Project: “E-Practicum: online platform for practical knowledge”

Digital Solutions Ltd. (Kazakhstan)

Background and statement of the problem

Not every school and teacher in Kazakhstan has sufficient resources and tools to ensure a quality and effective learning process. In particular, there is no material and technical basis for providing a link between theory and practice. Practice is the foundation for knowledge. Without diminishing the importance of theory, students should be able to see in practice the application of knowledge gained. Companies, in turn, should continuously keep in touch with the rising future employees and play a direct role in the formation of their professional skills.

The solution proposed is to create an online platform Epracticum.kz for the practicum courses, virtual meetings of students and practitioners/ field experts.

The goal of this project is to provide opportunities for students in any part of the country to see how, in practice, in real conditions, knowledge and skills are applied by professionals. For instance, the platform connects an engineer from Bipek Avto in Ust-Kamenogorsk and 10^th grade students in Zhanaozen, where heat engines are being studied today. Heat engines’ functioning can be demonstrated in real conditions.

Project Algorithm

1. The teacher or any interested person makes a request on the Epracticum.kz platform for a thematic video session according to the course syllabus.
2. Platform managers find and contact experts from the field.
3. Experts and practitioners choose an application on the platform on a topic of interest and follow the instructions to prepare a video broadcast.
4. All online video meetings are stored on the platform for subsequent similar requests.

Deliverables

• Launch of the platform for practical knowledge
• Virtual meetings of online practitioners and professionals with students according to syllabi of various courses (focus on STEAM)
• Virtual meetings in a “career hours” format
• Video database
• Conducting online polls for research projects in education