Service Learning Group C Academic Mentors - Dr.(Ms.) Aashani Tillekaratne Dr.(Ms.) Gayani Perera Corporate Partner - Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC

Introduction Phase 1 – Donation of computer laboratories Phase 2 – Promotion of online education 2 Project Objectives Introduce the concept of online education. Encourage the use of internet for educational purposes. Collect statistical data for analysis. Establish relationship between geographical distribution of schools and the IT usage.

Implementation Discussion with the Commercial Bank Updating the web interface Preparing questionnaires Deciding the content of the presentation Finalising the layout of the programme 3 Main Online Materials Introduced Web interface developed by us Khan Academy E-thaksalawa Rupavahini Jathika Pasala Skoool Sri Lanka

Workshops 4 Questionnaire 01 Introduction Explanation of Educational Websites Interactive Session and Discussion Questionnaire 02 Conducted in 23 schools Covering 16,329 students Covering all provinces Covering all school categories Layout

Data Collection Distribution of questionnaires before and after the programme Sending an to the schools in order to obtain the feedback 5 Data Analysis Data was fed to the computer using SPSS software MS Excel was used to present the graphs and charts

RESULTS Pre Analysis 84% of students use computers Students use computers mostly from school 52% of the students do not use internet Lack of facilities & knowledge were as noted as the main reason for not using internet Majority of students in 1A, 1B & 1AB type schools use internet where as majority of Type 1C & Type 2 schools do not use internet Internet was the least used source for information 81% of students have used the computer labs in their schools 6 Results were analysed under two main categories

7 Post Analysis 99% of the students were interested in e-learning Feedback suggested the programme conducted was very good E-thaksalawa & Khan Academy were the most preferred websites

Challenges Faced Aligning and Organizing web content Lack of basic computer literacy among students Unreliable internet connections Time constraints and limited resources 8 Skills Developed Planning and Organisation Leadership Communication Team work Decision making Time Scheduling Data analysing Report writing and Presentation

Suggestions to Improve Increase individual attention and interactive sessions Establish internet facilities for every school lab Update the knowledge of teachers and to solve their problems Ensure maximum attendance for workshops Group students on their knowledge of internet and conduct sessions accordingly 9

Conclusion Computer literacy is at a low level, specially in rural schools Donation of computers have been beneficial to students Students gained knowledge on e-learning web sites from workshops The programme has created an enthusiasm among students 10