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ICT in schools in Anglophone Africa

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by Nick Jeans of Sero


This page was originally the page Anglophone Africa - last edited on 5 December 2011. It was copied to this page ICT in schools in Anglophone Africa on 22 December 2011 but some problems occurred in the copying.

There is still some work to be done on reformatting this page.


Partners and Experts in Region

  • Shafika Isaacs (former founding Executive Director of SchoolNet Africa)
  • Laura Czerniewicz (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
  • Ariellah Rosenberg
  • Steve Voslo, (Yoza Project - Mobile phones for literacy)
  • Ronald Ddungu (Gayaza High School, Uganda)
  • Temechegn Engida (IICBA - http://en.unesco-iicba.org)
  • Mr. Arnaldo Nhavoto (Director, IICBA)


Region in a nutshell

Anglophone Africa is in theory the supraregion consisting of those countries in Africa that are predominantly English-speaking.

All such countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations - see Category:Commonwealth countries.

For related concepts see Category:Africa and Category:English-speaking countries

For background information on ways of categorising Africa see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_Africa


The VISCED interpretation

In VISCED we treat South Africa and Kenya separately. Thus the supraregion might more correctly but less charitably called "Anglophone less-developed Africa". Anglophone Africa is the supraregion consisting of those countries in Africa where English is both a widely-spoken language and an official language, where the country was a former colony of Britain, and where the educational infrastructure is or until recently was organised along "British" lines. These countries include:

  • In East Africa - Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
  • In Southern Africa - Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia
  • In West Africa - Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Liberia

Summary

This is an initial summary by Nick Jeans.

E-learning is fundamentally influenced by students’ preferred platforms. In many parts of Africa, internet access is cheaper and more reliable by phone than by PC/ laptop, so learning materials need to be accessible via mobile devices.

Distance learning can increase the number of people in education in Africa. The biggest obstacle to e-learning in Africa is really bandwidth. Undersea cables should provide more bandwidth to Africa soon, but there are still obstacles with unstable electricity supply, lack of computer equipment and internet access at schools. Challenges are: a) High student to computer ratio due to relatively few computer workstations as compared to the high numbers of students; b) Poor internet connectivity; and c) Erratic power supply.

African Teachers are often used to being the omniscient sage on the stage – furthermore pupils and parents expect them to be so. They therefore tend to be pedagogically conservative and unconvinced by approaches such as constructivist, personalised or games-based learning.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the average 15-year-old does not attend school. The challenge of reaching ‘Education for All’ by 2015 is to afford these socially excluded young people access to quality learning opportunities. (e-Learning Africa 2011 conference website under the theme CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND eINCLUSION: http://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_themes.php)


Regional overview

High mobile phone penetration relative to fixed line subscriptions make Africa the region with the highest ratio of mobile phone to Internet users in the world. Many applications available over the Internet in other parts of the world are available in Africa via mobile networks. Necessity can become the mother of invention, provoking the development of interesting uses of mobile technology, including the M-pesa payment method from Kenya. Safaricom has seen the market penetration of its money transfer product grow to a total of approximately 15 million subscribers today. Another Kenyan company, Virtual City, won the top prize of USD $1 million at Nokia’s Growth Economy Venture Challenge while MXit, a social network with more users than Facebook in South Africa, is now being used for learning with MXit Reach, using QuizMax, Calcit, Nokia MoMaths or Dr Maths to learn Maths, Physical and Life Sciences (http://www.mxit.com/content/ap/en/MXitReach).


Education in Region

Many of these countries have maintained elements of the British educational system.

The average 15-year-old does not attend school. The challenge of reaching ‘Education for All’ by 2015 is to afford these socially excluded young people access to quality learning opportunities. (e-Learning Africa 2011 conference website under the theme CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND eINCLUSION: http://www.elearning-africa.com/programme_themes.php)

Many universities in Africa provide vocational courses that would commonly be delivered by Further Education institutions in the European Union.


ICT in education initiatives

E-learning is fundamentally influenced by students’ preferred platforms. In many parts of Africa, internet access is cheaper and more reliable by phone than by PC/ laptop, so learning materials need to be accessible via mobile devices.

Distance learning can increase the number of people in education in Africa. The biggest obstacle to e-learning in Africa is really bandwidth. Undersea cables should provide more bandwidth to Africa this year in 2010, but there are still obstacles with unstable electricity supply, lack of computer equipment and internet access at schools. Challenges are: a) High student to computer ratio due to relatively few computer workstations as compared to the high numbers of students; b) Poor internet connectivity; and c) Erratic power supply. African Teachers are often used to being the omniscient sage on the stage – and pupils’ parents expect them to be so. They therefore tend to be pedagogically conservative and unconvinced by approaches such as personalised learning or games-based learning.


Elearning Africa

(http://www.elearning-africa.com/)

This is the continent’s largest gathering of high-level policy makers, decision makers and practitioners from education, business and government. It is the key networking event for developing eLearning capacities in Africa.

It holds annual 3-day conferences and eLearning Africa 2012 will take place from 23rd to 25th May in Cotonou, Benin. Focusing on eLearning and Sustainability, eLearning Africa 2012 will explore creative ways in which eLearning can support development and help to build a sustainable future. The key themes will be sustainable technologies and infrastructure; eLearning for sustainable communities; sustainable change management; eLearning and sustainable resources; and sustainable economy, culture and society. The conference is held in English, French and Portuguese. It includes plenary sessions, presentation and special focus sessions, practical demonstrations and debates on specific topics, as well as various informal networking opportunities where participants can share their experiences, ideas and perspectives. The conference is accompanied by an exhibition and demonstration area, where exhibitors can showcase their latest products and services and hold meetings with decision-makers within the African education and training community.


OER Africa

(http://www.oerafrica.org/)

This is an initiative established by the South African Institute for Distance Education (Saide) to play a leading role in driving the development and use of Open Educational Resources (OER) across all education sectors on the African continent.


International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa

The UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA), the only Category 1 Institute in Africa, has been working to build the capacities of teacher education institutions in Africa in such areas as curriculum, management, research, ICT and ODL. IICBA has been implementing its interventions in African Member States through face-to-face training workshops at national and sub-regional levels, conducting research on teacher issues, publishing and disseminating best practices.

IICBA’s ICT-enhanced Teacher Development Model, known for short as ICTeTD Model, stresses the importance of training teachers in the application of technology to teaching their specific subjects, rather than merely training in the technology itself: http://goo.gl/t0ikJ

It draws attention to the failure to adequately prepare teachers to teach with technology, giving the following reasons:

  1. The emphasis of educational technology courses on the acquisition of technical skills. Although computing skills are important, skills-based courses are not enough for preparing teachers to teach with technology, because they are usually taught in isolation from a subject-specific context.
  2. The lack of a subject-specific pedagogical focus in many technology preparation programs. Even in those programs where subject applications are discussed, matters of how technology interacts with the content and content-specific pedagogy are not sufficiently explored.
  3. The lack of national policy for teacher training in the pedagogical integration of ICT and the lack of theory and conceptual frameworks to inform and guide research and actions in the area of teaching with technology.
  4. The lack of incentive plans for teachers.
  5. The absence of e-learning resource banks specific to African education systems.

The PanAf Projec

(http://africaict.org/)

75 Researchers in 13 African countries have produced 3 booklets + 28 recommendations, all addressing the Pedagogical Integration of ICT.

8 recommendations for policy makers, teacher trainers and other education administrators: (http://www.ernwaca.org/panaf/IMG/pdf/administrators.pdf)

  1. Develop a national policy for the pedagogical integration of ICT.
  2. Develop a national policy for teacher training in the pedagogical integration of ICT.
  3. Provide ongoing training for school staff.
  4. Develop technopedagogical resource banks for different education levels.
  5. Set up incentive plans for teachers and students to use ICT.
  6. Set up spaces for collaborative dialogue (e.g., forums, annual conferences) on the pedagogical integration of ICT.
  7. Identify the academic competencies to which ICT can be applied for teaching and learning.
  8. Establish public–private partnerships.

12 ways for head-teachers to optimize the use of ICT at school: (http://africaict.org/docs/principals.pdf)

  1. Ensure equal access to ICT for all students: girls as well as boys.
  2. Ensure equal access to ICT for all teachers, particularly in the teachers’ room.
  3. Given the potential of the Web, ensure that all computers at the school are connected

to the Internet.

  1. Organize relevant training programs so that all teachers can use ICT in their teaching practice.
  2. When teaching computer courses, take into account the students’ technology needs and skills.
  3. Find innovate ways to motivate teachers to make collaborative use of ICT.
  4. Find ways to make ICT mobile and transportable so that as many students and teachers as possible can benefit.
  5. Use ICT both inside and outside the classroom for teaching and learning school subjects.
  6. Set up projects that put students in contact with students from other schools, regions and countries.
  7. Designate an ICT resource teacher to each school or to a number of schools (no need for computer experts).
  8. Promote collaborative work and social interaction by having students use ICT.
  9. Use ICT to facilitate school organization and administrative management (e.g., student’s records).

8 recommendations to spur African research on ICT in education (http://africaict.org/docs/researchers.pdf)

  1. Reuse previously gathered data (e.g. from observatoiretic.org).
  2. Conduct empirical studies on ICT use in classrooms and schools.
  3. Vary the types of empirical studies on ICT in education.
  4. Increase the number of publications addressing
  5. Ensure that research results exert an impact on both users (teachers, principals and students) and policy makers.
  6. Foster the integration of young researchers into research projects on the pedagogical integration of ICT.
  7. Learn to consider diverse dimensions when conducting studies, such as gender, national languages, culture, persons with special needs, and geographic and socioeconomic circumstances (e.g. rural and urban areas).
  8. Use ICT to support scientific research.

Virtual initiatives in schools

SchoolNet Africa

This is a non-government organisation (NGO) that operates across the continent to improve education access, quality and efficiency through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in African schools. SchoolNet Africa works mainly with learners, teachers, policymakers and practitioners through country-based schoolnet organisations across Africa. SchoolNet Africa started in 1999 and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa where it employs staff from different African countries to manage its programs.


ACEMaths

This was a collaborative project to select, adapt and use a set of materials on the teaching and learning of maths for teacher education. These are now available for downloading for free from http://www.oerafrica.org/acemaths/ACEMathsProjectHome/tabid/132/Default.aspx


Worldreader.org E-­Reader Trial in Ghana

This involved the use of 16 Kindles by sixth-grade students at the Orphan Aid Africa School in Ayenyah, Ghana, which ran from March 16 to March 26, 2010. These trials form the very initial phase of the long term and continuing study of the application of e-reader technology in education, and their consequent effects on literacy in developing countries. Worldreader.org is a not-for-profit organization based in Barcelona, Spain and the U.S., whose aim is to make digital books accessible to everyone in the developing world.

The main findings that indicate that e-readers could be deployed successfully in similar communities and schools in developing countries are:

  1. These 6th-grade students in a village in Ghana, who had used cell phones but had no experience with computers, were all able to learn to use the Kindle successfully after several hours of training and several days of practice.
  2. Reading digital books was an acceptable alternative to reading paper books, and the kids quickly forgot they were using a device and became absorbed in the stories they were reading.
  3. Kids were excited to read using the device, in part because it was novel and fun to use, and also because it was less intimidating due to the built-in dictionary which helped readers decipher the meaning of new words.
  4. Kids also read more using the Kindle because of the variety of books on the device and the instant availability of thousands more, as well as local and timely material like Ghana football scores.
  5. The Kindles supported the process of learning to read, especially for new language learners, thanks to the built-in dictionary to look up words, and the text-to‐speech capability for pronunciation (although mechanical-sounding).

The infrastructure already in place for mobile phones supports e-readers: Low‐power Kindles successfully charged from solar-powered car batteries in an hour, while books could be downloaded via satellite internet link in 45 seconds, using the cell phone coverage in the village.

The main challenges observed that could affect adoption in developing countries were:

  1. The preparation and setup of the e-readers - buying, unpacking, charging, loading with books, etc. – was time-consuming and will be challenging to scale up without developing new methods, in co-operation with the manufacturers. There was also a lack of tools for managing many devices; for example, there was no central way to see which devices had which books loaded.
  2. There were a number of usability issues with the Kindles that, while not barriers, increased the learning curve, such as several ways to accidentally hide books, and a setting that drains the battery quickly. A light was also commonly requested, so the students could read at night.
  3. The current cost of e-readers and books, along with DRM (digital rights management) policies, would need to be adapted to the market and to educational use.
  4. Content for this trial was purchased using personal credit cards, but new payment methods will need to be supported for wide-scale deployment, such as educational invoicing, and the scratch-off cards used for mobile phones.
  5. There is currently a lack of local content available on e-readers, so local publishers would need to be encouraged to digitize their content.
  6. While ruggedness of the devices was not a problem in the study, the conditions observed - dust, dirt, rain, and the rigours of child handling – will need to be considered by e-reader manufacturers.
  7. The importance of buy-in by the school administration, and the support of a local champion, cannot be overstated. In the trial, the headmaster and the 6th-grade teacher were extremely enthusiastic and supportive, and this contributed to the success of the trial.

The e-readers continue to be used, both in Ghana and Kenya, with very positive effects on literacy skills.

Video report: http://www.aljazeera.com/video/africa/2011/10/2011102212020874118.html

Worldreader videos:

References

> <a _fcknotitle="true" href="Africa">Africa</a>
> <a _fcknotitle="true" href="VISCED supraregions">VISCED supraregions</a>
> <a _fcknotitle="true" href="Countries">Countries</a>

>> <a _fcknotitle="true" href="VISCED">VISCED</a>

Farrell, Glen and Shafika Isaacs. 2007. Survey of ICT and Education in Africa: A Summary Report, Based on

53 Country Surveys. Washington, DC: infoDev / World Bank. Available at http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.353.html


> Anglophone Africa
> Africa

>> VISCED

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