Digital Youth Dialogue (DYD) is a program of the United States Embassy in Kyrgyzstan.

>> Digital Youth Dialogue

March News & Winter Camp Debrief

DYD Helps Bring New Training

Sessions to Kyrgyzstan’s

Schools

Students Use IT Skills to

Research for Cultural Event

Teachers Learn New Presen-

tation Approaches Using

High-Tech Tools

DYD Libraries Provide New

Knowledge, Opportunities for

Community Members

Jalal-Abad Educator Uses

Internet at Local Library to

Enrich Lessons

Librarians Using New IT Skills

to Inform Patrons of Library

Services

Students from Across

Kyrgyzstan Travel to Bishkek

to Develop Skills, Start

Citizen Journalism Clubs in

Their Communities

Day Two: From Students to

Journalists, Photographers,

Leaders, and Peacemakers

After Hard Days’ Work,

Campers Meet with

Television Leaders in Kyr-

gyzstan, See Bishkek’s Media

Outlets with Their Own Eyes

Returning to Their Homes,

DYD Winter Camp Partici-

pants Begin Their Next Steps

to Apply Their Skills in Their

Communities

DYD Students Discuss Tough

Issues During International

Women’s Day

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>> In this Issue

Following his return from the Digital Youth Dia-

logue (DYD) Training of Trainers in Bishkek on

January 8, 2011, Gulcho village’s Abdyshev school

IT teacher Omurzak Kasymov has begun conduct-

ing a series of training sessions for teachers and

students on basic computing skills and how to in-

tegrate technology into the classroom.

During the training, Kasymov is teaching educa-

tors at Abdyshev School how to properly use the

Microsoft Office Suite, in addition to giving them

their first experience with the internet in a pro-

fessional context. Kasymov pointed the teachers

to the Educational Portal Bilimkeni.kg, where the

teachers registered for accounts and began to

post on the teachers’ discussion forums. Mean-

while, Kasymov taught students how to access in-

formation on the internet and use Microsoft’s

Windows Movie Maker program to produce video

content; the students have begun editing their

own videos to capture life at their school and

their own personal successes.

DYD Helps Bring New Training

Sessions to Kyrgyzstan’s Schools

Since Kasymov began his lessons for faculty and

students, enthusiasm has only grown for technol-

ogy. Aiturgan Kamal kyzy, a student at Abdyshev

School, shared that ―I got valuable information

from the internet, thanks to the DYD program.”

Abdyshev’s administration is just as enthusiastic

about the new technology training program; “I

was pleasantly surprised by his initiative to con-

duct this training,” shared Adbyshev School direc-

tor Altyn Moldokulova. ―I would encourage all our

teachers to [take advantage] of these opportuni-

ties at work.”

Meanwhile, in Jalal-Abad, students at School-

Lyceum No. 14 are using the internet to research

information to complete their school assignments.

Students used to have to rely on obsolete text-

books for their English lessons, but now that Digi-

tal Youth Dialogue has helped connect their

schools to the internet, they are able to find con-

temporary information online to supplement their

schoolbooks. Students are now learning how to

properly search and discern useful educational

tools and materials from search engine results

online. English teacher Aliya Ganzina is very ex-

cited about the new developments at her school,

sharing that “These new materials are good for

developing [my students’] speaking and reading

skills.” Ajara, a student in the 11th grade at

School-Lyceum No. 14, wholeheartedly agrees: “It

was very captivating to find these new things on

the internet. After [my teacher’s] lessons, we

managed to find resources online ourselves, and

we are learning a lot from them.”

On February 9, 2011, at Aitmatov School in Kara-

Suu, seven students used their new knowledge in

searching for cultural and educational resources

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IT Training at Schools

IT trainings for students at Abdyshev School

Students Use IT Skills to Research

for Cultural Event

online to find materials to host an event com-

memorating the birthday of Uzbek poet Alisher

Navoi, including recitals of his poetry, and a play

about the life of Navoi.

The students, ranging from the fifth to the elev-

enth grades, worked with their teachers to pre-

pare for the poet’s birthday event. After receiving

training on how to effectively use search engines,

they used the Kyrgyz-language version of Google

Image Search to download images of Navoi and

decorate the school with them to promote the

event. In preparation for the play, the students

used Google.kg to research the life of the poet –

tasks which were much more complicated in the

past, before DYD helped bring internet to Aitma-

tov School, previously using obscure textbooks

and old magazines as their only sources. Today,

they were able to conduct their research and

preparation in a fraction of the time.

Aitmatov teacher Mahmuda Sheralieva com-

mented on the students’ work in preparing for

Alisher Navoi’s birthday event: “The students did

a good job. They were even able to find a lot of

new information from the internet that we

teachers never even knew. We were amazed by

their creativity.”

In January 2011, DYD IT teacher Odina Kosimova

at Aitmatov School in Kara-Suu trained teachers

on how to conduct more effective presentations in

their careers using visual aids and tools like Micro-

soft PowerPoint to capture their audience’s atten-

tion.

On January 27th, two of her teacher trainees con-

ducted a training session on curriculum planning

and student evaluation for 20 of their colleagues,

during which they practiced their new skills in

creating engaging, high-tech presentation materi-

als. In the past, teachers attending training ses-

sions practically attended their own equivalent of

a low-tech classroom, and trainers were forced to

rely on old blackboards as a visual aid and spend-

ing large amounts of time and energy re-creating

materials for the trainees by hand. Today, pre-

senters and trainers are learning how to captivate

their audiences with helpful visualizations and

diagrams, and are helping keep their audiences

engaged and receptive to new information.

It definitely helped Barno Ergashboeva as she held

her training: she reflected, “Thanks to the DYD

program I learned what PowerPoint is; I had no

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Students at Aitmatov School used internet research to plan an event on

poet Alisher Navoi

Teachers using new resources in

their meetings at school

Teachers Learn New Presentation

Approaches Using High-Tech Tools

idea before. I will definitely keep using [and

making] presentations for my class.”

Since being equipped with internet by the Digital

Youth Dialogue program, the Kyzyl-Kiya Library

has helped over a hundred students and teachers

better integrate technology into their lives to

benefit learning.

Many of the more than 90 students who have be-

gun visiting the library regularly are now learning

for the first time how to use productivity applica-

tions for school; rather than writing everything by

hand, students are now learning how to create

professional documents using word processing ap-

plications. Perizat Zyadinova, a student at Kyzyl

Kiya’s School No. 6, is very enthusiastic about the

new opportunities for her at Kyzyl-Kiya’s newly

modernized library: “Now that we have internet,

I spend all my free time here,” she said.

The Jalal-Abad Oblast Library is becoming a com-

munity gathering center where teachers, stu-

dents, and youth looking for employment opportu-

nities can assemble and learn how to use IT to

benefit their lives.

One excellent example of the library’s new bene-

ficiaries is Aigul Djaratova, a teacher at the Chil-

dren’s Education Center in Jalal-Abad, does not

have internet access where she works, nor does

she have the personal finances to afford paying

for the use of internet-connected computers at

local internet cafes. At the library, however, she

was able to access the internet for free, and she

uses this resource to develop better lessons for

her students. Having recently designed a lesson

for her class on the topic of peace and friendship,

she was able to conduct her own research for the

lesson plan, and enriched its content with power-

ful imagery found online. In making use of educa-

tional online resources and materials, she would-

n’t have known where to start, had it not been for

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Students practice their IT skills while

working on school assignments at the

Kyzyl-Kiya library

Teacher Aigul Djaratova uses the internet to

improve her lessons

DYD Libraries Provide New Knowledge, Opportunities for

DYD in Kyrgyzstan’s Libraries Jalal-Abad Educator Uses Internet at Local Library to Enrich Lessons

internet training she attended at the library, held

by DYD IT trainers. Djaratova took a moment to

express her gratitude for these new resources at

her disposal: “Thanks to the DYD program, we

have access to the internet and IT training, which

are really important tools in achieving great re-

sults in our activities.”

In December 2010, librarians at the Jalal-Abad

Oblast Library received two weeks of IT training,

thanks to the DYD program, including intensive

lessons on document creation using the Microsoft

Office Suite. Now, four of them are putting their

new skills to good use, creating posters for the

library, explaining the library’s new services for

patrons and librarians’ new training experience

since joining the DYD program.

The library has always sought to inform visitors of

what they can do, and what new events are taking

place using posters and visual materials – but now,

they are able to produce more professional items

in a fraction of the time using their new skills in

PowerPoint.

―We often make posters and book exhibitions;

using photos makes them look more visual and

transfers the mood and content of the material,”

explained Svetlana Krasovskaya, a Jalal-Abad li-

brarian. “Using photos starts a [more] creative

dialogue with people, and working with new tech-

nologies helps us to develop professionally.”

From January 24 to 30, 2011, the 22 most tal-

ented and promising students were chosen from a

pool of 153 applicants from southern Kyrgyzstan

to participate in the Journalism, Technology and

Leadership Winter Camp. Young motivated and

enthusiastic students from Osh, Batken and Jalal-

Abad oblasts developed their technical and pro-

fessional skills through IT training, journalism

seminars, conflict mitigation classes, and leader-

ship workshops in a week-long camp in Bishkek.

Each training participant of the camp developed

their own ―IT toolkit,‖ in order to better facilitate

the implementation of their journalism clubs at

schools. One of the participants, Minura Be-

gishbekova from Osh oblast commented: “Before I

never thought that IT knowledge might bring so

many different opportunities. I knew how to send

emails and search for information, however what

we learned during the IT day was truly amazing.”

Using the knowledge she gained during the camp’s

IT toolkit training, one participant created a video

about her experience in Bishkek: http://

goo.gl/16Nkk

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Librarians Using New IT Skills to Inform Patrons of Library Services

Jalal-Abad librarians used PowerPoint and Publisher

to create posters informing patrons of new DYD

activities in their library

Students from Across Kyrgyzstan Travel to Bishkek to Develop Skills, Start Citizen Journalism Clubs in Their Communities

DYD Winter Journalism Camp

In the evenings, Winter Camp participants had

informal sessions on teambuilding and networking.

IREX involved ECA alumni to mentor evening ac-

tivities. UGRAD alumni Bermet Mambetshaeva and

Dastan Kasmamytov led ice-breaking games,

teambuilding activities, and showed journalism

movies.

Starting from the second day of the camp, stu-

dents took part in an intensive course on journal-

ism and had sessions on leadership, conflict miti-

gation, and photography. The journalism seminars

were conducted by Mamasadyk Bagyshev, FLEX

alum and a Director of Smart Media Group. Win-

ter camp participants learned about news and its

structure, types of reports, journalism club or-

ganization, how to set a news agenda, how to cre-

ate a layout for a school newspaper, basics of in-

terviewing, and types of numbers that add to

good reporting.

The students broke out into four groups, repre-

senting television, radio, print, and online jour-

nalism. Each group worked to develop its own

news reports using the skills they developed dur-

ing prior sessions. A recording of the television

journalism group’s reports is available for viewing

at http://goo.gl/2GPbE, while podcasts of the

radio journalism group’s reports are available at

http://goo.gl/S2Ylw.

Participant Jamilya Tashtanova shared that “This

camp has been great! Thanks to all its organizers,

I gained knowledge which will help me to achieve

my goals.” Tech Age Girl Janara Asizova added,

“The topics of the sessions were really interest-

ing, not only for DYD winter camp participants,

but for us TAG alumni too.”

Every day, after their intensive training sessions,

the camp participants had opportunities to be ex-

posed to the ―real world‖ of journalism, meeting

with important personalities from Kyrgyzstan’s

various news and entertainment media, and tour-

ing several of Bishkek’s media outlets.

Guest speakers throughout the week included rep-

resentatives from the radio, television, and online

journalism and media sectors in Kyrgyzstan. By

many accounts, however, the most exciting guest

event during the week included a mock press con-

ference with Kyrgyzstan’s famous musician,

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TAG alumni helped Winter Camp partici-pants open their own email accounts

Day Two: From Students to new Journalists, Photographers, Leaders, and Peacemakers

Trainer Mamasadyk Bagyshev explains journalistic principles and practices to

participants

Kanykey, during which camp participants served

as the journalists.

The speakers took time to answer questions from

the Winter Camp group, and many shared a com-

mon belief that in pursuing their futures as jour-

nalists or leaders in their communities, persever-

ance will be key.

“I really liked how open [the media representa-

tives] were; After talking to them I really want

to become a good journalist,” reflected partici-

pant Aisulu Abdubalit kyzy.

After returning from the DYD Winter Camp for

journalism, Minura Begishbek kyzy and Aisulu Ab-

dubaly kyzy shared their impressions on their

week in Bishkek with fellow students at the Alay

Library. In all, approximately 20 students from

the 8th, 9th, and 10th grades of the nearby

Otunchiev School came to hear them speak on

their experience. The two participants enthusias-

tically explained to their peers about the value of

citizen journalism for a community, and rallied

the group to work with them to form their

school’s first ever journalism club.

Salamat, a student in attendance, shared her

thoughts on the talk: “I learned a lot of things

that I never knew before. This program really

gives great opportunities to both teachers and

students and I will definitely join the journalism

club.” The camp alumni are working to form the

club now, which will set out to create a school

newspaper and publish it on their school website.

Meanwhile, Upon returning to Jalal-Abad, two

DYD Winter Camp participants have begun putting

their new IT skills to practice. Adilet Azimkanov

and Jamila Tashtanova of School No. 14 created a

short video about their school using Windows

Movie Maker, a skill they learned for the first time

at the camp in Bishkek. The video has been

posted to Kyrgyzstan’s Educational Portal (link:

http://goo.gl/fwZ2I) and also on the school’s

website. The students are now working to train

their peers in the same skills that they learned, to

share the knowledge with the entire youth com-

munity.

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Enthusiastic students at the DYD Winter Journalism Camp serve as journalists at a press conference with famous Kyrgyzstan

musician Kanykey

Returning to Their Homes, DYD Winter Camp Participants Begin Their Next Steps to Apply Their Skills in Their Communities

Campers Take Action at Home

DYD winter camp participants train a

peer in video editing skills back home,

During the week of International Women’s Day

(March 8, 2011), more than 150 students and their

teachers from 22 schools in Kyrgyzstan took part

in discussions on women’s rights and gender issues

with Rozetta Aitmatova, president of the

Women’s Help Center, and a published author on

the topic of bride kidnapping, a common problem

in some areas of Kyrgyzstan.

Before meeting with her online, the participating

students read a number of articles written by Ait-

matova for the national periodical We, on the

topic of bride kidnapping. The students then

logged on to Kyrgyzstan’s Educational Portal and

posted their opinions on what they read. The dis-

cussion was a unique opportunity for youth across

the country to sound off on a controversial issue

that directly impacts many families’ lives. Tok-

togul student Asel Biyalieva shared her view on

the topic, stating that “bride kidnapping is a

crime. In most cases, the girl will be unhappy

throughout her life, with her rights being ig-

nored. Boys should not commit a crime – rather,

they should try to find mutual love.”

Joining the discussion, Aitmatova explained in

greater detail the legality and cultural position of

bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan; while officially

illegal, Aitmatova suggested that the solution to

the matter lies not in prosecution of the crimes

alone, but also in shedding light on how boys are

encouraged to commit these acts, often being de-

picted as ―heroes.‖

The discussion with Aitmatova also served as an

opportunity to debate whether bride kidnapping

should be considered a tradition in the cultural

context of Kyrgyzstan, a sensitive issue for youth

and adults in the country. All agreed, however,

that taking a girl away to be married against her

will—tradition or not—is a violent act against her

rights. Aitmatova concurred, adding that “Many

people consider that bride kidnapping is bad only

for the girl, but a man who kidnaps a girl to

marry her is forcing himself as well to live in an

unhappy marriage.”

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DYD Students Discuss Tough Issues

International Women’s Day 2011

In preparing for a discussion with Rozetta Aitmatova,

DYD students read articles about bride kidnapping