers to make the paper a reality.
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- Gagarin School recently published
their school’s first newspaper
ments that have contributed to our image. The
exchange of information through this new method For the first issue of Interkosmo, named in honor
increases our reach to attract new patrons. In of the Cosmonauts, the first of whom is their
working on this website, our staff improved their school’s namesake, the students did their own
skills, gained new knowledge, and developed fur- research to create an article on the historic figure
ther as a team.” Link: Jalal-Abad Oblast Library 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-
Patrons from three generations take a look at dents’ ideas, and to promote our school’s web
the Jalal-Abad Oblast Library’s new website presence as well.”
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Unemployed Individuals Improve Their engines like Google, and learned how to create
presentations using Microsoft’s PowerPoint soft-
IT Skills at Jalal-Abad Library Training ware. The participants also learned how to print,
communicate over Skype and instant messaging
On April 10, nine unemployed community mem- programs, and how to compose and send email.
bers attended a training session on computer ba-
sics and the internet at the Jalal-Abad Oblast Li- Nazgul Osmonova, a participant in the training
brary. All the attendees hold degrees from higher sessions, holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics.
education institutions, but due to economic and After taking the course for two weeks at the Jalal-
skill set circumstances, have yet to find perma- Abad Library, she found a vacancy in Kyrgyzstan
nent work. They attended these training sessions with the French NGO ACTED, and submitted an
to improve their chances and their abilities for electronic copy of her CV, which she learned how
the future job hunt, as at present many careers to make at the training. She says, “Today, my
are linked to computer skills. dream is to become a good business manager to
work on projects. To meet that goal, I learned to
As many of these youth lack sufficient computer create a resume and will improve my computer
skills and the opportunity to practice, turning to skills and knowledge; I hope to get a better job
the library was a natural option when they discov- with my new skills!”
ered that it started offering these services since
partnering with DYD.
During the training, they developed new compe-
Teachers are Learning New ICT Skills
tency and confidence in using Microsoft Word, Thanks to DYD Students
performing basic research on the web with search
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
Jalal-Abad Public Library is offering IT training to the
unemployed, above, who are learning skills in comput- plans, educational news in Kyrgyzstan, and partic-
er basics and the internet ipate in discussions on the teaching profession. As
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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.”
Students teaching teachers at a computer and
internet basics training at the American Re-
source Center
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