On November 8, 2010 the training for 60 Kazakhstani teachers who are going to become coordinators of “Connecting Classrooms Online” project was held in Almaty. The project was developed by the British Council in order to promote effective usage of interactive communication technologies (ICT) in the secondary-education system and to establish on-line partnerships between schools in Kazakhstan and the UK.  

The project will help Kazakhstani schools who have Internet connections, to become a part of an international school network which is active around the globe. For this purpose 60 school teachers from all regions with successful experience of ICT usage in their work, were selected as `Ambassadors’. They will be responsible for the dissemination of the project among Kazakhstani regions and to support local schools to help them establish partnerships with British schools.

When they become part of the network the teachers will be able to discuss their working plans with colleagues from around the world, use educational materials developed exclusively for the project participants for free, and exchange experience with other schools.    

The 'Ambassadors’ were chosen from 150 teachers who sent in applications. During the actual competition the candidates were asked to demonstrate their abilities to work with an audience as well as to demonstrate their computer and internet skills. As a result the best 60 participants were selected to join the group that will coordinate the project development work in almost all Kazakhstani regions.

“Connecting Classrooms Online” is a part of the British Council’s “Connecting Classrooms” project aimed at establishing partnerships between elementary and secondary schools in Great Britain and Kazakhstan (as well as other countries in the region). The purposes of the project are to expand inter-cultural dialogue, internationalization of education and support reforms in the educational domain.

The British Council’s partners in “Connecting Classrooms Online” are the Ministry of Science and Education, regional Departments of Education, regional institutes for teachers’ qualification improvement, and the National Association of English Teachers. In order to apply for participation in “Connecting Classrooms Online” and to get additional information visit please: www.cc.britishcouncil.org or http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-connecting-classrooms