The first international conference eSchool 2011 wound up its work in Kazan. The event won positive feedback and appreciation of attendees who expressed hopes that the conference continues to develop. ICL-KME CS was a general partner of the event.

The conference was organized by the RT Ministry of Education and Science in cooperation with Intel Corporation and with the assistance of the RT Ministry of Informatization and Communications. It was attended by over 300 representatives of education and informatization management agencies, educational institutions and scientific centres from 35 regions of the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Belarus, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Portugal, Singapore and the USA.

Among the participants of the plenary session were Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Oleg Morozov, First Deputy Speaker of the RF State Duma, Nikolay Nikiforov, Deputy Prime Minister—Minister of Informatization and Communications of the Republic of Tatarstan, Albert Gilmutdinov, RT Minister of Education and Science, and John Davies, Vice President of Intel Corporation.

Key speakers of the conference addressed the issue of the current condition and prospects of informatization development in the education system of Tatarstan and other regions of the Russian Federation as well as touched upon the international experience in personalizing learning approaches, including 1:1 e-Learning.

In his speech at the plenary session RT Minister of Education and Science Albert Gilmutdinov stated that “eSchool is a new incredible educational technology that has immense potential”. Minister also pointed out that Tatarstan currently possesses ample experience in implementing ICT projects for secondary education institutions including implementation of such initiatives as ‘Equip Schools with Computers’, ‘Laptop for Each Teacher’ and an information system ‘e Education in the Republic of Tatarstan’. Within the framework of these initiatives Tatarstan government provided 45 thousand laptops for school teachers. Minister emphasized that the main computer supplier was a local IT company ICL-KME CS, a long term partner of the Ministry of Education.

Victor Diachkov, General Director of ICL-KME CS, told the attendees about the experience his company gained in the education sector and about the technological solutions it implements in Russia in cooperation with Intel. Today computers manufactured by ICL-KME CS and solutions based on them work in various regions across Russia from Kaliningrad to Sakhalin and the company consistently expands geography of its supplies. Mobile computer classrooms developed by ICL-KME CS are used to educate primary level students at 53 schools of the Republic of Tatarstan which have been awarded an eSchool status and participate in the 1:1 e-Learning project implemented in cooperation with Intel. Besides, Fujitsu, a parent company of ICL-KME CS, suggested supplying mobile classrooms to its European customers. However this initiative has not yet been implemented because of the flaws in the customs legislation.

Education solutions developed by ICL-KME CS and options for their use at educational institutions were covered in a presentation delivered by Alexander Kalinin, Head of Education Projects, ICL-KME CS.

His presentation showcasing practical examples of using these solutions was followed by an address from Tatyana Nikolaeva, Principal of Primary General School No. 1, Cheboksary. Within the framework of 1:1 e-Learning project implemented by Intel in cooperation with ICL-KME CS, ICLab mobile classrooms and Classmate PC netbooks based on Intel processor technology are used to facilitate teaching and learning processes at this school. Tatyana Nikolaeva reported about the first results and achievements of teaching in electronic education environment and stressed that this type of environment allows teachers to apply an individual approach to each child.

Within the framework of the conference an interactive exhibition eSchool 2011 was held where ICL-KME CS showcased its education solutions that are currently successfully used at educational institutions in the Republic of Tatarstan and the Russian Federation. These are ICLab Mini mobile interactive classrooms equipped with transformer netbooks based on Intel processor technology and a Mobile computer case, a recent development of ICL-KME CS. These solutions aroused great interest among conference attendees who could evaluate advantages of using mobile classrooms during the arranged visits to Kazan schools participating in 1:1 e-Learning project.

ICL-KME CS contributes a lot to the initiative to modernize education in the Republic of Tatarstan and is a partner to Intel Corporation in implementing 1:1 e-Learning model in the Russian Federation.