USAID Primary Education Project

Macedonia's Primary Students Give a Great Response to USAID’s ICT Challenges

In 2008, as part of its assistance to the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), USAID’s Primary Education Project (PEP), introduced a number of innovative ICT products to 14 selected schools throughout Macedonia. These included digital microscopes and cameras, scientific calculators, probes and sensors, computer control kits, and programmable robots

In April, the schools were given challenges relating to the practical use of these products and, on 23 June 2008, students from the schools presented their projects at the Cinemateque Macedonia in Skopje to an invited audience including international and local business leaders. The students were addressed by Mr. Colin Jaffrey of Johnson Mattay Ltd, and prizes were presented to winning projects by Mr Antoni Pesev, Director of a ICT Company and Mr. Ivan Mitrevski, executive director of MASIT.

“Challenges like this are an opportunity for students to work collaboratively and develop workforce skills through the practical application of theoretical knowledge. The imaginative results show that Macedonian students relish the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity when given the chance,” said Petar Nikoloski, USAID PEP ICT in Education Coordinator.

The challenges PEP set for different types of equipment are listed below:

#	Title	Hardware/Software	Description
1	the CHICKEN farmer	Computer Control Box	Students design a mechanism and program to automatically move a newly laid egg to the refrigeration unit.
2	mobile phone setting	Logo Software	Using LOGO, students design a ringtone and wallpaper with a Macedonian theme for a mobile phone.
3	Hidden world	Microscope	Students use the electronic microscope to conduct a microscopic survey of their school to identify hidden creatures.
4	ROAD TO THE OSCARS	Digital camera (movie function)	Students prepare a short movie of their choice.
5	Tourist brochure	Digital Camera (still function)	Students create a Tourist Brochure for their locality
6	how safe are your rivers?	Scientific calculator, Sensors and probes	Students use the TI 84 calculator and probes to study the local water environment and prepare a Power Point presentation of their findings.
7	power from the sun!	Scientific calculator, Sensors and probes	Student use the TI 84 calculator to measure the output of their solar heating device.
8	TREASURE MAP	Roamer, programmable robot	Students design a program for the “Roamer” to enable it to show the treasure on a pirate’s map

The winners of the competition are:

Primary school Vasil Glavinov from Veles for challenges 1 and 7
Primary school Sv Kliment Ohridski from Bitola for challenges 2 and 8
Primary school Naim Frasheri from Tetovo for challenges 3 and 6
Primary school Toli Zordumis from Kumanovo for challenge 5
Primary school Kiril i Meotdij from Kocani for the challenge 5
Primary school Grigor Prlicev from Ohrid for challenge 4
Primary school K.J Pitu from Skopje for challenge
Primary school Sv Kliment Ohridski from Draslajca, Special Prize for Hypermedia presentation.

Home | Privacy Notice | Contact us | Webmaster

USAID • AED