The Armenia Connectivity 2000 program worked throughout the fall and winter, recruiting from the central region of Armenia, to select schools who will receive Internet Computer Centers. In search of a community of need who would truly benefit from such a program, Project Harmony decided to reach out to marginalized institutions by focusing on them for the Armenian recruitment. With assistance from the Armenian Ministry of Education, particularly the Department of Special Education, Project Harmony considered 24 special schools and selected 6 schools for participation in the program.
The first school to be incorporated into the AC2K program was the School for the Blind. Project Harmony worked closely with the school sponsor and a local Armenian NGO, Informatics, LAN/WAN Specialists Armenian Association (INSA), to address the needs of the School for the Blind by adding a voice component to an interactive study guide in Armenian.
Following the opening of the Internet Center at the School for the Blind, Project Harmony opened three more centers in the following schools: Boys Reform School, School for Children with Physical Disabilities, and Ananya Shirakatsu Chemaran School for gifted children. AC2K is a technology-in-education program with significant emphasis placed on community involvement. In addition to providing support to students and educators from nearby schools, the program has established evening hours when the centers open their doors to members of the community. These schools also serve as wonderful resources to refugee populations located nearby.
Project Harmony hopes to continue its collaborative work with school administrators, staff and students, as well as with officials within the Ministry of Education and Science and representatives of various organizations to ensure that the resources invested in the computer centers will be used effectively. By early fall 2001 the AC2K program will have connected at least 65 schools to the network, over 30 of which will have received Internet Computer Centers through the AC2K program.
Project Harmony continues to promote that the resources are only the means to an end, that end being advancements in education and development of civil society in Armenia.
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