For children growing up in developing countries, access to technology is often a distant dream. In their day-to-day lives, many may never even come across a computer. So how can they develop the kind of skills that could pave the way to a better future?

Through the Intel® Learn Program, thousands of young people are getting just such an opportunity. Implemented in a growing number of developing countries, the Intel Learn Program aids learners ages 8-16 in acquiring valuable technical skills through hands-on learning in local community technology centers. Depending on the country involved, these computer technology centers could be school computer labs that the government arranges to be open for access and training after school hours and on weekends, or independent computer centers (much like Internet cafés) that entrepreneurs have been able to open to the public with government support. But regardless of geographic borders or "classroom" setting, the Intel Learn Program is designed to help young learners develop key 21st century skills, with an emphasis on technology literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration.

Student-Centered Learning
Created in collaboration with a variety of government, educational, and nonprofit agencies, the program trains local staff in each country to guide learners through a structured curriculum that engages youth in student-centered, project-based learning, explains Peter Broffman, program manager for Intel Learn.

The curriculum is divided into two, 30-hour thematic units entitled "Technology and Community" and "Technology at Work," and lessons for both are delivered in 15, two-hour increments over a period of a few weeks. Each lesson is divided into sections entitled Plan It, Do It, Review It, and Share It.

The "Technology and Community" curriculum includes a series of hands-on activities to help students learn basic computer skills, including how to employ word processing, graphics, spreadsheets, multimedia, and Internet search skills. The course also includes a culminating final project that helps learners combine their newfound skills. All the activities and projects demonstrate ways in which technology can improve their communities.

Throughout the course, "learners work in teams of two or three, which helps promote collaboration and teamwork," explains Broffman. "The teams of learners work through a series of activities that teach them a variety of technology skills. But through the structure of those activities, they also have to think about what they're doing, why they're doing it, and they have to make some decisions as a group about what they're going to produce, how they're going to produce it, what the content will be, what the format will be."

Thus, at the same time they are learning technical skills, youth are also developing other critical skills as they collaborate to collect information, analyze that information, and ultimately present it to their fellow learners, families, and community members. "An important feature of giving young people skills that they need for the future is being able to present their work to others and get feedback," notes Broffman. "So the sharing becomes an integral part of the learning process. It also helps build confidence."

Career Focus
Like "Technology and Community," the "Technology at Work" curriculum also helps learners develop critical skills by connecting activities to real-world applications. The activities and final project in this unit help learners see how computers are used in a variety of jobs and careers.

In "Technology at Work," students conduct research on a variety of careers they might find in their own community. As the curriculum progresses, students are exposed to increasingly sophisticated technology tools in the way they might be used in real-world jobs. For example, in one exercise, technology tools are used to design a survey that a healthcare worker might use to assess medical needs. In another, students develop a project management plan that an engineer might follow in the course of a building project.

Community Benefits
Final projects focus on the subject of each curriculum unit. For instance, in the first thematic unit, "projects focus on how they can benefit their community in some way," says Broffman. "One example of a final project they can choose is to assume that community leaders are looking to design a new park for the community. In the scenario, the learners also assume that community leaders have come to their team and asked them to help make recommendations about where the park should be located, what kinds of services and amenities it should have, how it should be designed, and what the cost of constructing it might be. Using both technology and non-technology tools, the learners do their research and planning, then develop a presentation and deliver it to the community. In that way, they've worked as a team to learn and demonstrate new technology skills, done planning and decision making, and developed and articulated a rationale for the decisions they've made. And they've not only demonstrated what they've learned to themselves and their peers, but also to their parents and other adults in the community. Equally important, they've demonstrated how what they've learned could be of benefit to the community at large."

Sometimes, these presentations yield more than applause.

"In one small community in India, community leaders came to hear a presentation from a team of learners about their recommendations for such a community park. The community leaders were so impressed that they decided to build a park the way the kids recommended it,"Broffman shares. "This was a unique situation, but victories like these are possible because of the program design."

Because the computer labs in these countries are often limited in the hardware and software available, the Intel Learn Program is designed to employ commonly used hardware and software tools. "Everything that the learners do in our program, they can do using Microsoft Office* Suite." These tasks include word processing and using presentation, graphics, and spreadsheet software, along with the Internet.

Started as a pilot in 2004, the program reached more than 54,000 learners the first year, and expanded to reach another 150,000 in 2005.

To date, the Intel Learn Program has been implemented in Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Israel, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey. Plans are underway to expand to additional countries this year.

Underserved Communities
"Within developing countries," Broffman notes, "we focus on underserved communities where kids are not likely to have computers in their homes, and have limited access in schools. So these community technology centers are often the only place that kids get to touch a computer."

The difference this program makes can be "huge," says Broffman. "It opens up a whole new world of career opportunities." In addition, it simply gets young people more interested in learning. "A lot of these kids are either not a part of a formal schooling process, or not being successful in school," he says, "and this may inspire them to be more interested in learning."

So far, the Intel Learn Program is getting rave reviews.

"Evaluations have been uniformly positive," reports Broffman. "In the past two years of program implementation, we've had a 93 percent learner completion rate. For a voluntary after-school program where kids essentially vote with their feet, this is very good, and we're very proud of that result. It shows that the kids are motivated and eagerly engaged in what they are doing."

Further, Broffman adds, "We have independent evaluation data from each country that's been consolidated by SRI International, that demonstrates that the program is very successful in meeting its objectives of providing learners with skills in technology literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration."

Broffman attributes the success of the program to the well-developed curriculum, but also to the trainers. "The key to being successful is the staff training," he says, "because to be successful, the staff has to facilitate this program in a way that is engaging and interesting for the kids."

The fact that many of the education systems in these other countries have vastly differing approaches to the education process makes this all the more evident. Those employed by the local technology centers in each country to teach the Intel Learn Program vary from formally trained classroom teachers to community members with some computer skills, but no formal education training outside of the Intel Learn staff training. But even those who have been trained as teachers, Broffman notes, have usually done so in a very traditional educational structure where instructional approaches typically involve the teacher imparting information to students through lecture, students silently taking notes, and students then being tested on the knowledge they have acquired through the process.

"Intel Learn represents an entirely different pedagogical style, and that has not been an easy transition for staff in all cases," says Broffman. "In many of these countries, it's very unusual to have a student-centered, project-based approach to learning where the teacher becomes the facilitator and the kids take responsibility for choosing their projects and doing their activities. It's considered a very new approach. Training teachers and staff to adopt and feel comfortable with this methodology can be a real challenge."

"But," he adds, "it's also the thing that makes the Learn Program unique and interesting and innovative, and distinguishes it from other programs. It's been very exciting because, as the program has unfolded in places that have a very traditional educational system, the teachers and education administrators have found it to be a very successful and exciting model. They see how innovative teaching can excite kids, as well as make them successful."