Progress

numbers as of 2022

Recent initiatives

In 2019, a three year strategic plan was developed to restore learning technologies in schools devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.  The plan was to install wireless networks and ship donated quality used devices to schools on the island. An all volunteer Alberta based team of six travelled to Dominica in November of 2019. Working for two weeks with the ICT team from the Ministry of Education on the island and members of the Rotary Club of Portsmouth Dominica, switches and wireless access points were installed in schools and at the Dominica Association of Teachers providing each site with building wide wireless access. As well, each school received class sets of Chromebooks, secure, weather safe cases and digital projectors.  When all the phase one installations were complete, more than 30 schools had the learning technologies needed to provide teachers and students with the kind of educational opportunities they deserve.  The new value of the equipment provided was in excess of $1.5 million CAD.
This goal was realized with the support of many generous donors, volunteers and contributors. We were grateful to have received a Rotary International Global Grant and to have worked with the Rotary Clubs of Lethbridge East, Portsmouth Dominica and Bracebridge, Ontario.

In 2020, we received another year of funding from Rotary International and a large number of quality used devices were donated to help us achieve our year two mission. However, the plan to send another installation team to Dominica in November was derailed by travel restrictions because of the global pandemic.  Working in collaboration with the Ministry of Education ICT team, a decision was made to ship the donated technologies which included more than 2000 Chromebooks as well as switches, wireless access points, digital projectors, and weather safe cases.  The shipment arrived in November and was installed in schools across the island by the Ministry ICT team in 34 additional schools.

As a result of our amazing partners, our three-year plan was achieved one year early!  More than 4000 Chromebook computers were delivered and installed along with 676 Ubiquiti wireless access points, 74 Ubiquiti Cloud Key Controllers, over 120 switches, 550 power bars, 115 Epson digital projectors and 106 weather safe pelican cases impacting more than 10,000 students in more than 60 schools in Dominica. 
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 More information on the installation is available here:  

• ​Restoring Learning Technologies for Students in the Commonwealth of Dominica.

What next?

• ​Following our successful installations in 2019-2020, we adjusted our plan and have focused on providing additional professional development both for the Ministry ICT team and teachers.  Several technical courses have been offered.  Our annual IT for Dominica Summer Institutes, which pivoted to online in 2020, 2021 and 2022, continues to provide training to large groups of teachers on the island every July and returned to an in person format in 2023.  ​

•  ​As a result of our partnership with the Alberta Technology Leaders in Education (ATLE), about 100 teachers, school level administrators and education officials on the island attended their online Convergence Conference in both 2020 and 2021 free of charge.  
• Many teachers on the island took advantage of free memberships with the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA), gaining access to resources and training related to integrating technology in their classrooms.  
• These opportunities for professional development were particularly important as the pandemic forced schools in Dominica to move online in the spring of 2020 and again in the fall of 2021.  
• In January 2022, a  Chromebooks for Teachers Initiative using both residual funds from our Rotary International Global Grant and funds donated directly to our foundation, provided Chromebooks to more than 35 teachers representing schools across the island. These teachers became part of our Building Capacity Group. This group, with the support of Alberta-based facilitators Janet Bell and Tammy Davis, has met online a number of times to develop plans for continuing to move forward with the integration of learning technologies in schools. 
• In November of 2023, our President Maurice Hollingsworth, Dr. Andrew Bronson from the Rotary Club of Lethbridge East and representatives from the Rotary Club of Portsmouth Dominica, visited schools on the island where devices were installed in 2019-2020.  They interviewed stakeholders and evaluated the current status of technologies in each school.  They also met with the Minster of Education, the Honorable Mrs. Octavia Alfred and other ministry officials.
• Based on their findings, and ongoing meetings with the Ministry of Education, we are hard at work developing a sustainability framework with a plan to work directly with individual schools who are interested in becoming centres of excellence. The current reliance on a donation model for the replacement of  equipment has often resulted in periods of time when schools experience a critical shortage of functional devices.  Our role will be to support these centres of excellence, gradually shifting responsibility for funding the replacement of devices as they reach the end of their lifespan from donor agencies like us, to the school.
• In December of 2024 a shipment of more than 250 donated quality used Chromebooks and 24 digital projectors was sent to Dominica for distribution to schools that had applied and were selected to receive them.  
• In January of 2025 an additional 200 devices were donated and will be used to support schools with whom we enter into partnership agreements focused on developing sustainable centres of excellence.

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