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School of Tomorrow – Google for Education Village

School of Tomorrow – November 2022 Welcome to Google for Education Village and Classrooms of Tomorrow at #SOT2022 set-up by Tech Valley Pakistan in Newlands, Lahore. The School of Tomorrow (SOT) Events is a signature conference series of the Beaconhouse Group featuring international thought leaders from diverse disciplines and cultures – educators, futurists, technologists and scientists, environmentalists, political and business leaders, artists, writers, journalists and filmmakers, social activists, and more. Google for Education Village at #SOT2022 was set up to aware educationalists and learners regarding different tools under the umbrella of Google for Education that can enhance how teachers and learners interact inside and outside the classroom. Whereas Classroom of Tomorrow provided these stakeholders a glimpse of what the future of classrooms would look like; enabled by powerful Google for Education end-to-end learning solutions. The team on the ground received a fantastic response and audience showed keen interest in Google solutions, programs, and technologies such as Google Classroom, Chromebooks, Chrome OS, CS First, and #BeInternetAwesome. See you next year!

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Google for Education Team Visits Ministry of Federal Education to discuss Pakistan’s First Educational Innovation Centre of Excellence

Google for Education Team Visits Ministry of Federal Education to discuss Pakistan’s First Educational Innovation Centre of Excellence 22 September 2022, Islamabad: Google for Education team along with Tech Valley, Pakistan visited the Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training to understand the current challenges of the education sector of Pakistan and discuss the execution plan for Pakistan’s first Educational Innovation Centre of Excellence in Pakistan (EICE). EICE is a part of a larger digital education transformation journey that has been previously launched in 9 countries across the globe. The experience, research, output, and challenges accumulated from different countries will be duplicated in Pakistan with the help of the local country partner of Google for Education, Tech Valley Pakistan. The program will contribute to promoting skill sets for teachers and students with respect to the digital transformation of the education sector. Aamir Ashraf Khawaja Secretary – Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training appreciated the Educational Innovation Center of Excellence provision in Pakistan and mentioned it can transform the educational ecosystem of Pakistan by empowering teachers with professional development and equipping schools with technology. Chris Malone, Education Specialist, Google for Education said, “I am excited to visit Pakistan to discuss implementation of Educational Innovation Center of Excellence at a school, Islamabad, that will be transformed with the help of Google for Education tools and Chromebooks. He also added that Pakistan has a huge potential for digital transformation in the educational ecosystem. A detailed research will be conducted in this center with the help of an academic partner where researchers will test different practices to develop a localized content and promote technology adoption at teachers and students level. Such centers were previously launched in Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Vietnam for successful digital transformation and professional development of teachers, students and administrators involved in education. Umar Farooq, CEO of Tech Valley said, “With our vision and mission to bring the technological revolution to the educational ecosystem, we are happy to share that the Educational Innovation Center of Excellence will incorporate 21st-century tools, like Chromebooks and Google for Education, with a localised content and context. He further shared the progress of other projects and added that with technology, we can also help flood-affected areas with pilot initiatives like School on Wheels, which can be used later for Out of School Children.

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Government of Sindh Celebrates Students and Teachers Trained under Google CS First Phase 4

Government of Sindh Celebrates Students and Teachers Trained under Google CS First Phase 4 16 September 2022, Karachi: Recently, Sindh Information, Technology signed a memorandum of understanding with Tech Valley Pakistan, a Google for Education Partner in Pakistan to equip students of Karachi with an updated computer science curriculum under the Google CS First program. This week, Tech Valley Pakistan successfully conducted training in 5 schools upon which Sindh Information, Science and Technology Department celebrated a graduation ceremony.   Currently, the computer science curriculum taught in our schools is outdated and fails to meet the demanding needs of today’s technological revolutionized world. Since computer science lessons being taught are no longer useful, students resist taking such subjects as their majors and lack foundational skills even if they opt for them. Additionally, many studies have already suggested that our students are not ready for the industry and do not possess the necessary skills for excelling at IT jobs.    CS First is a Google for Education program that aims to empower teachers to teach computer science to kids between 9 to 14 years with easy-to-use tools and resources. Google CS First curriculum is designed to help students enhance their creative and analytical skills. With the support of Google and the Government of Sindh, 250+ students learned through instructors, video tutorials, and block-based coding in Scratch, and additionally 100+ teachers were trained under Google CS First Phase 4.    Secretary Information, Science and Technology, Government of Sindh, Mr. Asif Ikram personally visited the training sites to inspect the delivery of training. While thanking Google for their support and Tech Valley for their efforts mentioned today that such programs can help students to walk towards gaining job-ready skills and prepare them for the future where they can earn and support their parents financially.   Mr. Umar Farooq, CEO of Tech Valley Pakistan at the graduation ceremony reminded the teachers and trainers that this journey doesn’t stop here. His team will be constantly in touch with teachers to help them develop coding clubs at their schools so students can be enabled and supported towards a more STEM-focused journey.    Moreover, Tech Valley also announced that their team will be holding different focus group sessions with management and teachers of government schools to discuss and implement coding and game development lessons in their existing computer science curriculum.

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Tech Valley Pakistan Sets to Empower Schools of Sindh in collaboration with the Sindh Education & Literacy Department

Tech Valley Pakistan Sets to Empower Schools of Sindh in collaboration with the Sindh Education & Literacy Department After successfully piloting the digital transformation of schools in other provinces, Tech Valley, Pakistan has joined hands with the Sindh Education and Literacy Department, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Government of Sindh Karachi, 25th August 2022: After successfully piloting the digital transformation of schools in other provinces, Tech Valley Pakistan has joined hands with the Sindh Education and Literacy Department, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Government of Sindh. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between CEO Tech Valley, Umar Farooq, and Secretary Education and Literacy Department Sindh, Ghulam Akbar Laghari.   As part of the digitization of schools, Tech Valley Pakistan, a country partner of Google for Education, will incorporate Google’s digital learning tools in the schools of Karachi to make learning more fun and interactive. The program includes tools like Google Classroom, where teachers can upload class resources, update students regarding the assignments, take online quizzes and collaborate with students in real-time.    Secretary Education and Literacy Department Sindh, Ghulam Akbar Laghari, highly encouraged the idea of adding value to the existing education system of Sindh and said, “COVID-19 taught us how important it is to implement digital technology in the education system. Now is the right time to equip our local schools as well. My team and I are excited about this pilot program and hope to expand it further.”   Under this digitization project, teachers and IT staff will also be trained on the Google for Education tools to leverage the technology to improve the teaching and learning process of the schools. The selected schools’ infrastructure will also be modernized and enhanced with Chrome OS Flex, a cloud-first, fast, easy-to-manage, and secure operating system.    CEO Tech Valley Umar Farooq mentioned, “InshaAllah, with this program, we would be able to see all of the Google for Education tools and the complete digital ecosystem operating in schools of Karachi. Through this pilot program, we will also be able to comprehend Karachi’s local challenges and dynamics.” Tech Valley Pakistan is a trusted partner of Google for Education, Google Workspace, and Google Cloud in Pakistan. Its mission is to inculcate the culture of technology and entrepreneurship through digital innovations.

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Google CS First Phase 4 to be Launched in collaboration with the Sindh Information, Science & Technology Department

Google CS First Phase 4 to be Launched in collaboration with the Sindh Information, Science & Technology Department After the successful implementation of Google CS First in selected cities, Sindh Information, Science & Technology Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tech Valley Pakistan, a local country partner of Google for Education. Karachi, 25th August 2022: After the successful implementation of Google CS First in selected cities, Sindh Information, Science & Technology Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tech Valley Pakistan, a local country partner of Google for Education, to launch CS First Phase 4, with the support of Google and Ministry of IT & Telecom, in Pakistan’s one of the biggest metropolitan cities, Karachi now.   The past three phases of Google CS First were conducted throughout Pakistan in cities like Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Mainwali, Quetta, and trained more than 130 trainers and 600 students on early-age coding.    CS First, a program of Google, empowers teachers to teach computer science to kids between 9 to 14 years with easy-to-use tools and resources. Through this program, students learn through instructors, video tutorials, and block-based coding in Scratch, which helps in enhancing their creative and analytical skills.   Mr. Asif Ikram, Secretary, Information and Science Department, Sindh, while signing the MOU, said, “This partnership would take our mission of making a difference in the lives of citizens through digital interventions. We need such capacity-building programs so that when our kids reach the advanced level, they have sufficient background knowledge and necessary skills such as coding.”   Under Phase 4, Google for Education’s Partner in Pakistan, Tech Valley, will collaborate with the Sindh Information, Science & Technology Department to organize training sessions in different government schools in Sindh and equip kids with basic coding knowledge.    Tech Valley, the local country partner for Google for Education, has localized the global CS First curriculum to suit the Pakistani context and has developed a detailed implementation plan.   CEO Tech Valley Umar Farooq said during the ceremony, “Tech Valley is grateful to Google and its team for supporting this excellent initiative in Pakistan. Apart from teaching kids coding through Art, Storytelling, and Game Design, we have also clubbed the Be Internet Awesome Program in these training sessions so that students can be smart, responsible, safe, and aware while surfing the internet.” Tech Valley Pakistan is a global innovative consulting firm working with various development organizations, INGOs, and private and government organizations. Its mission is to inculcate a culture of technology and entrepreneurship through digital innovations.

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Gilgit Baltistan welcomes Google for Education tools to their schools through Country Partner Tech Valley

Gilgit Baltistan welcomes Google for Education tools to their schools through Country Partner Tech Valley Tech Valley Pakistan, a trusted partner of Google for Education in Pakistan, has joined hands with the Government of Gilgit Baltistan to digitize schools of Gilgit Baltistan under a pilot project. Gilgit Baltistan, 16th August 2022: Tech Valley Pakistan, a trusted partner of Google for Education in Pakistan, has joined hands with the Government of Gilgit Baltistan to digitize schools of Gilgit Baltistan under a pilot project. A letter of understanding was signed between Rana Muhammad Saleem Afzal, Secretary of Education, Gilgit Baltistan, and CEO Tech Valley, Umar Farooq. During the signing ceremony, Honorable Secretary of Education Rana Muhammad Saleem Afzal said, “Recently, the Government of Gilgit Baltistan has launched multiple initiatives to upgrade the region’s education system while battling with the connectivity issues. Now, we anxiously wait for the intervention of Google as Gilgit Baltistan has one of the highest literacy rates in Pakistan, and its youth deserve best-in-class tools.” He also called this project a gift to the youth of the region.  The project will equip the classrooms with the latest tools to help students learn in a technologically advanced environment. Under this pilot project, selected schools will be entirely digitized with the help of Google for Education, and students can learn, interact and communicate with each other remotely. The aim is to provide hands-on experience to students so they can be encouraged to leverage available resources and tools. In addition to this, To ensure the pilot schools have connectivity to carry out the project, Tech Valley has also engaged Special Communication Organization in Gilgit Baltistan which has shown full support to contribute to the project. CEO Tech Valley Umar Farooq said, “We have been here for the last two days to analyze the situation on the ground, we will start with the selected schools to show you how tools can help, and then we can further scale up this model.” He also added that “We see ourselves as an end-to-end enabler providing not only the tools but also training teachers to use them effectively and motivating students to explore STEM.” He further thanked the Chief Secretary Office of Gilgit Baltistan for coordinating the visit and helping the Tech Valley team connect with the relevant stakeholders in the region.  Tim Paolini, Google APAC Sales Lead, also joined the ceremony online and ensured Secretary Education that Tech Valley is one of their preferred global partners to work with, and he looks forward to visiting Gilgit Baltistan during his next trip to Pakistan.  Tech Valley Pakistan is a global innovative consulting firm working with various development organizations, INGOs, and private and government organizations. Its mission is to inculcate the culture of technology and entrepreneurship through digital innovations.

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Beaconhouse and Tech Valley sign MoU to digitise education for Leaders of Tomorrow!

Beaconhouse and Tech Valley sign MoU to digitise education for Leaders of Tomorrow! Beaconhouse, a global network of private schools and institutes educating over 315,000 students in seven countries, has partnered with Tech Valley, an innovative digital consulting firm and trusted country partner of Google for Education in Pakistan. 12th August 2022: Beaconhouse, a global network of private schools and institutes educating over 315,000 students in seven countries, has partnered with Tech Valley, an innovative digital consulting firm and trusted country partner of Google for Education in Pakistan. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two parties in Lahore to work towards incorporating different Google technologies in Beaconhouse schools, carrying forward its mission to inculcate global best practices to improve education delivery.  Under this MoU, Tech Valley, with the support of international Google for Education teams, will assist Beaconhouse in procuring and incorporating Chromebooks for their programmes such as Homebridge and the inception of the Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) model on their campuses. Additionally, Tech Valley will conduct training for teachers and admin staff to help them effectively utilise Google technologies such as Google Workspace and Google Cloud Platform. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ali Ahmed Khan, Chief Operating Officer of Beaconhouse, said, “Beaconhouse is extremely delighted to work with the Google for Education team and its local partner, Tech Valley. As its first education sector partner, we are excited to kick off this project and empower our students with Google tools and devices.” Umar Farooq, CEO, Tech Valley, noted that as a local partner of Google for Education in Pakistan, their goal is to revolutionise the education sector of Pakistan by empowering students, teachers, and administrators with a simple solution for intuitive, and easy-to-manage teaching and learning model through Chromebooks and other Google technologies. Paul Hutchings, Country Manager, Australia, New Zealand, and Pakistan; and Tim Paolini, APAC Sales Lead from Google for Education, also joined the ceremony remotely. The aim of this project is to equip students and teachers with the latest devices and acquaint them with technology through an easier and more flexible education model. Undoubtedly, it is time to move away from the traditional learning style and adopt technologies to help students adapt to the dynamic high-tech environment. —— Tech Valley Pakistan is a trusted partner of Google for Education, Google Workspace, and Google Cloud in Pakistan. Its mission is to inculcate the culture of technology and entrepreneurship through digital innovations. The Beaconhouse Group: Beaconhouse traces its roots to the Les Anges Montessori Academy, founded in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1975. Now in its 47th year, the Beaconhouse network caters to the education and training needs of a large and diverse group of individuals of varying ages, backgrounds and nationalities, in Pakistan, the Middle East, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Beaconhouse is a learning organisation that takes pride in its past while nurturing a culture of continuous professional development, self-review and reinvention.

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Legacy G Suite Free Edition of G Suite will no longer be available from July 1st 2022

Legacy G Suite Free Edition of G Suite will no longer be available from July 1st 2022 The Legacy G Suite free edition will no longer be available after August 1, 2022 and is encouraging them now to upgrade to a Google Workspace subscription for continued access to our services. Before December 6, 2012, Google offered a free edition of G Suite. As of December 6, 2012, Google stopped offering the free edition to new customers. While sign-ups stopped for new customers, Google continued to support existing customers who were using the Legacy G Suite free edition In Q1 2022, Google began notifying customers that the Legacy G Suite free edition will no longer be available after August 1, 2022 and is encouraging them now to upgrade to a Google Workspace subscription for continued access to our services. Customers can upgrade their subscription with the help of a Google Workspace Partner in their respective countries. If the customer chooses to upgrade to a Google Workspace subscription through Google Partner, they will have access to the new security and collaboration functionality of their new addition at no cost through August 1, 2022. Contact us now to Upgrade to Google Workspace and benefit from additional features with multiple discount offerings. What you will get: Double storage or more 24/7 support A specialist to troubleshoot unforeseen issues 99.9% uptime SLA for continued productivity Premium security and collaboration features All the great future Google Workspace innovations! Note: If you do not want to upgrade to a Google Workspace subscription, please contact us for your data migration. FAQs: Can the timelines be extended beyond August 1, 2022? Google is not offering any exceptions as we will no longer be supporting the Legacy G Suite free edition after August 1, 2022. Despite turning down new signups for the legacy free edition in 2012, Google has continued to support this edition with new innovations over the past 10 years. If you have the G Suite legacy free edition, you can upgrade now to the paid Google Workspace subscription that meets your needs and take advantage of special discounts. Upgrading does not affect your data or service availability. Learn how to Upgrade from the G Suite legacy free edition. Is there a no-cost option if I don’t want to upgrade? A no-cost option will be available for all customers who do not want to use Gmail with their custom domain (for example, your-name@example.com), or the ability to manage multiple users. Customers who choose this option will retain access to the no-cost version of Google Workspace services such as Google Drive and Google Meet, and additional Google services such as Google Search, Google Maps, and YouTube. You will also retain access to paid content such as movies purchased in the Google Play Store. What is the benefit of upgrading from our free edition to Google Workspace? What else do we get When you transition to Google Workspace you will benefit from double the storage or more, as well as 24/7 support with a specialist to troubleshoot unforeseen issues, 99.9% uptime SLA for continued productivity, premium security and collaboration features (refer to transition one pagers for specific features), and all the great future Google Workspace innovations.In 2021 alone, Google launched over 275+ new enhancements including smart canvas in Docs to supercharge collaboration, the launch of Spaces in Chat as a dedicated place for organizing people, topics, and projects, and over 30 improvements to Google Meet alone. We’ve also added important security enhancements like Client-side encryption.

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Dr. Khalid Maqbool Sidiqqui’s Visit to Tech Valley/ Durshal Abbottabad

Dr. Khalid Maqbool Sidiqqui’s Visit to Tech Valley/ Durshal Abbottabad Tech Valley Pakistan, welcomed MNA & Former IT Minister Dr. Maqbool Siddiqui to Tech Valley’s office in Abbottabad for a brief meet and greet while maintaining social distance and adhering standard operating procedures… Tech Valley Pakistan, welcomed MNA & Former IT Minister Dr. Maqbool Siddiqui to Tech Valley’s office in Abbottabad for a brief meet and greet while maintaining social distance and adhering standard operating procedures. Dr. Khalid Mahmood Siddiqui congratulated Tech Valley Pakistan on being Official Trusted Country Partners of Google for Education and G Suite in Pakistan. Being a Google Country Partner, Tech Valley Pakistan now offers different Google services in Pakistan including different training,  Consultancy services, certifications and product updates.  Tech Valley Pakistan can help you collaborate, communicate, manage, organize and administer different tasks virtually, effectively and efficiently, with your teammates and students as well with the help of G Suite. Through these services, customers are empowered with tools, technology and support that moves and develop their business and educational activities in a systematic way. In this regard, Tech Valley Pakistan’s CEO Mr. Umar Farooq said, “Tech Valley Pakistan is excited to work as Official Country Partners of Google in Pakistan. The future is now and digital transformation is the way forward . With Tech valley becoming a local trusted partner of Google we got a lot of new opportunities to explore and build new partnerships across the country. Our team is here and ready to help and  identify a technology road map to embrace transformation.” Dr. Khalid Maqbool appreciated Tech Valley Pakistan for its efforts in promoting technology and other trends in the city of Abbottabad. He also welcomed Tech Valley, Pakistan to spread its branches in Karachi as well. 

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