Thailand’s ICT Ministry is cooperating with Chulalongkorn University Demonstration School (elementary level) to pilot IT applications that could improve teaching effectiveness and education quality, under the national Smart Education plan.

TOT, a State-owned telecom company, and a team of programmers have developed applications have developed educational software for the tablets. The Ministry is to pilot the educational tablets at the Chulalongkorn University Demonstration School.

It seeks to promote information technology as a medium of instruction in the school, improving effectiveness of education delivery, and enabling teachers to track the students’ progress and manage records efficiently.

Minister for ICT, Anudith Nakornthap, said, “With the ‘One Tablet PC per Child’ programme, the Ministry of ICT has accelerated the development of information technology for the education sector to meet international standards.”

The educational software is compatible with popular platforms, such as Windows, iOS and Android, in order to increase educational opportunities and encourage students to make extensive use of the tablets, the Minister added.

“Patterns of educational instruction are changing, as modern IT applications are developed for the education sector. This, combined with better connected government agencies and cloud services, has changed the potential of innovation in the education sector,” remarked the Minister.

In addition to IT infrastructure, he highlighted the need for developing curriculum standards, developing teachers’ IT skills and promoting research and evaluation in order to create sustainable transformation in the education sector.

The Minister shared, “The Thailand Smart Education programme is currently in pilot stage, and based on the results, the tablets will be extended to other schools in the future. The programme looks to transform the learning paradigm with a learner-centred development model and one-to-one digital classrooms. The programme aims to instil lifelong learning and allow students to learn from anywhere, at any time.”