Transforming education in Thailand

Posted by Samuel Cheung, Head of Google for Education, Access Programs, Asia Pacific 

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Thailand Blog) 

Rain, hail or monsoonal flood, nothing stops the learning at Matthayom Watnairong school in Bangkok. During 2011 when it was too wet to get to school, students and teachers used their own Google accounts to conduct virtual lessons over Hangouts and Drive to share course materials. The experience demonstrated how cloud based tools can support learning, so in 2012 they rolled out Google Apps for Education to the whole school.

Students at Matthayom Watnairong school, Bangkok

Matthayom Watnairong is one school among over a million students and teachers that have gone Google in the last two years. Since 2012 we have been working with Thai educators at over 500 educational institutions in every province to unlock the potential of the web for learning...and we're just getting started.

Technology gives us unprecedented access to knowledge and ways to communicate, but it’s not enough to give teachers and students apps and devices. For technology to enrich learning you need the right infrastructure in place as well as support and training.

We’ve worked with the Ministry of Education and institutions across Thailand to ensure they have the right infrastructure in place to support a digital learning environment. This includes running technical workshops and consultations, training teachers in how to implement technology in the classroom effectively and establishing guidelines with the Ministry to help Thailand’s educational institutions become cloud-ready.

In the last two years we’ve been inspired and humbled to see the power of technology to transform education. Students and teachers at Surathampitak School for example have moved from a “talk and chalk” style of learning to being able to give and receive feedback in real time using Google Docs. Teachers at Chalermkwansatree School have moved from paper based courses to creating websites for each subject using Google Sites which makes it easy for students to access what they need and for teachers to share their resources with other teachers.

Moving to cloud based tools has also helped Thai institutions save money and go green. Since moving from on premise servers to Gmail and Google Drive, Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University now save 3, 200,000 Baht annually on server maintenance and printing costs. While Mahidol University now get student feedback instantly with Google Forms instead of having to issue hundreds of paper feedback forms.

We’re humbled to be helping equip students across Thailand with the skills they’ll need in the 21st century and to be part of a broader transformation of Thailand’s education system. To learn more about Google for Education programs go to http://www.google.com.au/edu