A meeting was held at the Ministry of Education and Science to discuss the productivity of video lessons and thematic programs. Within the framework of rural schools and distance learning development, as a follow up to the RA Government assignment, the organized video lessons, methodological approaches and the effectiveness of distance communication tools used during the lessons, were summarized at the discussion.
The meeting was conducted by Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan with the participation of education sector officials and other representatives. During his speech Minister mentioned, that e-learning ceased to be considered as supplementary education, as nowadays it is a very dynamic and rapidly developing form of education. He also added that starting from the forthcoming September distance or electronic learning should become an integral component of school life and an applicable teaching method.
According to L. Mkrtchyan, the major issue in education is to ensure broad-scale application of ICT tools. As there are approximately 1400 schools in Armenia with different levels of education quality and ICT equipment, the leading schools should play the role of a driving force.
During the meeting NCET director Artak Poghosyan presented the evaluation results of schools’ electronic equipment, which are published on http://lib.armedu.am/category/191/date_created/desc website.
Participants stated that ICT tools are changing rapidly and, therefore, their constant improvement and training of relevant specialists is becoming an integral component of educational process. Summing up the meeting, L. Mkrtchyan noted that the major goal is to teach the teachers how to apply ICT tools in designing educational resources.
It was assigned to set up a working group which in a two-week period will present a schedule of events, aimed at integrating e-learning in the schools of Armenia.