Smart Classroom Project (200 Schools) in Southern Province - Sri Lanka

Smart Classroom Project

The Southern Provincial Department of Education maintains the highest level of achievement in Sri Lanka in the teaching learning process and it caters nearly 521,632 students of 1110 schools in the province. Significantly, at the moment, a policy is being developed in the Southern Province to

create standardized friendly classroom culture, blended with new technology and education concepts to suit the 21st century world of work, in accordance to the international standards of the teaching learning process.In this backdrop, it is a blessing that under the assistance of the Government of India, 1.5 million rupees per one classroom has been allocated for 200 schools in the province. The following devices and accessories are planned to be included in the project and it is expected to reach the minimum standard of a friendly classroom with some other multimedia equipment as well for imparting 21st century skills based on existing provisions.

• Smart Board ‘65’
• 10 Tablet computer Screen Size 08(inches)
• Charging Point per classroom
• WI-FI access point for 20-30 users
• Internet facility for every classroom

As per the vision of the Provincial Department of Education, “To be the most excellent provincial education department in Sri Lanka empowering the education system for a knowledge-based society”, the Southern Provincial Department of Education is in the mission of transmitting school education to cater the 21st century skills and education technology and to build up human capital  with creative innovations for the future.

Smart Classroom Concept

Introducing a competency-based curriculum in schools requires a comprehensive change and new thinking in instructional approaches to teaching, learning and assessment processes. The use of ICT in education can be seen as a strategic tool to achieve this transformation. The curriculum framework also states: “The curriculum should enable educators and students to use ICT as a tool to improve the quality of education in all subjects at all levels of teaching and learning practices". Information and communication technology should support the emergence of student-centered approaches to teaching and learning and encourage research, communication and collaborative learning. The Southern Province education policy is to guide the establishment of friendly classrooms in schools using information and communication technology as a primary guide in education.

The physical arrangement of chairs, desks and presentations in a classroom can significantly affect learning. Instructional communication theory suggests that how teachers communicate with students and how students interact with each other can influence seating arrangements, affecting engagement, motivation, and attention. In order to improve the quality of teaching and learning, it is planned to establish 200 friendly classrooms across the Southern Province. Classrooms for the development of creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication skills, which are the 4 CS in the 2024 new education reform and 21st century learning. The main objective is to make the environment with the following 6 key combinations and to introduce to the schools how they should change their classroom environment in the future and to reach previously unattainable levels of achievement in education.

Six-Way Changes in 21st Century Classroom Design

1. Flexibility of furniture and space
2. Areas for collaborative learning and independent study
3. Facilitation of movement
4. Fostering of inspiration and creativity
5. Technology
6. Light and bright color