• Colombian and Polish elementary students connected in an interactive, multicultural activity using Samsung Smart School solutions
• The initiative was planned by Samsung Electronics’ employees in Colombia and Poland to offer an opportunity to broaden learning horizons in the wake of a global sporting event

Olsztyn, Poland and Bogotá, Colombia are nearly 10,000 kilometers apart. When the school day begins in Colombia, it’s time for students in Poland to go home. But on June 7, a class of elementary school students from each city adjusted their schedules to meet with their counterparts from the other side of the world. Using Samsung’s Smart School solutions, the children connected to share a classroom that fused technology into education.

Students from the San Francisco de Asis Educational Institution (Colombia) and Olsztyn elementary school (Poland) introduce each other using Samsung Smart School solutions

Capitalizing on Opportunities to Share Learning Experiences

As a preamble to one of the most popular sports events worldwide, employees from Samsung Electronics Colombia and Samsung Electronics Poland got a hold of each other and agreed to take this opportunity to broaden the horizon of their Smart School initiatives. Soon, they were able to gather elementary school students from the San Francisco de Asis Educational Institution (Colombia) and their peers from the Olsztyn Elementary School (Poland) to take part in a unique multicultural experience.

Each team of students wore T-shirts in national colors

“The goal of Smart School is to transform education through the use of technology,” said Cesar Muñoz, Senior Manager of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics Colombia. “At this moment there is much attention with the sports event that is happening and kids find it interesting to connect with their peers from Poland. With this, we demonstrate them that technology opens up all kinds of possibilities and that there are no barriers.”

There had been much interest in each other’s country as Colombia and Poland were set to play each other in an upcoming sports event

Learning about Each Other’s Country

Class began with the greetings and introductions from each side, followed by a virtual tour of the Smart School classrooms and shows of some cultural performances – one of the Colombian students performed a traditional dance to the music played on the harp by her teacher; Polish children shared a song of their own.

“Let’s talk about our countries!” Students from Poland line up to present their drawings

They then proceeded to learn about each other’s country including where they are, what their customs are and also a little bit about Nicolaus Copernicus, the famous Polish astronomer. At the end of the class, students from each side of the Atlantic had even learned a number of words from each other’s language like ‘friendship’ (amistad, Spanish) and ‘goodbye’ (do widzenia, Polish). With tablets and virtual quiz tools, the children were given a chance to check their knowledge on Colombia and Poland.

A Colombian student prepares to perform before her Polish friends across the Atlantic

Expanding the Horizon of Learning

Maria Paula Castillo, a student at the San Francisco de Asis School, shared her excitement saying: “We were very excited to get to know the children of Poland. I had never had the opportunity to talk to someone from another country.”

Colombian elementary school students were excited to meet their Polish peers

“Meetings like this expand horizons, showing that we are similar despite our differences,” said Jolanta Okuniewska, a 2016 finalist of the Global Teacher Prize and leader of the Smart School in Olsztyn, Poland. “They stimulate students’ curiosity in cognitive terms, giving them an example of how important it is to know foreign languages and showing them that anything is possible. I am very happy that my students were able to go on this fascinating journey to Colombia.”

Additional Images

Performance for peers in Colombia – dancing and singing break every barrier

“We were very excited to get to know the children of Poland,” said one of the students at the San Francisco de Asis Educational Institution

With tablets and virtual quiz tools, the children were given a chance to check their knowledge on Colombia and Poland

Samsung Electronics has partnered with the Colombian Agency for Reintegration (ACR) to open the first ‘Classroom of Peace’ Smart School, located in Valledupar, in the north of the country.

The specialized Smart School was established in a vulnerable neighborhood populated by individuals who were previously guerillas, members of paramilitary forces and victims of conflicts. Dozens of families with former ties to armed groups are in the process of reintegrating into the community, while also dealing with ever-present social problems such as poverty, violence and drugs.

On August 10, Samsung Colombia and ACR launched the Classroom of Peace in a local school which counts 1,200 students – many of whom come from reintegrating families. The goal of the initiative is to help the children exercise their creativity and problem-solving abilities and develop the digital skills necessary to seize future employment opportunities and create a better future for their community.

“This Smart School allows us to experiment with learning opportunities that make use of new technologies and promote peaceful values,” explains César Muñoz, Corporate Citizenship Manager at Samsung Electronics Colombia. “The best practices that emerge from this experience may be shared to support other communities in the country that are facing similar conditions.”

The Classroom of Peace utilizes fun, tech-driven activities that encourage collaboration while reinforcing the higher values of tolerance, coexistence and respect. The classroom is outfitted with, among other tech, a 60-inch UHD Smart TV, dozens of Samsung tablets and a Gear VR-Galaxy S6 virtual reality set, and was designed to create a nurturing and collaborative environment within which the students may thrive.

Watch in the video below as the students and instructors christen their collaborative classroom with games, performances and lots of smiles.

Samsung Electronics Colombia today unveiled the NOMADA Smart School, a portable learning environment which gives the opportunity to Colombian children to use Samsung technology to create, innovate and have fun in different regions of the country in their learning process.

The Samsung Smart School program, in its third year of operation in Colombia, enhances the learning process of students enrolled in public schools by providing new technologies and equipment while making the educational environment more intuitive, interactive and efficient. Its goal is to use technology to influence the learning environment by creating a different dynamic in which teachers and students retain a horizontal relationship rather than a hierarchical one.

“The next step in this experience is to replicate the Smart School environment around the country – in both rural and urban areas,” says César Muñoz, Corporate Citizenship manager at Samsung Electronics Colombia. “If it’s difficult for some children to get to their classrooms, why can’t the classrooms just go and find them?”

NOMADA was created to be a mobile learning environment that is fun, flexible and playful. “With Samsung’s technology,” Muñoz added, “the traditional classroom becomes a two-way learning environment that includes everything that we, in the last three years of research with Smart School, have learned about how to positively develop different learning processes through innovative technology”.

Transporting Knowledge through ‘Maloca’

The portable ‘Maloca’ (hut) classroom, designed by Samsung Electronics, replicates the experience of learning in an established Smart School. It is equipped with a 32″ monitor, tablet PCs, tables, rugs and cushions designed for collaborative work. Emulating the interactions of Colombian nomadic tribe culture, children and young people can gather around in a circle to share knowledge.

The NOMADA structure is transportable in order to share the experience with learners in different locations. The classroom can also record memorable stories from learners that it has previously encountered, allowing students to explore different communities and cultures and have new experiences.

Meeting the Needs of Each Community

Samsung has worked with local partners to identify the communities where the classroom can have a positive impact and developed a strategy and curriculum that will allow NOMADA to adapt to the educational objectives of each community with a touch of fun. Samsung is currently collaborating with the Medellin Public Utilities Company Foundation (EPM Foundation), the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Colciencias) and the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF).

Each NOMADA unit travels with a teaching facilitator, who is trained by Samsung.  By the end of 2016, the company plans to have eight NOMADA units traveling to different communities around Colombia.