The pandemic has encouraged the progress of education digitalization. Embracing digital learning and online collaboration has become a common lesson for teachers and students. The International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) used Taiwan's ICT advantages to assist the Saint Lucia government in building smart education before the outbreak of the pandemic. As a result, the Application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Education Development Project has cooperated with the Saint Lucia Ministry of Education (MOE) to establish digital learning environments with seven primary and secondary schools. This allows previously computer illiterate teachers, students, and parents to release their fear of technology tools and apply more flexible use of ICT to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Furthermore, the project formed a partnership between Gordon & Walcott Memorial Methodist School (Saint Lucia) and Guting Elementary School (Taiwan), which has promoted international education exchange.

In order to assist St. Lucia MOE to accelerate the progress of digital education, the TaiwanICDF took initiative by linking with three top universities including National Taiwan Normal University, Texas A&M University, and Sir Arthur Lewis Community College to offer fifty-one secondary and primary school principals and teachers capacity building workshops in digital teaching and cybersecurity fields. The project not only strengthens ICT capacity, but also brings awareness to administration teams on management of online hardware and software resources. This has accelerated the integration of administrative and faculty resources, and promoted sustainable progress of digital teaching.

A group of passionate teachers in Gordon & Walcott Memorial Methodist school voluntarily applied what they learned in the workshops to promote online learning during the severe pandemic period in April. They applied game elements to the e-book to stimulate student motivation and enthusiasm. The TaiwanICDF also provided necessary assistance for the teachers to guide students to develop a Saint Lucia travel e-book using the Book Creator software. In exchange, Jenny Huang, the principal of Guting Elementary School (Taiwan), and Ya-Ting Chang made a Daan Park natural environment e-book to provide students at both schools access to diverse teaching materials and expand their global perspectives. Furthermore, both twin schools will experience their first online teaching observation session this November. In the session, teachers from the two schools will share teaching skills to expand existing learning boundaries and demonstrate Taiwan’s soft power through academic and cultural exchange. The partnership builds on the foundation of cooperation and deepens diplomatic relations between Saint Lucia and Taiwan.

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• Update: 2021/11/08
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