As part of a joint partnership between Samsung Electronics and the AmirKabir University of Technology (AUT) in Iran, the Samsung-AUT Tech Center was recently opened to support technology research and innovative projects, in addition to boosting education and employment prospects for students.

Operating under the Samsung Corporate Citizenship series of programs, the center’s primary focus is on mobile application development within the health, environment and energy, education, and employment sectors. As part of its efforts, the center will provide logistical and technical support, as well as facilitate the development, production, and introduction of innovative and useful applications.

At the center, young people will also receive support in the form of training, mentorship and equipment, with the aim that they use this support to create their own projects that will help them to become more employable in the future. In addition, with research and development another major activity of the center, Samsung will also support knowledge-based ideas and companies.

For Samsung, partnering with the AUT has numerous benefits, with the school being one of the best polytechnic universities in Iran. In addition to helping validate the work being carried out at the center, the partnership also enables Samsung the rare opportunity to reside in a university facility.

“Technological development and supporting related R&D activities are among the main requirements for any developing country, and universities play an undeniable role in this regard,” said BumSuk Hong, Vice President of Samsung Electronics Iran. “As one of the world’s leading technology brands with a keen interest in supporting innovative and new ideas in the field, Samsung Electronics has partnered with the AmirKabir University of Technology to launch this Tech Center, paving the path for many innovative ideas ahead.”

Dr. Ahmad Motamedi, President of the AUT, said, “Cooperation with international companies and utilizing their scientific capabilities, is a strategic plan of the university. It’s for this reason that we decided to benefit from the international experiences and technological capabilities of Samsung through a joint project, and fortunately our decision was welcomed by Samsung officials.”

The Samsung-AUT Tech Center sits alongside other Samsung education initiatives in Iran, which aims to create jobs for young people. The Samsung Engineering Academy has been in operation for more than two years and around 1,200 people have graduated from the academy already. 41 of the graduates have also been recruited by Sam Service, a Samsung partner company.

As Samsung continues its citizenship efforts in Iran, the company looks forward to both empowering and supporting the country’s talented young people as well as contributing to a better society for the future.

The prestigious award was Samsung’s second win of the evening in the ‘Excellence in the Provision of Literacy and Education’ category, following Samsung Southeast Asia’s silver, and represents Samsung’s continued commitment to enriching the communities in which it operates.

Now in their ninth year, the Global CSR Summit and Awards honor outstanding examples of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, which include efforts that drive change and contribute to the improvement of communities.

The program that garnered Samsung its award was the Samsung Tech Institute, which provides opportunities for Indonesia’s bright young minds to develop in-demand vocational skills. The initiative helps students secure work, and ultimately aids the country’s efforts to reduce its unemployment rate.

Samsung Tech Institutes actively collaborate with youth centers and vocational schools to provide learning facilities and develop a training curriculum that will arm students with customer service and electronics skills, such as how to fix mobile phones, air conditioners, TVs, refrigerators and washing machines.

Since opening its doors in 2011, the program has graduated over 2,500 students. Around 600 have gone on to secure jobs, including opportunities at Samsung Service Centers and a Samsung plant in Cikarang. The program has also been recognized by Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture as well as its Ministry of Social Affairs for its contributions to efforts to reduce poverty and unemployment.

To date, seven Samsung Tech Institutes have been established in Indonesia – in Cikarang, Jakarta, Medan, Makassar, Banjarmasin, Kendal and Madiun – and Samsung plans to launch two additional facilities this year. Over 1,000 students are currently enrolled in the program, continuing their higher education and strengthening their technical skills.

“Samsung sees education as the seeds of innovation, and we are working to create programs that support youth education and vocational training through the use of our technology, services and expertise,” said Lee Kanghyun, Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Samsung Electronics Indonesia. “The Global CSR Summit Award 2017 that we have just received is encouragement for us to continue other Samsung corporate citizenship programs that we hope will be beneficial for many people in Indonesia.”

A drive to uplift people’s way of life is deeply rooted at Samsung, which is why on March 21, more than 60 Samsung Thailand volunteers made 700-kilometer trip from Bangkok to Sangkhom, a small district in Thailand’s Nong Khai province, to help a community in need through the ‘Samsung Love and Care’ campaign.

They were joined by representatives of Power Pro (Northeastern) Co., Ltd., a local distribution partner of Samsung’s, and volunteers from the World Vision Foundation of Thailand (WVFT), a child-focused organization that recently opened an office in Nong Khai. The welfare-improving initiative provided Sangkhom’s Bann Nong School with the first form of charitable assistance it had never received, and marked the first CSR activity organized in the area by a private company.

The goal of Samsung Love and Care is to enrich underprivileged communities across Southeast Asia and Oceania by improving their quality of life, particularly with regard to education and the environment. Samsung Thailand has participated in the initiative since its inception, regularly organizing efforts to offer communities in different corners of the country a helping hand.

The students of Bann Nong School, volunteers and teachers worked together to renovate the school, repaint murals, and plant a garden and refurbish another, which will eventually serve as a fruitful food source as part of a garden-to-table school lunch program.

Samsung Thailand volunteers also taught the students how to use the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet to benefit their studies – a demonstration that drew plenty of smiles and laughs and also promoted technology literacy.

At the end of the event, Samsung gave each student and teacher a souvenir, and volunteers shared their impressions of the day’s memorable activities.

“Alongside my daily duties, it is my honor today to serve as a volunteer who was able to do something good for others in need,” said Mr. Nitipont Khongkiattikul, an employee of Samsung Thailand’s AV Business team. “The most essential thing that fuels my heart is the smiles of children, as both our side and theirs has a golden opportunity to share happiness. This truly is a mutual, impressive bliss.”

Samsung Electronics announced that its federal program of additional education “IT SCHOOL SAMSUNG” had received the Runet Award 2016 in the category “Science and education”. Runet Award is a prestigious high technology and internet award. 13^th annual award ceremony “Runet Award 2016” took place on 22^nd of November in Moscow.

“IT SCHOOL SAMSUNG” is a federal program of additional education on IT and programming basics. The project was initiated by Samsung with the aim of educating 5000 school children in more than 20 cities of Russia during 5 years. In its frameworks high school students, who are interested in high technologies, take several educational modules during a year, from the basics of programming on Java and to the basics of software backend development, etc. At the end of the course they defend their own projects – Android mobile apps – and receive certificates from Samsung. The certificates are being considered by enrolment boards of leading technical universities as an individual achievement and give additional points while entering them.

“As a high-tech industry leader Samsung aims at contributing to IT market development in Russia and worldwide and to increasing the country`s professional potential. Additional education project “IT SCHOOL SAMSUNG” serves this objective. Every year hundreds of young people participating in it begin their way in programming. We are happy to see their success and to get high appreciation of the experts. We are honored to receive this award”,  – said Sergey Pevnev, Head of Corporate relations and Government relations at Samsung Electronics CIS.

Samsung Electronics had also become the award`s winner in 2015. “LivePages” project – aiming at showing classics of Russian literature in a modern interactive format of a mobile app – received a prize in the special category “Mobile Runet”.

As a technology company, Samsung Electronics is devoted to preparing the next generation of innovators with the digital and soft skills they need.

Samsung Electronics is just one piece of the wider global network of businesses, governments and civil society supporting teachers and working towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4: to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.

Education in Europe

In Europe, one of the biggest issues is high youth unemployment.

Following the financial crisis; too many young people are at risk of being left behind without the skills that their future jobs demand. Education systems sometimes struggle to respond to the changing needs of employers and teachers often lack the support and confidence to adapt how they teach to match the increasingly digital world.

This is why over the last three years, Samsung Electronics has partnered with over 19,000 teachers in Smart Classrooms all over Europe to equip them with the hardware, software and training they need to empower the next generation.

Therefore, on World Teacher’s Day, Samsung Electronics wants to celebrate the teachers who have broken down barriers and gone beyond expectations to use technology to change the face of education.

Erwin Oertli, Switzerland

Going from a zero-wifi school to a lighthouse of digital education, Head teacher Mr. Oertli has broken down many educational barriers!

Based on their experiences as Samsung Citizenship partner in Unteriberg, 2000 Samsung tablets were rolled out to the students and teachers across the district, but the schools still needed to train the teachers in a short space of time.  Head teacher Mr. Oertli knew, that teacher training is the keys for a successful implementation and saw an opportunity to completely switch around the school learning experience.

“I asked students from Unteriberg to do a tech savvy training for teachers to help them understand their devices”

Erwin Oertli is an early adopter and has successfully trained 200 teachers in the biggest 1:1 tablet project in Switzerland.  He is an inspiration to how flexibility and creativity can ensure students never miss out on opportunities to use learn digital skills.

Benjamin Seelisch, Germany

Transforming a school with no wifi and limited funding into a school using the latest technological innovation; this teacher has been taking Neues Gymnasium Rüsselsheim, a secondary school near Frankfurt, on a digital journey since 2011.

Benjamin Seelisch has worked tirelessly to convince the headmaster, find funding and sponsorship to develop this Lighthouse School. The school now has 350 tablets in daily use and the school has won many awards. This teacher continues to be brave and push the boundaries of education as he embarks on his latest project to use VR in the classroom.

“Students are well able to use modern devices on a basic level, only a few know how to work with tablets to increase productivity. Those skills are important for our students when they go on to universities or companies after graduation.”

Liliya Chausheva, Bulgaria

This one teacher has inspired over 300 other educators!

After receiving training from Samsung, she used her passion for expanding digital education to run 15 further trainings. Using the Samsung platform smartclassroom.bg she trained teachers how to attract students to the classroom, inspire them with the technology and embed digital education into their entire learning experience.

Her dedication to passing on her knowledge has potentially changed the learning experience for thousands of students around Bulgaria.

“Digital education is the future. Our students nowadays spend more time online than ever. As their teachers and role models we have to be prepared as well and make educational process attractive, interesting and still productive.

Samsung Electronics partners with many more teachers like these shown above. Future growth of technology in education will continue to bring to the surface these ambitious teachers. They are brave enough to move beyond traditional teaching methods of blackboards and workbooks, to bring the digital world to life for their students.

The Western Sunshine Program is operated by a Beijing-based nonprofit organization called Enjoy Volunteering, and Samsung China has supported the program since 2004. Over the past 13 years, more than 3,000 college students and hundreds of Samsung employees have volunteered to take part in the program, which promotes education for students in rural villages.

Samsung Electronics China has partnered with the Western Sunshine Program, which promotes education for students in rural Chinese villages, for 13 years.

The school we visited was located in Dong Yue, 136 kilometers from Lanzhou, the provincial capital of Gansu. After landing at the Lanzhou airport, it took two hours by train and another hour by car to get to the school.

There were around 60 students attending the camp. Some of them had to walk more than two hours every day across rough roads through the mountains between their homes and the school.

We didn’t teach things from regular textbooks at the summer camp. Rather, the students got to sing, dance and have fun with paper crafts—things they usually don’t get to do during regular classes. They also had story reading sessions and learned about how science is applied in our daily lives.

Wenbin Lü, a senior analyst at China’s Samsung Economic Research Institute and our team leader, gave a special lecture on LEDs, or light-emitting diodes. He showed students how LEDs can be used in various ways, and even brought samples so they could see and touch them for themselves.

Wenbin Lü, a senior analyst at the Samsung Economic Research Institute and the group’s team leader, enlightened students to the possibilities in LEDs.

“Teaching in a rural school has been a long-time wish of mine,” Wenbin said. “The Western Sunshine Program helped my dream come true!”

On the third day, we played sports and games. Children and volunteers alike played to their hearts’ content and had so much fun. The school ground was full of laughter all day long.

On the third day of the program, children and volunteers took a break from their lectures and activities to play games and enjoy the beautiful weather.

We also had a special wedding ceremony at the school. Guang Yi and Xiao Wen from Enjoy Volunteering met each other a few years ago while volunteering at Dong Yue School as college students. They fell in love during a summer camp and eventually tied the knot, becoming husband and wife earlier this year!

When Mr. Peng Cheng Shi, the school principal, heard the news, he invited the couple for a special wedding ceremony at the school. They happily accepted the invitation, and also came up with an idea to help the children learn about how a traditional Chinese wedding was done.

As part of a special wedding ceremony that took place during the program, students learned about traditional Chinese wedding customs, including couplet handwriting and hairstyling.

The ceremony was a great success, with all of the students attending serving as witnesses to the happy wedding. In the afternoon, the students broke into groups to learn about customs related to Chinese weddings, including couplet handwriting, wedding hairdos, costumes, clay molding and picture book making.

It was such an extraordinary experience for me, and I know I will cherish it forever. The Western Sunshine Program is such a wonderful way for us, at Samsung, to get involved with our communities, and I hope other colleagues in China who have yet to experience such a great opportunity do so in the near future.

Most of all, I wish the brightest future for all of the volunteers in the program and the adorable children at Dong Yue School.

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.

This exchange is just one of many thanks to the Samsung Smart School program which is successfully invigorating and improving education for the most disadvantaged of students by helping to bridge the IT accessibility gap in classrooms.

A Team Effort to Provide Opportunity for the Next Generation

Since 2012, Samsung Electronics has set up over 2,461 Smart School initiatives that offer students and teachers an engaging and collaborative environment in which to nurture the talent of tomorrow. In Portugal, the Samsung Smart School program has quickly launched to 13 smart classrooms including eight in schools or institutes and five in pediatric hospitals. Vidigueira Elementary School, which participated in the video conferencing class, was one of seven Smart Schools introduced in 2014.

The school is located in Alentejo, one of the most underprivileged regions in Portugal. For Vidigueira students, the opportunity to connect with fellow students a world away was a meaningful, eye-opening experience. Before the first video conference, one student, Rodrigo even confessed, “I am very nervous, because we have never spoken to anyone from a different country before.”

Students at the Vidigueira Elementary School anticipating saying hello to fellow Korean classmates a world away

At the Daeyanam Elementary School, located in the remote southern port city of Gunsan, where digital education tools are limited, the students shared the same nervous excitement, practicing English in preparation for their initial introductions.

In Alentejo, Portugal, the program, run in close partnership with the Gulbenkian Foundation and the University of Évora, has seen tremendous success rates in a region normally plagued by high dropouts. In fact, across the Alentejo region’s seven smart classrooms, the program has achieved a 100 percent success rate with all students advancing to the next grade. At Daeyanam Elementary in Korea, which faces constant challenges involving small school enrollment sizes, introduction of the program last year helped increase the number of students from six to 26.

Great Fun and Learning through Technology

After a few checks, and technology tools, including video conferencing and tablets, turned on at the Vidigueira and Daeyanam elementary schools, the class kicked off with the students greeting each other enthusiastically. The Gear 360 virtual reality camera was also used to capture the day’s fun.

The session was a time to learn new words like ‘hello’ (annyeong-haseyo, Korean) / (Olá, Portuguese) and ‘thank you’ (gamsahamnida, Korean) / (obrigado, Portuguese), as well as other Portuguese and Korean traditions. The students also spent time discussing how they are going to spend their summer vacations in their respective countries.

Students at the Vidigueira School listening to an introduction by a Korean student as captured by the Gear 360 virtual reality camera

Korean student, Eunchan Jeong, who led the Taekwondo session, said, “I really enjoyed making friends in Portugal and hope to have more opportunities like that in the future.”

Korean students at the Daeyanam Elementary School wearing taekwondo uniforms while waving hello to students in Portugal

Teachers at both schools, who led preparation for the video conference class, also spoke highly of the session and praised the effectiveness of the Smart School program, overall. Fátima Ralha, the project coordinator at Vidigueira, said, “As the project has evolved, the tablets have proven to be a fundamental resource for the students, helping translate to the 100% success rate.”

Daeyanam teacher, Eunkyung Jeong, said the introduction of Samsung Smart School has made the learning experience more interesting and creative for students and teachers alike, “encouraging the students to be more proactive and enabling teachers to provide feedback instantly.”

As the session came to a close, students and teachers on both sides of the video conference expressed how much they had enjoyed the experience, and their excitement for more high-tech opportunities to come.

The President of the Acropolis Museum, Dimitris Pantermalis welcomed the event and mentioned that: “The Acropolis Museum is a living organism, which communicates with people. Having the cutting edge of Samsung as an ally, the scientific work of the museum can be spread to the public through a creative and innovative way, “and continued:” On behalf of the Acropolis Museum, I would like to thank Samsung for their excellent cooperation. The enthusiasm and the latest technology are two of the most important factors contributing to our work, which is to transfer knowledge to young and older people.”

The digital classroom’s program includes advanced equipment, composed of e-board, laptops and tablets as well as a 20-hours training program. Additionally, in the context of the program relevant content has been already developed in cooperation with the Acropolis Restoration Service.

The President of Samsung Electronics Hellas, Kyoungil Min, stated during his speech: “We are proud of our cooperation with the Acropolis Museum and for the opportunity to enhance the digital experience of the Museum’s young friends. The Acropolis Museum, which is the birthplace of culture and of history of thousands of years, offers now a modern and innovative experience of education, utilizing cutting edge technology and new media” and also added: “I would like to thank the archaeologists who embraced the program and cooperated with us for the development of the content. This project would not have been implemented without their valuable contribution”.

Samsung in cooperation with the Acropolis Restoration Service and the Acropolis Museum have already begun the development of content which enables the use of the digital classroom at its full extent. The beginning was the enrichment of the educational program “Olympia Enigmas” which addresses to primary school students. It starts as an exploration game where the students look for the gods of Olympus at the halls of the Museum having the guidance of Iris, the messenger of the gods. The educational program aims to familiarize students with the symbols and the characteristics of the gods of Olympus. The program includes a handicraft workshop titled “Create your own god” and completes with an interactive educational game which takes place at the digital classroom.

It is worth mentioning that the new digital classroom is the first “classroom” which is set up in a Museum in Greece while in Europe four have been installed: two in Great Britain at the British Museum and at the Victoria & Albert Museum, one in Italy at the Gallerie dell’ Accademia Museum and one in Romania at the “Grigore Antipa” National History Museum.

As the planet faces a growing list of problems, from climate change and pollution to environmental degradation and resource depletion, the preservation and conservation of the environment has never been more significant.

Recognizing these challenges, and acknowledging its responsibility to work toward solving them, Samsung Electronics has aimed to carry out various environmentally-focused campaigns in all corners of the globe. In honor of the United Nations’ World Environment Day (WED) on June 5, Samsung Newsroom would like to introduce some of them.

Environmental Cleanup Activities

Among Samsung’s campaigns include those directed at making Earth a cleaner, healthier place to live. Leading by example, Samsung employees around the globe have personally participated in environmental cleanups, end-of-life (EOL) recovery campaigns and community tree plantings.

Panama

On May 31, 2015, 17 employees of Samsung Electronics Panama, along with 325 other volunteers, collected litter on a beach in Casco Viejo, Panama. The cleanup aimed to conserve one of Panama’s coastal environments; over 3,800 kilograms of trash was collected during the event.

United Kingdom

On September 18, 2015, employees of Samsung Electronics UK visited West Wittering Beach to clean up garbage along the shoreline.

Germany

On October 23, 2015, 54 employees of Samsung Electronics Germany celebrated Clean Business Day—a day designated by the Hessische Ministry of Environment—by cleaning up the local community.

Ukraine

From April 23 to 25, 2015 and on October 9, 2015, 150 employees of Samsung Electronics Ukraine participated in environmental cleanup activities that were organized by a local non-governmental organization. Employees planted trees in parks and cleaned up areas around the area.

Portugal

From November 23 to December 4, 2015, Samsung Electronics Portugal conducted an EOL recovery campaign with the employees and customers of a local Samsung Electronics service center. As a result, about four tons of EOL products including computers, mobile devices and batteries were recovered, with 500 kilograms of the devices from employees. Samsung Electronics Portugal used the profits from the EOL recovery to purchase four Samsung TVs and donated them to a Lisbon-based hospital. On World Environment Day last year, Samsung Electronics Portugal held a test-drive event with 50 of its employees to encourage the use of electric-hybrid vehicles. They also made a poster that raised awareness of existing environmental problems.

Romania

For the past five years, Samsung Electronics Romania has actively maintained its partnership with ECOTIC, a recycling organization of producers and importers of electric and electronic equipment (EEE), to lead recycling activities and raise environmental awareness. Samsung employees in Romania also provided materials to Caravanaecotic, a mobile educational experience center that ECOTIC operates to educate citizens on EOL recovery and recycling.

China

During last year’s World Water Day, 1,600 employees of Samsung Electronics China worked on a campaign that encouraged the installation of water economizer faucets and promoted a more economical use of water.

Thailand

Samsung Electronics Thailand worked on widening a canal area behind its factory on WED 2015. Additionally, 70 employees took part in collecting trash around the canal.

Environmental Education

In addition to holding environmental cleanups, Samsung Electronics has also led initiatives to promote environmental education among children in the US, Panama, Colombia, Sweden and other nations.

USA

Samsung Electronics America has consistently organized educational activities focused on increasing awareness of climate change issues among the country’s youth. Through their program, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) members were assigned tasks such as finding energy efficient products, reducing standby power consumption and visiting power plants. The best performing participants were rewarded with the latest Samsung Electronics products. The program attracted 1,038 participants from all over North America.

Panama

Samsung Electronics Panama employees led a class where they educated some 500 elementary school students about local history and traditions. They then carried out a cleanup with the students to demonstrate the importance of protecting the environment.

Colombia

Samsung Electronics Colombia conducted an eco-friendly program for elementary school students that focused on the themes of recycling used electronics and electronic waste. The program utilized “edutainment” with fun characters and songs to help children understand the importance of our environment in an engaging way.

Sweden

Last year, Samsung Electronics Sweden, along with local recycling businesses and the National Museum of Science and Technology, held a recycling education program for 75 children. Its upcycling class, which demonstrated how discarded products can be turned into new ones, was particularly popular.

Samsung remains committed to raising awareness of environmental issues, and will continue to participate in efforts aimed at making the planet a cleaner, more sustainable place to live.

Samsung won the Platinum award in the Excellence for the Provision of Education and Literacy category for its Samsung Smart Schools and Tech Institutes programs. These incentives provide opportunities for technological and vocational education among young people.

For its Indonesian program, titled One Village One Product, Samsung was presented with a Bronze award in the Best Community Program category.

Fiona Teo (right), Samsung Regional Public Relations and Citizenship Manager, receives the Global CSR 2016 award on the company’s behalf.

“We strongly believe that our success is not just measured by our business achievements, but also by how well we serve our community and make a difference to people’s lives,” said Irene Ng, Vice-President, Corporate Marketing, Samsung Electronics (Southeast Asia and Oceania). “Samsung sees education as the seed of innovation, and works to create programs that support youth education and job training, using our technology, services and expertise. This recognition is an encouragement for us. We look forward to continuing to implement programs that are highly relevant to what the community needs and values.”

The Global CSR Summit and Awards is a prestigious international awards ceremony in the sphere of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It is organized with the purpose of raising CSR awareness, and honors outstanding individuals and companies from around the world for their contributions to the following: environmental preservation, community transformation and poverty alleviation, women’s rights and welfare, workplace practices and CSR-related product innovation.

Samsung Smart Schools

Working with government bodies and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Samsung partners with schools and libraries to create immersive learning opportunities for students through tailored education programs, with enrichment and infotainment contents.

Samsung operates 167 Smart Schools/Libraries in the Southeast Asia and Oceania region, in countries such as Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, New Zealand and Taiwan.

Samsung Smart Schools enable students in Taiwan and Thailand to learn technology.

Samsung Tech Institutes

The Samsung Tech Institute is a partnership with vocational institutions that makes use of Samsung’s technological resources in the provision of vocational training. Its aim is to enhance its students’ employability, and equip them with skills that prepare them for life in real-world industries.

Samsung Tech Institutes also provide expert training, helping young people learn fundamental IT and engineering skills. Samsung operates 20 such institutes in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

One Village One Product (OVOP) in Indonesia

The One Village One Product (OVOP) program is a partnership that comprises: the Ministry of Cooperatives, the Korean Trade-Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and small- and medium-sized enterprises related with community development.

Together, they aim to help Indonesians living in rural areas to improve their business knowledge and skills, allowing them to gain financial independence and further develop the country’s small- and medium-sized business economy.

In the long term, the program seeks to improve the local economy and the welfare of those living in rural areas. It also seeks to boost local income and social solidarity by helping residents create unique and valuable products.

Samsung helped transform the Lachman Family STEM Center at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark into a high-tech Tween Tech Center offering Club members a modern and comfortable place to learn STEM after school hours. The space is outfitted with Samsung Galaxy Tablets loaded with a STEM-focused curriculum designed specifically for middle school-aged youth at Boys & Girls Clubs. Samsung also incorporated some of its other technologies, including Samsung 65” TVs and Samsung Level On headsets.

“The disparity in access to STEM education is a critical issue that needs to be address in our community,” said Kavita Mehra, interim chief executive officer at Boys & Girls Club of Newark. “Thanks to Samsung’s investment in the Club and the community, Boys & Girls Club of Newark will be able to provide nearly 1,000 members with the best opportunities in STEM education so that they are empowered to achieve their greatest potential.”

Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins was in attendance.

Newark’s Tween Tech Center will be the twelfth made possible at Clubs across the United States by the partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Samsung Electronics America. Over the past two years, BGCA and Samsung have created Tween Tech Centers at Clubs across the country, serving more than 11,000 members with a custom curriculum called Building Blocks that was developed by Scholastic and uploaded to the Samsung Galaxy tabs donated to the Clubs. Boys & Girls Clubs of America held its last surprise tech makeover in Monterey, California on December 11, 2015. Samsung has also pledged to disperse an additional 600 tablets to other Clubs around the country by this spring.

Click here to view our latest Tween Tech Center makeovers.

“We believe in the power of STEM education and empowering young minds to embrace the skills that will prepare them for careers in the digital age,” said Ann Woo, senior director of corporate citizenship at Samsung Electronics America. “The Tween Tech Center is a resource that helps brings the kids’ learning and new ideas to life. It also gives them a chance to interact and bond with fellow members who share similar interests.”

At Boys & Girls Clubs, Samsung employees have worked together to clean and reorganize facilities, including sprucing up outside landscapes and organizing supplies, to foster an engaging and safe environment for students during the company’s semiannual Day of Service program. Also, Gregory Lee, the President and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America, was honored with the William “Jazz” Jones Award at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark’s annual Evening of the Stars gala last night.

For more than a decade, Samsung’s Hope for Children initiative has been focused on helping youth in underserved communities across the United States gain access to quality healthcare, technology resources and STEM education. In addition to the company’s work with Boys & Girls Clubs in Newark, Samsung is also supporting New Jersey communities through other local and national programs, including emPower Tomorrow and its Solve for Tomorrow contest.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more than 4,000 Clubs serve nearly 4 million young people annually through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at http://www.bgca.org/facebook and http://bgca.org/twitter.

Samsung Electronics, global leader in consumer electronics and advanced information technologies, reports that its supplementary education project SAMSUNG IT SCHOOL – a basic IT and programming course for high school students – became an award winner of the “Best social projects of Russia” annual competition in the “Support of gifted children and youth” category. The competition was created within the framework of the Russian government’s focus on the consolidation of welfare based on partnership between state, society and the private sector, and is held with the support of the government in Moscow. Last year, Samsung was honored with the “Best social projects of Russia” prize in the “Education and science” category and also received the prize for realization of the social program “Education for EVERYONE” in the “Support of indefensible population groups” category.

A year-long SAMSUNG IT SCHOOL course was developed by the Samsung R&D Center in cooperation with the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, one of the top technical universities in Russia. For young people with an IT background, the course provides a focus on Java language and mobile apps development on the Android platform. Its main goal is to help with the training of future skilled IT and engineering professionals, beginning in high school. The project is aimed at increasing Russian youth`s interest in IT. It is being implemented in more than 20 of the biggest cities in Russia with the support of regional authorities and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, and is designed as a five year program for more than 5000 school students.

“We appreciate that the expert council of the program highly esteemed our educational project,” said Sergey Pevnev, Director of Corporate Citizenship and Public Affairs Department at Samsung Electronics CIS HQ. “As the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, Samsung contributes to the education of future IT-professionals. In this regard, SAMSUNG IT SCHOOL is one of our strategic projects.”

In 2016, around 130 programs were included in the “best social projects of Russia” program. More than 70 of them took prizes of the leading Russian and international companies that lay emphasis on corporate social responsibility as an essential part of their missions. The best 17 projects, including Samsung, were selected to be presented at the awards conference as examples of best practices. Projects submitted for the competition were evaluated in the following categories: “Culture, art and religion,” “Ecological projects and initiatives,” “Support of sport and healthy lifestyle,” “Education and science,” “Support of gifted children and youth,” “Support of indefensible population groups,” “Social marketing,” “Social projects focused on Russian Federation population`s financial literacy in the area of insurance,” “Corporate projects,” “Projects for improvement of housing and utility conditions,” “Development of international collaboration,” “Socially responsible media,” “Charity,” “Medical-social projects,” and “Sponsorship of social projects.”

The program is aimed at collecting and systematizing the best practices and realization of social projects in Russia, reviewing social marketing projects and the popularization of best social projects. The finalists and winners were defined by the expert council, made up of 13 specialists from public, state and educational institutions.

Comfortable cardboard classroom furniture for special needs students, prosthetic enhancements for veterans and a smartwatch app for pedestrian safety are among the winning projects of this year’s Solve for Tomorrow contest.  Five groups of public school students from across the United States have been named Grand Prize Winners, taking home $120,000* in technology for their school.

The contest challenges students in grades 6 through 12 nationwide to use their STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills to innovate a solution to a problem affecting in their community. This year, the Grand Prize Winners were selected from a pool of more than 4,100 school groups that submitted ideas last October for how they would apply STEM to making a difference.

The 2016 Solve for Tomorrow Grand Prize Winners are:

Mission Valley ROP/James Logan High School, California
Students designed and constructed a fully-functional, solar-powered charging station for their Bay Area neighborhood – the region with the highest number of electric vehicles on the roads today. They were named the Community Choice Winner, selected by a public vote on Instagram and Twitter. View their video submission here: James Logan High School.

Brooklyn Technical High School, New York
After three fellow students were tragically hit and killed by cars, students developed a smartwatch app that warns pedestrians of oncoming vehicles. They were named the Samsung Ambassador Choice Winner, by a vote of Samsung employees. View their video submission here: Brooklyn Technical High School.

Horizon Middle School, Colorado
Students living near Buckley Air Force Base have family members and friends and know other residents who have lost limbs while serving abroad and struggle with the cost of prosthetics. The students designed a comfortable, cost-effective prosthetic enhancement for one of the local wounded veterans. They were selected by the judges at the Pitch Event held at Samsung 837 in New York City in March. View their video submission here: Horizon Middle School.

Ridgewood Middle School, Missouri
The students noticed that some of their peers with disabilities had trouble staying upright in their chairs, and so they used reinforced cardboard to engineer comfortable classroom furniture for their peers and have developed more than 20 pieces to date. They were selected by the judges at the Pitch Event held at Samsung 837 in New York City in March. View their video submission here: Ridgewood Middle School.

Loudon Valley High School, Virginia
With limited cell reception on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, several hikers and cyclists have been injured or attacked and unable to call for help. The students designed a wireless, solar-powered and weatherproof safety alert system that rapidly connects to emergency services. They were selected by the judges at the Pitch Event held at Samsung 837 in New York City in March. View their video submission here: Loudon Valley High School.

All five of the Grand Prize Winners are invited to Washington, D.C. for an awards luncheon, meetings with their Congressional representatives and a tour of the White House on April 27. Students from the winning schools in California and Colorado have also been invited to present their projects at the White House Science Fair on April 13.

“Solve for Tomorrow is designed to inspire students to rethink STEM and realize their ability to apply those skills to address safety, environmental and health issues in their own backyards and around the world,” said Ann Woo, senior director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics America. “We are so proud of these students at these five schools for their ingenuity and creativity in applying STEM to solving problems in their communities and creating positive change.”

In addition to technology, the five Grand Prize Winners have won prizes from Samsung partners BrainPop, Adobe, National Environmental Education Foundation and Nepris.

The Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest was created in 2010 to bridge the gap in STEM education in public schools across the United States. Since its inception, the contest has awarded more than $17 million* in technology and prizes to more than 1,000 schools. To learn more about the competition, please visit: http://www.samsung.com/solve.

A video of this year’s Pitch Event can be found here: http://smsng.news/1RWevNH.

*Estimated retail value

About Samsung Electronics America, Inc.
Headquartered in Ridgefield Park, NJ, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. (SEA), is a recognized innovation leader in consumer electronics design and technology. A wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SEA delivers a broad range of digital consumer electronics, IT and home appliance products. Samsung is the market leader for HDTVs in the U.S and America’s fastest growing home appliance brands. To discover more of the award-winning products you love with Samsung, please visit www.samsung.com and for the latest Samsung news, please visit news.samsung.com/us and follow on Twitter@SamsungNewsUS.

Samsung Digital Classroom in London, United Kingdom, recently received a visit from some highly prestigious guests.  Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales marked the 40th anniversary of The Prince’s Trust by visiting one of the charity’s Centres in Kennington, South London.  The visit saw the Royal dignitaries hear from young people about how The Trust has helped them find employment or get into education and training.  This included a visit to the Centre’s Samsung Digital Classroom to see how the technology is making an impact on the interactivity of their lessons.

In the last four decades The Prince’s Trust has given over 825,000 disadvantaged young people the skills and confidence to find a job. Three in four young people who receive help from The Prince’s Trust move into work, training or education.

Samsung has been a supporter of The Prince’s Trust since 2012 through The Prince’s Trust & Samsung Celebrate Success Awards and has been introducing Digital Classrooms into its Centres.  Each Digital Classroom, equipped with an interactive whiteboard, Galaxy tablets, PCs and digital cameras, creates an enhanced interactive learning environment and gives young people an opportunity to pick up vital digital skills.  The Samsung Digital Classroom at the Kennington Centre opened its doors in March 2014.

Aleyne Johnson, Head of Government Relations and Citizenship, Samsung UK said:

“We are honoured to have received a visit to one of our digital classrooms from Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales.  Samsung shares the desire of The Prince’s Trust to enhance the lives of young people.  The classroom at The Prince’s Trust is part of our wider Digital Classrooms programme, now in its third year.  We have been working hard to establish Digital Classrooms at schools across the UK, providing them with access to Samsung’s technology, but also teacher training and connectivity, with the aim of making lessons more enjoyable and engaging.”

A recent survey, commissioned by Samsung, of young people attending the Kennington Centre has revealed the technology is already making an impact on their experiences.  Of young people surveyed at end of 2015 (who had taken part in the programme since January 2015):

• 82% said that using a computer in lessons makes learning more interesting
• 76% said they’d ‘learnt a lot’ in the Samsung Digital Classroom
• 64% agreed with the statement ‘I worked more effectively with my classmates when in the Samsung Digital Classroom’

The findings are reflected in the comments of one of the Centre’s tutors.  William O’Connor, Literacy, Language and Numeracy Tutor, said:

“The sessions I run really benefit from the interactive screen in the Samsung suite.  It is a great way to energise the young people as it gets them up on their feet and brings a tactile, hands on aspect to the session.  Being able to display apps/programmes on such a large screen really services to bring them to life and increases their impact.”

Samsung is continuing to work closely with The Prince’s Trust to introduce technology initiatives, embedding digital and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills across its programmes.  Beyond London, Samsung Digital Classrooms have been opened at The Trust’s Centres in Stoke-on-Trent and Glasgow.

About Samsung’s Citizenship Programmes

Samsung is committed to help close the digital divide and skills gap in the UK. Samsung Digital Classrooms in schools, charities/non-profit organisations and cultural partners provide access to the latest technology. Samsung is also providing the training and maintenance support necessary to help make the transition and integration of the new technology as smooth as possible.  Samsung also offers qualifications and training in technology for young people and teachers through its Digital Academies in London and Birmingham. These initiatives will inspire young people, staff and teachers to learn and teach in new exciting ways and to help encourage young people into careers using technology. Find out more: www.samsung.com/uk/citizenship 

About The Prince’s Trust

Youth charity The Prince’s Trust helps disadvantaged young people to get their lives on track. Founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1976, this year it is celebrating 40 years of supporting 13 to 30 year-olds who are unemployed and those struggling at school and at risk of exclusion.

Many of the young people helped by The Prince’s Trust are in or leaving care, facing issues such as homelessness or mental health problems, or they have been in trouble with the law. The Trust’s programmes give vulnerable young people the practical and financial support needed to stabilise their lives, helping develop self-esteem and skills for work. Three in four young people supported by The Prince’s Trust move into work, education or training.

The Prince’s Trust has supported 825,000 young people in the last 40 years and supports over 100 more each day.

Samsung Electronics announced its commitment to education and presented its innovations including virtual reality devices at the Brazilian Fair of Sciences and Engineering – FEBRACE 2016, which was held during March , in São Paulo – Brazil. During the event, which was promoted by the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (Poli – USP), students from high school and technical colleges from across Brazil presented more than 300 projects focused on several knowledge areas.

On the third day of the event, three Samsung executives, Gabriel Farias, Guilherme Selber and Antonio Marcon, gave lectures on the Internet of Things (IoT) and Samsung’s innovations. On the following day was an award ceremony, during which a project was awarded the “Samsung Internet of Things Award.” The project was recognized for providing the best solution—using connectivity and technology—to a local community issue. As recognition, the winning team received a trophy, medals and educational kits with electronic materials.

“Samsung uses its global network and its innovations to generate positive changes around the world,” said Helvio Kanamaru, Senior Manager of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Latin America. “We believe that technology is an excellent mechanism for young people to have access to a world of possibilities and develop new opportunities.”

“FEBRACE invites and encourages students from high school to develop projects and exercise scientific research,” Kanamaru said. “It is an important convergence of social responsibility, education and integration with the academic world – topics that are very important in Samsung’s Corporate Citizenship platform.”

FEBRACE’s coordinator, professor Roseli de Deus Lopes, highlighted the expectations of the fair in relation to the students.

“The most important aspect is not the result of developing a prototype or product, but the whole process, the various stages of research, reflection, construction and observation required for projects development,” Ms Lopes said

Samsung has contributed to improvements in education through its own initiatives carried out in Latin American countries, such as ‘Respostas para o Amanhã’ (Solve for Tomorrow), a contest that encourages students and teachers from public high schools to develop projects that  benefit their communities, using the knowledge acquired in the classroom.

The company has also been developing the Tech Institute Program, which offers opportunities for young people to obtain technical training through the sponsorship of scholarships. Last year, Samsung promoted a special edition in Brazil – the Tech Institute Internet of Things, a course offered to high school students in order to encourage them to create solutions for a smart house using the Internet of Things. This edition of the program was held in partnership with the Integrated Technology Systems Lab (LSITEC) that is also responsible for organizing FEBRACE.

“We live in an increasingly connected world,” Kanamaru said. “Samsung’s electronic devices already offer great interaction between them, but we want to go beyond. Therefore, we are promoting the Tech Institute IoT with LSITEC and sponsoring FEBRACE. The new innovation-based labor market needs young professionals with solid training in those fields.”

Samsung Electronics America at FETC 2016 announced three new education solutions for K-12 schools in addition to the new Samsung Chromebook 3. In partnership with Neverware, McGraw-Hill Education and SMART Technologies, Samsung is helping schools adopt one-to-one learning environments that enable greater collaboration, communication and critical thinking. These solutions will be showcased at the Samsung Booth #735 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando from January 13-15.

“In today’s work environment, collaboration is essential as few tasks are completed alone and technology facilitates teamwork that was previously impossible,” said Ted Brodheim, vice president of Vertical Business at Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung is committed to delivering technology that facilitates this teamwork, helping students create, communicate, challenge and think critically. We’re helping schools deploy one-to-one digital learning solutions that drive collaboration and encourage creative problem solving to help students succeed.”

Converting Classrooms to Chromebooks

Schools are rapidly adopting Chromebooks for its easy-to-manage cloud-based infrastructure where 2.2 million Samsung Chromebooks have been shipped into education.* Understanding that many schools must take a phased approach to Chromebook conversion due to budget and resource constraints, Samsung has partnered with Neverware to help schools leverage existing hardware during the transition. Neverware’s CloudReady OS conversion software provides a cost-effective and efficient pathway to one-to-one adoption. With one easy installation, computers running CloudReady can be used in the classroom alongside Samsung Chromebooks and managed under a single Google Device Management Console. Licenses are perpetual and included in the cost of the bundle. The bundled solution includes:

• 100 Samsung Chromebook 3 devices
• 100 CloudReady licenses for existing computers
• 200 Google Device Management Console licenses (100 for Chromebooks and 100 for CloudReady machines)
• Tech support

Expanded Classroom in a Box One-to-One Learning Solution

Classroom in a Box is a fully-integrated learning solution for schools looking to jump start one-to-one digital learning in their classrooms. Now compatible with the Samsung Chromebook 3, the solution includes:

• 30 Samsung Chromebook 3 devices
• McGraw-Hill Education English Language Arts Classroom in a Box
  – 30 One year subscriptions to Thrive Powered by Time to Know ELA
  – 30 Three-month trial subscriptions to Reading Labs 2.0

OR

• McGraw-Hill Education Math Classroom in a Box
  – 30 One year subscriptions to Thrive Powered by Time to Know Math
  – 30 Three-month trial subscription to ALEKS®
• McGraw-Hill Education Comprehensive Professional Development
• 30 Google Device Management Console licenses
• Samsung deployment call

SMART amp with the new Samsung Chromebook 3

Alongside SMART Technologies, Samsung will offer a bundle that includes the SMART amp enabled Samsung Chromebook 3 and online professional development to foster student collaboration, while giving teachers real-time insight into the learning process. SMART amp is purpose-built for education, cloud-based software offering that lets students co-create content on a digital canvas to enable anywhere, anytime collaboration. In addition, teachers are able to draw from the SMART Exchange online community and thousands of existing SMART amp-compatible resources, which is especially value when short on time or in need of new lessons. The new SMART for Samsung bundle includes:

• 10 Samsung Chromebook 3 devices
• 60 SMART amp licenses with one-year activation and opportunity to extend licenses beyond the first year
• Access to a 10-module SMART professional development unit for one educator per bundle
• 10 Google Device Management Console licenses

“The SMART amp enabled Samsung Chromebook 3 bundle is a type of instructional technology that provides teachers with the support they need to encourage student participation, exploration and collaborative problem solving,” said Greg Estell, SMART president, Education at SMART Technologies. “By combining the advanced technology of the Chromebook 3 with the feature-rich SMART amp collaborative learning software, teachers are provided with a powerful and affordable tool to enhance the learning experience, inspiring students to communicate and work with their peers.”

All three solutions will be available for purchase starting in February and will be showcased at the Samsung booth at FETC this week alongside Samsung’s full line up of education products and solutions including Interactive Whiteboards, Samsung’s Printing Solutions and Samsung’s WLAN Solution. More information on Samsung’s full technology portfolio for education is available at www.samsung.com/education.

Additional Resources:

• Press Release: Samsung Expands Popular Chromebook Line As Demand Continues to Grow
• Website: http://samsung.com/education
• Blog: http://samsungbusinessblog.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamsungEDU
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/samsung-in-education
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SamsungBizUSA
• Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/SamsungBusinessUSA

* IDC PC Quarterly Tracker (Q3, 2015).

Previously used as a storage space at the after-school club, the new Tween Tech Center aims to equip middle school students with the tools they need for a successful future in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)—fields where achievement gaps have widened substantially over the past couple decades. These disparities are often due to socioeconomic factors, as well as students’ lack of exposure to STEM curriculum and role models.

Closing Learning Gaps in STEM Education

The highly digitalized space features colorful and engaging work and reading stations club members can utilize during after-school hours. It is also outfitted with more than 40 Samsung Galaxy tablets and laptops that allow students to access a customized STEM-focused curriculum—one the students might not otherwise have the exposure to in their schools.

Christina Jones, a 13-year-old who hopes to major in engineering and work for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was most impressed by the devices and how they allow her “to explore more of the world with just the touch of her fingertips.”

The latest Tween Tech Center is part of an ongoing effort of Samsung and BGCA to deliver technology, customized curricula and new learning spaces that enable youth to explore and learn more about STEM. In the past two years, the initiative has reached more than 11,000 Club members across the United States. Samsung will also disperse an additional 600 tablets to other Clubs around the country by the spring of 2016.

Opening Doors to a Bright Future

“Samsung believes it’s our responsibility to inspire passion about STEM subjects early in students’ lives with the hope that they will pursue them as university majors, and ultimately viable career paths,” said Ann Woo, senior director of corporate citizenship at Samsung Electronics North America. “By putting these cutting-edge resources in the hands of Boys & Girls Clubs’ staff members, they’ll be better positioned to effectively instruct and nurture the interest in STEM among the middle school population outside regular classroom hours.”

Congresswoman Judy Chu, U.S. Representative for California’s 27th Congressional District, also noted the critical importance of STEM education endeavors like those Samsung is making.

“America is lagging behind the rest of the developed world in the STEM fields, threatening our leadership role in the future,” she stated. “Exposure to and opportunities with these new technologies for our youth today can change that. When every child who has an interest in STEM has the opportunity and resources they need, the possibilities for our future are bright.”

It’s the opportunities and resources like the ones Congresswoman Chu talked of that Samsung and BGCA hope to continue to offer, lessening the disparities in today’s STEM education.

In addition to Samsung’s work with Boys & Girls Clubs in the Los Angeles area, Samsung is also supporting the community through other local initiatives, including its emPOWER Tomorrow and Ready, Set, Gold! programs.

The Samsung Smart Play-Board is an experimental new educational device that helps parents and teachers better understand children’s development through play.

This concept product was created by Pietro Rigamonti, a student in the Samsung Maestros Academy Master’s Degree Course at IED (Istituto Europeo di Design). The Samsung Maestros Academy is an online workshop operated by Samsung, designed to build bridges between master artisans and the younger generation, and help develop a new generation of craftspeople in Italy.

The Samsung Play-Board project was developed with a team of scientific endorsers from the University of Macerata and the Product & Solutions team of Samsung Italy. The Department of Humanities at the University of Macerata is currently conducting beta testing in various preschools.

A prototype of the Samsung Play-Board received accolades at the 2015 Milan Design Week and the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Unlocking the Full Potential of Children

The Samsung Play-Board is an educational play platform designed as a learning guide for both parents and teachers, underpinned by the insights gained from monitoring children’s actions and characteristics… plus it’s also fun to play with!

Insights and analyses derived from children playing with the board help teachers and parents to design a method of learning that is unique and tailored for each child. This is important because children learn to have confidence in their own abilities in their formative years. This makes it absolutely crucial for children to realize their potential at an early age, develop it, and see it nurtured by people they can trust.

How the Samsung Smart Play-Board Works

1. Children can interact and arrange wooden modules while they play.
2. Vibrant colors, differently shaped modules and special “container” modules – where teachers and parents can insert any kind of picture, drawing or flat material – help to stimulate all facets of a child’s intelligence. A virtually endless number of configurations is possible.
3. Interactions with the child are tracked, recorded and logged.
4. This data is relayed to a pre-installed app that visualizes the child’s learning in graphics, which helps to support the educators’ analysis.
5. The app maintains a profile of the child’s development across multiple indicators for intelligence.
6. The app suggests special education programs – called “bridging techniques” – specifically designed to improve detected weaknesses by leveraging on tracked strengths.
7. Parents and teachers optimize education programs based on each child’s individual profile.

What makes the app even more interesting for educators is the fact that the software and hardware are open-source; almost anyone around the world will be able to build a Play-Board from scratch and add new content.

The seemingly endless possibilities of play provide precious information on potential areas of success, and pinpoint areas of weakness. This data is displayed and quantified in a variety of settings. Also, the accumulated data can be used to understand a child’s potential growth and be applied to broader educational use.

The Samsung Smart Play-Board in Action

Shall we try out the board for ourselves? Let’s try the color modules for starters.

First, parents or teachers suggest to the child to plug in the “educational avatar” into the board. Then, they help connect the activity board to the main board.

Now, it’s time for the child to start playing. The child chooses six nature boxes, then fills them with branches, grass or leaves. Next, connect them to the mainboard. Have the child connect the branches and leaves along the grid using the pointer. Children can have fun creating their own patterns.

When the children are done, remove the educational avatar. Data acquired from the play session is sent to a smart application for parents and teachers. It is fast and simple, but also very scientific.

Technology & Design for a Variety of Possibilities

The Samsung Smart Play-Board is a platform that supports teachers and parents, hugely amplifying their capabilities to learn from children’s spontaneous behaviors while avoiding any “prescription” or “judgment”. The pre-installed app gathers data and organizes them into graphs, but doesn’t automate a “judgment”. This is because we believe that this can be done only by a skilled educator who has a broader view of the child and his or her situation. The app is instead intended to sync the tracked data with meaningful tips for better educational activities based on a library developed, updated and reviewed by an international community of educators.

Some people voice concern that technology will stunt the learning capacity of children, by doing all the work and making children passive and dependent. However, like the puzzle games many of us played when we were young, the capacity for problem solving is equally inherent in the Samsung Smart Play-Board, which intends to provide a platform that nurtures possibilities and potential. It all comes down to how technology is used to help us. As the Samsung Smart Play-Board shows, meaningful technology and design open up possibilities for the future of our children.

[Students learning essential skills required in the digital age at one of the Smart Learning Centres in Thailand]

Samsung Electronics was named the Top Community Care Company in Asia at the Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability (ACES) Awards 2015. This award is a testament of Samsung’s efforts and commitment in using its global network and innovation to create positive change for people everywhere, helping them to live a better life that is full of possibilities.

“We are honoured to be named the Top Community Care Company in Asia. This award bears testimony to the community work that Samsung is driving in local communities where we operate in. Samsung is committed to create positive change for people everywhere, creating possibilities for them by using our technology to tackle key problems in education, employment and healthcare areas,” said Irene Ng, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, Samsung Electronics Southeast Asia & Oceania.

The Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (ACES) recognizes successful companies and individuals in Asia across two domains including leadership and corporate social responsibility. The Top Community Care Award is presented to companies who have enriched communities through various outreach initiatives. Award recipients epitomize the mission and values of an organization that cares for the community and demonstrates exemplary active citizenship in promoting the well being of society at large.

She continued, “One of the key areas that Samsung focuses on in our Citizenship efforts is education, as we want to help create a better future for disadvantaged youth by providing quality learning environments and access to technology. Using our know-how and technology expertise, we have established over 170 Smart Schools and Libraries, and Tech Institutes across the region. Through these programs, we hope to help close the education and digital gap, and equip youth with the skills they need to find a job in today’s digital economy.”

Samsung’s Community Efforts in Education

Across Southeast Asia and Oceania, Samsung supports a total of 165 Smart Schools and Libraries in nine countries including New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia Philippines and Vietnam. Working with various government bodies, local non-government organizations (NGOs) and educational institutes, Samsung has established Smart Schools and Libraries that feature interactive and immersive learning environment through the use of technology such as tablets and smart televisions, and tailored educational programs that offer enrichment and infotainment content.

To help provide youth with opportunities for a better future and address the industry shortage of technical talents, Samsung has established the Tech Institute, a vocational training institution where young people can learn fundamental IT and engineering skills. Regionally, Samsung supports a total of 14 Tech Institutes across seven countries Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines and Indonesia. In Samsung Tech Institutes, youth are given the best-in-class training environment and practical lessons that equip them with both broad and deep skills that prepare them for the workforce.

Other Citizenship Initiatives in Southeast Asia & Oceania

Beyond education, Samsung has also launched healthcare initiatives in Southeast Asia to support communities that lack sufficient medical technologies and trained staff which may lead to problems such as high infant and maternal mortality rates. In Samsung SONO Schools in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines, Samsung works closely with hospitals and medical facilities, to provide equipment such as ultrasound systems, educational devices, electronic boards and large-format displays (LFD). It also partners local medical associations and institutions to design a strong curriculum and operate courses for medical professionals in the area of ultrasound diagnosis, obstetrics and gynaecology.

As Samsung explores new business areas including healthcare, wearable devices, biotechnology, education, the Internet of Things and Smart Home, it continues to be committed to being a responsible global citizen to create positive change in the communities where it operates in.

Teams have been built. States have been assigned. The mission – to boost entries for the 2015-2016 Solve for Tomorrow (SFT) Contest – has been accepted. And the SFT Employee Ambassadors are off!

SFT is a national competition designed to boost interest and proficiency in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) among U.S. public school students. SFT challenges students in grades 6-12 to show how STEM can be used to help improve their communities.

For the 2015-2016 program year, 210 Samsung employees from various U.S. offices volunteered to be SFT Employee Ambassadors. Samsung employees love friendly competition, especially when the end result is for the greater good.

“It’s an amazing feeling to be able to give back to the community and see what the future holds for us through the eyes of these brilliant kids,” said Frank Mantz of Samsung Business, who served as an Employee Ambassador at the SFT National Finalist Pitch Event in March. “Some people may think it will take up too much time in their already busy schedule, and it does take a certain amount of dedication, but what you get back in the end makes up for any time lost [by] tenfold.”

Mantz hosted the Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy from Erie, Pennsylvania during perhaps the most exciting event of the year-long program. Students from the top 15 schools across the country converged at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City to present and defend their projects in front of a live panel of judges.

The team’s amazing vertical gardens project, which addressed both the lack of fresh produce and the lack  of horizontal space to grow them in their urban community, earned the school more than $135,000 of technology and other prizes and a Solve for Tomorrow National Winner title.

So far more than 3,000 schools have entered with the same goal in mind. But with just  a few days before the entry period closes, the SFT Employee Ambassadors are doing all they can to make sure more schools have the opportunity to win the technology that is so critical to modern-day STEM curriculum.

“We had more than 3,000 schools enter last year,” said Bill Welker, manager of the Solve for Tomorrow Contest. “We’re aiming to beat that record and need everyone’s help to spread the word.”

Teams like Mantz’s are certainly doing all they can to do just that. After all, his teammates Rose Luppino and Gabriel Hanauer are veteran ambassadors who have had the distinction of being part of the winning team to gather the most entries for the past two years.

“We have to put the investment in our kids to make sure that they have the tools to obtain the knowledge that they need,” said Rose Luppino of Samsung Sales.

For more information on the Solve for Tomorrow Contest, please visit samsung.com/solve.

“Gamification allows us to push the limits,” says Justin Ballou, a Boston-area high school teacher and founder of an education-centered software startup called Socrademy.

For Ballou, using gamification in his classroom started when he was trying to figure out how to motivate students to take a nightly 10-minute online quiz. So he developed a system that uses opportunities – such as the ability to retake an in-class test – as rewards for completing the quizzes. He also shares the students’ results, like class average grades and time spent, to create a healthy dose of competition.

Ballou’s game-like method successfully motivates his students. The idea – much like in a game – is to make tasks more fun, engaging and rewarding. By pushing students to reach specific goals and complete activities, it‘s more exciting than a standard passive learning and assessment model.

Rewards Without Risk

“What’s important in education that is very prevalent in gaming is [the idea that] it’s OK to fail,” says Andrew Ko, vice president of education for Samsung. “In education, everyone has the anxiety of the test or quiz. You have to learn something, and then you stop and take a test.” Instead, gamification allows students to learn, try, fail—and try again.

A common method in gamification is to establish levels for students to pass before they’re allowed to move onto the next. The system requires them to succeed at a certain number of proficiencies in the class to earn a certain grade, unlock various opportunities or simply to earn coveted badges.

Giving badges for achievements is one of the most popular gamification methods—especially at the elementary level. Students might earn badges for completing assignments or good behavior, or they could work toward earning badges in various competencies. They could also keep track of the badges they have and those they lack on a digital platform, following their progress in both earning and learning.

For younger students, colorful badges or passing levels might be a perfect motivator even without added reward, but gamification becomes more complex when dealing with older students who have some notion of what is and isn’t valuable. For them, finding tangible rewards is a crucial part of making gamification work.

One solution for older students is to reward them with the opportunity to retake an in-class test to achieve a better grade – while the tasks themselves prepare the student to succeed on that test. On a more fun note, they might earn additional rewards like the right to eat in class or work on their own homework during test preparation classes. It’s really about speaking to student needs and wants in a way that doesn’t feel contrived to them.

Board Games and Beyond

Samsung has also designed interactive smartboards that allow educators to create classroom-wide quizzes or games, says Ko.

“It’s almost like they’re doing a little quiz show,” Ko says. “In Virginia, one school used a virtual motion game that they threw virtual darts on, and the darts had mathematical numbers. As they were throwing them, [the students would] go back and fill out questions on the quizzes.”

As technology becomes more sophisticated, it creates additional opportunities for gamification. Ko predicts educational games will soon appear that provide experiential learning using voice interaction and body movements. And according to Ballou, that could just be the shot in the arm that a flagging education system needs.

“There’s a lot of fear in education right now on behalf of students, teachers, parents, communities, that the old models aren’t working,” Ballou says. “[Gamification is] heading to a new age, looking at what really drives students to learn, and how do we meet students where they are instead of bringing them to where we are.”

Andrew Ko says both students and the education community are excited by the prospects of what gamification can deliver. And as tools like tablets and apps continue maturing, the ability to interact with games will become even more sophisticated and automated.

“Parents and teachers and principals always want the best for their students, but you’re also now seeing district leaders, government leaders really want to enhance education,” Ko says. “They are looking at way to change how things are taught, and gamification is one of those ways.”

For more information on Samsung’s solutions, click here.

Erin Richey is a freelance investigative data journalist with B2B experience. She’s written for the Engineering News-Record, the St. Louis Business Journal and has covered data security and management for small- to mid-sized businesses at TechPageOne.

※ Source : http://samsungbusiness.cio.com