Above (left to right, back row): David D’Oliveira, vice president Columbus Busienss Solutions, Fr. Gregory Augustine principal of Fatima and Dwight Andrews, President of the Fatima Old Boys Association with students at the school. Photo Source : http://technewstt.com/pr-columbus-fatime/

Fr Gregory, Principal of Fatima College makinguse of the smart board technology in the classroom

Fatima College students interacting with the touch sensitive smart boards.

A Fatima College Teacher making use if the smart board technology to engage her students in the classroom.

COLUMBUS Business Solutions has partnered with Fatima College via the Fatima Old Boys Association (FOBA)to introduce cutting edge, technology- based Education on the College’s campus in Trinidad.

The first phase of the partnership is the implementation of campus wide Secure Wi-Fi Internet Access along with the SMART Technology Interactive Learning solution in each classroom as well as an ongoing interactive learning teacher development programme. The entire solution is being delivered as a managed service, said a media release from Columbus Communications.

Speaking at the formal announcement of the partnership held at the school’s campus, Fr Gregory, Principal of Fatima College noted that: “Exposing our students to innovative ways to access educational content and learning every day in the classroom means that interest is heightened, motivation is stimulated and the boundaries of learning are uncapped.

Indeed, through CBS’ technology implementation, Fatima College leap-frogs into advanced learning in the classroom.

This now means that a number of students currently have access to the solution in all of our classrooms.” The project is being funded by the FOBA.

Dwight Andrews, president of the association said in the release, “FOBA responds to the requests and needs of the school.

Our responsibility, as the fund-raising arm of the school stakeholders, is to support and encourage the installation of Smart Boards. This progressive approach as it relates to education has become necessary.

This new technology will pioneer education in Trinidad and Tobago and place Fatima College at the forefront in technological advancement. “No longer will smart phones, tablets and laptops be seen as a nuisance; instead they will be used to maximise the learning potential of the boys. The world is rapidly and continuously changing and we are both prepared and required to adapt to our new realities.

The 21st century child must be technologically savvy.  Additionally they must have access to the widest possible range of information often in real time. It’s simply the new normal.” VP, government and business for Columbus, David D’ Oliveira in expressing his perspective on the partnership said in the release: “CBS is proud that our Interactive Learning Managed Services Solution powered by SMART Technology and our dedicated high-speed fibre Internet connection has been adopted by Fatima College.

We’ve seen the positive impact of the learning solution in other schools in Trinidad that have implemented this solution, however, we are convinced that Fatima’s bold decision to roll out this revolutionary learning solution to all classes from day one, will have a transformational effect across the entire school and will catapult Fatima to become the most technology advanced school across the entire Caribbean.” An experienced regional ISP and IT service Provider, CBS has already established a solid reputation in its ability to deliver a world class portfolio of ICT managed service solution across the largest, most scalable and resilient network backbone, connecting 42 countries across the Caribbean and LATA M, the release said.

Their ICT Managed Service portfolio also includes local and international fibre connectivity, Managed IT Security, Managed IP Surveillance, Managed Networking, Managed Wi-Fi, Cloud Unified Communications, Digital Content Distribution, and Cloud IT Infrastructure and Disaster Recovery as a Service.