Creating Learners Online and On the Ground

Covid-19 is still affecting OpenmindProjects' work and students’ studies. But we go online in the meantime!

Thanks to our Thai alumni, who now volunteer with us,  previous and new overseas volunteers we are adapting to help using the Cisco WebEx and helped b volunteers from Cisco too!

OpenmindProjects has over the years helped many young people in Southeast Asia with the help of international volunteers and the use of IT/internet.

Covid disrupted our work. What to do? How to adapt? How to go online? How to find volunteers and systems, tools, to be able to go online? Previously we relied on volunteer donations. Now we had to reduce costs. How to find new funds? How to hibernate, to survive?

Covid will not go away, so we reluctantly had to reduce costs, close our Training Center. No point losing money on rent, repairs, other costs when we can host no local trainees, campers or overseas volunteers! With no trainees, no campers, no volunteers we were very sad to see staff friends leave! But we moved on to a new location, hosted by a school we have supported for many years and where we hope to welcome trainees, campers and volunteers next year.

We are now learning to offer online education to young and disadvantaged students in Thailand, Laos, later on also in Cambodia, Nepal and Myanmar, our program countries.

Together with talented and dedicated local and overseas Volunteers we look to turn  the Covid Experience into an Education Opportunity!

How to design online learning for isolated and disadvantaged village, ethnic minority and  migrant students?

Our first Online School Program has just started. Three schools around Thailand are participating: a school for disabled in NongKhai, another for ethnic minorities on the Myanmar border and the third in Krabi, the South. We have already learned quite a few things, about difficulties, opportunities, tech issues and been encouraged by the energy of many students and the enthusiasm of helpful and patient volunteers.

We use Cisco’s WebEx with the compliments of Cisco and are happy also to have many Cisco volunteers working together with other ‘old’ and new volunteers and previous trainees, campers. Gaweechat, our cofounder and James, one of our successful campers, trainee alumni are doing a great job hosting and moderating the program.

This first task-based learning project focuses on COVID-19 and its effects with a special emphasis on education effects and opportunities. Students search online to learn about COVID-19 and its effects with the help of local and overseas volunteers, summarize what they learn and will after 8 weeks present their findings including how they have learned from these effects and what opportunities for their own online learning they see in the future. They will share their findings online in presentations and videos.

OpenmindProjects and volunteers will also have learned more about how to offer future task-based learning programs to local poor students, villagers, migrants, ethnic minorities.

This is a small but truly global project with volunteers from East, Southeast, and South Asia, as well          as Australia, Europe and America.

We have also launched an Openmind Open House with young people online where we discuss important issues affecting Thai and other SE Asian youth: internet security, environmental protection, climate change, online education, even AI, artificial intelligence, and its opportunities, threats.  They learn about these issues while sharpening their English skills.

We are learning a lot and finding ways to scale up, reach many more underprivileged students who  suffered and lost precious education time during this pandemic.

We are very excited to continue online thanks to our volunteers and Cisco and are now looking to fundraise for our future work and projects to help the young but underprivileged in SE Asia! We know we have to learn a lot, to improve, and to find new ways to fund our work!

Together with local and overseas volunteers we can inspire students to learn about important topics while they improve their English and IT/internet skills, gain confidence and inspire their own friends.

We are grateful for all support during these difficult times and hope we inspire future support for our work to go online and one day welcome volunteers, campers and trainees back to help the young students!

                              OpenmindProjects Cofounders

                    Gaweechat Joompaula and Sven Mauleon

PS

Welcome to follow our online activities, contact gaweechat@openmindprojects.net  for an invitation. 

OpenmindProjects, a Thai NGO and its alumni students, in collaboration with Cisco Systems

      “Thai village students switch on to online learning to boost your English and other skills”

                                          says OpenmindProjects!

‘OpenmindProjects has been committed to helping children to digital learning ever since it started in Isaan 18 years ago! With Cisco, OpenmindProjects can enable village children throughout Thailand to boost their leaning in virtual classrooms and help them to connect to international volunteers. Children, teenagers with limited opportunity to learn English and IT will be able to plug into our online program,’ explains Gaweechat Joompaula , cofounder, from Udon Thani, of OpenmindProjects!

Village children like everyone else will need to learn to learn and continually upskill in a rapidly changing Thailand. Online learning will be essential for Thailand to be a place where all talent regardless of background can succeed.

‘OpenmindProjects has a long experience working with international volunteers, introducing them to Thailand, its culture, language and schools . Covid put a stop to that. Now they will help volunteers throughout the world to support young people in Thailand in interactive online learning English activities.

OpenmindProjects wants to help Thai learners from anywhere connect and learn with volunteers, to share what they learn on social media and suggest, present their own solutions to important global or local problems, like global warming, or how Thai students can improve their ranking in international English tests. Competition always brings out a lot of energy and motivation is the first key to learning so they will be able to compete for best English and solutions in teams. This is what they want to bring to schools online now with the help of Cisco’s WebEx, virtual classroom opportunities and with international volunteers.

OpenmindProjects collaborates with Cisco Systems. ‘Cisco helps us with their WebEx online tool that will allow us to host virtual classes for village students who can participate via mobiles or laptops. Virtual volunteers will help children learn English while they learn to search online, analyze, conclude, present and debate an important topic like climate change in English,’ continues Gaweechat.

OpenmindProjects has helped village and migrant children to use IT/internet and learn English since 2002. International volunteers have been an integral part until COVID-19 disrupted their work. The challenge is now to adapt to online support.

This collaboration makes it possible for village children to learn English while they learn about important topics. Volunteers and students can share presentations, use digital whiteboards, record classes, have ‘breakout rooms’ for teamwork.

OpenmindProjects alumni understand Thai students and Cisco volunteers know what is technically feasible. In a week-long virtual workshop, testing and using WebEx, with digital whiteboards and break out team work rooms and tools like Poll Everywhere, OneMob. Together with Cisco staff from several Asian countries, they outlined learn English online programs for village students with international volunteer participation. One program was focused on why Thai students don’t do well in international English tests. Thai students would with volunteer help finding information online, analyze, present, share on social media and debate solutions in English.

‘Online collaboration is not new to us. Meetings, workshops are done via Webex. Working from home is the new norm. We are excited to share experience, best practices and digital tools with OpenmindProjects,’ says Stacy Pereira, the Asia Pacific, Japan and China Strategy & Planning Lead from Cisco Australia. Michelle Jeong from Cisco South Korea, adds, ‘I’m so glad to help children using our technology. When I worked with OpenmindProjects alumni, I was impressed with their passion to support their communities. We’re really looking forward and committed to this digital journey with OpenmindProjects!’

OpenmindProjects alumni James, studying international relations at Mahasarakham University, thinks, ‘Covid, a new challenge? It is unable to stop us from learning! Me and my friends will help make students and schools highly benefit from this OpenmindProjects and Cisco initiative!’

‘We have worked with thousands of Thai, Lao and Burmese teenagers at school and in our camps over the years. Now we will help online. We bring our pedagogic style and experience working with schools, students and international volunteers. Cisco contributes their technology, online experience and volunteers, great synergy,’ conclude Gaweechat and Sven.

Links:

• https://www.volunteernonprofit.org/openmindprojects-in-may-2021-adapting-to-life-during-and-after-covid-bringing-online-learning
• https://www.facebook.com/OpenmindProjects/
• https://www.openmindprojects.org/