Commonwealth Secretariat, Commonwealth of Learning & Microsoft #Trinidad #Tobago sign letter of understanding to improve ICT in Caribbean primary, secondary schools

Via the Commonwealth Secretariat's March 28 2011 press release:

"The Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and Microsoft Trinidad and Tobago signed a Letter of Understanding (LOU) on 28 March, agreeing to work together to harness the potential of  technology and the internet to improve education in schools in the Caribbean region.

Over the next two years, the three organisations will collaborate to improve access to, and use of, information and communication technology (ICT) in primary and secondary schools in 18 Commonwealth Caribbean countries and territories: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands.

The programme will provide students and teachers with training and expertise in using ICT to learn and teach, through the implementation of the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers, an internationally recognised framework to promote ICT education……

….With a focus on teacher development in ICT, the programme will be implemented through information and knowledge delivery, in-country and institutional policy review and support, collaborative materials development and capacity building and competency measurement and certification.

Schools will also have digital access to low-cost software through future Microsoft School Agreements and students will be able to access free e-mail addresses through Microsoft’s Live@edu, a suite of online hosted services designed for and offered to educational institutions at no cost to the institution."