Empowering the Youth in Iran:

1
Empowering the Youth in Iran

• The Science and Arts Foundation
• www.science-arts.org
• Abbas Edalat
• Imperial College, London
• June 2000

2
Overview

• The contribution of Iranians to the foundations
  of the computer revolution.
• Achievements of Iranian school children and
  students on the international level.
• One year of SAF projects.
• A program to empower the Iranian youth.

3
Foundation of our Computer RevolutionThe
Decimal System

• 3042 3000 40 2
• Imagine computing in the Roman system CCXXXII
  times XLVIII, i.e. 232 x 48.
• Zero was invented by Indian mathematicians, who
  were inspired by the Babylonian and the Chinese
  number systems, particularly as used in abacuses.

4
The Discovery of Decimal Fractions

• Persians and Arabs invented the representation of
  decimal fractions that we use today
• 3042.75
• They discovered the rules for basic arithmetic
  operations that we now learn in school.

5
The Long Journey
Adelard 1080 AD
Khwarizmi 780 AD
Kashani 1380 AD
House of Wisdom 9thc. AD
Brahmagupta, 598 AD Sridhara, 850 AD
Diophantus 3rdc. AD
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Khwarizmi (780 850)

• The greatest mathematician of middle ages.
• Settled in the House of Wisdom (Baghdad).
• Wrote three seminal books
• Hindu Arithmetic
• Al-jabr va Al-moghabeleh
• Astronomical Tables
• The established wordsAlgorithm from
  Al-Khwarizmiand Algebra from
  Al-jabrtestify to his fundamentalcontribution
  to human thought.

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Kashani (1380 1429)

• Completed the development of arithmetic
  algorithms for fractions.
• Computed ? up to 16 decimal places
• ? 3.1415926535897932

• Kashani invented the first mechanical special
  purpose computers
• to find when the planets are closest,
• to calculate longitudes of planets,
• to predict lunar eclipses.

8
Kashanis Zarghaleh
9
The Long Journey
Adelard 1080 AD
Khwarizmi 780 AD
Kashani 1380 AD
House of Wisdom 9thc. AD
Brahmagupta, 598 AD Sridhara, 850 AD
Diophantus 3rdc. AD
10
Adelard of Bath (1080 1160)

• First English scientist.
• Translated from Arabic to Latin Khwarizmis
  astronomical tables with his use of zero.

11
Mechanical Computers in EuropeTwo Centuries
after Kashani
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The Information Revolution

• Computers and the Internet are radically changing
  our life on this planet.
• The impact of this revolution is deeper and more
  extensive than any previous technological
  invention.

13
The Moral of Our Story

• History has imposed a reversal of fortune
  Nations who developed the foundation of our
  present computer revolution in the very dark ages
  of Europe, later experienced a much stifled
  development.
• World Economic Forum, Dec 99 Left by itself, the
  Internet will sharpen the digital divide.
• The Internet can be a global equaliser if, and
  only if, we make it available to the youth of the
  developing countries.

14
Achievements of Iranian School Students in
International Science Olympiads
Mathematics top 10 since 93, first in 98, 18
gold medals Physics top 5 since 95, second in
99, 10 gold medals Chemistry first in 95 and 96,
9 gold medals Informatics top 10 since 95, 2
gold medals
15
Iranian University Students in International
Robotics Competition
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Empowering the Youth in Iran

• Science and Arts Foundation was launched in
  March 1999
• at Imperial College, London
• To provide Computer/Internet Sites for school
  children and
• university students, support libraries
• Using two strategic resources
• (1) Universities in Iran (2) Expatriates
  abroad

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Roshd High School, Naazi-Abad

• Five Olympiad medals
• Over 90 acceptance in university entrance
• 20 of former graduates aid in teaching

18
SAFs First Project Roshd

• First school computer site in Iran, May 99
• 15 Pentium 233 PCs including two servers
• Dial-up Internet connection via Sharif University
  of Technology

19
Letter by the Students, Teachers and the
Principal of Roshd High School

• First email message sent from a school in Iran.

Dear Professor Edalat, Any effort to illuminate
the torch of science in this ancient land, which
has been the cradle of great thinkers and
leaders of science and arts, and the homeland of
great men and women scientists, is a public
service whose value will be assessed by future
generations. We hope that our contact will
result in knowing and using your ideas and
experience in various areas of science and
technology. We are wholeheartedly grateful
for your aspirations and efforts and wish you
ever increasing success. With many thanks. The
students, teachers and the principal of Roshd
High School Spring 1999

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Completed Computer/Internet Sitesin the Initial
Phase, May 1999 May 2000

• 18 school computer sites, 8 boys, 10 girls
• 10 in Tehran (8 in deprived areas),
• 2 in Shahr-e Ray,
• 2 in Varamin,
• 2 in Islam Shahr,
• 2 in Gaz-e Borkhar, Isfahan.
• Sharafat teachers training college
• Raad School for the Disabled
• Childrens Book Council
• University of Tehran Medical School
• Tehran School Information Centre

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School Information Center http//www.schoolnet.sh
arif.ac.ir

• Was set up in Oct. 99 at Sharif University
• Provides Internet access to schools,
• Trains teachers in information technology and the
  Internet,
• Produces and downloads educational websites for
  use by school children in Iran, and
• Organizes
• (1) homepages for schools,
• (2) discussion bulletin boards for
  schools,
• (3) Internet based collaborative projects
• between schools in and outside
  Iran.

23
IT and Internet Seminars

• For Tehran model state schools, held in Roshd
• High School, May 2000.

• For all Tehran teachers training colleges, held
  in
• Sharafat College, May 2000.

24
A Program to Empower the Youth

• 20 School Information Centres in 20 major regions
  in Iran.
• 200 School Computer Sites with leased line
  Internet
• connection to the 20 School Information
  Centres.
• Each School Information Center in a major region
• supporting (an average of) ten schools.
• Two University Students Internet Clubs in each of
  the 20
• major regions.
• The project to be carried out in 10 phases
• In each phase
• 2 School Information Centres 20 School
  Computer
• sites 4 University Internet Clubs

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A Standard School Computer Site

• 10 Pentium II 333 Celeron (or higher) PCs with
  10.2 GB
• hard drive, 32 MB RAM, 15 inch monitor
  8,236
• One Pentium III 500 server with 17 GB hard drive,
  128 MB RAM, 15 inch monitor 1,295
• Four multimedia (50X CD drive), including CD,
  speaker,
• and sound card 400
• Hubs and wiring equipments 470
• Printer, HP 1100 with HP tuner 530
• Tables and chairs 776
• Telephone and Modem 270
• Manpower for installation 412
• Total 105,300,000 Rials / 12,389

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A Standard School Information Center

• One Server 1,191
• 2 workstations 1,647
• 10 telephone lines 1,765
• 10 modems 1,177
• Internet access for 1 year 11,765
• Manpower for 1 year 7,059
• Total 209,000,000 Rials / 24,604

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For each region 1 School Information Center
10 School Computer Sites 2 University
Internet Clubs
school
school
school
school
school
University Internet Club
University Internet Club

• School Information Center

school
school
school
school
school
24,604 12 x 12,389 173,272 Annual Labour
Cost 12 x 600 Total for 1 Region
180,472 Total for 2 Regions 360,944
(Budget required for each phase) Total for 20
Regions 3,609,440 (Total Budget required)
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Other Projects

• Internet Bus 42,800
• Computer/Internet sites for Foster Houses,
  between 4,100 and 12,389
• Educational websites
• Internet camps
• Research Center for IT in Education

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A Historic Opportunity for Progress

• The youth in Iran have shown their potential for
• outstanding achievements.
• They can be empowered by IT and the Internet.
• The expatriate Iranian community can play a
  historic
• role to help accomplish this ideal.
• SAFs one year campaign has shown that, by acting
  
• now, this mission is within our reach.
• SAF needs your support to make a difference!

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THE END
32
Agreement Document

• The attached set of computer equipments is
  donated to the Roshd High School
• under the following conditions
• The Roshd school is responsible for safeguarding
  this set which will only
• be used within the school premises for
  the education of the children.
• The Roshd school will devise an educational
  program for promoting
• information technology and science. For
  this, it will create information sites
• in astronomy, physics, mathematics,
  chemistry and other subjects as much
• as possible.
• With a view to provide opportunities for
  extra-curriculum education, the
• Roshd school will organize teachers
  training courses in information
• technology.
• The Roshd school will also give service to
  students in the region 16 of
• Tehran as much as it can.
• Inspectors of the Science and Arts Foundation on
  behalf of the donor will
• be able to investigate the
  implementation of this agreement and produce
• the relevant reports.
• The donor will withdraw its donation if any
  clause of this agreement is
• violated.