How can children in small and remote schools be given access to a new generation of education?

Smart School Alliance

Taiwan

An online and offline community creating equal learning rights for the next generation in small and remote schools around the world.

Collaborative Learning, Entrepreneurship, Global Citizenship, Platform, Professional Development, Retention, Rural Equity, Teacher Development, Technology

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Introduction

What is Smart School Alliance?

“Smart School Alliance brings the 'sharing economy' philosophy to education. Even students in the most remote villages have the same learning opportunities as those in the cities.”

I-Chang Tsai, Deputy Director General, Digital Education Institute

In countries such as Taiwan, school principals often struggle to find the best teachers to educate students in remote areas. Because their schools are isolated and often very small, it can be difficult for students to make friends and develop a global view of the world. It is also tricky for rural school teachers to receive training for continuous professional development.

Smart School Alliance, founded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and executed by the Innovation Learning Center, Digital Education Institute and Institute for Information Industry in Taiwan, consists of many small schools who become part of one big online and offline (O&O) school. The alliance provides innovative education services through the use of live webcasting, in addition to bringing the abundant resources of museums, the publishing industry, training agencies, technology companies and NGOs to create an exciting, well-rounded, globalised curriculum connecting students' learning to the world.

The aim is let students study locally but learn globally. Smart School Alliance invites top teachers from metropolitan areas to instruct students of outlying islands online, in order to build up their abilities. The alliance also invites students worldwide to share their local cultures, encouraging students to know themselves, understand others and explore the world. This model supports international interaction and improves cultural understanding, encouraging positive exchanges between different regions.

For educators, Smart School Alliance hosts meetings and provides O&O live classroom courses, training in distance teaching skills, interactive seminars and workshops. In addition, the alliance supports educators to co-prepare lessons, co-share equipment and offer the latest trends in learning technology, augmented and virtual reality courses and business.

Since 2013, Smart School Alliance has integrated the resources of over 70 companies from industry, developed over 100 programs, included over 750 schools and shared its work over 10 countries.