The borderless classroom

Baldev Singh, an ICT (information and communication technology) teacher from John Cabot School, Bristol, visited to share his expertise - and to learn.

" Over the years, I have been involved in projects both in India and South Africa and was delighted when the invitation came from the British Council to speak at the India-UK Conference on ICT in Education. "

The five-day trip involved giving two seminars in Delhi and Pune and a chance to share and develop future partnerships.

Giving the seminar to 200 Indian teachers from all parts of India was overwhelming and an eye-opener.

India is a land known for its extremes and this was no different in education.

I met teachers from schools which had an ICT infrastructure which could rival some schools in the UK to other teachers who were teaching with the most basic of facilities.

I was impressed with the level of debate going on around what e-learning means and what is the best way to address ICT needs. This is no different to the debate happening in the UK.

The need to collaborate between countries in education is going to be important over the next few years. It could bring the world together through global educational projects.

'Small world'

The Indian teachers were ingenious in finding solutions and what impressed me was how Indian companies and educators were trying to find Indian solutions to Indian problems.

The internet has truly made the world very small.

The teachers in Delhi were accessing the same educational sites for resources in the way UK teachers would.

It was great for me to go back to the country where I did my degree in 1987 and see the changes and great strides made in the field of education.

I come back having set up links with a school in Delhi and hope that these projects will allow my students appreciate that there is very little difference but more in common between the different communities.

If schools want to have a meaningful international experience for students in their schools, it is important that staff get a chance to go on such visits.

They are part of professional development and open up the joys of international projects and the creation of what I refer to as the "borderless classroom".

I was proud to be an ambassador of UK schools to share our experience in the field of e-learning.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
John Cabot School
British Council
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites