Our Technology Labs

SAMBAL Technology Labs

SAMBAL Technology Lab is a partnership project between Saverimuthu Family Foundation and SAMBAL and was developed to overcome the “digital divide”, the discrepancy between underprivileged and privileged children’s access to educational technology. Three labs are now open in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

The labs are located in three regions, locations are in Nallinakkapuram, Killinochichi, Valalai and serve a variety of age groups.

Technologies narrow education gap

Well before the invention of laptops and the World Wide Web, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology mathematician, computer scientist, and education visionary Seymour Papert realized that connected electronic devices could improve the educational experience of students, even for those who face poverty and geographical isolation.

Jean Papert would eventually combine his early experiences with Piaget with his research at MIT to formulate ideas about the potential effects of computers on childhood education.

Bridging the Digital Divide

Over the decade technology has transcended poverty, race and economics to become a driving force in the lives of people across the world. More than two billion of us now have access to the internet and five billion of us have mobile phones.

Children are growing up in a world where social media, mobile technology and online communities are fundamental to the way that they communicate, learn and develop. In recent years the speed, flexibility and affordability of rapidly evolving digital technology has helped slowly prise shut the digital divide between the haves and have-nots and enabled millions of young people in developing countries to join the digital world.