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Volume 2, Issue 3 May/June 2000

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The contents of this Issue do not necessarily reflect the policies or the views of the co-sponsors or their affiliates

6 Technology for Basic Education: A Luxury or a Necessity?


Wadi D. Haddad, Editor

If we perceive basic education only in terms of basic literacy, numeracy and rudimentary life skills, then
technology is a luxury. However, basic education for all in a modern world entails more than the conventional
recipe. The new economic and societal challenges force us to think of basic education as a learning activity,
anytime, anywhere, and for everyone. To achieve that, technology is a necessity.

9 A Vision for Basic Education in the New Century


Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, UNICEF

All children must have access to school and be able to stay there, in order to achieve basic education. There
must be good quality “second chance” education for adolescents and youth who have never been in school.
There should be a focus on the needs of those most disadvantaged and excluded from learning, both in and
out of school – girls, working children, children of ethnic minorities, and children affected by violence and
conflict, HIV/AIDS and disabilities.

10 Email to the Editor


Read what your colleagues have offered as feedback on previous issues of TechKnowLogia.

12 Basic Education for All: Global Report Card


Throughout this past decade, many countries have made concerted and significant efforts toward the goal of
basic education for all. The results constitute a mixed picture of many successes and as many obstacles.
This article provides an overview of the state of basic education across the globe.

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14 Literacy, Technological Literacy and the Digital Divide
Daniel A. Wagner, Director and Professor, International Literacy Institute, University of Pennsylvania &
UNESCO

The changing standards of literacy and technological literacy will likely produce a situation in which a digital
divide will persist well into the future. However, in the area of information and communication technology use
and access, we can take steps that will narrow this gap, but only by paying special attention to literacy issues.

17 Multi-grade Schools and Technology


Laurence Wolff and Norma Garcia, Inter-American Development Bank

Multi-grade schools will not disappear but are essential for achieving basic education for all. There are proven
methodologies for making the multi-grade school a modern, progressive and effective vehicle for learning.
Existing and new technologies ought to be exploited to implement these methodologies.

19 TechKnowNews
Governor Would Give Every Student a Laptop ♦ A Virtual Revolution in Teaching ♦ First 'Digital Divide' Bill
Passes Senate ♦ Presentation of World View Information System for Basic Education NGOs in Africa and
South Asia ♦ A Bilingual Descriptive Database of 850 Education Projects in Africa, Now Accessible Online! ♦
Technology Critic Takes on Computers in School ♦ Internet Improves Kids' Attitude to School ♦ Children
Tutoring Seniors at Internet Skills

21 The Watering Hole: Creating Learning Communities with Computers


Mary Fontaine with Richard Fuchs, The LearnLink Project, Academy for Educational Development

Throughout the developing world, there is evidence that telecenters—a.k.a. Community Learning Centers—
may be starting to create a social context for learning in the post-industrial economy. If the conviviality,
sociability and cohesion of the "watering hole" can be brought to the business of learning, then the business
of education and development will have done its job.

25 Interactive Mathematics for Basic Education: The Venezuelan Experience with IRI
Nora Ghetea Jaegerman and Victor Vasquez R.

This article describes an interactive radio instruction program in Venezuela for mathematics at the lower
primary school level. Program accomplishments are summarized in the areas of production, implementation
and evaluation.

29 Ethiopia: Educational Radio and Television


Thomas D. Tilson, Chief of Party, USAID.BESO Project
Demissew Bekele, General Manager, Educational Media Agency, Ethiopia

Ethiopia is fortunate to have a well-established and integrated system for using radio and television to
support education based on over 30 years of experience. This article describes present radio and television
programs that support primary, secondary and non-formal education as well as teacher training. It also
highlights experience with digital radio.

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32 Education for All - The Mass Media Formula
David Walker and Gajaraj Dhanarajan, The Commonwealth of Learning

In order to empower disadvantaged groups as equal partners in development, the limitations of formal and
non-formal education are now being challenged. New ways to achieve mass education, that can be both
efficient and effective, are being sought. This article describes the track record of community radio, the
possibilities of going digital and the need for a new paradigm to reform broadcast licensing and regulating.

36 Computers for Children: From the Beaches of California to the Slums of India
Sonia Jurich

This article describes what happens when children encounter a computer for the first time. Do the children
immediately interact with the computer, as if "equipped" with innate instructions for its use? Do they learn
slowly, through trial and error? How far can they go without an adult's interference?

39 Status Report 1: Applying New Technologies in Basic Education


Hilary Perraton and Charlotte Creed, International Research Foundation for Open Learning

This article provides an overview of the introduction, use, effectiveness and cost of different technologies for
basic education worldwide.

43 Status Report 2: Textbook and Learning Materials: Today and Tomorrow


This article analyzes the importance of textbooks and instructional materials, and provides an overview of
their availability, quality and modes of provision. It also outlines future trends and offers recommendations
resulting from a worldwide survey.

47 Information Systems for Education Management


Kurt Moses, Vice President, Academy for Educational Development

This article describes a framework for the use of information technology to create an education information
system that meets the needs for information at three levels: policy, management and operations. The article
walks the reader through software that illustrates this framework.

53 South Africa: Teacher Training in the Sky


Claire Brown, Violet Sithole & Robert Hofmeyr, Shoma Education Foundation, South Africa

This article describes a model of leveraging digital satellite technology to enhance the professional
development of teachers, and outlines the positive and negative experiences in applying it in South Africa.

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55 On the Move
Upcoming Events: Conference, Seminars, Exhibits, Training Courses, etc.

57 How to Evaluate Educational Software and Websites


Gregg B. Jackson, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Coordinator, George Washington University

There are approximately 20,000 educational software packages and many thousand educational websites
throughout the world. How can you decide what is good and what is a waste of time?

59 Recycling Computers: A Simple Solution for a Complex Problem


Sonia Jurich

This article describes ways by which outdated computers in government and business offices can be recycled
into schools. The issue, however, is that most computers that are being discarded no longer have software
installed, and newer software packages do not work on them. The article describes software that restores the
core functionality of old computers.

61 WorthWhileWebs
Gregg B. Jackson, Vishnu Karki, and Sole McKinnon, George Washington University

The World Wide Web now offers extensive resources that can be useful in basic education. This Issue lists a
wide range of sites that can be used by teachers or parents, and some that are intended to be used by the
learners themselves to supplement their other educational activities.

64 Virtual Presentations: Wasting No Time


Jelena Lewis

This article describes technologies that allow you to take your prepared materials and your notes on the
whiteboard and broadcast them over the web.

65 Tablets Are Back: Light and Fun


Rafael Chargel

A new series of digital devices are changing the ways we can produce information and keep the best of both
worlds: the soft touch of a pen, and the many resources of a computer. These devices allow us to write and
draw in traditional ways, sometimes using pen and paper, while creating digital copies of our notes and
drawings that can be stored, copied, faxed, e-mailed, printed, and modified.

66 Copying as You Go: Making Scanning Easier


Jelena Lewis

For teachers, presenters, and students, scanners offer an easy way to incorporate images into a presentation
and enliven an otherwise dry exchange of information. The article describes an array of portable and
handheld scanners with multiple functions.

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68 UNICEF and New Technologies
UNICEF launched two web sites; for youth and for teachers. UNICEF is also supporting Internet use for
open learning. At the same time, it will continue to explore low-cost, accessible alternatives for peoples
who cannot afford to pay for hi-tech resources, and who cannot access technology through using hi-
tech tools.

69 From Jomtien to Dakar and Beyond


Svein Osttveit, Executive Secretary of the Education for All Forum

The author describes the beginnings of the Education for All movement in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990,
the biggest stocktaking of education in history leading to the World Education Forum in Dakar in April
2000, the Dakar framework for Action and the role of technology.

71 Academy for Educational Development: Connecting People - Creating Change


Stephen Moseley, President, Academy for Educational Development

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) is an independent, nonprofit organization committed
to solving critical social problems in the United States and throughout the world through education,
research, training, social marketing, policy analysis, and innovative program design and management.
AED works at the frontiers of new thinking, new approaches, and new technologies.

72 The Commonwealth of Learning


What is the Commonwealth? What is the Commonwealth of learning? " Our long-term aim is that any learner,
anywhere in the Commonwealth, shall be able to study any distance-teaching program."

Editorial Calendar for Years 2000 and 20001

YEAR 2000
January/ March/ May/ July/ September November/
February April June August /October December

Higher Access to Basic Education Skill Formation Learning Never Teacher


Education Information & for All Ends (Lifelong) Support and
Knowledge Training

YEAR 2001
January/ March/ May/ July/ September November/
February April June August /October December

Management Science and Enterprise Social Studies Early Childhood Language


of Education Math Education Training Development and Education
Systems Parental
Education

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Wadi D. Haddad, Editor

Technology for Basic Education:


A Luxury or a Necessity?

Basic Education: Is It for All? strategies and measures, to give Education for All a new
impetus politically, strategically and operationally.

Ten years ago, I had the privilege to lead an interagency team


(UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and World Bank) that organ-
Unfinished Business
ized the World Conference on Education for All (EFA):
Meeting Basic Learning Needs, in Jomtien, Thailand. The The "Jomtien decade" witnessed significant progress in the
EFA Conference placed basic education on the development expansion and improvement of basic education worldwide
agenda in a strong manner, consolidating a worldwide con- and dramatic changes in the policies of development organi-
sensus on the crucial importance of basic education for indi- zations. Yet, despite the progress, we are far from the attain-
vidual, social, economic and national development. Opera- ment of the EFA goal and much remains to be done:
tionally, it called for meeting basic learning needs for all by
universalizing access, promoting equity, focusing on learn- • Over 100 million primary school age children remain
ing, broadening the means and scope of basic education, en- out of school, of whom 60% are girls;
hancing the environment for learning, strengthening partner-
ships, developing a supporting policy context, mobilizing • About 875 million youths and adults are illiterate, 63%
resources and strengthening international solidarity. Since of whom are women;
then, other World Conferences, with equal force, injected
new items into the development agenda or reinforced exist- • The emphasis on early childhood development is not
ing ones: environment, population, human rights, children’s commensurate with the crucial nature of this life stage;
welfare, women in development, and social development.
These initiatives did not crowd out “Education for All"; on • The quality of learning is still low in many countries,
the contrary, invariably, EFA’s role was reinforced as a nec- and the capacity to define and monitor this quality is
essary condition for the success of these other agenda items. lacking in most developing countries;
Ten years later, in April 26-28, 2000, world education and • Inequities continue to persist by gender, region and so-
development leaders met again to cio-economic backgrounds;
• ponder carefully and candidly the attainment record of • The means and scope of education continue to be narrow
the EFA goal, and draw lessons from constraints, fail- and confined to historical models of delivery, and the
ures and successes; use of other channels continues to be ad hoc and mar-
ginal;
• critically assess the future economic, social, political and
intellectual environment of EFA, with its challenges and • The increase in quantitative and qualitative demand for
opportunities, and basic learning needs is not matched by commensurate
increase in resources.
• revisit the Framework for Action for EFA in light of the The backlog in meeting the target of Basic Education for All,
expected challenges and the changing context, and retool coupled with the new demands for education, places a formi-

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dable burden on countries. A linear projection of past prog- hood education. Second, it reveals that some learning prob-
ress indicates that business as usual will not achieve desired lems may be solved through clinical intervention in the fu-
targets within reasonable time. This may place some coun- ture. Third, it points to the need to move away from educa-
tries at risk of not developing their human capital to a thresh- tion as it is presently constructed: individual, isolated-
old necessary for poverty alleviation, and economic and so- learning, extracted from context, focused on superficial (rote)
cial development. learning. Brain growth and development dictate that educa-
tion be structured to allow children to make sense of their
This dramatic challenge poses serious questions for educa- environments and problem-solve, and learn through social
tion and training planning and forces a rethinking in the way activities that have meaning to them in an environment that
education is perceived, managed and delivered. The haunting is secure and challenging. It is these very collaborative
issue is how to provide high quality basic education to all problem-solving skills that workers in today’s society need
children, youth and adults within prevalent constraints -- to develop.
physical, human and financial.
Drastic changes in national and world economic processes
Technology for What and skill requirements coupled with dramatic growth
in knowledge necessary for citizenship and
Basic Education workplace, require a shift in objectives.
…if we look at basic edu- The need is for an education that
enhances the ability of learners to
Certainly, information and cation only in terms of ba- access, assess, adopt and apply
communication technologies sic literacy, numeracy and knowledge, to think
have the potential to independently, exercise
overcome geographical rudimentary life skills, then
appropriate judgment and
distances, empower teachers technology is a luxury. collaborate with others to make
and learners through information, sense of new situations. The objective
and bring the world into the classroom of education is no longer simply to convey a
by the touch of buttons or the glare of a screen. body of knowledge, but to teach how to learn, problem-
But if we look at basic education only in terms of basic liter- solve and synthesize the old with the new. In addition, soci-
acy, numeracy and rudimentary life skills, then technology is ety is looking to the school of the future to produce good
a luxury. However, basic education for all in a modern world citizens. To meet these objectives, education must be engag-
entails more than the conventional recipe. The new economic ing and authentic: Engaging in the sense that students are
and societal challenges force us to think of basic education as involved in the learning process, and not viewed simply “re-
a learning activity, anytime, anywhere, and for everyone. ceptacles” for knowledge; authentic in the sense that what
To achieve that, technology is a necessity and not a luxury. they are learning has meaning to them as individuals, mem-
bers of society, and workers in the market place.
1. Basic Education As A Learning Activity
2. Basic Education Anytime
“Whether or not expanded educational opportunities will
translate into meaningful development – for an individual or Learning is not restricted to the time spent in school. It be-
for society – depends ultimately on whether people actually gins at birth, occurs in and outside educational institutions
learn as a result of those opportunities, i.e., whether they and continues thereafter. So basic education for all requires a
incorporate useful knowledge, reasoning ability, skills, and system that provides opportunities for lifelong learning to
values.” (Jomtien Declaration, article 4). Clearly this has help individuals, families, work-places and communities to
implications for how success is measured. High enrollments adapt to economic and societal changes, and to maintain a
and efficient student flow, while necessary, do not indicate door open to those who have dropped out along the way.
by themselves whether a country is achieving an acceptable Learning throughout life is one of the keys to the twenty-first
level of education. Actual learning achievement is the real century. There are a number of reasons for this:
measure. But how does learning take place? The importance
of this question for education is evident, but the answer has • Rapid technological change and growth in knowledge
been sketchy. Only recent research in cognitive and neuro- and information will require constant learning;
science, however, has begun to offer solid information on
how people do learn. Thanks to the latest MRI technology, • As society evolves, we are unlikely to continue the pres-
we can practically observe how some learning takes place. ent “life-cycle” pattern of prolonged education at the be-
ginning of life, and an extended retirement period at the
The implications of brain-based research are profound. First end;
of all, it places a spotlight on the importance of early child-

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with its vast potential for teachers and learners alike. This
• Lifelong learning provides opportunities for those who Issue of the Journal provides a sample of websites for the
are unemployed to re-enter the workforce; and advancement of basic education.

• Given the importance of the learning foundations and of Radio, television and the Internet are fast becoming one de-
continued learning in knowledge-intensive societies livery medium. They can be accessed in schools, at home, or
characterized by rapid change, those who miss out – ei- at the workplace. Communities that cannot afford developing
ther initially or later on – suffer effective exclusion. programs for them may benefit from those developed in
other communities or by a central educational agency.
3. Basic Education for Everyone
The Internet poses a problem of affordability in low-income
The biggest challenge is to reach individuals and groups that communities. One solution has been the establishment of
are historically under-served: girls and women that Community Learning Centers, featured in every issue
face cultural and physical obstacles to come of TechKnowLogia. These centers, many of
to educational institutions, rural which are run by the communities
populations that are too thinly themselves, aim to enhance basic
dispersed to populate "regular"
With the proper har- education, train teachers, develop
schools with reasonable class nessing of information local businesses, strengthen
sizes, adult workers that have no municipal administration and civil
and communication society organizations, and provide
time to attend regular courses,
and persons who cannot come to technologies, the goal of health care information for popu-
learning centers because of basic education for all, lations in small villages. These
security hazards. Here we need to centers provide connectivity and
be innovative and think "outside
anywhere and anytime, computers, while emphasizing the
the box." In some situations, we may is within our reach. learning functions of the
need to go "over" the hurdles and communication technologies that are
provide education where these potential made available.
learners are - anywhere.
Into the Future…
What Technologies?
Education for All is critically important. Attaining it is a hu-
Information and communication technologies offer a great man need, a societal must and an economic necessity. With
potential to provide this kind of basic learning, anytime, the proper harnessing of information and communication
anywhere to everyone. The crucial question is what technol- technologies, the goal of basic education for all, anywhere
ogy to use for what purposes and under what conditions. and anytime, is within our reach. But the reality is that no
The possibilities and mutations are many - from the simple to technology can fix bad educational philosophy and practice,
the complex and from the individual to the mass scale. This nor can it compensate for a lack of political commitment.
Issue of TechKnowLogia alone introduces a number of tech- The decisions about what to use, how and when, are political
nologies that can enhance classroom teaching/learning. Then and educational decisions that must be made consciously and
there is the radio, a very underutilized technology that is daringly. As we look into the future, we should keep in mind
widely available, inexpensive and educationally effective. It that educational technologies will be further developing in a
can provide educational opportunities anywhere, anytime. phenomenal manner and their costs will be dropping drasti-
Television is another powerful communications medium that, cally. They are not the panacea for education, but can we
in half a century, has expanded to many remote villages attain basic education for all without them? In the poor
across the globe. It can simulate reality, compress activities countries, and under present conditions, they may not be af-
and cut across borders and cultures. Finally, is the Internet fordable, but can poor countries afford not to fully use them?

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Carol Bellamy
Executive Director, UNICEF

A Vision for Basic Education in the New Century

Basic education for all (EFA) has become a universal EFA. UNICEF is pleased to be playing a key leadership role
objective. To ensure its fulfillment, I see six crucial and in this Initiative.
complementary elements.
Quality basic education is a necessity. Learners must be
First, all young children must be ready for school and for healthy, well nourished, and ready to learn – where
life – that from birth they are nurtured in safe, caring, and necessary, through childcare and pre-school programs of
gender-sensitive environments that help them become good quality. Systems must provide relevant curricula and
healthy, alert, secure, and able to learn. Nations must learning materials which are gender-sensitive and in
promote more comprehensive policies and programs to meet languages that teachers and children can understand, for
the health, nutrition, and development needs of young literacy, numeracy, and education content on human rights,
children, especially the most excluded. gender equality, health, HIV/AIDS, and peace. Teachers
must be well trained to use flexible classroom arrangements
Secondly, the right of every child to basic education must and child-centered methods, so that children can participate
be fulfilled. All children must have access to school and be actively and think critically.
able to stay there, in order to achieve basic education. There
must be good quality “second chance” education for Schools must have adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities,
adolescents and youth who have never been in school. There and school policies that guarantee physical and mental
should be a focus on the needs of those most disadvantaged health, safety, and security. Above all, children must end up
and excluded from learning, both in and out of school – girls, learning what they are meant to, and need to, learn. Schools
working children, children of ethnic minorities, and children must have practical ways to assess these results and report on
affected by violence and conflict, HIV/AIDS and disabilities. them for all to see: parents and communities, as well as
national governments. Both new and old technologies, such
Every school and community must know how to seek out as Internet connectivity and radio instruction, must be used
excluded and at-risk children and ensure they attend school. more creatively to reduce, rather than increase, disparities in
Where needed, more flexible, “non-formal,” targeted access to quality learning. Government policies must ensure
approaches to education must be developed. Getting the last affordable access for all young learners, wherever they live.
5-30% of children into school is likely to take more
innovation and be more expensive than the first 70-95%. The In situations of conflict, violence, and instability, learning
250 million children presently caught up in child labor must must be started quickly. UNICEF has shown in many
be provided with meaningful and affordable quality countries, most recently in Kosovo, East Timor and
educational opportunities. Mozambique, that this requires the ability to rapidly assess
educational and psycho-social needs of children, provide
Thirdly, we must put a special focus on girls. It is a global essential supplies and materials, promote local governance
shame that two thirds of those children out of school are and partnerships in restoring education, and support relevant
girls. If this problem is not addressed, Education for All will and rapid curriculum and teacher development.
surely fail. Girls must have full and equal access to, and
achievement in, basic and secondary education. Denying Finally, and most urgently, children affected by
girls basic education is a massive violation of human rights. HIV/AIDS deserve immediate attention. Systems must
Accelerated basic education must be strengthened, and ensure creative and dynamic life-skills programs that both
additional education opportunities provided for adolescent transmit information and change behavior, so that education
girls. All forms of gender discrimination in education has an impact on the pandemic – on decreasing the rate of the
systems and schools, in curricula and learning materials, and transmission of the virus. Education systems must also act to
in teaching and learning processes must be eliminated. decrease the impact of the pandemic on education – on the
Schools must be located where girls can reach them safely, demand for, supply of, and quality of education – and on
and every school must have separate and functioning latrines educational systems, schools, and learning. HIV/AIDS has
for girls and boys. The UN Girls’ Education Initiative an especially great impact on the education and wellbeing of
launched by the Secretary General in his Millenium Report is girls.
an all-out global effort to crack the major impediment to

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©Corel

Is the Divide Digital? March/April 2000 The Objective


The objective of the such a body would be to ensure that all
I have read with interest your comments in TechKnowlogia electronic and open distance learning delivery reaches an
and in particular the reference you make to the need for international credible standard that is both acceptable and
changes in educational behavior. I recently attended the beneficial for the client.
GKII conference in Malaysia and was disappointed that there
was less attention given to this subject than I had hoped. The Accreditation Criteria
However, I am pleased to say that the need for "knowledge- I believe the following criteria form the basis of the accredi-
based education" was included in the draft action plan, which tation process: the tutoring and the quality of the delivery
emerged from the Action Summit. including assessment and moderation procedures; the quality
of the materials and the curriculum; the electronic manage-
LESLEY ANDREWS ment of the system; the pastoral and academic support of the
United Kingdom client; and the fiscal and administrative capacity of the pro-
vider. I have researched this field quite extensively and have
much more information on the above criteria and how this
Is Virtual Education for Real? Issues of Quality can be measured. I see that this body would have to be sup-
and Accreditation Jan/Feb 2000 ported by an advisory panel, comprising of industry, educa-
tion and government experts, to oversee the whole operation.
Having read your article with extreme interest I would like to Of course there would be subsidiary committees responsible
present my comments on this subject. for specific technical areas. I hope that the above comments
are of interest to you and I look forward to any response that
Introduction you or your colleagues may have.
I believe that there are three specific areas to be accredited,
each presenting increasingly bigger challenges. These are; Regards,
the accreditation of the actual delivery mechanisms, the ac- JEREMY P LUCAS
creditation of the materials used and the accreditation of the London, UK
outcomes. This I see to be the 'Holy Grail'.

As a manifestation of the increase in electronic and open General Feedback


distance learning in Europe (and worldwide), I consider that
there should be a single, independent international body that After reading the first few issues of TechKnowLogia, I want
accredits and is the recognized professional body that offers to congratulate you on your site and journal. Our Director,
a model of best practice for Electronic and Open Distance Mark Schneider, recently announced that Peace Corps will
Learning. As electronic distance learning is becoming the take advantage of the information technology skills that our
common form of educational delivery for training, in par- 7500 Volunteers have brought with them to assignments in
ticular vocational training, throughout Europe and world- all sectors in 77 countries. Peace Corps has begun to inte-
wide, it is essential that there is a recognized standard for the grate ICTs into all of its projects. TechKnowLogia will be a
delivery of such training. This would provide the beneficiar- particularly valuable tool for us in this effort as a source of
ies with the reassurance of quality and it would also serve to information, ideas, resources, and reference to potential part-
ensure that the providers maintain their standards of practice. ners. Best wishes for continued success.
It is such true public accountability that provides user credi-
bility. Kelly Morris
Manager, Peace Corps

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I appreciate the efforts and believe that I am going to be
benefited by it. My heartiest congratulations on this effort. TechKnowLogia™
Published by
Academic Fellow Knowledge Enterprise, Inc.
Indian Institute of Management, India
In collaboration with
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Or-
At St. Jude we are in process of developing a program in ganization (UNESCO )
northeast Brazil to establish adequate treatment for children Organization for Economic Co-operation
with cancer. We are using a combination of advanced com- and Development (OECD )
puter technologies (telemedicine) for education and would
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
like to use cheaper strategies to deploy information in the Wadi D. Haddad, President, Knowledge Enterprise, Inc.
poorer areas. Many of your journal articles contain pertinent
information on these issues. INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD:
Thomas Alexander, Director, Employment, Labour and
Social Affairs Directorate, OECD
Director, International Outreach Program Gajaraj Dhanarajan, President & CEO,
Associate Member, Department of Hematology/Oncology The Commonwealth of Learning
Brazil Dee Dickenson, CEO, New Horizons for Learning
Alexandra Draxler, Director, Task force on Education for
the Twenty-first Century (UNESCO)
Jacques Hallak, Director, Int'l Bureau of Education
Thank you very much. It is such an interesting site, espe- Pedro Paulo Poppovic, Secretary of Distance Education,
cially useful for my studies (MEd in IT). Federal Ministry of Education, Brazil
Nicholas Veliotes, President Emeritus,
Association of American Publishers
Lecturer
Centre for the Advancement of ADVISORY EDITORIAL COMMITTEE:
Science and Mathematics Education Joanne Capper, Sr. Education Specialist, World Bank
South Africa Claudio Castro, Chief Education Adviser, IDB
Dennis Foote, Director, LearnLinks, AED
Gregg Jackson, Assoc. Prof., George Washington Univ.
James Johnson, Deputy Director, GIIC
Let me congratulate you for bringing out this excellent Jour- Frank Method, Dir., Washington Office, UNESCO
nal for the Advancement of Knowledge and Learning. I came Laurence Wolff, Sr. Consultant, IDB
to know of it very recently through a list server notification CONTRIBUTING EDITORS:
and I am amazed by the collection of articles. I think a jour- Jarl Bengtsson, Head, CERI, OEDC
nal in this area focusing on Knowledge Networking and Sonia Jurich, Consultant
Learning has a niche of its own. Glenn Kleiman, VP, Education Development Center
Dan Wagner, Director, International Literacy Institute

I am sure it will be very useful for development practitioners MANAGING EDITOR:


and organizations, especially those in the developing world Sandra Semaan
to have access to the updated research and models being de-
GENERAL QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
veloped. I would be happy to see more developing world Info@KnowledgeEnterprise.org
case studies in it. FEEDBACK ON ARTICLES
TechKnowLogia@KnowledgeEnterprise.org
Program Office EDITORIAL MATTERS:
TechKnowLogia@KnowledgeEnterprise.org
Sustainable Development Networking Programme SPONSORSHIP AND ADVERTISING
India Sandra@KnowledgeEnterprise.org

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This issue is co-sponsored by:

UNICEF
EFA Forum
AED
Commonwealth of Learning

! 11 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


BASIC EDUCATION FOR ALL
Global Report Card

There is a universal recognition of the critical importance of education that meets the basic learning needs
of all citizens: children, youth and adults. Throughout this past decade, many countries have made
concerted and significant efforts toward the goal of basic education for all. The results constitute a mixed
picture of many successes and as many obstacles. This article provides an overview of the state of basic
education across the globe. (Source: International Consultative Forum on Education for All (the EFA
Forum), Unesco, Paris. More is available at the website: www2.unesco.org/wef).


ACCESS In Africa, countries such as Cape Verde, Malawi,
Mauritius, South Africa and Zimbabwe have achieved
primary enrollment rates of 90 percent or more. Uganda
Overall, access to basic education has increased for both has more than doubled its enrollment in two years.
children and adults, but illiteracy rates are still too high. • School enrollment in Asia has outpaced the region’s
population growth rate and outdistanced the rest of the
Pre-school: world. China and Indonesia are close to achieving full
primary school enrollment. Bangladesh doubled its
• About 104 million children worldwide were enrolled in education budget with a resulting 19 percent increase in
pre-school in 1998, a 5 percent increase from a decade primary school enrollment.
earlier. Pre-school enrollment figures vary from close to • However, dropout rates are still very high. A quarter of
100 percent in Bermuda, Malaysia, Belgium and Sweden the 96 million pupils who entered school for the first
to 2 percent or less in countries struggling with war and time in 1995 is likely to abandon schooling before grade
economic crisis. 5. In South Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and
• In Asia, the number of kindergartens and nurseries Sub-Saharan Africa, less than three out of four children
increased by 25 percent in the past decade. reach Grade 5. In many countries, less than half of the
• In the Caribbean, 80.3 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds were children will complete basic education and many will
preschoolers in 1997. drop out at the end of the second grade.
• Although most early childhood programs in Latin
America are found in middle-class, urban areas, Adult Education:
innovative programs are geared toward economically
deprived groups; for instance, the Wawa Wasi, in Peru • From 1970 to 1998, the number of literate adults
trains local women to care for children at home, and has increased from 1.5 billion to 3.3 billion. Currently, the
reached over 700,000 children. overall adult literacy rate is 85 percent for men and 74
percent for women.
Primary Education: • The illiteracy rate for young adults between 15 to 24
year-old has declined to 13 percent.
• In 1990, 599 million children were in school. In 1998, • However, at least 875 million adults remain illiterate, of
this number rose to 681 million. which 63.8 percent are women (the same proportion as
• Since 1990, about 10 million more children go to school 10 years ago).
every year, which is nearly double the 1980-90 average.
In addition to Western Europe and the United States,
East Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean
are now close to achieving universal primary education.

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EQUITY • Many countries are prioritizing issues of quality,
focusing on curriculum reform, teacher training,
Despite significant progress, many disparities are still textbook revision and monitoring learning achievement.
found, even in developed countries, particularly in relation For instance, in India, where school enrollment has
to women, ethnic minorities and people in poor, rural and reached 71 percent, the District Primary Education
remote communities. Program has decentralized schools, increased
community involvement, raised teachers’ salaries and
• Latin America is employing technology to reach isolated equipped classrooms.
areas and indigenous populations. Brazil and Mexico are • Poorly prepared teachers are one of the main causes of
leaders in the educational use of television, while low-quality education. After achieving 96 percent
Guatemala and Ecuador use mostly the radio. primary school enrollment, Brazil is concentrating
• Multigrade teaching is another technology that has been efforts on improving the quality of teachers (about half
employed with considerable success to educate children of the 1.5 million teachers in state primary schools in
in poor and remote areas. The Escuela Nueva, in Brazil have a college degree).
Colombia, is a model that is being replicated in many • Improving the educational environment is another area
countries, including Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, and the of concern. A UNESCO/UNICEF study in fourteen
Philippines. In this model, students progress at their least developed countries in Asia and Africa found that
own pace and can drop out temporarily, if necessary (to between 35 and 90 percent of schools needed repairing
help in the harvest, for instance), without repeating or rebuilding. Many had no furniture or running water,
grades. (see Multigrade Schools and Technology article and the majority had few, and outdated educational
in this issue of TechKnowLogia.) materials.
• An issue of major concern for countries worldwide is the • An effort is also being made to increase support for
gender gap. Forty-four million more girls were attending education by making it more meaningful to the
school in 1998 compared to 1990, and in Latin America, population. Community learning centers and curriculum
the gender gap is almost a thing of the past. However, re-evaluation are part of this movement to make
girls make 60 percent of the world’s school-aged education more relevant to local needs.
children who are not in school.
• Many African countries introduced policies supporting
education for women. For instance, Benin exempts girls
FINANCING EDUCATION
in rural areas from paying school fees and Eritrea has
trained 300 female teachers to increase girls’ enrollment. • Globally, about 63 percent of the cost of education come
Malawi has eliminated school fees for girls and from governmental budgets, 35 percent from parents,
abolished compulsory uniforms. Guinea raised the communities, the private sector and non-governmental
marriage age and made it an offence for male teachers to organizations, and 2 percent from overseas aid
harass female pupils. programs. However, early childhood education is
• To overcome traditional beliefs and attitudes that mostly financed by community and non-government
interfere with girls’ education, some countries are also agencies.
developing community-based campaigns. For instance, • Multilateral commitments to education rose from $ 1
Tanzania established an initiative to help girls speak out billion in 1990 to nearly $2 billion in 1994, falling back
about their problems and find solutions to overcome to $1.3 billion in 1998.
obstacles to their social development. A rural • Although education budgets may have increased, total
community-based project in Mali used riddles, rhymes national budgets increased at a faster rate. In many
and the radio to change long-held attitudes toward girls countries, rising inflation and social crises have
and women and encourage the community to send girls hampered the ability of governments to invest in
to school. The campaign almost doubled the enrollment education. Indeed, poverty is the most important single
of girls in school. factor explaining failure or inability to meet educational
target goals set by governments.
• By allocating close to 6 percent of their gross national
QUALITY product to education, Bangladesh, Brazil and Egypt have
made striking progress and proved that Education for All
is an achievable goal that requires strong political
In the past decade, the quality of education was given less commitment.
attention, while countries struggled to universalize basic
education. Now, quality is coming to the center stage.

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Literacy,
Technological Literacy
and the Digital Divide
Daniel A. Wagner*
Director and Professor, International Literacy Institute (ILI)
University of Pennsylvania & UNESCO

The Literacy Divide literacy really means, probably due to the rapidly changing
nature of ICT developments across the globe.
The United Nations estimates that there are one billion illiter-
ate adults in the world today (about one-quarter of the We know also that educational and literacy levels play an
world’s adult population), the vast majority of whom are important role in the likelihood that a person will own a
located in the poorest half of the world. Furthermore, recent computer or be linked to the Internet. This has led to the
surveys suggest that this situation is even more serious than popularization of the notion of the “digital divide” – a gap
previously believed. Industrialized (OECD) countries now that separates the “haves” and “have-nots,” irrespective of
admit to having very serious problems of their own in liter- country. Consider recent statistics in the US (U.S. Dept. of
acy and basic skills, with up to 25% of adults considered to Commerce, 1999):
be lacking the basic skills needed to function effectively in
the workforce (see OECD/Statistics Canada, 1995; Tuijnman • 61.6% of those with college degrees now use the Inter-
et al., 1997). net, in contrast to only 6.6% of those with an elementary
school education.
Of course, we should quickly note that these two statistics are
a result of changing standards and definitions for literacy that • At home, those with a college degree or higher are over
have taken place over recent decades. Indeed, if the OECD eight times more likely to have a computer than the least
standard for literacy were used to measure literacy in devel- educated and nearly sixteen times more likely to have
oping countries, the number of adult illiterates in developing home Internet access.
countries would likely go up by at least two or three fold.
This seems to be the case, in great measure, due to the often • The "digital divide" for Internet use between those at
poor quality of primary schooling in many developing coun- highest and lowest education levels widened by 25%
tries (Wagner, 2000). from 1997 to 1998.

Technological Literacy • Those with college degrees or higher are ten times more
likely to have Internet access at work as persons with
only some high school education.
Clearly, the problem of inadequate literacy remains a sur-
prisingly large and pressing issue around the world. As we
While data on Internet use is changing rapidly, the best avail-
move into the information age, many policy makers have
able evidence suggests that Americans with less education -
been raising the issue of individual standards for knowledge
those who might benefit most from the Internet's educational
of information and communications technologies (ICT) –
value - are falling further behind in digital access.
what is often called “technological literacy.” Interestingly, no
country appears to have on record exactly what technological
It is fair to say that the “digital divide” is a global phenome-

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non. In industrialized countries, the knowledge economy, development and a poor technological infrastructure. Recent
powered by the Internet and e-commerce, has become a key advances in the application of new technologies for youth
driver of growth and productivity, leading to new levels of non-formal education and adult literacy are beginning to ap-
prosperity. Yet, at the same time, a global digital divide is pear. Clearly, without basic literacy skills, disadvantaged
growing, such that the poor and disadvantaged peoples of populations will have major difficulties in acquiring and
both industrialized and developing countries are falling fur- utilizing the technological literacy skills needed for the new
ther and further behind in education, information technology, knowledge economy.
and economic and social development.
Promising Initiatives
Bridging the Gap
In recent years, some promising initiatives have begun to
To bridge this technological and education gap will not be address literacy and technology gaps, especially in industri-
easy. In the developing world, the disadvantaged in-school alized countries (Wagner & Hopey, 1999). In the U.S. for
and out-of-school youth and adults are actually composed of example, with federal education support, NCAL is working
many diverse groups, such as women, ethnic and linguistic in partnership with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
minorities, refugees and migrants. This diversity is one of the and Kentucky Educational Television, in the LiteracyLink
most important features in understanding why narrowly fo- project, to create resources for American adults who wish a
cused, middle-class oriented, and “one size fits all” education second chance to complete their high school diploma without
programs - especially when complex technology is intro- having to set foot again in a classroom. Materials are being
duced - have often met with poor developed that will assist learners in
results and lost resources. Indeed, preparing for the GED (U.S. high
even the current dominance of the school equivalency diploma).
English language on the WWW
has had, as a consequence, an In addition, NCAL has been developing
exclusionary aspect to it. a staff training and development
program for adult educators who wish
In the richer half of the world’s to improve their instruction
countries today, it is not un- competencies in this domain. As of
common to find initiatives in 1998, thousands of teachers across the
education that involve ICTs in United States have begun to utilize this
primary, secondary and tertiary system with an electronic community of
(university) education. Yet, in the teachers, on-line workshops, pre-
poor countries of the world ©Corel evaluated websites, and a database of
(containing about 65% of the Internet-based lesson plans. This system
world’s population), relatively is designed to provide teachers with
little has been attempted in this specially tailored online access to a
regard, and almost nothing for the wide assortment of existing literacy
most disadvantaged populations in these countries. This was resources. A series of live satellite-based videoconferences
one of the primary conclusions of the International Roundta- (via PBS) is also provided to an average of 20,000 teachers
ble on The Lifelong Learning and New Technologies Gap: and administrators annually.
Reaching the Disadvantaged, held in Philadelphia in Decem-
ber 1999, which was co-sponsored by the University of LiteracyLink is currently in development, and research to
Pennsylvania (National Center on Adult Learning better understand the impact of Internet-based technology on
[NCAL]/ILI), OECD, UNESCO, U.S. Department of Educa- adult learning and literacy through distance education has
tion, and IBM Corporation. just begun. Four general lines of research are being pursued:
(1) What are the differences in literacy skill acquisition be-
Another challenge from the December 1999 International tween those adult learners who use the online materials and
Roundtable concerned how to avoid the inevitable problems practice exams and those who do not? (2) Does the use of
and costs associated with the integration of emerging and online assessment make any difference in learning literacy
changing technologies into educational programs and proc- skills? (3) What are the differences in the effective use of the
esses that are practical on the ground, especially in impover- online resources by students and by teachers that are attribut-
ished settings. Literacy programs, in particular, are suscepti- able to particular instructional environments, such as library
ble to such problems, as this is an area which has been con- workstations, the workplace, or classroom instruction? and
tinuously under-funded, with relatively little professional (4) What is the relationship of online resources and video to

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learning, i.e., how does the use of video in conjunction with developing countries:
online activities affect learning?
• Making sure that learning, rather than hardware, is at the
LiteracyLink is one of the first and most comprehensive ini- center of any initiative on the digital divide;
tiatives to harness the power of the Internet to provide in-
struction “on-demand” to adult learners, as well as commu- • Ensuring a consumer-oriented and context/culture-
nities, libraries, schools, and homes. Through this initiative, sensitive approach that will maintain motivation and in-
adult learners in the U.S. will have access to the widest range terest;
of relevant quality materials ever made available. Whether
and how adult learners can take advantage of this system • Taking advantage of private sector ICT advances; and
outside of the U.S. (there are no particular technical barriers
except access to the Internet itself) remains to be explored. • Maintaining focus on the poor and disadvantaged, rather
than just on communities that only want ‘more’ technol-
What About Developing Countries? ogy.

In sum, the changing standards of literacy and technological


In developing countries, beyond issues of cost (which are
literacy will likely produce a situation in which a digital di-
declining rapidly), the benefits of ICT are actually rather well
vide will persist well into the future. There will always be, as
suited for coping with the problems of basic literacy and
there always has been, a gap between the rich and poor.
technological literacy. First, poor people in developing coun-
However, in the area of ICT use and access, we can take
tries (and many in industrialized countries as well) tend to
steps that will narrow this gap rather than widening it, but
live in dispersed geographical contexts and are comprised of
only by paying special attention to literacy issues that can
diverse populations of youth and adult learners. Second, there
either hinder or help more people in gaining a foothold to-
is limited and thinly distributed professional expertise in
wards an increasingly technological future.
terms of teachers. And, third, there is a need to connect
learners and instructors interactively in an asynchronous
manner that takes advantage of learners’ availability outside References:
of the classroom.
! OECD/Statistics Canada (1995). Literacy, economy and
Thus, a focus on the professional development and training society. Paris: OECD.
of teachers in developing countries (in a manner similar to ! Tuijnman, A., Kirsch, I. & Wagner, D. A., (Eds.).
what NCAL is doing in the U.S.) provides a relevant locus (1997) Adult basic skills: Innovations in measurement
for this kind of effort, assuming the cost constraints can be and policy analysis. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
met. Teachers may be become “intermediaries” for bridging ! U.S. Department of Commerce/NTIA. (1999). Fall
the digital divide for the tens of millions of low-literate or through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide. A Report
illiterate youth and young adults who are in school or are in on the Telecommunications and Information Technology
non-formal education programs in developing countries. Gap in America. Washington, D.C.: author.
Teacher training resources can be delivered through existing ! Wagner, D. A. (2000). Global thematic study on literacy
training colleges, and would comprise CD-ROM based mate- and adult education. Paper prepared for the World Edu-
rials, collaboration technology for sharing materials, pupil cation Forum, Dakar, Senegal.
training resources, and greater culturally appropriate and ! Wagner, D. A. & Hopey, C. H. (1999). Literacy, elec-
multi-lingual content. tronic networking and the Internet. In Wagner, D. A.,
Venezky, R.L., & Street, B.L., (Eds.). Literacy: An In-
To achieve this broad aim, and with an eye on both literacy ternational Handbook. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
and technological literacy skills, a number of basic principles
should guide future activities to bridge the digital divide in

• Author contact: Email: wagner@literacy.upenn.edu ILI website: http://www.literacyonline.org

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Schools and Technology
Laurence Wolff and Norma Garcia
Inter-American Development Bank

The Current Status of Multi-Grade proach to learning in a rural multi-grade setting. Escuela
Nueva began operating in 1976. The methodology is fully
Schools in the Developing World followed in over 10,000 schools and partially used in many
more schools. Escuela Nueva methodology is being repli-
Multi-grade schools, defined as schools where one teacher cated in countries as diverse as Guatemala, Dominican Re-
teaches two or more grades, are common in rural areas public and Egypt. Research has shown that children learn
throughout the world. In Peru, for example, there are ap- more and drop out less in Escuela Nueva schools than in tra-
proximately 21,500 primary multi-grade schools, 95% of ditional rural schools.
which are located in rural areas. 89% of the rural schools
are multi-grade schools, and 41,000 teachers, or 69% of the The approach in all successful multi-grade programs, in-
total rural teaching force, teach in rural primary schools with cluding Escuela Nueva, emphasizes the changed role of the
multi-grade classrooms. In Sri Lanka, around 1,250 schools teacher. Since the teacher has to impart knowledge to a di-
out of the 10,120 schools in the country have less than three verse group of students, he/she has to develop a wide variety
teachers. Vietnam has 2,162 multi-grade schools that com- of teaching learning strategies. The teacher has to find ways
bine 2, 3, 4, or 5 different levels in a single classroom.∗ of encouraging self-learning and of older children helping
younger ones. The teacher increasingly becomes someone
The unfortunate reality is that these schools form the most who guides and supports students’ learning processes rather
neglected part of the education system. For the most part, than simply imparting knowledge. To make the system work
they are located in isolated, low-income rural areas, and gen- requires strong and focussed training programs and regular
erally have untrained teachers. The few trained teachers usu- follow-up and feedback from supervisors and trainers. De-
ally understand and use only "monograde" pedagogy. Na- tailed, practical, and proven guidebooks are essential. In the
tional curriculum contents, teaching and learning materials Escuela Nueva, particular attention is paid to the role that the
and activities taught at schools are frequently geared for teacher plays in the community. Escuela Nueva also pro-
monograde classes. The result of untrained and inappropri- motes democratic processes within the classroom through
ately trained teachers, as well as lack of appropriate teaching active and participatory methodologies and community par-
learning materials, is that children in multi-grade classrooms ticipation.
spend much of their time relearning material they already
know or sit idle and boxed. Teachers in multi-grade schools need to get together regu-
larly to discuss, share and evaluate results, problems, success
While the world is becoming increasingly urbanized, multi- stories, and to plan ways to solve any problems that are
grade schools will remain a reality for many years to come. commonly present in multi-grade classes.
Adequately meeting the needs of children in multi-grade
classrooms will be essential for the achievement of quality In developed countries, strong training and outreach pro-
education for all. grams, often very costly, have evolved to support the rela-
tively small number of rural and isolated schools. Interest-
ingly, some progressive schools in the USA and Europe have
Proven Models for Multi-grade Teaching combined grades one and two and sometimes three and four
as a means of recognizing children's different rates of matur-
There are now proven models for multi-grade teaching in ity.
both the developed and the developing world. In developing
countries the Escuela Nueva in Colombia is a well-
documented, highly successful example of an integrated ap-

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The Potential for Technology and Multi- as well as to have two way radio. The Australian Radio
School of the Air already uses two way radio to reach scat-
grade Teaching tered indigenous groups of children living in the Australian
desert. In this case, the children meet in small groups at say
Technology can be a powerful tool to provide access to ade- the home of a parent and then communicate with their
quate education to students attending multi-grade schools teacher located in a town many kilometers away. A parent
because it is able to provide training to teachers in multi- acts as the "classroom" monitor. A "school" could consist of
grade methodologies and allow students to engage in inno- 15-20 small dispersed groups of 5-10 children making for a
vative, participatory multi-grade learning activities. Surpris- total of 120-200 students. This approach is not strictly
ingly, with one or two exceptions, multi-grade programs "multi-grade" since there is one teacher for each grade.
usually do not use technologies other than workbooks and Nonetheless it could be appropriate in other highly scattered
face to face training. Below are the potential uses of tech- populations. Similar to this approach is the possible use of
nology for multi-grade teaching, some of which are surely low -power radio stations described elsewhere in this Issue of
cost effective now, others of which could have low enough TechKnowlogia. (see "Basic Education for All: The Mass
costs to be feasible within the next five to ten years. Media Formula" in this issue of TechKnowLogia) In these
cases, teaching can be more closely tailored to local condi-
ONE WAY RADIO tions. Finally, also described elsewhere in this issue digital
radio can add an on-line print element to the multi-grade
Radio can, and should be, utilized now to support multi- process. (see "Basic Education for All: The Mass Media
grade teaching. Building on the experience of interactive Formula" in this Issue of TechKnowLogia)
mathematics (see the article "Interactive Mathematics for
Basic Education" in this Issue of TechKnowLogia), "multi- INTERNET VIA PHONE OR SATELLITE
grade" radio can strongly reinforce the print and face to face
training approaches used to date. Examples include the fol- While the infrastructure is either not yet available, or the
lowing: (a) multi-grade radio teaches one group of children costs are still too high, sometime in the future Internet, espe-
while the in-school teacher guides or assists another group; cially via satellite, will be at a low enough cost to become a
(b) multi-grade radio teaches hard to teach subjects such as a powerful teaching medium. Satellite-based Internet will be
second language (e.g., French or English in Africa); (c) especially important for isolated rural schools without access
multi-grade radio provides a set of learning experiences to telephone lines. The beauty of the Internet for multi-grade
which are appropriate to several or all grades, such as music teaching is that children could work at their own pace.
and art as well as democratic processes and community Through on-line testing, the teacher would have a powerful
awareness; and (d) multi-grade radio directed at teachers can tool for identifying strengths and weaknesses and deciding
provide guidelines and methods which bring to life the rec- when children can proceed to the next grade or graduate.
ommendations of print materials. Multi-grade radio can also Furthermore, the Internet approach would provide all the
be directed at parents. In particular, the radio can help to advantages of radio based instruction described above but
explain to parents that multi-grades are not something to be with far more flexibility.
ashamed of as second rate but rather are an opportunity for
modern learning to take place. In short,

As costs go down, there are more possibilities for the use of • Multi-grade schools will not disappear.
other technologies to reinforce multi-grade teaching. The
two most important ones, described below are "enhanced" • There are proven methodologies for making the multi-
radio and the Internet. grade school a modern progressive and effective ap-
proach to learning.
TWO WAY RADIO, LOW POWER, AND DIGITAL
• Existing technologies ought to be exploited now to im-
RADIO
plement these approaches.
In the above examples, radio programs are national or re-
gional in scope. Technologies are now becoming available • Emerging technologies offer even more powerful tools
to have low power radio stations covering 10-40 kilometers for effective education in multi-grade schools.


http://www.ioe.ac.uk/multigrade/

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TechKnowNews
Governor Would Give Every trying to find the right system for offering online education,
Student a Laptop including prices and enrollment limits. Source: Educause.

First 'Digital Divide' Bill Passes


Gov. Angus King of Maine, USA announced a plan today to Senate
give every seventh grader in the state a laptop with Internet
service beginning the Fall of 2002. The $65 million plan was
immediately met with skepticism from members of the The US Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill that would
Legislature. The Governor suggests that $50 million from the award tax credits to companies that donate their used
state's unallocated budget surplus be put in a permanent computers to schools The New Millennium Classrooms Act,
endowment, along with $15 million in matching funds from passed with a 96-2 vote, is seen as a way to help bridge the
federal and private sources, to pay for the computers. digital divide in computer usage among Americans. The lead
According to Senator Mark W. Lawrence, "essentially taking sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.),
a chunk of money, setting up a foundation -- that's very says companies have been telling Congress that tax
different and I think that's going to be debated in the incentives would allow them to provide schools with more
Legislature." computers. The bill will give companies a 50 percent "fair-
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/030300maine- market value" tax credit for computers donated to schools
compute-edu.html located in "empowerment zones," poorer areas in need of
Source: The Benton Foundation assistance. The bill will give a 30 percent tax credit for
computers donated outside of empowerment zones. A report
A Virtual Revolution In Teaching released last summer by the Commerce Department's
National Telecommunications and Information
Administration found that the disparity in computer
ownership between blacks and whites has increased by 6
Educators are struggling to find their place in an increasingly percent since 1997.
online world. Internet-based education programs, which are http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/144921.html
attracting growing numbers of supporters, offer convenience
and relieve overcrowding in classrooms. Hoping to attract Presentation Of World View
everyone from teenagers getting an early start on their Information System (WVIS) For
college careers to older workers balancing education with Basic Education Ngos In Africa
jobs and families, many schools are beginning to offer online
courses. One in three U.S. colleges now offer an accredited And South Asia.
degree online, more than twice the rate last year. Yet the
flurry of activity in online education has raised many issues, A user-friendly information system for local non-
such as whether prestigious universities will maintain their governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in basic
elite reputations--and offer the same challenging coursework- education in Africa and South Asia has been developed by
-as they join the hordes of schools mass-marketing their World View Literacy Information Research (WVLIR).
courses online. Similarly, critics are debating whether an WVLIR's broad objectives are to reinforce evaluations and
online degree will have the same value as its traditional research among NGOs. Its founding members come from the
counterpart. Furthermore, many public universities are market and opinion research industry. During the Annual
partnering with Internet startups to market their courses, Conference of European Society for Opinion and Market
raising a debate over the ethical implications of mixing Research (ESOMAR) at Davos in September 1994,
education with business. Universities say that they are still WVLIR's constituting meeting focused on providing
information systems to basic education NGOs to initially
share existing research. WVLIR is poised to connect all

! 19 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


individuals and organizations, involved in spreading literacy learned in a couple of weeks by high school students and that
in the form of basic education and/or primary education. the prominent place of technology in the classroom could
end up doing a lot of real harm to students: time on the
World View Information System (WVIS) is a process based computer inevitably means time taken away from real
around Databases which integrates details about interaction with teachers and other students and means
Organizations, Materials, Projects & Individuals on most reduced time for things that children do master more easily
aspects about literacy and basic education. World View than grown-ups, like foreign languages and musical
announces WVIS Edition 1 for MS Access 97. You can instruments. Source: The Benton Foundation
download it from the Internet on http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/cyber/education/
http://www.wvlir.com/wvis1.html or ask for its distributable 05education.html
CD-ROM version, available at a token price.
wvbo@del2.vsnl.net.in Internet Improves Kids' Attitude
to School
A Bilingual Descriptive Database
Of 850 Education Projects In
Africa, Now Accessible Online! The Internet is a positive force in children's education,
according to the findings of a new survey from the US
The Association for the Development of Education in Africa National School Boards Foundation and Children's
(ADEA), in collaboration with Bellanet, has published a Television Workshop. Over 40 percent of 9-17 year old
descriptive database of 850 African education projects on the school-goers say the Internet has improved their attitude to
web. The PRISME database is up-to-date, bilingual (English attending school. Almost half of children in households that
and French) and fully searchable by region, subject area, are connected to the Internet go online primarily for
funding institution, and keyword. schoolwork and 53 percent of adults in these households go
online for the same reason. Parents say that using the Internet
There are 850 projects described in the PRISME database, has not significantly affected their children's other activities.
contributed by 27 external aid organizations. PRISME is, Almost all report that their kids spend the same amount of
first of all, a directory of information on projects primarily time reading, playing outdoors and spending time with their
financed by bilateral or multilateral funding agencies families. Source: Nua Ltd.
(including development banks, foundations and other non- http://www.nsbf.org/safe-smart/br-overview.htm
governmental organizations). PRISME also contains
information on projects by executing agencies (e.g. Children Tutoring Seniors at
UNESCO, IIEP). The contents are updated annually. Internet Skills: An Experiment
http://prisme.adeanet.org Conducted at One Israeli
For information contact:
Elementary School.
Thanh Hoa Desruelles
th.desruelles@iiep.unesco.org The internet which connects about 200 million people and
millions of pages, voice, sound, image and video files has
Michael Roberts become a most powerful tool in the hands of those who know
mroberts@bellanet.org how to navigate it. The gap is widening between youngsters,
the primary internet user population, and adults and mostly
seniors ,who are not skilled at using a computer or the
Technology Critic Takes on Internet. In the new Hi-Tech world, where children speak the
Computers in Schools new language of the Internet as their mother tongue, it would
be most fitting to put their mastery to good use and train
them to teach this new language to Senior Citizens. An
Clifford Stoll, an astronomer, computer expert and experiment was conducted in one elementary school in
technology gadfly, warns against classroom computing in his Israel, the Alon School in 1999, where ten Seniors were
new book, High Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don't Belong tutored by ten children aged 11-14.
in the Classroom and Other Reflections by a Computer
Contrarian. "Here's a policy being put into place without any For documentation of the process as well as an evaluation of
hearings or public debate," Stoll said. "No one is asking, the project, please write to Prof. Edna Aphek:
'What problem does this solve? What problem does this aphekdr@netvision.net.il
cause?'" Stoll believes the computer skills kids need can be

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Creating Learning Communities with Computers
by Mary Fontaine with Richard Fuchs
The LearnLink Project, Academy for Educational Development (AED)

©IDRC www.idrc.com

The Watering Hole hood nucleus that provides people with a place to come to-
gether. Drawing on Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good
Long term development wallahs1 are probably familiar with Place2, Richard Holeton describes the “three essential places
the story of the faucet and the well, which has become rather in people’s lives: the place we live, the place we work, and
a classic in development literature. It seems that some the place we gather for conviviality.” Both Holeton and
twenty years ago, a team of evaluators assessed the impact of Oldenburg stress the value and function of the third place,
a water and sanitation project on a small village in South which is not merely a center for idle chatter but rather the
Asia. While the newly installed pipes brought water into place where “communities can come into being and continue
homes, relieving girls and women of the burden of fetching it to hold together.”3
from the well, the project also ruined their social lives. The
well was where they congregated, of course, to gossip, plan Common places and communities are also topics of conver-
celebrations and social events, even arrange marriages. sation and debate in the electronic age. While critics caution
Without that common place, they became even more iso- against the impersonal nature of keyboard- and monitor-
lated—though more conveniently so—than they probably induced activity and the loss of face-to-face interaction,
were before. One wonders how many happy unions were apologists extol the virtues of virtual communities and the
sacrificed for those handy drinks of water. benefits of online interactivity. Some, like the ever-
insightful Steve Cisler, describe the struggle between the
The story is relevant here not so much for its project design two:
lessons but for illustrating the importance of the proverbial
watering hole—that public square, commons or neighbor-

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…at the piazza in the center of Milan….there exists It may be solitary in a sense as well, but the ability to reach
a place to meet, to eat, to stroll, to talk, to propa- the entire world in seconds through email or the World Wide
gandize, to relax, and at the very edges there are Web, for example, can enable a highly sociable and interac-
places to sell and shop and worship. It is the es- tive experience. Similarly, while virtual communities do not
sence of a vibrant public space: open, accessible, enable members to look one another in the eye and may
multi-purpose, and supported by the public that never match a human touch or the chat at the well, they make
makes use of it…. Many of us hoped that the elec- possible a host of valuable personal and professional ex-
tronic environments we were building would resem- changes that, in some cases, can be life-altering. In cases
ble in some ways the piazza of Milan, Italy. Here where mobility is limited, access to communication through
was one of the nerve centers of the global economy, computers can be a veritable godsend.
able to maintain such a cohesive yet diverse envi-
ronment, when other cities, including my own, San …in traditional kinds of communities, we are ac-
Jose, California (“the capital of Silicon Valley”), customed to meeting people, then getting to know
are struggling for a center, a sense of identity, and them;in virtual communities, you can get to know
purpose. In the midst of the forces of globalization, people and then choose to meet them….5
exemplified by the Internet, the local community
networks are also searching for their own identity, a Factually, computers, in general, and the Internet in particu-
central theme common to all of them….4 lar are the most rapidly spreading technologies ever. For
better or worse, they may also prove to be one of the most
An Unbasic Need profound influences in shaping the course of human events to
date.
This article is based on the simple assumption that, through-
out recorded history—indeed, from the beginning of time— For development, the conversation is increasingly relevant.
technological innovations have transformed the systems of
life as much as philosophical, economic, political, religious, Sitting in the USAID office in Kampala, a Develop-
and sociological reformations. Each has influenced the ment Officer questions a visiting consultant. Hard
other, sometimes in the same direction, sometimes as a working and dedicated, the Development Officer
backlash to feared or unwanted trends. While it is true that isn’t ready to buy this “Internet in every pot” ap-
proach to development. He’s seen too many techno-
not everyone has been equally touched or benefited—e.g.,
the impact of the 19th century printing press, even today, on fixes fail, too many rusting remains of technical so-
the millions of illiterates in the world—it is also true that lutions without a human and social context. He
though individuals themselves may have escaped or been stresses to the consultant that, "for the last 20 years,
bypassed, the world in which they live—and the circum- Uganda has been an almost bookless society.” The
stances on which their quality of life depends—most cer- consultant6, there to assist the start-up of Africa’s
tainly has not. first rural, multi-purpose community telecenter,
ponders the comment carefully. He responds,
Technology skeptics caution about the negative impact of “Well, in a bookless society, why would you start
computers. Using computers is a solitary and soporific ac- with books?”
tivity, they say, that can isolate people. It is a virtual activity
that cannot and should never replace interpersonal ex- And so the computer fan/skeptic dialectic goes. The argu-
changes. And it is a sedentary pursuit that leaves us sitting ment, as useful as it can be, often misses the central theme of
for hours on end. Moreover, computers are subject to the any development project. It is the social context of devel-
vagaries and the mercy of infrastructure, which is absolutely opment, not the technology, that matters. Whether it is books
not available, consistent or reliable in much of the world. or computers, if the social context is wrong, development
Finally, given the abundance of basic needs still outstanding won’t occur. If, on the other hand, people see purpose, find
in the world today—basic education, health care, sanitation, opportunity, get inspired and apply new skills, then it matters
security, human rights, even food and water—computers little what technology prop has been used. Development is
seem to some to be not only inappropriate, superfluous and the result.
beside the point but may in fact divert us from a focus on real
needs. Two Roads Converging
As with many controversial subjects, there are different and An expanded vision of education that has rocked the world is
legitimate points of view vis-à-vis computerization, which that of “cradle to grave” or lifelong learning, a prospect made
may be true in whole or part simultaneously. Computer use increasingly desirable and necessary in this rapidly trans-
is indeed sedentary, and no one has solved that problem yet. forming new century. More difficult and challenging has

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been devising the ways and means to launch, facilitate, and In Nakaseke, Uganda7, the metaphorical watering hole
sustain the process. It is here that visionary educators and has been actualized. Sitting outside Africa’s first rural,
computerphiles have crossed paths. multi-purpose community telecenter is the community
water pump. Nurses from the local District Hospital,
Since the prospect of employing computers in the service of teachers from the 27 schools in the rural region, micro-
education became plausible and feasible, educators naturally entrepreneurs from all over town and passers-by all
used the technology at first to extend, expand and enhance gather at the telecenter. Some arrive with a purpose,
traditional approaches. Early applications in the U.S. fo- others just to hang out. Meddie Mayanja, the telecenter
cused on increasing access, for example, using distance edu- Coordinator, had never touched a computer until two
cation to bring learning opportunities, expertise in special- years ago. Now he authors courses for the Web. Med-
ized subjects, even degree programs to remote areas. Com- die has never taken a computer course. He first learned
puterized instructional materials also flourished, including about the technology by watching others. Now others
individualized training courses and all manner of lovely and watch him. The informal and experiential learning that
increasingly sophisticated educational software. While these characterizes so much of how people mediate their use
new products and services have taught valuable lessons— of computers is starting to come to Africa and the devel-
about the usefulness of individualized pacing and oping world.
sequencing, for example—for the most part they have not
changed the essence of traditional methods or materials. A LearnLink project in Ghana is facing head-on the
Much distance learning still replicates the classroom, with challenges of lifelong learning and non-traditional ac-
students reading lectures on computer screens, and many cess to education. With USAID assistance, it is estab-
new materials, while enabling some level of exploration and lishing community learning centers (CLCs) to enhance
interactivity, are at heart more colorful and playful versions basic education, train teachers, develop local businesses,
of textbooks. While the entry of computers into formal strengthen municipal administration and civil society or-
education has advanced the cause, it has not sparked the ganizations, and provide health care information. Ulti-
revolution—at least not yet. mately, the centers will provide learning system services
to a variety of organizations, companies, and individuals
It is in the area of informal education—the world of learning throughout the country: community and NGO leaders,
that goes on informally, all around us—that information and service providers in a variety of fields, educators and
communication technologies (ICTs) are causing quite a students, and businesses, all of whom will not only have
stir—and in the most unlikely of places. In developing new access to computer technologies but will receive
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, telecenters are training in their use. The CLCs build on the telecenter
springing up and bringing the world to communities that, for concept but emphasize the learning functions of the
the most part, have little experience with it. The phenome- communication technologies. Three Ghanaian NGOs
non is particularly interesting in poor neighborhoods and house the centers to ensure broad public access and pre-
remote and rural areas, where formal schooling suffers from serve the learning focus. The NGO staff has been
access, equity and quality problems, and where, heretofore, trained in computer literacy, Internet orientation, word
informal opportunities for learning have been more of the processing, spreadsheets, presentation graphics, website
past than the future. Though the experience varies from development, and training methodologies, to cite just
place to place, there seems to be a sense of the watering hole some of the areas. The NGOs, in turn, offer similar
or well, both actual and metaphorical, associated with some training opportunities to the public.8 (see TechKnowLo-
of these centers—an aura of inclusion and engagement that gia, Sept./Oct. 1999 Issue, Ghana: Networking For Lo-
attracts people from all walks of life—especially where cal Development - How You Can Use A Computer with-
community members have been intimately involved in de- out Owning One)
signing, constructing and operating them. Perhaps the most
exciting aspect of it is what seems to be drawing people to
the centers—the opportunity to learn, in the broadest and best In Asuncion, Paraguay, the CLC project, also funded
sense of the term. by USAID, developed a mind of its own. What began as
a plan for municipal telecenters to automate activities,
What is so appealing and compelling about these centers? such as registering to vote, paying bills, applying for li-
Can we isolate the elements and identify the combination of censes and permits, and accessing information about
qualities and characteristics that are turning them into Milan- business development and civic education, has grown to
ese piazzas and South Asian wells, where people gather to include an educational focus. Teachers take students to
share ideas and to move forward, as a community? Can we explore the science and geography CD-ROMs available
capture the trend, the momentum, and transplant it around at the centers, and some students are using the Internet to
the world? conduct research for class presentations. At one center,

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as many as 360 children a week use the center’s elec- self-administered learning is being celebrated and modeled
tronic capabilities to improve their reading, writing, for all to see.
math, and basic computer skills. Two centers, located in
primary schools, benefit students and teachers as well as Throughout the developing world, there is evidence that tele-
the entire community. At one school, teachers, parents, centers—aka Community Learning Centers—may be starting
and students designed their own computer training ses- to create a social context for learning in the post-industrial
sions and took up collections to buy educational soft- economy. If the conviviality, sociability and cohesion of the
ware. They collaborate with the community to ensure watering hole can be brought to the business of learning, then
that everyone who wishes it has access to the center after the business of education and development will have done its
school hours. The second center has scheduled hours of job.
operation to extend availability to the entire commu-
nity.9 (see TechKnowLogia Nov./Dec. 1999 Issue,
1
AMIC@S in Asuncion: Leapfrogging Development). An Indian word used here loosely to mean “expert” or “pro-
fessional.”
The “School” As Watering Hole 2
Ray Oldenburg, The Great Good Place, Paragon House,
In an ideal world, educational purists envision a lifetime of 1989, p. 157.
learning that begins at birth and never ends—a worldwide 3
culture of learning that nourishes innate human curiosity, Richard Holeton, Composing Cyberspace: Identity, Com-
feeds imagination, and fuels communication. The school, munity, and Knowledge in the Electronic Age, McGraw Hill,
structured as it was to resemble the factory during the early 1998.
days of the Industrial Revolution, has been the repository of 4
learning. But in the post-industrial society, the school has “Electronic Public Space in 1998: Civic and Community
been slow to adapt to the rapid changes that are transforming Networks,” Steve Cisler, October 1998, cisler@pobox.com
the world around all of us. Instead, the leaders of the Infor- 5
mation Economy, the Microsofts, Oracles and Java’s, have Richard Holeton, Composing Cyberspace, p. 159.
all developed their own asynchronous systems for learning 6
that require no classrooms and no admissions tests. The cre- This is an actual discussion that LearnLink consultant Rich
Fuchs (Futureworks Inc.) recounts from Kampala in July
dentials they offer are available to all regardless of back-
ground or place of origin, and the mastery of the necessary 1998.
skills requires little more than imagination, motivation, apti- 7
tude—and opportunity. The institution of the school is in- LearnLink has published a case study of the Nakaseke
creasingly unnecessary for learning the new skills of the Multi-Purpose Community Telecenter, written by Richard
computer age. Without change, the school may become like Fuchs and Meddie Mayanja (August 1999). For a copy,
the monastery at the dawn of the industrial revolution. contact Mary Fontaine at mfontain@smtp.aed.org.
8
The “school” of this new century is where learning occurs, “Education For All: A Global Commitment,” A Report of
not necessarily where the teacher can be found. In a building the United States to the International Consultative Form on
in Nakaseke, Uganda, the secondary school teacher writes in Education for All, Edward B. Fiske and Barbara O’Grady,
cursive penmanship on the slate board while students in uni- Academy for Educational Development (AED), January,
form, seated neatly in rows, copy down in their notebooks 2000.
exactly what he offers. Today’s topic is how to read maps. 9
Longitude is this. Latitude is that. There is no map to be “Education For All: A Global Commitment,” A Report of
found in the classroom. the United States to the International Consultative Form on
Education for All, Edward B. Fiske and Barbara O’Grady,
Down the road in the same community, at the telecenter, Academy for Educational Development (AED), January,
students and teachers print off maps from Encarta. Local 2000.
business people take digital pictures of products in their
stores and print them out as signs on color printers. Students
type up resumes. The place is alive. There is noise, and there
is curiosity, imagination, purpose, even magic in the air.
This is the wellspring of social and economic development.
This is the networked institution where people learn, teach
and become inspired all at the same time. The teacher here is
the coach and the coordinator, not the instructor. Self-paced,

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Interactive Mathematics for Basic Education
The Venezuelan Experience with IRI
Nora Ghetea Jaegerman and Victor Vásquez R.,

Interactive Mathematics for Program accomplishments can be summarized in three areas:


Basic Education is a program production, implementation and evaluation.
designed to raise the quality of
Mathematics teaching in the
first phase of Basic Education Production
in Venezuela, which corre-
sponds to the first, second and Radio Programs
©Corel
third grades. In this method, Production initiated with the series ©Corel
active listening to radio programs is combined with class- for second grade, which was an
room activities, in order to develop the subject’s content ar- adaptation of Radio Mathematics of
eas during this phase. The program was developed by a Nicaragua, the first series produced
Foundation, the National Center for the Improvement of Sci- in the world utilizing the Interactive
ence Education, CENAMEC, under the auspices of the Min- Radio technique. The third grade
istry of Education. At first, it was financed by the Venezue- and first grade series were
lan private sector, then by the World Bank during the period completely designed and executed by staff of the Interactive
of its greatest expansion. Mathematics team.

The program was created in order to help resolve the prob- Interactive Mathematics produced three series of the radio
lem of low levels of quality learning in this subject. Addi- program Entertaining Mathematics: 125 programs for first
tionally, given that this problem is greatly tied to deficiencies grade, 140 for second and 135 for third. The series follow
in the training and updating of math teachers, the program the customary format of Interactive Radio, in the sense that
was devised as a system of permanent training for teachers they are programs lasting approximately 30 minutes that
through the use of their own resources. In order to accom- combine instructional segments with recreational segments,
plish these objectives, the program offers the following sup- aside from others in which the two functions are combined.
port to participating classrooms: a radio, a teacher’s guide, a They also implement distributive practice in that at the be-
package of complementary materials, the daily transmission ginning of the year topics are addressed which continue to be
of a radio program “Matemática Divertida” [Entertaining deepened in complexity and difficulty throughout the rest of
Mathematics], teacher training and follow up. the year.

The typical Interactive Mathematics lesson or “encounter” The radio program, Entertaining Mathematics, is dramatized
contains three important aspects: preparation, listening to the and each series develops in a particular context. The char-
radio program and carrying out activities suggested in the acters become familiar to the students, who carry out differ-
guide. During preparation, the teacher organizes the students ent kinds of activities with them. Music is used through
and ensures they have the necessary materials ready for the songs that are especially composed for the series. The pro-
transmission. During the radio program, varied and intensive grams also use stories and adventures with situations in
activities are carried out, monitored by the teacher. To wrap which mathematics procedures have to be applied, as well as
up the “encounter,” the teacher carries out activities of riddles, math games and physical exercises.
evaluation and reinforcement, going more in depth as sug-
gested in the guide, in some cases supported by the comple- Teacher’s Guide
mentary materials the teacher receives.
A Teacher's Guide, divided into the following sections ac-
companies each series: Introduction, Instructions, Planning,
Since its beginnings in 1991, program activities have cen-
Evaluation, Encounters, Songs and Special Activities.
tered on two fundamental aspects: the production of instruc-
tional materials, and the formation of a national administra-
tive structure to manage its implementation.

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♦ Introduction. Presents the program objectives, the ♦ Work notebooks.
principles of the technique of Interactive Radio, the gen-
eral structure of classes or encounters, a description of
the teacher's role, the principles that guide the formula- Development Process of the Series
tion of the program, didactic considerations with regards The series that correspond to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade have fol-
to the content to be covered during the year, and a de- lowed a process that consists of the following phases:
scription of the resources necessary to carry out the
classroom encounters, including a description of the ♦ A pilot phase in a small sample of the Federal District.
materials contained in the packet of Complementary This phase consisted of a limited production of programs
Materials. that included strategies to be utilized in the complete se-
ries, in order to carry out an initial formative evaluation
♦ Instructions. Guidelines for carrying out an encounter before proceeding to write the entire series.
in the classroom.
♦ A trial phase in a larger sample, also in the Federal Dis-
♦ Planning. Contains a detailed description of the topics trict. During the year in which this series was produced,
covered throughout the year and the encounters within the programs were transmitted as they were produced.
which they are dealt. In addition, this section contains a This allowed for a more in-depth evaluation of the aired
table in which the context of each encounter is summa- material. In this way, mistakes could be detected and
rily described and is tied to other areas such as language corrected early, thus saving time and effort down the
and the natural sciences, with the goal of helping the road.
teacher relate math concepts to other areas of applica-
tion. Finally, there are some suggestions for evaluating ♦ An extension phase to various states away from the
the students. capital. Each state started with 2nd grade, and in the
following years they incorporated 3rd and 1st grade.
♦ Encounters. Contains information about the materials Once the first grade was established, new states started
required for the activities of each of the encounters, the with that grade, following the normal sequence.
exercises that are going to be carried out during the
transmission, the materials necessary to follow along, as
well as a brief description of the activities to be carried
Implementation
out during the transmission. Also, two activities are
suggested that the teacher can conduct with the students Organizational Structure in the States
in the classroom after the transmission is over. In each state there are two teams in charge of managing the
program; the coordinating team, headed up by a regional
♦ Songs. Contains the words to the songs in the program. program coordinator, and a team of facilitators.

♦ Special Activities. Contains the development of some The coordinating team carries out planning, designs a state-
activities that are considered special because they re- wide program budget, negotiates and signs agreements and
quire more advanced work in order to be carried out, and contracts with the governments and the radio stations that
they cover the development of a concept from its first transmit the program, distributes and controls program mate-
approximations through some of its applications. Thus, rials, plans the workshops for directors and teachers, com-
they generally require various sections in order to be municates with the central team, and in general, deals with
completed. any issue having to do with the program in the state. Usu-
ally, this team is made up of a coordinator and two or three
Complementary Materials people assigned by the government, although in some cases
For each grade a packet of Complementary Materials was there can be up to ten people in a state coordination team.
designed to carry out some of the activities during and after
the transmission. This contains: Another important function of the coordinating team is to
carry out follow-up with classroom participants to verify the
♦ Materials to create an atmosphere in the classroom, such correct application of the program, as well as to offer support
as posters and illustrations. when necessary.
♦ Concrete materials: logic blocks, metric tape, bills and
The team of facilitators is selected by the coordinating team
coins, mosaics, molds to construct geometric shapes,
to train the teachers who enter the program. This team is
cards.
made up of a combination of integral education teachers and
♦ Worksheets.
mathematics teachers who receive special education and re-

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muneration for the workshops they offer. The next section ◊ Teacher support circles. These are being put into prac-
briefly describes what this training consists of. tice in some states, consisting of meetings of teachers
from different participating schools who share ideas
Training about the program, with the goal of reaching a larger
Several kinds of workshops are offered to inform and train number of teachers than would be possible if the follow-
the different participants in the program. These are: up were only done through visits.

♦ Workshops for the regional coordination teams. The ♦ Central Follow-up


central advisors lead these workshops. The team is
taught the processes to follow in order to start up the ◊ Periodic visits to the states. These visits address issues
program in their state: agreements with the government, of common interest to both teams, and issues are re-
contracts with the schools, the gathering of directors and solved in meetings with regional teams.
teachers and the organization of teacher workshops, ◊ Visits to a sampling of schools during the state visits.
among others. ◊ Oversight of the allocation of equipment and materials
to the coordinating teams.
♦ Training workshops for state facilitators. The central ◊ Oversight of the management of state coordination
team leads these workshops. The participants in these teams - agreements with governments, contracts with ra-
workshops are evaluated and only those who achieve an dio stations, inventory control and a plan for recruitment
approved level are certified to do training. and follow-up with sections.

♦ Workshops for supervisors and directors. The state Population Served


facilitators themselves lead these workshops. directors, To this date, approximately three million students have been
who then select the teachers from their respective served. By December 2000, we hope to have the capacity to
schools who are going to attend the training workshops serve 1,200,000 students a year, distributed in 40,000 class-
as a prerequisite to registering their sections. rooms in 11,000 schools. The program is extended to 23 of
the 24 Venezuelan federal entities.
♦ Teacher training. Local facilitators who pass the pre-
vious workshop train the teachers from each grade. This The Media
training consists of a ten-hour workshop, specific for
♦ 29 radio stations transmit the “Entertaining Mathemat-
each grade, in which the teacher is instructed in the
ics” programs throughout the country.
technique of Interactive Radio and in the most important
♦ Local newspapers publish the notices with slates of the
teaching strategies that are going to be developed
printed materials necessary to follow the radio transmis-
throughout the year. The sections are registered once
sion.
their teachers receive this training.

Follow-up Costs
The follow-up is carried out at two levels - regional and cen-
tral. What follows is a description of both processes. Series Production (125 programs)
Total: $375,000
♦ Regional Follow-up Per program: $ 3,000
◊ Visits to a sampling of participating schools. These vis- Materials and Equipment
its can be of two types:
◊ Supervision of a complete encounter of Interactive Radio $ 40 (Duration: 5 years)
Mathematics, including the pre-transmission activity, the Radio batteries $2
transmission and the post-transmission activities. Teacher’s Guide $ 8 (Duration: 5 years)
Complementary materials $ 7 (Duration: 1 school year)
◊ A technical visit, which consists of going to a school and
visiting all the participating classrooms. Through the in-
spection of the classroom environment and a review of 1997 Calculations
student workbooks, it can be determined if the program Series transmitted: 2nd & 3rd grade
is being followed in that class and if it is being carried Number of students: 336,000
out adequately. These visits also involve oversight of Average number of students per class: 30
the school personnel. Number of participating sections: 11,200
◊ Meetings with supervisors, directors and teachers. Number of radio stations: 23

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between fourth grade students who had studied un-
Costs of transmission der the Interactive Mathematics system and others
Total per school year $105,000 who had followed traditional methods in the Federal
Average per radio station $ 4,565 District and the states of Lara and Mérida. The ex-
perimental group had significantly higher results
Follow-up and training than the control group.
Total per school year $274,166
Cost per classroom $25 External Evaluation
♦ Comparative studies of children’s learning between
Recurring cost per school year per classroom or section an experimental group and a control group. Four
Follow-up and training $25 studies were carried out: the second grade trial in Cara-
Radio Transmissions $ 9.37 cas; a national evaluation of second grades the year that
Radios and teachers guides $ 9.6 it extended to other states; an evaluation of the third
Complementary materials and batteries $9 grade trial; and, finally, a national study that included
Total cost per class or section $ 53 second and third grade. In all except one, the study of
Total cost per student $ 1.76 second grade at the point it was extended, the results
were significantly higher for the experimental group
than the control group.
Evaluation
♦ Evaluation of program implementation. The aspects
Various evaluation processes have been carried out, both studied with respect to program implementation were the
formative and summative. Summative evaluations have been following:
carried out internally by the Interactive Mathematics team, as
well as externally by outside companies contracted specifi- ◊ Use of the materials provided by the program.
cally for that purpose. Both processes are briefly described These studies consistently revealed that 90% of the
below, along with a general commentary about the results of registered teachers follow the radio program, and
these evaluations. 60% carry out all of the programmed activities be-
fore, during and after the transmission.
Internal Evaluation
♦ Formative evaluation of the programs during the ◊ Teacher’s attitude towards Mathematics and the
production process. As the radio programs were pro- program itself. In the evaluations as well as in the
duced, they were transmitted in the participating class- follow-up process, a change in the teachers’ atti-
rooms and observations were made about each one of tudes towards the subject could be observed, in the
the encounters to make the necessary adjustments. In sense that they feel more comfortable teaching math
this way, a product could be created from the beginning as a result of the availability of a well planned and
that would not need extensive corrections later on, be- accessible resource. In an evaluation carried out by
cause improvements were made as problems were being National Supervisors of the Ministry of Education
detected. in the 1998-99 school year, the program turned out
to be the one most well known and accepted by
♦ Comparative studies of the children’s learning be- teachers at the national level.
tween an experimental group and a control group.
These evaluations generally consisted of comparative ◊ Student change of attitude. Students like the pro-
studies between an experimental group and a control gram and changes are reported that affect not only
group. Some of the studies carried out were the follow- the Mathematics class, but all their other classes as
ing: well. For example, students pay better attention, as
a result of having to listen attentively to a daily ra-
◊ First trial of first grade. Initially, the students in the dio program.
experimental group were below the level of the
control group students. By the end of the year, the
experimental group reached the control group,
achieving learning gains that were significantly
greater than those of the control group.

◊ Measurement of knowledge of children entering


fourth grade. A comparative study was carried out

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Ethiopia: Educational Radio and Television
Thomas D. Tilson, Chief of Party, USAID.BESO Project
Demissew Bekele, General Manager, Educational Media Agency, Ethiopia

Background lowing manner:


Ethiopia has a rich experience spanning more than three dec-
ades in using radio and television to support primary, secon- • supplement and enrich the regular curriculum;
dary and non-formal education. The Educational Media • support the distance education secondary level program
Agency (EMA) of the Ministry of Education, which has pro- for out-of- school youth and adults;
vided the leadership in this area, traces is origin to the Audio- • provide programs to a general audience on a variety of
Visual Center established 1952/53. The Center developed, development issues; and
produced and distributed audio-visual teaching aids, and • develop new non-formal programs to upgrade the quali-
even had a mobile team that traveled to villages and schools fication and skills of primary school teachers.
to show films and slides.
Educational Context
In 1965, a year after the introduction of television in the Ethiopia is a large but poor country in the Horn of Africa. It
country, television became the first technology for broad- has a long and rich history. The predominant religion is Or-
casting educational programs using the facilities of the Min- thodox Christian going back to approximately 400 AD.
istry of Information. In 1969, EMA started broadcasting There is also a large Muslim population, and the two major
from its own studio, an indication of its technical and pro- religions coexist peacefully. Formal education began in the
duction attainment. At that time, as a result of increased en- early part of this century, but didn't begin to expand in a sub-
rollment in schools, the multiple shift system was introduced, stantial way until the 1950s. In spite of the importance given
and EMA had to repeat the broadcast of lessons for each to education in Ethiopia, gross enrollment rates have never
shift. Later in 1971, educational radio broadcasting was initi- been high. Even now, after several years of strong increases
ated after a humble experiment using audiocassette programs in school enrollment, gross enrollment rate at the primary
in a prison in Addis Ababa. grades (grades 1-8) is only about 40%, well below the Sub-
Saharan average. The country is now halfway through a five-
In 1967, the Audio-Visual Center was reorganized as the year plan to expand access to and improve the quality and
Educational Mass Media Center with its own TV studio that equity of education.
produced programs in eight subjects for senior secondary
schools and in five subjects for junior secondary schools. TV Educational media has been particularly important in Ethio-
programs were developed for primary schools as well. But pia for several reasons. First, the country is large and moun-
the secondary school programs were interrupted in 1976 and tainous and travel is difficult. Educational broadcasting helps
the primary school programs stopped in 1980. TV programs to ensure the delivery of quality programs throughout the
returned for junior secondary schools in 1988. nation. Second, it has helped to support classes with under-
qualified teachers. This has been particularly true in the sci-
Perhaps most importantly, EMA's radio and television pro- ences in secondary schools. Third, it expands the experiences
grams are an accepted part of the school curriculum through- of the children. For example, in the sciences, the programs
out the country. can demonstrate many experiments that would not be possi-
ble to do in regular classrooms or even in labs. Fourth, the
Over the years EMA expanded greatly. It currently manages programs provide general enrichment in a variety of ways.
an extensive broadcasting infrastructure dedicated to sup-
porting education. EMA has large facilities, employs ap- The programs are produced after identifying important aca-
proximately 160 persons, operates eleven transmitters, each demic skills designated in the syllabus of each course. Then
with two channels, throughout the country, and runs 12 re- informative and imaginative programs are created, that suit
cording studios at the center and the regions, with more each medium. By using both instructional and enrichment
planned construction in the coming years. approaches, EMA widens the learners' horizon by applying
the academic skills in a variety of ways and, thus, strength-
Radios, including 500 solar-powered sets, have been distrib- ens the teaching and learning process.
uted to almost all schools nationally, and 800 color televi-
sions have been sent to almost all secondary schools. The EMA's Program Support to Education
radio and television programs enrich education in the fol- Between EMA and the regions, radio and television is used

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to support formal education in the following ways. The pro- ally, the programming in the regions as well. EMA is devel-
grams: oping daily 15-minute English radio programs for grade 1
based on the IRI model. IRI programs for the higher primary
• Improve the quality of primary education by producing grades are expected to be produced in subsequent years. IRI
at the regional level radio programs in local languages is noted for its systematic curriculum design and, particu-
for all primary school grades in most subjects larly, for the way in which the children in the classroom be-
• Strengthen the teaching of English through the develop- come active participants in the learning process. Although
ment of an improved approach known as interactive ra- IRI uses standard one-way radio broadcasting, the scripts are
dio instruction (IRI) (see article "Are You Talking to written in a way that actively engage the children in the les-
Me? Interactive Radio Instruction" in Novem- sons. Thus, anyone observing an IRI class can understand
ber/December Issue of TechKnowLogia) why the name "Interactive Radio Instruction" became associ-
• Improve the quality of secondary education and reduce ated with this type of broadcast. IRI is not a major departure
regional disparities by producing radio and television for EMA, but builds upon and improves its systems for
programs in many secondary school subjects writing and producing other programs. (IRI programs in
• Increase access to secondary education by providing a other countries including English, mathematics, science and
distance education secondary equivalency program for health have been extensively evaluated and consistently
out-of-school youth and adults show a strong impact on learning.)
• Improve the qualifications of teachers by creating new
distance education programs for upgrading underquali- Secondary level
fied primary school teachers EMA is producing both television and radio lessons. It is
producing television programs for Grade 9 in Chemistry,
Primary level Physics, Biology, English and Mathematics. In addition, it is
In general, there is a 15-minute radio program per week for developing Grade 9 radio lessons in Amharic, English, Biol-
each major subject area at each grade level. EMA produces ogy, Chemistry, History and Geography. Over the next three
programs in English and Amharic; the regions produce pro- years, it will expand these programs through Grade 12.
grams in the natural sciences, social sciences, and local lan-
guages. One of the major consequences for education based EMA has conducted for many years a distance education
on the new federal governance structure is that primary edu- secondary-level program for out-of-school youths and adults.
cation is given in the mother tongue. Although there are ap- Currently 8,500 students are enrolled of whom 7,000 are
proximately 80 languages in Ethiopia, currently about 15-20 active this year. The program is basically a correspondence
of the languages are being used as the medium of instruction. course with students taking 5-6 courses at a time. There are,
Although most regions have only one or, perhaps two, lan- however, 20-minute weekly radio programs in English, Am-
guages of instruction, some regions have several languages. haric, and Biology. Although this program is now under the
Therefore, the radio programs in each subject must be pro- control of EMA, the administration of this program will fall
duced in each of the languages for each grade. This greatly to the regions. EMA will remain responsible for the instruc-
complicates the production process as well as placing exten- tional materials and broadcasts.
sive demands on the transmitting capacity within the country.
In secondary schools, the medium of instruction is English, Teacher education
so programs have only to be developed in one language. EMA is coordinating a new initiative for upgrading under-
qualified primary school teachers using distance education.
Approximately 70% or 17,000 teachers in the upper primary
grades (Grades 5-8) do not hold a teaching diploma and,
thus, are unqualified. Staff of the seven teacher training col-
leges, two colleges and a university is writing the distance
learning materials. EMA has provided training to all course
writers in developing distance education print materials.
EMA will also coordinate the implementation process on a
national basis, although the colleges will be responsible for
implementing the program in the regions in collaboration
with the Regional Education Bureaus. EMA will also pro-
duce over 100 radio programs to support this new initiative –
Using Interactive Radio Instruction in Ethiopia
especially for language courses.

EMA has embarked on a new initiative that has the potential Non-formal education
for improving the quality of its programming and, eventu- Under the new decentralized structure, non-formal education

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is the responsibility of the regions. Nevertheless, EMA will
continue to produce prototype non-formal education pro- There are several advantages to this new technology:
grams in areas such as gender, AIDS, the environment, harm- • The programs can reach the most remote areas. The
ful cultural practices, and other development issues. These transmission signal is not bothered by mountains or
lessons will serve as a model and starting point for the re- other terrain as experienced with conventional radio.
gions. These prototype programs are targeted to specific • It provides a crystal clear audio signal, which is particu-
communities and audiences, usually involving study centers. larly important in instructional programs, especially for
languages.
EMA continues to develop some programs for a general • The satellite not only has the capacity to broadcast audio
adult audience. These informal programs relate to problems programs, but since it uses digital technology, it can also
found in many communities such as early marriage of girls. transmit multimedia information as well. Thus, the sat-
The topics are determined after consultation with the regions. ellite can download text, video, audio, and graphics to a
radio, which in turn, can pass the file to an attached
Remaining challenges computer.
In spite of the enormous experience in Ethiopia in using edu-
cational broadcasting and its full acceptance by educators at EMA will distribute the 50 digital receivers to schools for the
all levels of the school system, there remain challenges. With pilot activity to begin next October. In addition, EMA has
the decentralization and democratization of the education initiated discussions with WorldSpace to utilize the capacity
system, the number of programs has greatly increased and it for downloading multimedia information to support the new
has become difficult to distribute materials, radios and televi- distance education program for primary school teachers.
sion sets. Sometime the radios and television sets are mis- EMA is particularly interested in the capabilities of transmit-
handled, kept in a storeroom, or left idle due to a shortage of ting data directly to resource centers throughout the country
batteries. Also, despite the fact that schools are advised to via the satellite. This would provide an exceptional opportu-
adjust their timetable to accommodate the broadcasting nity to send extensive multimedia information, even includ-
schedule, sometimes this schedule does not match with the ing copies of multiple Web sites and links, to resource cen-
teachers' schedule. In addition, with the introduction of mul- ters where teachers will meet periodically as part of their
tiple languages of instruction, there are increasing demands upgrading program.
for broadcasting time that may be difficult to meet.
Television to secondary schools
Increasing Access and Quality EMA has widened its television coverage by using the
EMA has increased its radio and television broadcast cover- TVROs (Television Receive Only) of the Ethiopian Tele-
age through agreements with organizations like Worldspace communication Corporation. Traditionally, EMA has been
and the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation. broadcasting its educational television programs using the
transmitters of the Ethiopian Television to schools in 208
Digital radio towns. However, this year EMA has entered an agreement
This year EMA is taking an innovative step to help meet the with the Corporation to use their TVROs in 21 towns where
increasing demands for transmitting time as well as to pro- the broadcast of Ethiopian Television cannot be received.
vide high-quality audio sound in the schools. It has teamed Thus, EMA television programs can now reach 229 towns.
up with WorldSpace, which has recently launched the Afri-
Sat satellite that broadcasts digital programs from space. Af- Summary
riSat covers the African continent using three transmitting Ethiopia is fortunate to have a well-established and inte-
beams, each of which has the capability of carrying 60 audio grated system for using radio and television to support edu-
channels simultaneously. Although principally a commercial cation based on over 30 years of experience. EMA and its
venture, WorldSpace Corporation through its Foundation has affiliates in the regions provide extensive programming for
dedicated part of its broadcasting capacity for the nonprofit primary and secondary schools, plus support to non-formal
sector in areas such as education, health, the environment, education and teacher training. EMA's role in Ethiopia is
and women's issues. As one initiative to help test the capacity evolving as a result of the decentralized governance structure
of this technology to support education, WorldSpace is pro- established in 1991. Its role has expanded from being the
viding one broadcasting channel exclusively for use in sole provider of educational programs to also providing ex-
Ethiopia. In addition, it has donated 50 digital receivers for a tensive training and support to the new regional broadcasting
pilot program. EMA has already identified approximately initiatives. EMA is also expanding its role significantly in
400 programs to be broadcast from AfriSat. These programs distance education and is looking for new ways in which
include harmful traditional practices, folk media, science technology can help support its objectives. Its new initiative
subjects, gender issues, primary school teacher training pro- with IRI and WorldSpace may lay the groundwork for ex-
grams, and English. citing new opportunities in the future.

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Education for All – The Mass Media Formula
David Walker and Gajaraj Dhanarajan*

Community FM Radio in South Africa

"All available instruments and channels of information, communications, and social


action could be used to help convey essential knowledge and inform and educate people
on social issues. In addition to the traditional means, libraries, television, radio and
other media can be mobilized to realize their potential towards meeting basic education
needs of all". Final Report World Conference for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs,
Jomtien, Thailand, 1990.

Why Community Radio? continue to be denied access to information, knowledge,


skills and technology transfer.
Community radio is an immensely powerful technology for
the delivery of education with enormous global potential The answer is to deploy Distance Education techniques and
reach. Creating opportunities for communities to utilize this delivery systems such as radio and television based at the
delivery system will enable disadvantaged groups to engage community level to address directly local issues and needs.
in a development agenda, sensitive to their needs and aspira-
tions. In order to serve the underprivileged and rural poor, Community Radio - A Proven Track Record
mass media such as radio must create conditions and mecha-
nisms that provide people with genuine access to useful in- Radio also has a developed infrastructure that
formation. Such mechanisms will offer ways in which people must be the envy of any developing country telecom
can express their sentiments, opinions, views, dreams and operator. In Sri Lanka, one person in 500 has ac-
aspirations, their fears and insecurities, their strengths and cess to the Internet, but virtually everyone has ac-
capabilities, and, of course, their ideas for development. cess to a radio. Bolivia had fewer than five tele-
phone lines per hundred people in 1996, but more
High illiteracy rates and low levels of schooling among dis- than 57 radio receivers per hundred (Girard,
advantaged groups, especially women, in many developing 1999).
countries continues to limit their ability to lift themselves out
of poverty. The existing educational system has shown itself Some of the undeniable strengths of radio include the fol-
to be unable to respond to the massive demand for increased lowing:
education. This is especially true in many poverty-stricken
countries with respect to meeting the substantial education • Radio reaches a wider audience than any other medium:
needs of the rural poor. Consequently, disadvantaged groups for example there are an estimated 94 radios per thou-

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sand people in the least developed countries, ten times Despite radio’s many advantages it is, like television, a one-
the number of televisions. way delivery system; therefore sufficient local tutorial sup-
port is needed to supplement educational broadcasts. Many
• Radio can motivate people by building on aural/oral people lack sufficient access to electricity, and batteries are
traditions and stimulate the imagination better than video expensive to obtain. However alternatives in solar and
or television. windup technology have been developed and are gradually
making their way to the village level. (See TechKnowLogia
• Radio programs are cheap to make compared to televi- March/April 2000 Issue, FM Radio Stations: Broadcasting
sion and video. with the Sun)

• Radio receivers are widely available, comparatively Radio - An Under-utilized Delivery System
cheap and portable, making them convenient for listen-
ers. In order to empower disadvantaged groups as equal partners
in development, the limitations of formal and non-formal
• Radio can reach people who are isolated by language, education are now being challenged. New ways to achieve
geography, conflict, illiteracy and poverty. mass education, that can be both efficient and effective, are
being sought. In this context, radio, an effective telecommu-
• Radio can help create a nications medium, was
demand for services and proposed at Jomtien in 1990,
convey vital information. as the solution most likely to
Radio reaches a wider audience than address this great need. Radio
• Radio can facilitate any other medium: for example there can cut across geographic
assistance in the early
stage of complex
are an estimated 94 radios per thou- and Given
cultural boundaries.
its availability,
emergencies when forms sand people in the least developed accessibility, cost-
of aid are not possible. countries, ten times the number of effectiveness and power,
radio represents a practical
• Radio can be a group
televisions. and creative medium for
activity, encouraging facilitating mass education in
discussion of educational a rural setting. However ten
issues after the broadcast. years since Jomtien, radio still continues to be an under-
utilized technology in education. This is especially surpris-
• Radio gives listeners the opportunity to make informed ing, because from a learner's point of view, radio is user
choices about decisions and can give them greater self- friendly, accessible and a well-established medium. From an
determination over their lives (Burke, 1999). educational provider's point of view it is easy to set up, pro-
duce and broadcast programs.
Some examples of the usefulness of community radio are:
After almost one hundred years of broadcasting history, most
• It can act as a community telephone, broadcasting com- nations possess more than a respectable level of engineering
munity-based announcements during the day. skills and broadcasting talent needed to apply the technology
in education. In the last ten years, radio has been greatly en-
• In many rural areas radio is the only source of informa- hanced by the emergence of new technologies, which have
tion about market prices for crops. opened up opportunities for a variety of forms of delivery
and access for both broadcaster and listener. For example,
portable, low cost FM transmitting stations have been devel-
• It is used both for formal and informal education such as
oped and digital radio systems that transmit via satellite
agricultural extension information for farmers and agro-
and/or cellular are being implemented in many parts of the
food processors.
globe (Walker, 2000). Internet streaming audio software
technology has emerged to allow a global audience to listen
• It plays an important role in the preservation of local
to news from a distant country. Also, windup and solar ra-
language and culture.
dios have been developed thus freeing radio from the need
for expensive power sources.
• It can be used in calling for emergency medical assis-
tance. (Girard, 1999) Projects and studies completed by The Commonwealth of
Learning (COL) and others in the field of Distance Educa-

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tion and Media have determined that one of the overriding A number of digital initiatives are being undertaken at both
factors to the success of these stations has been the proper national and global levels. For example, WorldSpace is a
community access and ownership, which is paramount in the digital radio system that is targeting Asia, Africa and South
initial project design. If the station is or becomes an integral America via satellite transmission of digital programming.
part of the voice of the community, and local interest groups Community broadcasters can take advantage of the educa-
have an equal say in the information that it disseminates, tional programming that is available via rebroadcasting of
then there is a greater likelihood of success in the long-term national and international initiatives to the local populace
sustainability of the station. The broadcaster and audience who would not normally have access to these programs.
must continuously interact. People sense the relevance of There is an issue with rebroadcasting of national and inter-
what they are learning when they appreciate how the issues national programs by local community broadcasters: while
touch them in their immediate environment. The content the programming may be excellent in production values and
creation of a community radio station will occur when good quality compared with what can be created locally, there is a
station management is in place and groups are trained to sup- cost in the loss of choice, of local information and of alterna-
ply programming aimed at specific identified needs. Finally, tive perspectives. Digital audio broadcasting will also allow
political support for community radio from both local and for text/graphic-based information to be displayed on a small
national leaders is important. screen on a digital radio as a supplement to the audio broad-
cast. This will open a wide variety of opportunities for con-
Leveling the Playing Field - tent creation aimed at the illiterate, allowing learners a writ-
Going Digital for the Community ten or graphic context for lessons in reading and writing.

Radio and the Internet are fast becoming one delivery me- The Ability to Reform -
dium, with the advent of streaming technology and the con- A New Paradigm in a New Age
version from analogue to digital radio broadcasting. A small
community radio station will serve not only its local listeners The overarching issue that will face community radio in the
but also communities of listeners around the world. future will be a government's ability to reform licensing and
broadcasting regulations. These have been major inhibitors
An advantage of digital radio transmission is that areas to the proliferation of community radio stations and therefore
which suffer 'signal gaps' due to blockage by hills or build- educational programming in many countries. Community
ings can literally be 'gap-filled' by installing very-low power radio cannot be equated with commercial radio. Therefore,
digital radio repeaters in these locations. This is possible due licensing fees for community-based stations should take ac-
to the digital radio receiver's 'intelligence'. Unlike conven- count of the station's limited budget, which is focused on
tional receivers, digital radio receivers are capable of sorting program creation and service to the community.
through a number of signal paths on the same frequency, a
capability that will aid in the conservation of scarce radio In some countries a community station must show an in-
spectrum. In other words, broadcasters can enter the digital crease in transmitter power each year for the station license
radio marketplace on an equal footing; where they go from to be considered for renewal. Increasing FM transmission
there will depend on individual creativity and appropriate- power does not improve the radius of coverage; rather it satu-
ness of content to address community needs. Finally, broad- rates more thoroughly the radius where the antenna is able to
casters should be able to make this transition in a cost- see to the horizon. It is more efficient to use small transmit-
effective manner because the digital radio transmitters cur- ters as repeater units that retransmit the main station signal
rently being tested can carry up to six stereo services at once, further afield. The issue, in many cases, is that a community
meaning that the cost of transmission can be shared among station cannot efficiently cover the targeted populace due to
as many as six community stations either in a region, prov- regulators’ demands for additional licensing fees to acquire a
ince/state, nationally or even internationally. And, because second frequency for rebroadcasting to a greater radius of
the power requirements are considerably lower for generat- distance and population. This becomes prohibitively expen-
ing digital radio transmissions, the operating costs should be sive given that the first frequency may have cost several
substantially reduced as well. No longer will powerful thousand dollars without even having the fees demanded for
transmitters, as in the analogue FM world, be the factor that a second rebroadcast frequency.
makes or breaks the development of a community station.
Instead, since digital transmission power is the same regard- If radio is to be utilized to serve community needs as an in-
less of a station status or power output, issues of quality, ap- strument for education, training, and information then a first
propriateness of content, and ability to address a commu- step will be the deregulation of the airwaves by governments
nity's needs will be the focus of a station's strategy to attract for community broadcasters coupled with appropriate ad-
listenership. ministration fees. However, with deregulation comes com-
petition by many stations for listening audiences at the local

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level. In India, there are proposals to circumvent govern- Will we be able to say in ten years that radio's potential for
ment regulations concerning community radio by rebroad- educational delivery to millions of disadvantaged groups has
casting Internet streamed audio programming via speakers finally been realized? With the many varied formulas for
mounted throughout the village area (Metha). convergence of digital and analogue technology and the vast
selection of content and tools to create original culturally
If education for all is to be achieved, then the potential for sensitive material for education at the community level, we
radio, as an effective delivery device to disadvantaged state clearly - yes. But will the bodies that regulate frequen-
groups, will have to be harnessed. This can only be achieved cies for community radio initiatives reform regulations to
with the commitment of governments to allow for the devel- reflect the current technological developments and pressing
opment of community need for mass media to meet the
broadcasting. The benefits that goal for education for all in the
radio can bring to the overall The tools for education for all next ten years? We can only hope.
welfare of a nation are The past ten years and the lack of
potentially great. It is and the infrastructure and skills fulfillment of Jomtien are a heavy
economically the best solution for delivering education are burden to bear. The next ten
for reaching large numbers of
people with information and
readily available if governments should see the harnessing of radio,
analogue, and more so digital, as
educational content. The tools are willing to allow radio to pro- the powerhouse for delivery of
for education for all and the liferate at the community level. education. Governments should be
infrastructure and skills for prepared to adjust broadcasting
delivering education are readily regulations to adhere to
available if governments are willing to allow radio to prolif- technological developments and realities, and also consider
erate at the community level. community based mass media delivery as an effective solu-
tion for improving a nation's human resource development
Conclusion towards the goal of education for all.

Radio is an effective system for delivery of education to References


large numbers of people. It facilitates information exchange
at the community level, acting as a “community telephone” Burke, A. Communications & Development: a practical
and can be effective in literacy and formal/non-formal edu- guide. London: Department for International Development,
cation. Analogue systems for radio will be supplanted by 1999.
digital broadcasting in the coming decade, however digital
radio will pose issues including cost of radio receivers and Girard, B. Radio Broadcasting and the Internet: Converging
renewal of broadcasting infrastructure. Analogue radio sys- for Development and Democracy. Voices, Journal on
tems, such as the portable solution that COL and others have Communication and Development, December 1999.
utilized in community FM radio initiatives, can be effective
in delivering education to the masses without the high infra- Mehta, A. Community Internet Radio Proposal.
structure costs associated with radio broadcasting. With (www.cerfnet.com/~amehta/comradio.htm).
community broadcasting not only can broadcasters focus on
addressing local needs through their own produced pro- Walker, D. FM Radio Stations: Broadcasting with the Sun.
gramming, but also have the choice among a tremendous TechKnowLogia, (www.techknowlogia.org), March 2000.
variety of quality educational content that is available via
rebroadcast from national and international sources whether
*
it is delivered via satellite or the Internet. Rebroadcasting Gajaraj Dhanarajan is President and Chief Executive Offi-
also should be balanced with the needs of the local commu- cer, The Commonwealth of Learning. David Walker is Edu-
nity and the provision of appropriate and relevant program- cation Specialist, (Educational Technology/Media), at The
ming content. Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada
There is a marriage between the digital and the FM analogue
systems that is taking place. The convergence also includes
Internet streamed audio-based broadcasters that can effec-
tively be employed by the community FM station in a re-
broadcast mode.

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Computers for Children:
From the Beaches of California to the Slums of India
By Sonia Jurich

Throughout human history, children have used play as a tool Two of these reports referred to experiments in after-school
for socialization. While at play, children learn and practice clubs in California and North Carolina, U.S.A. (Mayer,
the rules governing their social relationships, and the many Quilici & Moreno, 1999; Mayer, Schustack & Blanton,
intricacies of living and working in society. In the early 1999). The research focused on what children learn when
1920s, the prominent educator John Dewey expressed a con- using computers in informal settings, and if they can gener-
cern that schooling was leaving play - and motivation - out- alize their learning to different contexts. The participants,
side the learning process. His words went unheard. The who attended nearby elementary schools, were mostly chil-
constructivist theory has again focused on the importance of dren from low-income, immigrant families, speaking limited
play to learning. Through play, children develop both crea- English. Although the researchers did not state whether the
tivity and skill mastery. They learn si- children had access to computers at home
multaneously how to ask questions and or school, their demographic characteris-
find answers. Moreover, they develop the Unfortunately, researchers tics strongly suggest that they did not.
motivation to keep asking, to explore the
world around them. As society changes,
are too concerned with con- The children's task was to solve mathe-
matical puzzles in the computer with
so do the ways children play. Over the trolling the environment to minimum help from adults. Written task
past two decades, computers, and their "let it go," and observe what cards explained the program and the crite-
close relatives, the video-game machines, ria for moving from one task to another.
have penetrated the childhood world, ei- really happens when children Only after mastering one puzzle, could the
ther directly or through advertisement and encounter a computer for children move to another. Children who
hearsay. Adults comment how easily acquired sufficient mastery could achieve
children master the use of these machines,
the first time. the status of Young Assistant to the Wiz-
as if they have some mysterious gene for ards. Wizards were the adult mentors
technology that is missing in the older generations. Experts available to help the children on an as needed basis. The
have prompt explanations for this ability, ranging from be- children could also write messages to an imaginary Wizard
havior modeling, to simple childhood curiosity coupled by a using the word processor. After doing a set of problems on
lack of fear about technology. the computer, the children had to solve a different set of pen-
cil-and-paper mathematical puzzles. Researchers found that
Learning while playing: club attendance was positively related to the ability to solve
the written puzzles (children who frequented the club solved
An old truth that we insist on forgetting more problems than those who did not attend the club).

Unfortunately, researchers are too concerned with controlling That the mathematical skills acquired with computers can be
the environment to "let it go," and observe what really hap- generalized to paper-and-pencil problems is an exciting
pens when children encounter a computer for the first time. finding. Exciting also are two other phenomena that the
Do the children immediately interact with the computer, as if researchers report almost as an afterthought. First, under
"equipped" with innate instructions for its use? Do they minimum adult supervision, cooperative learning was a
learn slowly, through trial and error? How far can they go spontaneous arrangement. Cooperation characterized the
without an adult's interference? A search of three databases children's interactions with each other, rather than competi-
(ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, and Anthropological Litera- tion. Second, despite the children's economic limitations and
ture), within a five-year frame, found four research reports cultural differences, the learning process seemed to blossom
on children and computers where adult intervention was kept quite easily. Children who had visited the club 10 to 20
to a minimum. times were considered regular attendees. Within this limited

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time, the children had learned how to use the computers. A world to conquer
Even more, they had also learned how to solve mathematical
problems. In the Texas experiment, the researcher noted that some chil-
dren expressed a sense of triumph when they felt they "con-
Motivation . . . motivation . . . and motivation quered" the use of a mouse (Liu, 1996, p.87). Control over
the environment is also a factor when New York City's
The second report (Mayer, Schustack & Blanton, 1999) takes school children play video games, according to Blumberg
the previous experiment a little farther. Researchers com- (1998). In this experiment, the researcher invited middle-
pared the regular attendees to the children who used the clubs class children, whose ages varied from 7 to 12 years old, to
sporadically (less than 10 visits). Then, they examined the play a commercial video game. After 10 minutes of play, the
relationship between computer expertise and important com- researcher asked the children about what they were thinking
ponents of the learning process, such as the ability to under- during the play, and how would they teach another person
stand procedures and follow directions. Finally, they evalu- how to play the game. As expected, children who were more
ated the relationship between computer expertise and aca- familiar with video games, in general, were more successful
demic achievement, measured through scores in mathematics in the game than children who were infrequent players.
and reading tests. As expected, researchers found that the Younger children (second graders) were more likely to at-
regular attendees showed greater computer expertise than the tribute their motivation to feelings of satisfaction ("I like it,"
infrequent users. They were also more skilled in the use of "It is easy"). They were not concerned with rules or strate-
computers, and had more facility to learn new games and gies, and independent of their scores, they would see them-
comprehend directions than the sporadic users. In addition, selves as successful players. Older children (fifth graders)
they outscored their peers in math and reading tests. were quite purposeful in their motivation: they wanted to
win. Their attention was focused on the rules, hidden se-
We can argue that the children crets, and special cues that would help them attain that goal.
…the researcher were frequent attendees be- They were able to develop strategies and communicate them
noted that some cause they were more to a potential new player. Again, the report does not explain
motivated to learn. Motivation how the children who had never seen the game (nine of
children expressed was probably the reason for them), learned how to play. It does not appear that the adults
a sense of triumph their ability to learn how to use explained the rules. We can only wonder if the impulse to
when they felt they the computer with little or no conquer the machine, and the certainty that they could con-
adult intervention, and their suc- quer it, was the children's motivation to engage in the learn-
"conquered" the cess in all the evaluative ing process.
use of a mouse. measures. Another possible
explanation though, is that the As the four research reports show, children seem ready to
handling of the computers learn how to handle computers with little or no instruction.
elicited the motivation, at least for some children, and was at It is true that all these experiments were done in the United
the base of their learning. Findings in an experiment with States, a country where (supposedly) computers are every-
very young children, aged 3 to 5, in a daycare center in where and no children are totally computer illiterate. Al-
Texas, U.S.A., support the proposal that computers can cap- though some children in those experiments did not have
ture children's attention for longer periods than regular computers, one may argue that they knew someone who had,
school activities (Liu, 1996). In this experiment, the re- or that they had seen computers being manipulated else-
searcher used a multimedia program based on The Jungle where. This would explain their effortless relationship with
Book. The program aimed to teach young children about the machines. Adults are ready to find easy explanations to
spatial relationships (in and out, up and down) with the help avoid complex answers.
of sound and graphics. Almost 60 percent of the children
had never seen a computer before. However, they were It is only a game . . . a game of learning
ready to use the mouse with no adult help. They stayed on a
task for periods varying from 24 to 35 minutes, longer than Sugata Mitra and Vivek Rana are two Indian researchers who
the 15 to 20 minutes considered ideal for school activities at decided not to accept easy explanations. Their experiment
that age level. They were also able to wait for their turn on occurred in a slum in New Delhi, India, where most children
the machine, and to share their enjoyment with friends do not go to school, and have no access to computers. For
(forcing some recalcitrant parents to allow their children to this experiment, the researchers placed a computer, con-
enter the experiment). nected to the Web, enclosed in an outdoor kiosk, at the bor-
der of a slum. The monitor was visible through a glass plate
built into a wall that contained a touch pad. A video camera,
placed on a nearby tree, recorded the activity inside the ki-

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osk. CPU activity was monitored from another computer worked together to conquer the machine, as did the children
inside the office. The researchers turned on the kiosk with- in California and North Carolina. They were not afraid of
out any announcements or instructions. The dwellers had the unknown, neither were the children in Texas. They were
different feelings about the kiosk. While the elder residents also proud of their conquest, as were the children in New
were concerned with the computer's security, the children York and Texas. They did not refuse adults' help, and, as the
were excited. "What is a computer?" they asked, "Is it a Indian experiment shows, they even searched for it. They
video-game?" What follows is a summary of Mitra & Rana's realize that the help of an "expert" was necessary to enrich
accounts (Mitra & Rana, 1999). their learning process. Everywhere children are telling us
that computers are no more than big and fun toys, and that
The first users of the Kiosk were the little boys, ages 6 to 12, we all can play (and learn) together. Adults, who forgot how
who started playing around with the touch pad, enjoying the to play, have been unable to use the computer's potential to
movement of the pointer. In a few hours, they had learned bring curiosity, and learning, into the classrooms. Most of
that they could click on the pad and something would appear all, they have been unable to perceive the computer's poten-
on the screen. Because the pointer would change from an tial to transform any place - including a little kiosk at the
arrow into a hand, they easily learned what could be "click- borders of a slum - into active classrooms.
able," and started playing with the different
icons. In the next two days the children had
opened the "start menu," the "my computer" A proposal to remove the References:
icon and other windows. They also discov- kiosk was met with great
Blumberg, F. C. (1998). Developmental
ered a slum dweller who was computer liter-
ate, and made him their local helper to ad-
opposition by the children. differences at play: children's selective
vance their explorations. Within two weeks, attention and performance in video
the researchers had to remove about 200 shortcuts from the games. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19
desktop, only to see another 850 shortcuts developed in the (4): 615-624.
same day. The children were reaching the Web and visiting
sites. They were also using applications, such as the calcu- Liu, M. (1996). An exploratory study of how pre-
lator and the MS paint. Within 20 days, the children had kindergarten children use the interactive multimedia
learned how to maximize and minimize windows. Someone technology: implications for multimedia software design.
had changed the Internet home page option and the wallpaper Journal of Computing in Childhood Education, 7 (1/2): 71-
setting. Others had made pictures with the paint application. 92.
The children would form impromptu classes to teach one
another. For lack of formal instruction in computer termi- Mayer, R.E., Quilici, J.L., & Moreno, R. (1999). What is
nology, they created their own names, such as "needle" (sui) learned in an after-school computer club? Journal of Educa-
to indicate the pointer, or "channels" for the web pages. tional Computing Research, 20 (3): 223-235.
They wrote short messages using the word processor, despite
the lack of a keyboard. A proposal to remove the kiosk was Mayer, R.E., Schustack, M.W., & Blanton, W.E. (1999).
met with great opposition by the children. Throughout the What do children learn from using computers in an informal,
experiment, the adults, both men and women, had not tried to collaborative setting? Educational Technology, 39 (2): 27-
use the kiosk. They had not even approached it. However, 31.
they also opposed the kiosk's closure, because they felt it was
good for the children. Mitra, S., & Rana, V. (1999). Children and the Internet: an
experiment with minimally invasive education in India.
Noronha (1999) reports another experiment with unsuper- Available at:
vised learning of computers. In the village of Udang, West www.iicd.org/search/show-entry.ap?entryid=3778
Bengal, India, a team of researchers placed a few computers
in a rural school. They allowed the children to use the com- Noronha, F. (1999). Indian experiment shows how slum-kids
puters after minimum instruction. Soon, both teachers and speedily take to computers. Available at:
students had learned how to use the word processing, spread- www.iicd.org/search/show-entry.ap?entryid=4050
sheets and database management systems. In the process,
they created a rural resources and health care database.

The Indian children were not afraid of computers, probably


because they saw the machine as another toy. Interesting
enough, the computer seems to be a toy that brings coopera-
tion, rather than competition. The children in New Delhi

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Status Report 1
APPLYING NEW TECHNOLOGIES
IN
BASIC EDUCATION*
Hilary Perraton and Charlotte Creed
International Research Foundation for Open Learning

communication between learner and tutor, or to enable stu-


ASSUMPTIONS AND DEFINITIONS dents to have access to remote sources of information.

There are three starting assumptions for a review of the use It is useful to distinguish between a variety of different appli-
of information and communication technology to support cations of the various technologies to basic education. Com-
basic education. First, there is no practical substitute for pri- puters have been used within schools both to support teach-
mary schools so that the role of the technologies is to support ing and for school linking. Radio and television have been
primary education, not to replace it. Second, the technologies used in various formats for education within school. Open
may, however, play a part in meeting the needs of children or and distance learning has been used for two main purposes:
adults who cannot get to school or conventional class. Third, to offer an out-of-school alternative to junior secondary edu-
it makes sense to look at the technologies together, from cation and for teacher education, where computer technolo-
print to broadcasting to computers. gies are also beginning to be used. Broadcasting and other
We have used the following working definitions: technologies have been widely used for the nonformal edu-
cation of adults.
Telematics is the combined use of telecommunication and
computer technology. New information technologies, and THE POSITION IN 1990
information and communication technologies, are synonyms
for telematics. At the time of the World Conference on Education for All,
March 1990, Jomtien, Thailand, it was argued that the po-
Distance education is an educational process in which tential of the new communication technologies had not been
someone removed in space and/or time from the learner con- fully realized although there was, by that date, well-
ducts a significant proportion of the teaching. documented experience of their use for a range of educa-
tional purposes. This included the work of out-of-school in-
Open learning is an organized educational activity, based on stitutions, notably in Latin America, which were providing
the use of teaching materials, in which constraints on study an alternative to formal schooling; the use of radio and tele-
are minimized in terms of access, or of time and place, pace, vision to raise school quality; the use of radio, with other
method of study, or any combination of these. technologies, for adult education and extension; and teacher
education through open and distance learning. At that time,
Open and distance learning is an umbrella term covering some open universities, notably in Asia, were beginning to
distance education, open learning, and the use of telematics work in basic education; computers were coming into class-
in education. rooms in the north; and the two new specialized agencies, the
Commonwealth of Learning and the Centre International
Computer-based learning is the use of computers in educa- Francophone de Formation à Distance, were beginning to
tion to provide programs that deliver instruction, to facilitate promote international cooperation in and through distance
education.

*
This is the executive summary of a review conducted by the authors for the International Consultative Forum on Education
for All (EFA), as part of the EFA 2000 Assessment activities in preparation for the World Education Forum, Dakar, April 26-
28, 2000. The review was coordinated by DFID on behalf of the Forum. Used by permission of the Executive Secretariat of
the Forum.

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THE PRESENT ENVIRONMENT AND THE LAST Broadcasting has been used to offer direct teaching in
DECADE schools, to provide enrichment programs, and for general
children's programming. One variant of direct teaching, in-
Educational expansion and constraint over the last decade teractive radio instruction, has been widely adopted, most
form the backdrop to any examination of the role of technol- often with funding support from USAID.
ogy. The constraints on expansion mean that there remain
large numbers of children outside school, especially in sub- Distance education, which is likely to rely on other technolo-
Saharan Africa and south Asia, and large numbers of adults gies - print, broadcasts, and now sometimes computers - is
who missed schooling. One remarkable and consistent pat- being used for two main purposes in basic education: to offer
tern is important: that, in all parts of the developing world, an alternative form of junior-secondary, and more rarely
female enrolment in education, at primary, secondary and primary, education, and to support teacher education.
tertiary levels, has been growing faster than male.
AUDIENCES
The environment within which technologies are applied to
education has also been changing. The process towards dig- Technologies have been used in-school, mainly to raise
itization has brought a convergence between different media quality, for out-of-school adolescents and adults, and for the
and technologies. Schools and colleges all round the world inservice training and updating of intermediaries such as
have begun to use the Internet. At the same time, the process teachers and extension agents.
has been far from uniform and there is a widening gap be-
tween those with, and without, access to computer-based In-school, much attention has recently been given to the use
technologies. In many parts of the world, communications of computers. Some computer projects have been designed as
have also been deregulated and privatized, offering new part of a program of curriculum development. Increasingly,
kinds of access to communication technology but sometimes attention has gone to providing access to resources through
reducing the free access previously enjoyed by educators. the Internet, the development of skills in using the Internet,
Within the world of development communication there has and school-linking projects in which email or computer
been a new emphasis on participatory methodologies, which conferencing techniques are used for school-to-school ex-
has affected programs of basic education, especially in out- change. As these developments have add-on costs they in-
of-school settings. One significant change in the formal sec- crease the total cost per student.
tor has been the new legitimacy of open and distance learn-
ing, marked by the establishment of open universities in Computers have not eclipsed broadcasting and both televi-
many countries but affecting education at all levels. sion and radio continue to be used in schools. A series of
interactive radio instruction projects, in which students are
TECHNOLOGIES active in the classroom, responding to the radio teacher, have
been run in many parts of the world. The projects have been
Despite the convergence between technologies, it is conven- successful in increasing student learning. Interactive radio
ient to distinguish between the various uses of computers, demands heavy investment in curriculum development and
broadcasting, and distance education. its costs mean that the projects have not always been sustain-
able once initial donor funding has been withdrawn. (see
Computers have been used in the classroom for five different TechKnowLogia, Sept./Oct. 1999 Issue, "Radio: Wiring the
reasons: to build up a workforce with skills in information Schools with Wireless").
technology; to educate all future citizens about the technolo-
gies; to change the curriculum often by using computer- Various communication technologies have been used for
assisted learning; to promote change in education; and to audiences outside school. The unsatisfied demand for junior
give access to the Internet and email. The last of these has secondary education has led to a number of open and dis-
achieved particular prominence and attention in the last few tance learning programs. Telesecundaria in Mexico (see
years. The choice of rationale determines the level in the TechKnowLogia, September/October 1999 Issue, "Mexico's
education system at which it is appropriate to invest in Telesecundaria") is a television-based, rural, system offering
telematics. All rationales demand adequate investment in secondary education that has been running for more than a
staff training and in software, both often under-emphasized quarter century and is a regular part of the national system of
in early planning. Whereas industrialized countries are mov- education. In Asia, open schools, relying more heavily on
ing towards the provision of computers to all classrooms, printed materials, have been established, notably in India and
alternative strategies for providing computer access include Indonesia, and have plans for large-scale expansion. Educa-
the use of mobile units, the sharing of computer facilities tion out-of-school is not limited to the formal curriculum and
with other agencies, and mediated access where a third party also includes community-based educational projects, some of
seeks information through computer networks on behalf of a them beginning to use small-scale community radio, health
school. campaigns and a wide range of projects for adult basic edu-

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cation. Some have used group study; many have been sup- Comparison between the costs of conventional and technol-
ported and organized by NGOs. Many have worked well ogy-based education is necessarily complex. The balance
with small audiences but have had difficulty in moving to between fixed and variable costs is different in these two
scale or establishing the links with government agencies that sectors. Economies of scale may be achieved in broadcasting
would be necessary for this kind of expansion. The estab- or distance education so that, to determine the unit cost of a
lishment of telecenters, open access centers at which, for a program, we need to know the number of students. At the
fee, individuals can get access to computer technologies and same time, many uses of technology demand elements of
use the Internet, may provide new opportunities for informal individual support to which these economies do not apply.
and nonformal education. (see TechKnowLogia, Sept./Oct. Programs to raise the quality of education generally increase
1999 Issue, Ghana: Networking For Local Development - costs: they are not usually designed to reduce conventional
How You Can Use A Computer without Owning One; staffing so that the costs of providing broadcasts or intro-
Nov./Dec. 1999 Issue, AMIC@S in Asuncion: Leapfrogging ducing computers are normally additional to regular educa-
Development). tional costs.

The new technologies have been used in various ways to Differing levels of salary make international comparison of
meet the needs of deprived and marginalized children, from costs difficult but, for what it is worth, evidence from a num-
those in remote areas to street children, refugees, and war ber of countries suggests that interactive radio annual costs
victims. Within industrialized countries Internet-based ap- per student are likely to be in the range $3 to $8, for student
proaches have been used to meet the educational needs of numbers in the range of 100,000 to 1,000,000. A small num-
migrant children. Radio and distance education have been ber of studies of the costs of computers in schools, where
used for the education of refugees. Broadcasting has been economies of scale are unlikely to apply, are several times as
used for children in war zones on, for example, the hazards great with figures in the range $18 to $63. The evidence is
of land mines and to provide health education. consistent in showing that television has higher costs than
radio - sometimes ten times as high - and that computer-
A variety of technologies have been used to provide in- based learning is likely to have markedly higher costs than
service education and training for teachers, and to a lesser radio. Out-of-school distance-education projects have com-
extent for agricultural and health extension agents. Some pared favorably in cost per student with conventional
programs are designed to make resources available to teach- schooling; only if their success rate is adequately high do
ers, without a formal teaching structure. In other cases, for- their costs per successful student compare favorably. The
mal programs have been run, in most parts of the world, us- limited data available on adult basic education suggests that
ing distance education for teachers. Programs have usually the costs compare favorably with face-to-face education for
engendered high motivation, especially where linked with adults but are usually significantly higher, if measured in
improved qualifications and increased pay. Distance educa- cost per learning hour, than the costs of primary education.
tion for teacher training has proved to be effective, both in Inservice education of teachers using distance-teaching
terms of examination pass rates and in raising teachers' ca- methods has often cost only between one-third and two-
pacities in the classroom. thirds those of conventional teacher education.

OUTCOMES AND COSTS CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS

Outcomes may be assessed in terms of widening access, of The evidence, from television to computers, is that projects
improving quality, or of changing the curriculum. In princi- are likely to be at risk if they are at the leading edge of tech-
ple, the use of mass media should widen access and there are nology; education is likely to do better, in terms of costs and
examples of alternative systems of education that reach stu- servicing of equipment, if it follows entertainment and com-
dents who would otherwise be deprived of education. At the merce rather than leads it. If technological innovation is to be
same time, the use of information and communication tech- sustainable it needs to generate a sense of ownership among
nologies may have the opposite effect, allowing the privi- all the stakeholders. Innovation is also likely to need an or-
leged access to learning through computer technology that is ganizational location, which allows adequate freedom for the
denied to others. There is evidence of qualitative improve- innovator while remaining close enough to the work of con-
ment from programs using distance education for teacher ventional education and its decision-makers for it to achieve
training and from the use of broadcasts in the classroom. integration with the regular education service. Sensitive is-
Projects using both broadcasts and computers have been suc- sues of language and gender are the norm rather than the
cessful in helping a process of curriculum change. We have, exception.
however, few evaluations of the use of computers in the
classroom, even from industrialized countries with signifi- Many innovative projects have suffered from underinvest-
cant national investment. ment in training and in software, whether in the form of radio
scripts or computer software. Training is generally needed

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both for specialists involved in the development of teaching introducing a technology-based form of basic education.
materials and for teachers who are using them in their Children need to learn in a school, while the need for techni-
schools or adult educators or extension agents in the field. cal infrastructure and training all limit the extent to which the
technologies can replace conventional education. For most
FUNDING low-income countries, the cost of computer-based education
far exceeds the cost of conventional education.
The application, and level of cost, of new technologies is
likely to lead to a search for new sources of funding. Where Sound decisions about the use of information and communi-
new technologies increase costs there is likely to be tension cation policies will be facilitated where there is a national
between attempts to take advantage of their capacity to communications policy, and a policy for educational com-
widen access and the search for ways of funding them: ac- munications within it. This will embrace linguistic and cul-
cess may be possible at a price only the more privileged can tural issues. It will need to take account of the use to be made
pay. One consequence of adopting telematics may be to shift by the education service of the new technologies and educa-
responsibility for funding from the teaching institution to the tion's role in providing education about them. In developing
learner, or from a central institution to an individual school such a policy a key need, as yet unmet by research, is for full
or college. Downloading materials electronically, rather than and disinterested information about the costs and effects of
buying them commercially or receiving them through a min- the various technologies available for education.
istry of education, shifts the location of costs and may in fact
increase them. At the same time, it may sometimes be possi- CONCLUSIONS
ble to locate community funds by decentralizing.
Eight main conclusions follow from the evidence and analy-
Many technology projects have been launched with external sis:
funding. Often this has excluded recurrent costs and led to
problems of sustainability when neither learners nor govern- ♦ There is no alternative to primary school. Technology-
ments are able to meet running costs. based alternatives have not thrived.

The funding of out-of-school education has often been on a ♦ Computers have been used in primary schools but in a
different basis from in-school education. Students outside modest way, sometimes mainly for games. They are
school, often politically powerless, are often asked to pay a more important higher up the educational system.
higher proportion of the costs of their education than of those
in school, sometimes in the expectation that they will be ♦ Radio can enrich and extend basic education at costs
earning while studying. This sometimes means that those much more modest than those of television or comput-
who receive what they perceive as being an inferior educa- ers.
tion have to pay more than those who get the superior model.
♦ The demands for junior-secondary education, and the
FUTURE LINES OF DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY potential of the technologies, suggest that their use
OPTIONS should be expanded to raise quality and widen access at
junior-secondary level.
The main challenge in applying telematics to basic education
♦ There are promising models for out-of-school equiva-
is to find ways of achieving potential benefits without wid-
lence at this level.
ening the gap between the information-rich and information
poor. In many countries the new technologies are of limited ♦ Despite the mixed record of nonformal education, the
application in primary schools where other needs take prior- social and educational needs of adults are so great that
ity. In contrast, they are of major potential benefit for teacher there is a case for continuing and expanding use of the
education and for strengthening the rapidly expanding junior- technologies here.
secondary cycle. Broadcasting, linked with community-based
activities, and distance education have a role to play in adult ♦ National policies need to be developed that seek to use
basic education, because of their potential reach and modest new technologies cost-effectively while avoiding wid-
cost, whether for a formal curriculum or for nonformal pur- ening the gap between the information-rich and the in-
poses. National campaigns on AIDS prevention are an obvi- formation-poor.
ous and high priority. Distance-education methods have a
record of success in supporting extension agents but have so ♦ The use of communication technologies for teachers and
far been under-exploited for this purpose. extension agents, with its multiplier effect, merits in-
vestment as a cost-effective way of raising educational
Use of new communication technologies will not allow de- quality.
veloping countries to leapfrog the industrialized world by

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Status Report 2

TEXTBOOKS and LEARNING MATERIALS:


Today and Tomorrow∗

Importance of Textbooks signed without consideration of the teacher’s level of


training, or the conditions under which the guides will
“In many countries of the developing world, the text- be used (for instance, small print is difficult to read in
book is the major, if not the only, medium of instruc- the poor lighting of rural communities).
tion. It is the main resource for teachers, setting out
the general guidelines of the syllabus in concrete Textbook Availability
form, providing a guide and foundation to the con-
tent, order, and pacing of instruction, supplying ex- ! The ideal target of one textbook per pupil may be un-
ercises and assignments for students to practice what necessarily expensive. A study in Philippines suggests
they have learned. It is both a source of essential in- that, when textbooks are the property of the school and
formation and the basis for examination and ap- are not taken home, there is only a marginal difference
praisal.” (Montagnes, 1999, p. 1) between ratios of 1:1 and 1:2. Some studies even con-
sider ratios of 1:3.
! Textbooks are the most widely used educational tech-
nology because textbooks: ! However, the number of textbooks per pupil in devel-
▪ are cheap, easy to use, easily portable, and familiar; oping countries is generally much lower. In addition,
▪ can be used even in places where there is no reliable the availability of textbooks has decreased in the past
supply of electricity; decades, due to an increase in enrollment, accompanied
▪ complement the training of under-prepared teachers by no increase, or a decrease in funding for education.
who are pressed into service to meet the demand of
increasing student enrollment; and ! In general, textbook availability is higher in cities and
▪ may be the only introduction to literacy for students towns than in rural areas. Areas that are difficult to
in areas with no easy access to newspapers, maga- reach had the fewest books, sometimes none. For in-
zines or other reading materials. stance, a summary of book sector studies on Angola,
Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania recorded primary-level
! Textbooks should be accompanied by a teacher’s guide textbook per pupil ratios of 2:3 or better in urban areas,
that: but 1:20 or worse elsewhere.
▪ outlines innovative ways of teaching a particular
lesson; ! Variations in availability are also related to:
▪ suggests class activities to reinforce the content; and ▪ subjects and grades (e.g. a survey of grades 1 to 5
▪ provides examples of exercises and assignments. in six South American countries found that while
70% of the students had textbooks in Spanish lan-
! However, teacher’s guides are seldom available in de- guage, only 30% had textbooks in mathematics and
veloping countries. When available, they are often de-


This article is derived from a study, Textbooks & Learning Materials 1990-1999: A Global Survey, prepared by Ian Montag-
nes for the International Consultative Forum on Education for All (EFA), as part of the EFA 2000 Assessment activities in
preparation for the World Education Forum, Dakar, April 26-28, 2000. The study was coordinated by DFID on behalf of the
Forum. Used by permission of the Executive Secretariat of the Forum.

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fewer than 10% had science and social science text- ! Some countries are actively exploring the potential of
books); computers for education. In the early 1990s, India,
▪ buyer’s purchase power (e.g. in provinces of China, Mexico, and Tunisia were teaching computer literacy at
teachers in the poorest areas sometimes bought the primary level. Argentina, Brazil, Kenya, and Sé-
books for children from their own salaries); and négal were using computers to develop critical thinking,
▪ price (in countries that import books, prices can be creativity, and problem solving. A survey of 14 urban
prohibitive). and rural schools in Egypt found that most of the schools
had a computer and several software programs.
Quality of Textbooks
! School libraries and supplementary reading materials
! Studies indicate that textbooks used in many countries have received growing attention in the past decade. In-
are of less than desirable quality. Some of the problems donesia developed 117,000 school libraries with a total
include: collection of about 106 million books, an average of 900
▪ poor instructional design, particularly in the scope per school. Jamaica provides a substantial annual allo-
and sequence of material (e.g. books are too diffi- cation for school libraries and its library services is a
cult for early grade students); model for the Caribbean region.
▪ poor printing quality (e.g. paper is easily destroyed,
pages are lost because of inadequate binding); and ! Some countries are developing community resource
▪ significant errors in facts, grammar, illustrations, centers connected to schools, and widely used by teach-
and a poor choice of language or script. ers and students. For instance, the Ghana Book Trust,
supported by CODE, bought about US$45,000 worth of
! In addition, these textbooks tend to: books in the mid-1990s, all of them written and pub-
▪ reinforce gender stereotypes; lished by Ghanaians, and distributed them to community
▪ disregard the language spoken by the majority of the libraries throughout the country.
country’s population (e.g. in many African coun-
tries, books are written in English, French, or Portu- Textbook provision
guese, even though in any one country fewer than
20% of the population was likely to be literate in ! Students in public schools across the globe receive text-
any one of these languages); and books in three possible ways:
▪ reproduce European experiences and values, irrele- ▪ Free of charge, provided by the state - This practice
vant to the users’ cultures (e.g., fifth grade students aims to ensure equity and is common in countries of
in Nepal learn that “Sushilla took a bus to the zoo,” Asia, Africa, and Latin America, mostly for students
although 60% of children living in the mountains at the primary level. Generally, the books are lent
had never seen a wheel). to the students and must be returned at the end of
the year;
! Problems with quality are being gradually addressed. To ▪ Sold through commercial channels - In this case,
address cultural relevance, many developing countries parents buy the books through retail outlets. This
are using local experts to write. Some countries are also practice inevitably leads to inequities that favors the
addressing gender stereotypes (e.g., in Costa Rica, new wealthy and those who live in urban areas;
books increased the representation of women and girls in ▪ Book rental - Under this method, a school may buy
textbook illustrations, where they are shown in inde- or receive the textbooks and issue them to students
pendent roles). in return for an annual fee. This practice enables
the schools to amortize the cost of books, while
Supplementary Materials avoiding having parents bear the cost through indi-
vidual purchases.
! Supplementary materials expand upon the information in
the textbook. They may range from chalk and black- ! In virtually every country of the world, the state is in-
boards to educational television and interactive comput- volved to some extent in the provision of learning mate-
erized lessons. Where textbooks are in short supply, rials, at the very least by establishing the curricula on
supplementary materials are even less common. which school books are based and, even in the freest of
markets, by buying some or all of the materials used in
! The most common supplementary materials are charts, the public school system.
chalkboards, slates, mathematics sets, and books. In
some schools, the teachers must create their own in- ! In many countries, state-owned or parastatal organiza-
structional materials. tions have the monopoly of textbook publication. Even
in countries with large commercial publishing industries,

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such as India, the state might retain responsibility for African Publishers’ Network (APNET), established
publishing textbooks for the public system. In others, in 1992 with the help of several funding agencies,
local companies, sometimes in joint ventures with for- both governmental and NGO. The Institute runs
eign publishers, have entered the market. Regional co- national and regional workshops, using a compre-
operation in publishing is still rare. hensive syllabus in book publishing and manage-
ment. The Asian Cultural Center for UNESCO,
! Despite some increase in locally developed publications, supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education
exports from European countries to former colonies are and the Japan Book Publishers Association, runs a
still significant. Partnerships between foreign and local similar initiative for Asia and Oceania.
publishers are also expanding (e.g. Canada’s Fraternité
Matin joined Jamana in Mali to publish grammar books). ! The following trends characterized the provision of
International agencies, such as UNESCO, played an ac- books in the second half of the 1990s:
tive part in joint ventures. ▪ decentralization of selection and procurement, with
more involvement of local governments and
! Constraints related to the provision of textbooks to pub- stakeholders, including teachers, parents, students;
lic schools include: ▪ economic liberalization with a greater role for the
▪ Financing - Textbook publishing is a capital- private sector, particularly in countries with an al-
intensive business that may require two to three ready established publishing sector; and
years to recoup the initial investment. Investors ▪ cost recovery to achieve systemic sustainability
find textbook publishing unattractive, and govern- through improved efficiency in production and gov-
mental investment is dependent on economic stabil- ernmental support.
ity. Nigeria, for instance, established an Education
Trust Fund, analogous to its agricultural develop- Looking to the Future
ment banks, to provide soft loans to publishers and
others involved in producing learning materials. ! The trends towards decentralization and liberalization in
▪ Production - Costs vary according to many factors, textbook production and publishing will continue to re-
such as local availability of paper, printers, and duce the inefficiencies of centralized government opera-
transport, mismatches in equipment, and protec- tions. It is expected that competition and local choice
tionist tariffs. Paper remains the principal expense. will produce better textbooks, which are pedagogically
▪ Distribution – Geographical obstacles, poor condi- innovative and more appropriate for their users.
tion of roads and scarcity of trucking are significant
challenges for the distribution of textbooks in de- ! Textbooks produced by the private sector for sale should
veloping countries. State-supported distribution be steadily available as long as they are in demand, re-
systems are hampered by lack of funds and storage placing the peak-and-valley system that characterized
place. In countries where books are sold through many state-based systems (replacement of books in core
retail outlets, bookstores tend to be scarce in the ur- subjects in one or two grades per year, followed by
ban center and almost unknown outside the cities. minimal attention to those grades while the needs of
Kenya sought to resolve the problem by consoli- other grades are addressed, followed by the wholesale
dating school orders for textbooks at the district need for replacement in the original grades).
level and then ordering the books from local book-
sellers. This process strengthens the retail sector ! The rate of increase in the primary school-age popula-
and reduces the discrepancies that occurred under tion worldwide will slow down in the first decade of the
central procurement. 21st century, relieving the strain on some national
▪ Information - Efficient provision requires accurate economies. Eastern Europe and Central Asia are already
and timely information on which to project enrol- showing a decline in enrolment rates, and a similar de-
ments and textbook needs by school, grade and cline is expected to occur in the next decade in East Asia
subject. This kind of information is difficult in and Latin America. A slower, but steady increase of
countries where communication by telephone or primary-school-age children is expected in sub-Saharan
mail is unreliable. Moreover, centralization may in- Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
crease errors, as the data moves through the many These regions include the countries where the book
bureaucratic layers. shortage is greatest and poverty most severe.
▪ Human resources - The lack of professionally
trained staff is a challenge for both state and private ! Partial or full cost recovery policies will relieve the bur-
publishers in most countries. Training on this area den on government and reduce dependence on external
has received more attention in the past decade. The assistance. However, these policies may penalize the
African Publishing Institute is a training wing of the most disadvantaged sectors of society. Targeted subsi-

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dies may reduce the impact on some of those affected, work alongside governments in developing practi-
but not necessarily all. In the Philippines, for example, cable national book policies;
education projects funded by the World Bank and Asian ▪ produce more, better-quality, relevant books, en-
Development Bank are directed only at the poorest couraging local authors;
provinces of the country, containing little more than one- ▪ educate teachers in the selection of appropriate ma-
third of the country’s poor. The government is left to terials and in ways to make the best use of the text-
find the money for the rest. A concentration on rural books they have selected; and
poverty does nothing to assist the urban poor who ▪ seek support for worthy publishing ventures from
populate the slums of Manila. foundations, corporations, and other non-publishing
parts of the private sector.
! Government support for education will continue to be
restricted by national poverty, fiscal austerity related to ! Funding agencies should:
structural adjustment, conflicting priorities, inefficient ▪ take steps to share information, avoid duplication of
collection of taxes, poor management, and, in many effort, and monitor projects effectively; consult with
countries, war. publishing experts at an early stage of a new project
to ensure quality of design;
! Supplementary reading and other learning materials, and ▪ support capacity-building initiatives, working
school libraries, will continue to have a lower priority within established structures and existing organiza-
than textbooks and work books in strained fiscal budg- tions, sponsoring the development of rural libraries
eting. The textbook will remain the sole resource in edu- and national library systems;
cation, for teacher and student alike. ▪ add flexibility to funding schemes, and reduce strict
conditions; support small indigenous publishers
What can be done? through purchase or subsidies; purchase more books
for educational institutions;
Some of the recommendations from a worldwide survey ▪ provide grants for the writing of high quality text-
sponsored by ADEA/UNESCO included the following: books and commission works in certain areas; sup-
port training in publishing and other book trade
! Governments should: skills, particularly in new technology, and sponsor
▪ liberalize the publishing/bookselling/printing mar- training programs for teacher-trainers in educational
ket, if a centralized system exists, or allow the pri- technology and techniques;
vate sector to operate freely; ▪ support micro-credit programs in communities to fi-
▪ encourage publishers to invest in education, and of- nance the making of supplementary materials (pup-
fer incentives, such as removing duties and taxes on pets, cloth books, models, work cards, recorded
imported paper and other printing materials and children’s music, etc), and support educational ini-
equipment; tiatives that incorporate local culture, including
▪ revise curricula less frequently (a five-year period is reading materials, musical instruments, traditional
advisable) to enable cost recovery; storytelling, and folk theatre; and
▪ include textbook purchase in education funding and ▪ work with governments to ensure that their pro-
provide subsidies to keep prices down; grams and projects form part of an overall long-term
▪ encourage partnerships between local and foreign strategy for book development, and assist govern-
partners; ments to develop sustainable mechanisms to ensure
▪ establish and maintain school and public libraries; and monitor the quality of learning environments.
and
▪ develop comprehensive policies that place a high “None of the recommendations is impossible. They
priority on education. These policies should encour- have been made by men and women - civil servants,
age the production and supply of books, enforce publishers, consultants - with practical experience in
copyright legislation, and encourage the writing, the development and provision of learning materials.
translation, reading, and use of books. They require action by all partners in the book chain,
from curriculum developers through to classroom
! The private sector should: teachers. But mostly they require governments to
▪ get more involved in textbook provision, through recognize, with actions as well as talk, that the basic
larger investment, greater professionalism, expan- tools of education are not a drain on the national
sion of existing operations, and better distribution budget but a powerful investment in the economy and
systems; the future of the nation. When the political will is
▪ work together in national professional associations present, the shortage of learning materials will dis-
to share experiences and lobby governments, and appear.” (Montagnes, 1999, p. 106)

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Information Systems for Education Management
Kurt Moses
Vice President, Academy for Educational Development

Administration of a school system has always been chal- distribution is often done via printed material–sometimes a
lenging. In many centralized systems, simply supporting all large document, sometimes a brochure, or even occasionally
the activities of schools remains critical and challenging, a letter or newspaper article.
particularly in recruiting, hiring, placing, and supporting
teachers, but as well all the necessary logistical support in In many developing countries, the entire education informa-
terms of buildings, furniture, maintenance, instructional ma- tion system structure is inadequate for the rapidly growing
terials, training of staff, and all the quality control activities information demands. Obtaining quality education data is
surrounding good education. often elusive, costly and frustrating. In many cases, available
data may be:
The ever increasing shift to decentralization, coupled with
the escalating demands for logistical support as more schools ! Of poor quality (either incomplete, poorly defined, or
become more sophisticated, have placed major burdens on not comparable year to year);
Information Systems and the information they produce that
policy, managerial, and operational leaders require to ad- ! Too late to influence the current school year or policy
minister systems properly. Whether education occurs in a discussion;
developing country with less than $150 per year to spend per
pupil or a more developed environment with $2,500 per year ! Occasionally part of a 2-3 year backlog of information;
to spend per pupil, many of the same, fundamental adminis-
trative issues persist. ! Sometimes duplicated so that, for example, there are
four different totals for student enrollment in the same
Major Informational Issues month or year;

In recent years, whether systems are centralized or decen- ! Difficult to access; or


tralized, democracy has encouraged more stakeholders to ask
more questions about education. Some examples include: ! Often directed or formatted for the wrong set of ques-
tions–occasionally leading to huge amounts of data
! “Why is there no teacher in my child’s classroom?” – when a simple summary would suffice.
Concerned Parent
As importantly, those who generate the data, the teachers and
! “Why are not more girls attending school?” – Commu- staff of schools, themselves may have little idea whether
nity Leader their information reporting has been of use, has been re-
tained, or in fact has reached those who need to know. In
! “Which schools in my region or district are performing many countries, the flow of information is only one way–
better?” – Regional Director upwards to the center.

! “How much have we advanced in meeting our Education These identified issues and particularly the one-directional
for All (EFA) goals in our country?” – Minister of Edu- flow of information are deeply at odds with both democracy
cation and decentralization–the rising trends at almost all levels of
educational administration.
With the exception of the Minister, none of those asking
questions normally have real and systematic access to infor- Education Information System:
mation related to their concerns. And frequently, if they do, What It Takes
the timing, nature, and detail of information provided is de-
termined entirely by a central body–such as a ministry. The Vision: The leadership of the most responsible educational

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body must be clear about the functions and scale of their outside and inside the educational system, and often involve
information needs. This vision can be informed by interna- macro analysis–for example, how many children of school
tional and regional practices–but it must be grounded in local age are enrolled in school?
and national reality.
Management Level: Management questions relate to the
People: The people who will implement and support an in- typical inputs of a school system - students, teachers, facili-
formation system must have “ownership,” understand the ties, and instructional material - and relate to performance by
role that information plays in the educational life of the groups. Management level information typically is week to
country, and be competent in its use (meaning the necessary week or month to month, and involves aggregates of stu-
skills base). dents, teachers and instructional material–for example, how
many teachers were on the payroll last month?
Practices: Many existing practices may need to be
reengineered to accommodate changes in how and how fre- Operational Level: Operation level information concerns
quently information is gathered, as well as to make use of the actual, individual operation of the system and includes
improved technology. Practices also include setting basic detailed student and teacher count. The most critical opera-
standards: timing of information, responsibility for informa- tional element of any school system is the teacher support
tion, common definitions, frequency of distribution, and system. In many developing countries and a number of tran-
clarity of presentation. sitional countries, salaries and benefits consume 80-90% of
the available budget. In most countries, the teacher payroll is
Technology: Technology should be appropriate to the func- the largest single payroll in the country. Therefore, it stands
tions and scale of the system, and be sustainable. The very to reason that staffing and payroll information is crucial to
latest technology, if unsupportable for more than one year, effective management. In many countries, staffing levels are
soon becomes useless and can actually set a system back. driven by numbers and types of students, and thus any effec-
Technology requires redundancy (more than one of every- tive education information system must be as exact as possi-
thing), regular maintenance, supplies to keep it working, al- ble about numbers, level, and location of students. The same
ternative approaches when it fails, and people trained to di- applies to teachers. To achieve this exactness, all informa-
agnose and support its operation. tion must be generated either directly from the school or
from a central payroll file–in some cases from both.
Someone Responsible: An Information System requires that
someone be responsible to keep it operating. So often in While these information distinctions are not exact, they allow
traditional ministries or even Districts, there is no such posi- education information system designers to provide an appro-
tion as an Information Officer responsible for system inte- priate amount of detail for the appropriate level of responsi-
gration and service. Without such a person and staff, most bility and question. Unfortunately, however, many existing
Information Systems have a tenuous life. Most ministries systems are not designed this way.
that anticipate this need (often as part of the Planning Unit)
rename an existing civil service position. Increasingly, an An Example of an Integrated, Multi-
experienced manager, not a technician, should hold this po- level Approach
sition. A manager then hires or subcontracts for the neces-
sary technical advice. There is presently a system called ED*ASSIST that reflects
the above framework, in terms of its inputs and processing
Three Levels of Information components. It can be seen on the website:
www.aed.org/edassist. The product of collaborative efforts
The design of an information system (even if it incorporates over a five-year period involving UNESCO, the World Bank,
old systems or manual procedures) should accommodate at USAID, and several countries, its use in four countries, with
least three levels of information as noted in Exhibit 1 below. English, Spanish, and French versions is also described and
These levels, in a centralized system, often correspond to the illustrated. Below are some illustrative elements of the sys-
actual administrative levels–i.e., National, District, and tem.
School. In decentralized systems, policy and strategy level
information can be vested at the District level or with citizen Exhibit 2 illustrates an opening computer screen that gives
groups. Critical for proper integration is that all core data access to the three levels of information, by geographic type
originate from the school in some fashion. The school is the (national, regional, district, sub-district, and school), by level
heart of an effective education information system. The of education (preprimary through tertiary), by year (1997,
three levels of information that need to be supported are: 1996, 1995) and by special category of school (public, pri-
vate, other). This screen allows the users, from their com-
Policy and Strategy Level: Policy and strategy typically puter, to view information graphically, statistically (as a ta-
involve comparison of multiple years, from sources both ble) or in a Geographic Information System format– i.e., a

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map. Alternatively, such information can be printed out, Some Future Options
incorporated into a report (another document), or linked to a
website. All the information is derived from an updated da- In the not very distant future, education information systems
tabase that either accesses other operational systems, or is will become more comprehensive, faster to respond, and
derived from survey results or other queries to schools. considerably cheaper than they are now. Even countries with
remote areas will find that the use of satellite and other tech-
Exhibit 3 shows a Graphical Student Display–ages of stu- niques will become cheap enough to link individual schools
dents in particular grades by region. Such a presentation directly to administrative hubs. Similarly, the dramatically
provides, at the managerial level, a quick “snapshot” of the falling price of equipment will allow even the smallest unit
number of over-age students in each classroom. Because it (the school) to afford automated systems. Several other
presents multiple regions, or districts, a manager or policy trends are clear:
maker can quickly see patterns and comparisons. Similarly,
such presentations can be used with citizen groups to high- Information about school performance will be increas-
light the need for action around student enrollment issues. ingly demanded by the populations served, by freely elected
governments, and by administrators at all levels. Informa-
Exhibit 4 provides very geographically oriented information, tion systems will need to be able to respond or the govern-
in this case Gross Enrollment Rates by region within a coun- ment or private entities will be seen to be unresponsive. Al-
try. The colors show ranges of enrollment and quickly high- ready, in a few countries, there are now no technical barriers
light disparities between regions. From such a presentation, to accessing key information about any school in the system–
the manager, policy maker, or citizen group (usually with simply administrative and policy barriers that limit the flow
some trained assistance) can then begin to make some factual of information.
inquiries–looking at patterns below the regional level, begin-
ning to understand the causes of under-enrollment. Increasingly information will be asked about classroom
activities and how individual teachers and students perform.
Exhibit 5 shows one of the most common measures of This will require a new level of detail in information and an
school resources -- the student/teacher ratio -- in a graphical increasing focus on the quality of education measured in a
format. Such quick comparisons show where teaching re- variety of ways, and many of these measures will be exter-
sources (typically the most important single factor in school nally established and monitored.
systems) are going compared to enrollments. Comparisons
at lower levels and comparisons with test performance or Decentralized systems will need to establish standards as
levels of dropouts from the system are immediate types of never before, monitor their implementation and insist upon
inquiries that such a report generates. Again, this type of their use, particularly as long as substantial monies come
graphical summary, in a modern education information sys- from the center and are then allocated. Standards will also be
tem, can be accessed from the computer, via report, as a needed to ensure that the national ministry or organization
printout, over the Web, or made into a flip chart. can be an effective, well-informed advocate for national edu-
cational needs and goals.
Exhibit 6 provides operational level detail on teachers at
each school. As noted, this screen provides individual, de- The World Wide Web will become the key tool, both in-
tailed information about the staffing complement of a par- ternally and externally, for the generation, exchange, and
ticular school along with key profile items for the teacher. even processing of administrative information. Virtually all-
Developed from school level data, these individual profiles existing systems, even in emerging countries, will need to be
can answer very quickly specific queries that can be found at converted to operate on the Web.
almost any level of the system. For some more developed
countries, such individual information will require masking Administrative use of the World Wide Web will also be
for privacy reasons, but for the majority of countries such aided by increasing use of the Internet for support of in-
information is substantially more than they can generate structional material and aides to learning improvement. This
now. offers remarkable opportunities for synergy between learning
and monitoring on a massive, efficient and affordable scale.

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Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

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Exhibit 3

Exhibit 4

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Exhibit 5

Exhibit 6

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South Africa:
Teacher Training in the Sky
Claire Brown, Violet Sithole & Robert Hofmeyr
Shoma Education Foundation, South Africa

Education in South Africa The framework for this model was developed collaboratively
The schooling system in South Africa is undergoing massive with the national and provincial education departments, aca-
transformation to improve quality of education. Outcomes- demics, educators and teacher organizations. Based on re-
based education and the new curriculum have been intro- search done, a nine-week pilot was conducted at three centers
duced to South African schools and present educators in this located in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
country with their biggest opportunity and challenge ever. It The South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE)
is common cause that educators are pivotal to the success of evaluated the pilot project, after which the project was suc-
this change. Therefore, the challenge is to build the capacity cessfully implemented in a further seven sites. Ten centers
of our educators to become change agents, thereby enabling situated in all nine provinces are currently fully functional.
them to lend impetus to this transformation.
The program reaches out to thousands of educators in his-
torically disadvantaged areas to provide them with a rich
I believe that the limited resources available and the vastness
resource base that is unaffected by distance or terrestrial
of our country, lends itself ideally to the use of technology,
networks. Also, these teachers are being constantly exposed
not as a luxury, but as a basic resource. The model presented
to cutting edge technology.
in this article begins to illustrate that technology can be ex-
tremely effective in supporting the development of educators
in the development of Outcomes Based Education Attributes of the Training Program
1. The Program uses digital satellite technology as a
Digital Satellite Technologies for conduit for quality Outcomes Based Education material
Teacher Development across geographical barriers. Training programs are relayed
from the M-Group’s Broadcast Center in Randburg, via the
The Model: The Shoma Education Foundation conduit of satellite to a television set, and an Intranet.

The MIH Group, the holding company for MultiChoice, M- 2. The Program applies a specific, three tiered pro-
Net and M-Web, has developed a unique model of delivering cess of learning that continuously reinforces specific themes
educational and training programs for the professional devel- on Outcomes Based Education. The training facilities used at
opment of South African educators. The unique delivery the training centers consist of a minimum of three rooms in
model uses the power of technology to leverage the delivery an education department or other suitable buildings.
of appropriate educational programs prepared in conjunction
with the national and provincial education departments. The Broadcast Room
programs are relayed from the M-Group’s Broadcast Center This room is equipped with a television monitor, a video
in Randburg, via satellite, to a video server linked to a televi- server and satellite dish. Here, a visual presentation of the
sion set, and to a network server, which in turn serves 24 specific learning theme on Outcomes Based Education is
workstations. provided. Teachers watch broadcast clips reflecting different
South African situations and experiences on Outcomes Based
The model is innovative and significant in the following re- Education concepts, which run for approximately 10 min-
spects: utes. The broadcast ends with a thought-provoking question
• It is exceptional in its ability to reach and penetrate the that prompts the group into discussion. With this question,
distant rural and urban areas often grossly neglected by the aim is to actively engage the recipients and negate pas-
donors and cut off from investment initiatives. sivity amongst them. Curriculum developers of the Provin-
• Through the use of interactive computer applications, cial Education Department mediate the group discussions.
the project initiates rural- and township-based teachers
to appropriate and creative use of technology, thereby Computer Room
supporting and bolstering the National Education De- The second room is furnished with a Windows NT server
partment’s Technology Enhanced Learning Initiatives. and 24 Pentium workstations. Content is downloaded, via
satellite, to the servers using a Siyanda satellite receiver card.
The computer material provides digitized video and audio

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clips, which have been compressed, using MPEG technol- • It ensures access to quality education material and re-
ogy. This convergence of computer and television technol- sources, irrespective of geographical location and ter-
ogy confers greater flexibility to the learning process. restrial networks.
• It bridges the digital divide between those who have
It was observed during the pilot period that educators tended access to technology and those who don’t.
to ‘hop’ between Internet lessons. Some completed the ses- • It is a fast, cost-effective way of providing the training
sion in a short period suggesting they had not taken the time material to remote training centers all over the country.
to read and reflect on the issues. Thus, a controlled measure • It provides an interactive platform, which stimulates the
that compels users to follow a particular learning path has learning process of educators.
been introduced. • It permits and supports individually paced learning proc-
esses.
Although the computer-based learning content reflects the
National Education Department’s interpretation of the cur- The drawbacks of technology in teacher development have
riculum, the Department is provided with an additional op- been:
portunity to express its viewpoint. There is also an opportu- • The initial capital outlay to acquire and install the tech-
nity for each Provincial Department to add its input. We have nological infrastructure is costly.
embarked on a project to add a message board and an elec-
• Enormous problems are experienced as a result of the
tronic mail facility to make this learning experience even
sensitive nature of technology in relation to the low-
more dynamic and interactive.
level technological development and skills of the end-
The Lesson Development Room user.
This is the most important room in the process. It is here that • The eagerness to gain access to technology skills some-
teachers have the opportunity to practice the theory learned times overshadows the educational value of the substan-
in the broadcast and computer rooms. In this room, teachers tive elements of the training program.
work together to develop their own lesson plans for the fol-
In the area of partnership, the program has created a platform
lowing week, based on what they learned during the broad-
for private sector companies to work alongside government
cast and computer based learning.
in the development of education. It has enabled corporate
companies to be part of an established, high potential, high
3. The program is a mediated, facilitated learning
impact and relevant corporate social investment project.
process. Integral to the Shoma training methodology is the
use of facilitators to mediate the learning process in all three
In the final analysis, the impact of any teacher development
tiers. This approach is informed by the notion that the use of
program should be evaluated in terms of its effect on teacher
technology as a training tool necessitates that training should
practice and not just on the correct methodology nor its use
be conducted by facilitators or other teachers who can pro-
of technology. Therefore, we have embarked on a research
vide:
study to look at, among other things:
• experience in classroom teaching;
• The correlation between the change of attitude toward
• an understanding of the use of technologies and its lan-
the use of technology and teacher practice.
guage usage;
• The extent to which educators have fully understood the
• mediated learning without succumbing to the temptation
benefits and implications of the use of broadcast and
to take over the keyboard; and
computer learning as a learning and teaching tool.
• follow-up support to the teacher in the classroom.
Conclusion
In view of these specific qualities, our facilitators are drawn
As the range and complexity of technology available to sup-
from the ranks of curriculum developers whose responsibility
port education and training rapidly expands, the reality that
it is to provide support to educators on curriculum issues.
technologically driven educational solutions do not work has
An evaluation of the pilot project by South African Institute
become increasingly apparent. We need to recognize, how-
for Distance Education identified the need for facilitation
ever, that technology is increasingly being harnessed to bene-
skills training program for these departmental officials.
fit our education system through various innovative projects.
Shoma has developed a training program on facilitation to
Slowly but surely, technology enhanced learning is becom-
build the capacity of facilitators in the mediation of adult
ing more and more effective. The South Africa experience
learning, as well as to develop a basic understanding of the
provides a model for harnessing the latest technologically
technology used in the program.
driven interventions for the benefit of our educators and for
Experiences in Applying the Model the enhancement of education as a whole.
On the positive side the value of technology in teacher de-
velopment can be summarized as follows:

! 54 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


Upcoming Events: Conferences, Seminars, Exhibits, etc….

MAY 11 - 13, 2000 JUNE 26-JULY 1, 2000


Computer-Using Educators Conference - Charting a ED-MEDIA 2000: World Conference on Educational
New Course: Navigating 2000 Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications
Palm Springs, California, USA Montreal, Quebec, Canada
http://www.cue.org http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia

MAY 14 - 17, 2000 JUNE 26 - 28, 2000


CUMREC 2000: The New Frontier: Creative Solu- National Education Computing Conference
tions for the New Millennium (Conference for Higher Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Education Professionals who use technology to support ad- http://confreg.uoregon.edu/necc2000/
ministrative functions and processes.)
Arlington, Virginia, USA JULY 10 - 11, 2000
http://www.cumrec.org/cumrec2000/ ELearning 2000 - Europe
Dublin, Ireland
MAY 18 - 20, 2000 http://www.masie.com/Dublin/default.htm
EDTEC 2000 - Education Technology Expo & Con-
ference West JULY 24 - 26, 2000
Denver, Colorado, USA SALT (Society for Applied Learning Technology)
http://www.edunet.com/events/ Education Technology Conference
Arlington, Virginia, USA
MAY 22 - 24, 2000 http://www.salt.org
Digital Collaboration
Dallas, Texas, USA AUGUST 2 - 4, 2000
http://www.masie.com/digital/ 16th Annual Conference on Distance Learning &
Teaching
MAY 24 - 27, 2000 University of Wisconsin - Madison, Wisconsin, USA
WEM - The World Education Market http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
http://www.wemex.com AUGUST 25 - 27, 2000
Technology in Teaching and Learning in Higher
MAY 28 - 31, 2000 Education International Conference
The 22nd Annual International Conference on Samos Island, Greece
Teaching and Leadership Excellence http://www.nl.edu/conferences/samos.html
Austin, Texas, USA
http://nisod.org/conference SEPTEMBER 6 - 9, 2000
"Keeping pace with development information..." The
JUNE 7 - 9, 2000 25th Anniversary Meeting of EADI's Information
Distance Learning Administration 2000 Management Working Group
Pine Mountain, Georgia, USA Bergen, Norway
http://westga.edu/!distance/conf.html http://www.eadi.org
http://www.eadi.org/html/information_management.html

! 55 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


SEPTEMBER 10 - 13, 2000
"Distance Education An Open Question?" Confer- OCT. 30 - NOV. 4, 2000
ence WebNet 2000: World Conference on the WWW and
Adelaide, Australia Internet
http://www.com.unisa.edu.au/cccc San Antonio, Texas, USA
http://www.aace.org/conf/webnet/
SEPTEMBER 23 - 25, 2000
The 28th Research Conference on Communication, NOVEMBER 12 - 15, 2000
Information and Internet Policy TechLearn 2000
Alexandria, Virginia, USA Orlando, Florida, USA
http://www.tprc.org/ http://www.masie.com/tl2000.htm

SEPTEMBER 27 - 29, 2000 DECEMBER 4 - 6, 2000


Distance Learning in the New Millennium International Workshop on Advanced Learning
Jekyll Island, Georgia, USA Technologies (IWALT2000)
http://www2.gasou.edu/distance_learning/GDLA/gdla2000.h Palmerston North, New Zealand
tml http://lttf.ieee.org/iwalt2000/

OCTOBER 15 - 18, 2000 DECEMBER 12 - 15, 2000


TELELEARNING 2000 Session on: "Reusability in web-based educational
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA systems" in the International ICSC Congress on
http://www.itcnetwork.org/telelearning.htm INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS & APPLICATIONS
(ISA'2000) Symposium on INTERACTIVE &
OCT 18 - 21, 2000
COLLABORATIVE COMPUTING (ICC'2000)
New Approaches in Higher Education: The University
University of Wollongong, NSW Australia
College Conference
http://ifets.massey.ac.nz/icc2000/cfp.html
Bermuda College, Bermuda
http://www.bercol.bm/w/events/ucmainpage.html

If you have a conference, seminar, exhibit, etc. coming up, send it to us for listing
in "On the Move".

To Advertise your conferences, seminars, exhibits, and train-


ing courses, go to the "How to Advertise" section on the TechKnowLogia
home page, found at: www.techknowlogia.org.

! 56 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


How to Evaluate Educational Software and Websites
Gregg B. Jackson
©Corel Associate Professor and Coordinator,
Education Policy Program, George Washington University

There are approximately 20,000 educational soft- Guides to Software and Portals to Websites
ware packages and many thousand educational web-
sites throughout the world. How can you decide Existing guides and portals can save considerable effort in
what is good and what is a waste of time? identifying potentially useful software and websites. Most
index resources by subject area, grade level, and other char-
There are two basic approaches. One approach is to use acteristics. They usually briefly describe the resource and
guides to software and “portals” to websites that list re- also critique or rate it.
sources judged to be of merit. The second is to undertake
your own assessment of the software and websites. When Although most existing guides are available only in English,
doing this you might use criteria previously prepared by they can be of use in planning basic education in developing
other scholars and organizations, you might adapt those crite- countries. Where English is a language of instruction, they
ria to your organization’s own priorities, or you might de- may be directly applicable. In addition, some of the refer-
velop new criteria. enced software and websites are available in two or more
languages. Finally, these guides and portals might serve as
Early assessments of educational software focused on the models for countries that want to prepare their own guides.
content covered and the ease of using them. When critics The following are several guides and portals that might be of
noted that the instructional strategies in early software were interest.
often simplistic and dysfunctional, more attention was given
to the pedagogical strategies used. More recently, there have American Library Association’s Notable Children’s
been efforts to judge how well the software and websites Websites http://www.ala.org/alsc/ncwc.html
comply with national or state curriculum standards. This is a portal to high quality educational websites for chil-
dren.
Still another focus for assessment is whether students using
the software or website learn more than students who aren’t Best Web Sites for Teachers www.iste.org
using it. That requires an impact evaluation, usually with pre Available only in print. It can be purchased through
and post measurement of knowledge and skills for a substan-
tial number of users and comparable non-users. Such Bologna New Media Prize Winners
evaluations have been undertaken occasionally since the The prizewinners are currently listed toward the bottom of
early years of instructional software in the 1960s, but they the homepage of http://www.childrenssoftware.com
are expensive and rare. International prizes are given for CD-ROMs, Internet sites,
video games, and “smart toys.” The prizes are awarded for
The following discussion is limited to assessments that don’t innovation, educational value, and ease-of-use.
involve formal impact evaluations. Any organization that is
considering substantial investments in educational software Children’s Software Revue
or websites is advised to select the resources with the aid of http://www.childrenssoftware.com
existing or easily conducted assessments, and then to test the Assesses more than 4,000 software titles.
resource out on a modest scale with impact evaluation. Re-
search tends to show that if good software and websites are ConnSENSE
integrated into teaching, student attendance and engagement http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~wwwpcse/CSBull.html
increase, and learning often does also, but those effects de- Assesses software for use by students with disabilities.
pend on the quality of the resources and their suitability for
the circumstances. Educational Software Institute www.edsoft.com
Has a searchable database of 8,000 titles to help you locate
software by several characteristics including bilingual or
multilingual presentations. About 250 titles are available in

! 57 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


two or more languages. It doesn’t rate the software, but does ▪ Are there alternative paths so that students who need
describe it. more or different guidance can get it?
▪ Is the student given some guidance but also required to
Only the Best think?
Available only in print. It can be purchased through ▪ Does the resource challenge students’ imagination?
www.ascd.org. This is a guide to educational software that ▪ Is the resource modifiable by the teacher to integrate it
has been rated highly by one or more of 25 organizations that with other learning activities in a class?
rate such software. An index is included.
Ease of Use:
The Educational Software Selector (TESS) ▪ Is the software easy to install?
Available only on CD-ROM. Ordering information is at ▪ Is there printed or online guidance on how to use the
http://www.epie.org, but orders must be mailed in. This is software or website?
the oldest and largest guide to educational software, covering ▪ Are the controls intuitive and easy to locate and use?
19,000 software packages. Are they consistent through modules?
▪ Can the student go back several steps and redo them?
Conducting Your Own Assessments ▪ Do the Web pages download fully in no more than 15
seconds?
Many scholars and organizations have developed criteria for ▪ Can the student get help at any point that is tailored to
judging educational software and websites. They usually where he or she is?
specify criteria about platform requirements, goals and ob- ▪ Are software or website malfunctions infrequent?
jectives, the content, the pedagogy, ease of use, and costs. ▪ Does the website have a stable URL?
An example of these criteria is given below. The criteria can ▪ Is the website server in operation almost always when
be modified according to your needs. needed?
▪ Is there technical support available by e-mail or phone
Platform Requirements: from a live person if the teacher and other local staff
▪ What hardware and operating system is needed to run cannot figure out how to use the software or website?
the software? ▪ Does each Web page have a link back to the home page?
▪ What browser capabilities are needed to use the website?
Cost:
Goals and Objectives: ▪ What are the initial costs for a single copy and for multi-
▪ What subject areas are covered? ple copies?
▪ What age or grade level(s) are targeted? ▪ Are there annual renewal costs?
▪ What are the instructional goals and objectives? ▪ What are the costs for upgrading to the next version of
the software?
Content:
▪ Does the content meet the curriculum standards of the Conducting the Assessment
country or district?
▪ Is the content appropriately comprehensive? There are several ways to conduct the assessment of software
▪ Is the content correct and up-to-date? and websites. Most commonly administrators and teachers
▪ Are controversial issues treated in a balanced manner? will record their responses to assessment criteria like those
▪ Are women and minorities depicted with respect? cited above while they practice using the resource. They de-
liberately try to make mistakes to see how the resource re-
Pedagogy: sponds. At least two people should assess a given resource,
▪ Does the software or website have multiple means of and if they cannot easily reconcile any substantial disagree-
motivating students? ments, a third person should also assess the resource. Then
▪ Is content sequenced to facilitate learning? disagreements that cannot be reconciled are usually aver-
▪ How much does the software or website make use of the aged.
following instructional strategies:
! “Lecturing”
Another approach is to have several students use the software
! Drill and practice
and websites while the administrators or teachers watch.
! “Tutoring”
After the students finish they may also be asked for their
! Games and simulations with feedback
impressions. By the time students are about 12 years old,
! Collaborative projects
they may only be nominally supervised while testing the re-
! Others?
source and asked to record their responses directly on an
assessment form.

! 58 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


Recycling Computers
A Simple Solution for a Complex Problem
By Sonia Jurich

One of the most frequently cited reasons for the differences International partnerships, albeit rare, already exist. For in-
between computer-rich and computer-poor organizations and stance, the African Literacy Project is a joint effort of Op-
individuals is opportunity of access. Despite significant de- eration Crossroads Africa, Inc, an organization based in
creases in prices of hardware, the purchase of a computer New York City, and Voluntary Work Association of Ghana.
with the necessary software can be prohibitive for many low- The project collects used computers to distribute to young
income families and organizations with limited budget. For African students. The African Regional Center for Comput-
those who have access, though, the problem is quite differ- ing is a not-for-profit organization that donates refurbished
ent. The expected active life of a computer is about five computers to public and community-based organizations in
years. After that, the computer becomes obsolete, and unable Kenya and surrounding countries. 3
to run state-of-the-art software. In 1998, the number of per-
sonal computers that became obsolete, in the United States Corporations are also involved in recycling projects. Can-
alone, exceeded 20 million. Of these, only 11 percent were ada’s Computers for Schools or Ordinateurs pour les Écoles
recycled. Between 1998 and 2000, the number of discarded (http://www.schoolnet.ca/cfs-ope/about_e.html) is a program
computers may reach 70 million. 1 Millions of computers are sponsored by two large corporations, Industry Canada and
dumped each year in already strained landfills and become Telephone Pioneers. The program redirects surplus comput-
an environmental problem, according to the Environmental ers, equipment and software to Canadian elementary and
Health Center (EHC), at the National Safety Council secondary schools. A component of the program, the Tech-
(www.nsc.org/ehc/epr2.htm). nical Work Experience Project, promotes the hiring and su-
pervision of high school and college students who have some
Multiple Needs are Satisfied training in Information Technology. The young technicians
repair and refurbish the equipment, sort and test the software,
and prepare the computers for shipment to the schools. In
While organizations, schools and families struggle to get addition, they serve as technical support for local school
computers and enter the digital revolution, ever more com- boards.
puters are being discarded for the sole reason that a newer
version is in the market. In the process, the environment In some countries, governments are taking leadership roles.
suffers under massive amounts of trash. The intersection of For instance, Computers for Learning is a governmental ini-
these multiple needs provides a creative solution: computer tiative funded by the U.S. Department of Energy that trans-
recycling. Over the past few years, a number of not-for-
fers federal surplus in computers and related equipment to
profit organizations have focused on the tasks of collecting,
schools and educational not-for-profit organizations
refurbishing, and finding new homes for old computers.
(http://www.computers.fed.gov/). Public, private, parochial
Schools and community organizations have been the main and home schools, and organizations serving children from
beneficiaries of these projects. pre-kindergarten through grade 12 are eligible for the pro-
gram. Priority is given to schools and organizations in
For instance, The Detwiler Foundation
greatest need, particularly those located in high poverty ar-
(http://www.detwiler.org/) sponsors the Computers for
eas. The program is expected to save the Federal govern-
School, a program dedicated to providing recycled computers
ment “tens of millions of dollars” by reducing paperwork and
and computer equipment to schools in the United States. The minimizing storage requirements.
program trains teachers and school administrators about
computer installation and Internet connections.2

! 59 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


A New Life for The Very Old students. It also avoids more damage to an already wounded
environment. Recycling agencies are all over the map, and
software innovations, such as NewDeal, have solved the last
There is, however, a glitch is this potentially happy-ending glitch, that of providing old computers with modern func-
affair. Most computers that are being discarded no longer tionality.
have software installed, and/or cannot support newer soft-
ware. The use of older software limits the usefulness of Governments need to encourage recycling projects through
these recycled computers. In consequence, some recycling tax-deductions and education campaigns. They must also
organizations accept donations of only more recent models, lead the process by example. Ministries of Education can
such as Pentium 75 or higher. This requirement excludes a mediate the transfer of government computer surplus into
significant amount of computers that are now being replaced, needed schools. Businesses can renew their inventories,
particularly those from the late 1980s, including the 386 and while helping local children - their future employees and
486 series. consumers - to become computer literates. “Adopting” a set
of nearby schools can facilitate the transfer process. How-
However, a new hope has emerged. ever, successful initiatives must address the need for training
NewDeal (http://www.newdealinc.com/) is principals and teachers to install and use the computers, and
a software that restores the core for long-term technical support. Programs that train college
functionality of old computers. Its students as technicians, such as Canada’s Computers for
basic features include a Schools, have a double advantage: they provide schools with
contemporary graphics interface, basic technical support at low cost, and help develop a local
spreadsheet, database, word pool of experts. In addition, these programs may encourage
processor, and communications capability. It has a point- participants to pursue studies in computer science, a skill that
and-click interface, like Windows 98, with two major differ- will become even more valuable, as more countries enter the
ences. First, it runs on any PC, from a Pentium III model to new technology era.
a relic as old as the 286. Second, rather than paying $300 for
software, $39.95 provides the user with a spreadsheet pro-
gram, a word processor that can read rich text files, e-mail Endnotes:
and Web browser. For less than $70, the deluxe version also
1
includes a mini-database, a drawing program, and a kid- Electronic Product Recovery and Recycling. Baseline Re-
friendly version of the BASIC programming language.4 port: Recycling of Selected Electronic Products in the U.S.,
a survey conducted by Stanford Resources, Inc. (online or-
Clive Smith, the creator of GeoWorks, developed NewDeal ders at http://www.nsc.org/ehc/epr2/baseline.htm)
with the goal of bringing computers to all school children.
2
The company works in partnership with businesses, not-for- For our U.S. readers interested in donating or obtaining a
profit organizations, and governments. Over 200 school dis- recycled computer, Share the Technology
tricts across the United States use the software, as well as (http://www.libertynet.org/share) offers good suggestions on
community organizations, such as church groups and com- what to do and pitfalls to avoid, in addition to links to com-
munity centers. The company has international connections, puter recycling organizations nationwide.
with projects in Southern Africa, Middle East, Brazil, India,
3
Jamaica and Australia. NewDeal has won many awards, Addresses for these and other international projects can be
including a PC Computing Most Valuable Product award, the found at PEP National Directory of Computer Recycling
Info World Product of the Year award, and the Critics Programs
Choice Award for Best Consumer Program. (http://www.microweb.com/pepsite/Recycle/recycle_index.h
tml)
What Can We Do To Bring 4
Heim, Judy (2/9/2000). NewDeal Gives new Life to Geri-
Computers To The Classroom? atric PCs. PCWorld.com, http://www.pcworld.com/cgi-
bin/pcwtoday?ID=15194
Any country that wants to compete in this information-based
economy needs to provide their children with a strong tech-
nological foundation. In the United States, for instance,
about 60 percent of new jobs, and 90 percent of jobs that pay
$25,000 a year or more require computer-related knowledge.
Bringing computers to the classrooms is no longer a nicety, it
is a need. The use of recycled computers enables many low-
income schools to provide technology-rich learning to their

! 60 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


The World Wide Web now offers
extensive resources that can
be useful in basic education.
Some can be used by
teachers or parents, and
some are intended to be
used by the children themselves to supplement
their other educational activities.

Some of the web sites described below are available in Spanish and Hindi,
and the language barrier will fall as websites are developed in other lan-
guages. While many of the educational sites described below may not be
linguistically accessible to most of the teachers, parents, and students in
your country, they still offer models of resources that might be developed by
the public or private sectors there.
*
Selected by: Gregg Jackson, Vishnu Karki, and Sole McKinnon

FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS

There are many resources that teachers can draw on from the web to use in their basic and primary education classes. There
are lesson plans, ideas for learning activities, encyclopedias and atlases, stunning photos to capture student’s interest, and dis-
cussion forums for the exchange of ideas among teachers.

Education Place grade level. While intended for U.S. teachers, some of the
http://www.eduplace.com/index.html materials are quite applicable in other countries.
This site has resources for teachers, parents, and students. A
major textbook publisher in the U.S., Houghton Mifflen, Icarito
operates it. http://www.icarito.cl
This Spanish language site offers links to pages with peda-
Discovery Channel School gogical ideas for teachers.
http://school.discovery.com/teachers/index.html
Provides lesson plans, ideas for learning games, Web links, International Society for Technology in Education
and e-mail discussions. Operated by the Discovery Channel http://www.iste.org
cable television channel. Provides extensive resources on how to use software and
websites in education. Some of the resources are available
Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) only in print, but others are on the Web.
http://www.thegateway.org
This is a portal to websites with lesson plans, teacher guides, Internet Oracle
and other educational materials on the web that can be used http://www.internetoracle.com
by teachers. It links only to materials that have been judged This is a portal linking to all sorts of Web resources. It of-
of high quality. One can search by subject area, topic, and fers links to several free web-based encyclopedias, atlases,

! 61 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


and dictionaries that teachers may find useful when devel- Webdunia
oping new lessons on topics about which they are not fully http://www.webdunia.com
familiar. This is a portal to many Hindi language websites that present
regional and national news stories that could be discussed in
Vidya Online classes.
http://www.vidyaonline.net
This new website is designed for primary school teachers in World Art Treasures
India. There is a section that includes statistics on Indian http://sgwww.epfl.ch/BERGER/index.html
education and important documents affecting education. This site provides an extensive collection of photos of great
There is an open discussion forum where teachers can post art in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
topics or questions. And there will be a section that posts
children's literature. The site is currently only in English. World Bank’s Development Education Program
http://www.worldbank.org/html/schools/depweb.htm
Virtual Libraries Museum Pages This section of the World Bank’s website is to help in
http://www.icom.org/vlmp teaching about the complex issues of sustainable develop-
Provides links to many of the world’s art museums having ment. The presentation is too advanced for primary educa-
parts of their collection on the Web. tion students, but the materials will provide primary teachers
with issues and resources that they could use in their classes.

FOR PRIMARY LEVEL CHILDREN

There are numerous websites that will excite children and contribute to their learning. These include sites that offer interactive
stories, games, visits to virtual museums, communication with other students across the globe, participation in guiding real
expeditions, and personal tutoring by human beings. There are also portals that allow children to find suitable websites on al-
most any topic of interest to them. Only a few examples are cited below.

Amazing Travel Bureau (National Geographic Soci- KIDLINK


ety) http://www.kidlink.org
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/bureau Allows children to communicate with others around the
Allows kids to travel through many countries playing inter- globe and engage in interactive projects. It started as an
active games. electronic means for pen pals, but has expanded to include
collaborative projects. Over 100,000 kids in 114 countries
Arthur Page have used the site.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/arthur
This site, operated by the U.S. Public Broadcasting System, KIDLINK Worldwide Computer Art Exhibition
allows children to play a variety of games. The games http://blues.fd1.uc.edu/~kidart/kidart.html
mostly require applying word skills. This is an intriguing site with computer graphic art created
by children from all around the globe. Some contributions
Enlaces bilingues para ninos y maestros are organized by the country of the artist and some by an
http://members.tripod.com/~hamminkj/bilingue.html assigned theme.
This portal links to Spanish language Web sites selected for
children. La Abuela Margarita
http://orbita.starmedia.com/~dixie4
Icarito This Spanish language site contains fun interactive stories,
http://www.icarito.cl guessing games, and other intellectual exercises for children
This site provides a Spanish virtual encyclopedia for kids. It aged 4-11. It is good for the practice of reading skills, devel-
covers mathematics, language and communication, arts, opment of creativity, learning to follow instructions, and
natural sciences, geography, and history. In the Tiempo self-directed learning.
Libre section, there are guides to performing science experi-
ments, guessing games, a compendium of interesting facts
about inventions, and a writing workshop.

! 62 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


La ciencia es divertida
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/lab/1719/index.ht Quest
ml http://www.classroom.com
This Spanish language site is for teachers and students of all Classroom Connect sponsors adventurers and scientists on
ages who are learning science. It includes science facts, an- real expeditions that are partly guided by vote of the thou-
ecdotes, experiments, quotations, and interesting questions to sands of students who monitor reports of the expedition
think about. teams that are posted on the Quest Website. The website
also provides extensive learning resources related to the
La Guarderia Quest that can be used for research, classroom activities, and
www.bme.es/peques projects. The Fall 2000 expedition will be in Australia.
This Spanish language site presents six educational games
for the cognitive development of preschoolers. They intro- Theodore Tugboat
duce the ABCs, numbers, and animals in an entertaining http://www.cochran.com/theodore
manner. Allows children to play games that are related to a popular
Canadian children’s television show.
MaMaMedia.com
http://www.mamamedia.com Tutornet
This is a lively site with lots of blinking graphics and audio http://www.tutornet.com
to capture the attention of young children, but the purpose is This site provides children with personal human tutoring
to develop children’s skills in exploring, expressing, and through the web. The tutor and the student communicate by
exchanging ideas. The offered activities include learning e-mail and by making drawings on a “white board” that both
rudimentary computer programming to control music, creat- see on their screen. The “Basic Math” and “Basic Science”
ing animation on the web, designing a virtual town, and cre- tutoring is appropriate for students in the more advanced
ating a web page. This site also has links to many other primary school grades. The cost is $30 per month ($US) for
websites that are suitable for children. unlimited use. There is a Spanish version.

National Geographic Webdunia


www.nationalgeographic.com http://www.webdunia.com
This site is filled with photos, information, and interactive This Hindi language portal leads to a website with Hindi
activities related to geography, natural history, and the ani- stories for children. Click on “Literature” and then “Child
mal kingdom. It will intrigue children from the ages of 4 to Literature.”
94.
Yahooligans
Pipoclub http://www.yahooligans.com
www.pipoclub.com/espanol/juegos/home.htm This portal links to websites selected for children. Japanese
This Spanish language site offers entertaining and educa- and Korean versions are also provided, linking to websites in
tional crossword puzzles, guessing games, logic games, and those languages.
games that teach music.

*
Authors: Gregg Jackson is Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Education Policy Program at The George Washington
University in Washington DC. Vishnu Karki, from Nepal, and Sole McKinnon, from Uruguay, are graduate students in the
program.

! 63 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


Virtual Presentations: Wasting No Time
By Jelena Lewis

The idea of being able to make a presentation accessible to a viewer’s computer screen via the Internet. Ebeam distributes
much larger audience from the presenter’s office, classroom, those images in real-time so remote users see each mark on
or own home for that matter, is not only appealing to the pre- the board as it is being made. They are also able to zoom in
senter but the audience as well. Imagine being able to trans- to view fine details of the image.
mit all of the multimedia fields used in the boardroom or
classroom, across the web to anyone in the world, at any The eBeam system consists of two sensor pods that connect
time, right along with you. Thanks to Internet services and to a standard PC serial port and attach to the upper corners of
developments in user-friendly hardware, online presentations your whiteboard. These sensor pods pick up signals from
may become a beneficial and easy to master tool for those eBeam’s, battery operated, marker holsters and eraser which
involved in business, education, and virtually anyone who transmit each stroke to the PC and then over the net. As you
needs to get his/her ideas and information across to an audi- use the eBeam Presentation System, you can save your writ-
ence. ten work, erase the board, and then start again. The system
records every mark made so you always have the option of
Website Services going back to a pre-recorded point if you make a mistake.
Sites providing webcasting services on the Internet make it Internet viewers can also review previous “pages" of the
easy to organize and create an online presentation, for the presentation and save them in various formats so they can
most part, requiring little more than a browser. view them later.

Astound Conference Center, available through Astound Aside from the price, just under $600, the eBeam has few
(ae.astound.com), allows you to present your Microsoft drawbacks. Although there is a limit to the amount of sens-
Power Point slides over the web. All you have to do is ing area the hardware covers and the number of colors that
download the Astound Publisher software from the site, can be used during the presentation, the eBeam is user-
which converts Power Point slides, or Astound’s own slides, friendly to both the presenter and remote user. The presen-
into HTML format. Conference Center then provides a vir- tation system is not only lightweight and easy to set up, but
tual conference room location which you and your viewers the remote users do not need any special software to view the
enter at a time you specify. As the audience views your eBeam presentations, just a browser with Java capability.
presentation from a remote location, they can interact with
you, asking questions and giving feedback due to Astound’s Why Webcasting?
chat feature. You can also refer your audience back to spe- Research shows that teacher development and training are
cific slides. Astound’s service is free for a one month trial essential elements of successful schools. However, many
period. After that, you have the option of creating your own school districts must balance the needs for maintaining inten-
permanent conference room for you and your associates or sive training without sacrificing school days, or exceeding
fellow educators, starting at $99 per month. limited training budgets. Webcasting technology may be
particularly helpful to reduce indirect costs of training, such
Active Touch is another provider of real-time presentation as transportation, room and board. With webcasting, teach-
services and like Astound, requires only a browser. It allows ers can receive quality training at their own school base, with
you to add your own documents and slides but the service is less disruption of theirs and their students’ schedules. This
completely free of charge to the presenter. Active Touch resource is especially beneficial for countries that have
also provides you with a permanent web page, through We- schools scattered over large areas and with few transportation
bEx Office, where you can publicly update your upcoming resources. In these countries, moving teachers away from
presentations and maintain your own personal calendar and schools for training becomes an enormous challenge.
records. Webcasting enables the teacher in the rural, isolated area, to
be connected to the main training center, and receive the
New software such as Microsoft Office 2000 and Power same training as a teacher in a more affluent area.
Point also provide limited webcasting capabilities.
In addition to saving time and money, the medium also im-
Whiteboards on the Web proves the sharing of information and ideas. For example,
Another way of webcasting may be of particular interest to Biology classes can be taught directly from a museum, and
educators. Electronics for Imaging Inc.’s eBeam Presenta- an astronomy class can take the children in a virtual trip
tion System is a device that allows the transfer of images across space. The world shrinks, while knowledge expands.
directly form a generic classroom whiteboard to a remote This is the power of technology.

! 64 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


Tablets Are Back: Light and Fun
By Rafael Chargel

pen has an ergonomic shape, with an eraser tip and a pro-


When we think of digital technologies, we probably think of grammable double-sided switch. The pen is highly sensitive
a keyboard and a mouse, these plastic, hard to touch devices to pressure, making for a smooth drawing. To make notes
that require special techniques that we may not be inclined to or draw with the Graphire is as easy as using a pen or a
learn. A new series of digital devices are changing the ways magic marker. The Graphire comes bundled with three soft-
we can produce information and keep the best of both ware packages: MetaCreations' Painter Classic, ParaGraph's
worlds: the soft touch of a pen, and the many resources of a PenOffice SE, and Wacom PenTools (Adobe Photoshop
computer. These devices allow us to write and draw in tra- plug-ins). The PenOffice SE lets users annotate, draw, mark
ditional ways, sometimes using pen and paper, while creating up, and create signatures that attach to any Microsoft Word
digital copies of our notes and drawings that can be stored, 97 or Word 2000 document, saving them as .doc file. The
copied, faxed, e-mailed, printed, and modified. device costs about $100, and requires Microsoft Windows
98, or MacOS 8.5 (iMac) or 8.0 (PowerMac), and a USB
One of these devices is CrossPad XP port. According to PC Magazine review (January 4, 2000, p.
(http://www.cross.com/cross/pcg.html), a joint creation of a 68), Wacom Graphire is the best business and family graph-
computer graphics professor, Terry Burton, from Purdue ics tablet on the market.
University, and A.T. Cross Co., producer of high-end writing
instruments. The device includes a pen with a built-in radio Devices such as these may prove to be a helping hand to
frequency-transmitter and a 6-by-9-inch notepad. You can teachers. They can be used to foster children's handwriting
write your notes in your own handwriting. The information practice, and simultaneously teach them computer skills.
is sent to the computer via a cable, and the notes can be filed The teacher can write on the pad, and project her handwritten
on the hard drive. The notes can be used in handwritten form notes on to the computer screen as a model for the children.
in virtually all Windows applications. In addition, the Ink Or the children can write on the pad and rework their notes in
Manager software can be trained to recognize the handwrit- a word processor format. Notepads, such as the CrossPad
ing and transform your notes into files ready for the word XP are especially helpful for people who are constantly on
processor. You can also designate keywords for later the move. Teachers may use them to develop lesson plans
searches and bookmark handwritten pages. The device can while waiting in a dentist office, or commuting on a subway.
transmit up an amount of information corresponding to 80 The plans can be hastily jotted down on to the paper for later
pages at a time. However, you must remember to tap a key correction. This way, the main ideas - particularly those
at the bottom of the pad when you are ready to move to an- brilliant ideas we have in the most unexpected moments -
other page. Otherwise, the next page will be stored on the will not be wasted. Moreover, the teacher will no longer
top of the previous one, and you lose information. The de- have to manually input the notes from paper into the com-
vice weighs a little over 2 pounds and can be easily carried in puter to continue her work.
a purse or a business suitcase. It can be used in places where
laptops may not fit, such as crowded conference rooms. It For individuals who have difficulty drawing with the mouse,
costs between $200 and $300. the graphics tablet offers a more familiar, less threatening
interface. Although requiring a computer and special soft-
Another device that fuses traditional hand movement with ware, the tablet is small enough that it can be easily trans-
digital technology is the Wacom Graphire ported from classroom to classroom or from home to class-
(http://www.wacom.com). The Graphire is a small tablet room. Teachers can draw graphics or sketches to explain
with an active drawing area measuring 4.0 by 5.0 inches. parts of a lesson, and print the final product to distribute to
The tablet can be installed on any USB-equipped Mac or PC, the students. Or even better, the students can learn how to
but it cannot coexist with any other attached tablet. The draw, store and print, so that they have two lessons in the
system has three components: the tablet, a mouse, and a period of one. Most of all, since children are attracted to
Graphire pen. The wireless mouse, with two buttons and a digital gadgets, their simple presence in the classroom can be
scroll wheel, is designed to be used with either hand. It has a that extra help that will make the lesson more interesting.
high resolution for quick maneuvering around the tablet and Learning the content, learning the technology, and having
can be set for relative or absolute positioning. The Graphire fun: what else could a teacher want for the students?

! 65 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


Making Scanning Easier
By Jelena Lewis

From the room-sized mainframes of the early 1950's to the ⇒ DPI (dots-per-inch) - although this term should be re-
laptops of the 1990's, the idea that smaller is better, or at served to describe printer resolution, it is often used in
least more comfortable, has gained momentum among digital relation to scanners. As a rule-of-thumb, the higher the
technology users. The industry has been catering to the in- DPI, the better the image resolution. By doubling the
creasing number of mobile workers who carry their office number, the resolution actually becomes four times
wherever they go. Cell phones, pagers, notepads, and palm- larger.
top computers are some of the gadgets available to this new
breed of worker. So are portable scanners. ⇒ PPI (pixels-per-inch) - PPI is the correct term to indicate
a scanner resolution, and refers to the number of pixels
For teachers, presenters, and students, scanners offer an easy (the minuscule dots that compose an image), that the
way to incorporate images into a presentation and enliven an scan may reproduce. As with DPI, the higher the PPI,
otherwise dry exchange of information. Modern scanners the better the image resolution and larger the file.
have moved away from the complicated procedures of the
older models with the introduction of parallel or USB inter- ⇒ SPI (samples-per-inch) - is sometimes used in scanner's
face that offer true plug-and-play setup. Operations have ads in place of PPI.
also been simplified. With the single click of a button, the
new scanners can copy, fax, or e-mail a document, and open ⇒ Moiré Pattern - Moiré is an interference of two patterns
it in image-editing or word processor file. Some scanners are in one image and appears on the screen as a checker-
still based on traditional CCD (change-couple device) tech- board pattern that interferes with the quality of the im-
nology that uses a semiconductor to capture and digitize the age. Some scanners will correct for moiré patterns.
image. The image is then passed through an elaborate lens-
and-mirror optical system. The newer technology, called ⇒ Real resolution - the amount of PPI the device can actu-
CIS (contact image sensor) replaces the lens-and-mirror with ally scan (remember, the higher, the better).
a single row of sensors illuminated by light-energy detectors.
Although CIS scanners use less power and can be much ⇒ Enhanced resolution - some scanners advertise their
thinner than CCD units, they generally do not have the same "enhanced resolution" power. Enhanced resolution
quality of image. However, they are very useful when the means that the scan takes the real resolution and multi-
process does not require artistic results. plies the number of pixels it sees in order to blow-up the
image. However, this does not improve image quality
A quick glossary of scanning terms: and should not influence your choice when buying a
scanner.
There are three main types of scanners: (1) flatbed scanners
that use a technology similar to a copier machine; (2) slide ⇒ OCR (optical character recognition) - scanners
scanners that, as the name says, scan slides; and (3) drum equipped with OCR software can read the text off a page
scanners that use a laser technology. Most of us will use and save it as an editable file, rather than an image file.
flatbed, or regular scanners, while the other two types (and This file can then be edited with most word processor
the 3-D scanners) are geared toward graphic professionals. software, such as Word Perfect and Microsoft Word.
Buying a scanner may be threatening for those who were not
initiated in digital terminology. Overall, a scanner qualifica-
tion will include the following terms:

! 66 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


Portable Scanners: Siemens Pocket Reader, from
Siemens AG Austria
A new breed of small, portable scanners are entering the (www.pocketreader.com) weighs
market. Some are the size of a suitcase, while others are about 4 ounces and has 2.5MB
slightly larger than a pen. The following are a few examples RAM and 5-MB hard disk space.
of portable scanners currently on the market. The scan reads 8-to-16 point text
in common fonts and can store
Microtek ImageDeck Portable about 40,000 characters. The Reader can be connected to a
Scanner, from Microtek Lab PC to upload scanned texts, which can be transferred to word
Inc. (www.microtek.com) looks processors, spreadsheets and database software. The Pocket
like a small suitcase Reader software recognizes words and translates to and from
(13"x4.8"x18.9") and weighs 15 German, English, French and Italian, depending on the dic-
pounds. The scanner can tionary installed. The recognition rate is 95 percent, which
function independently of a can be increased to 99 percent when a spell checker is added.
computer, requiring only that a Six function keys control the entire operation. Pocket Reader
power source is available. It has an optical resolution of can record up to 20 pages of text and transfers the data by
600x600 dpi with a maximum scan size of 8.5x11.7 inches. serial cable to a PC. This is quite an inexpensive scanner
Although it cannot scan legal size or larger papers, it has the (about $100) that works with
ability to enlarge small images to letter size dimensions. The Windows 95 and higher.
scanned color and gray scale images are saved as JPEG files,
and black-and-white images are saved as PCX files. A well- HP CapShare 910, from
organized front-panel facilitates the scanning process, ena- Hewlett-Packard
bling the user to adjust the scan for color, compression, and (www.capshare.hp.com), is
resolution. The default is a black-and-white mode, with 300- another hand-held scanner that
dpi resolution, a letter-size scan area and no compression. works independently of a PC. It
ImageDeck contains two built-in disk drives: one for the weighs 12.5 ounces and runs on
regular, 1.44 MB, 3.4-inch floppy disk, and a zip drive. two rechargeable nickel hydride batteries, which come bun-
Printers and portable hard drives can be attached to the side dled with the unit. CapShare can scan approximately 100
panel. ImageDeck comes with a software bundle that in- documents and store about 50 letter-size pages in one battery
cludes: Ulead PhotoImpact (image-editing), Caere OmniPage charge. A typical letter-size page takes approximately 6 sec-
(OCR) and Caere PageKeeper (document management and onds to scan. The scan has a friendly interface and is easily
storage). manipulated. The sensor can be swept over the document
from top to bottom or side to side, as the user feels more
C-Pen 600, from C Technologies AB comfortable. It scans in gray scale documents as large as 119
(www.cpen.com), resembles a highlighter pen square inches. The image is compressed through firmware
and weighs no more than 5 ounces. It and stored in the memory as a data file that can be viewed on
combines a miniature digital camera, OCR the built-in LCD, or sent as a PDF or TIFF file via serial ca-
and Intel StrongArm processor. It has 6-MB ble or IR port to a printer or a computer.
memory. Despite its size, C-Pen performs
optical character recognition on text between Most hand-held scanners are easy to use, but they may be
7 and 20 points high. It can translate scanned difficult to hold in the correct position. If the hand shakes,
words to and from English, French, German, the image will be distorted. Therefore, hand-held scanners
Spanish, Italian and Swedish, depending on are not recommended when the goal is to produce an image
the language dictionaries installed on the of artistic quality. However, they can be quite helpful for the
device (C-Pen comes with one dictionary; most frequent uses. For instance, a teacher or a student can
additional dictionaries cost about $50). It has easily scan pages or illustrations from a book that cannot be
also other features, such as an address book checked out of the library. Or rather than cutting a magazine
application that holds up to 250 contacts, and to take one picture or an article, the teacher can scan the
C-Write, that enable users to write digital notes and save needed objects and leave the magazine intact for further use.
them. C-Pen uses an infrared communication to transfer
information to a PC. It operates with two AAA batteries,
which last an estimated three to four weeks of constant use.
Files are compatible with Windows 95 and higher.

! 67 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


UNICEF and New Technologies
The Internet for Youth and Teachers
Voices of Youth, (VOY) www.unicef.org/voy UNICEF’s online forum for young people, and the teacher
training web initiative Teachers Talking about Learning (TTAL) www.unicef.org/teachers are taking
steps to help UNICEF offices take action on technology. The purpose of TTAL is to establish the Internet
as a tool for the professional development of teachers, to provide a forum for sharing best practices of
teachers working in developing countries, and to demonstrate the interactive rather than merely the
broadcast capabilities of the Internet. The purpose of the VOY website is to provide a forum for learning
and dialogue about global issues among young people, and to establish human rights, specifically the rights
of children and young people, as the foundation for engagement with the virtual, and virtually global,
community constituted via the Internet. As projects of UNICEF, both websites hold three commitments in
common: (1) valuing the messengers, that is, the young people and the teachers; (2) valuing the Internet as
a learning tool; and (3) increasing the participation in online learning and professional development of
young people and teachers from disadvantaged communities, in developing and industrialized countries
alike. Both websites are organized using a common framework: Explore, Respond, Take Action, which
allows users to interact with new ideas, respond with their own ideas, and move ideas into practical actions.

The Internet for Program Purposes


Uses for the Internet for program purposes are only just beginning, as program officers and counterparts
become more familiar with the uses of the Internet and find ways of using technology to achieve program
goals in remote and often ‘unwired’ areas. There is still much debate as to the relevance of new
technologies for achieving development goals, and whether the assertions offered by Internet supporters
will indeed live up to their expectations. UNICEF does not have large and expensively funded ICT-
enhanced programs at this stage, although several are planned in Latin America and in East Africa.
National initiatives however, demonstrate ingenious ways in which UNICEF is supporting Internet use and
fostering opportunities for open learning and distance education. UNICEF has supported ISP connections
for Ministries of Education and university research centers in places such as Cambodia, Mali and Ghana.
In many countries UNICEF shares IT hardware for organizing live electronic fora to give disadvantaged
groups opportunities to interact with one another. In the Philippines, a small connectivity project links
teachers to the Internet for professional development purposes, and conveys findings to other schools using
CD-ROM downloads.

The Work of the Future


Connectivity for remote areas is no easy challenge, but if goals of access and quality are to be reached for
all children, we will need to focus our efforts in those places where children are most disadvantaged. We
will also be moving to ensure that content drives technology, and not the other way around. The aim will be
to explore low-cost, accessible alternatives for peoples who cannot afford to pay for hi-tech resources, and
who cannot access technology through using hi-tech tools. This is the work of the future.

For more information on UNICEF and its programs, visit the web site: www.unicef.org.

! 68 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


From Jomtien to Dakar and Be
Beyond
By Svein Osttveit*

From Jomtien
In preparation for the Forum, the biggest stocktaking of edu-
Ten years ago, representatives from 155 countries and 150 cation in history has been conducted. More than 180 coun-
organizations met at the World Conference on Education for tries have participated in the EFA 2000 Assessment, a mas-
All (Jomtien, Thailand) and pledged to provide education for sive and detailed review of the state of basic education in the
all by the year 2000. With the statement that “Every person – world. The Assessment was carried out by national teams
child, youth and adult – shall be able to benefit from educa- assisted by ten regional advisory groups, comprising UNDP,
tional opportunities designed to meet their basic learning UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, the World Bank, bilateral do-
needs”, the World Declaration on Education For All defined nor agencies, development banks and inter-governmental
a bold new direction in education. Drafted by education organizations.
ministers and national and international organizations, the
Declaration rang the death-knell for rigid, prescriptive edu- The findings were reported in five regional preparatory con-
cation systems and ushered in an era where flexible systems ferences and a conference of the nine high-population coun-
could thrive. From now on, education would be tailor-made, tries (E9) that took place between December 1999 and Feb-
adapted to the needs, culture and circumstances of learners. ruary 2000 (in Johannesburg, South Africa; Bangkok, Thai-
land; Cairo, Egypt; Recife, Brazil; Warsaw, Poland; and
The decision to review progress a decade later was taken in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic). The national as-
Jomtien. Two important milestones intervened in 1996. The sessments have been complemented by fourteen thematic
mid-decade conference held in Amman, Jordan, noted con- studies on educational issues of global concern, sample sur-
siderable progress but was hampered by weak reporting from veys on learning achievement and the conditions of teaching
participating countries – underlining the need for an in-depth and learning, and twenty case studies. The global synthesis
assessment. The report to UNESCO of the International report, presented at Dakar, gives the most accurate picture to
Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century pro- date of the state of basic education in the world.
moted a holistic view of education consisting of four “pil-
lars”: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be and Unfinished Business and New Challenges
learning to live together. The text was widely adopted.
New challenges to education emerged in the 1990s: the col-
To Dakar lapse of Communism in Europe, the revolution in communi-
cation and information technologies, and growing globaliza-
Several countries have proved in the last 10 years that strong tion. Many global trends were not foreseen at the World
political will can make the dream of Education for All a re- Conference for Education for All in Jomtien, especially the
ality. This message is key to the World Education Forum rapid spread of HIV/AIDS and the proliferation of ethnic
held in Dakar, Senegal, on 26-28 April 2000, with the par- conflicts. Priorities must include reaching out with education
ticipation of some 1,000 development leaders, including to HIV/AIDS orphans; offering education to the increasing
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the heads number of refugees and displaced people; motivating teach-
of several UN agencies, along with national and international ers and helping them acquire a new understanding of their
education policy-makers, non-governmental organizations role and harnessing the new technologies to benefit the poor.
(NGOs), business leaders, donors and education workers The major challenge for the years ahead will be to provide
from over 145 countries. The World Education Forum is quality education for all.
expected to provide the Education for All movement with a
new momentum needed to resolve the glaring inequalities in A new Framework for Action to be adopted at the Dakar
educational provision. Forum will call for increased financial commitment to edu-

! 69 ! TechKnowLogia, May/June, 2000 © Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. www.TechKnowLogia.org


cation, with special attention given to sub-Saharan Africa
and South Asia. It calls on governments, organizations, In the area of information and communication technology,
agencies, groups and associations represented at the World the Framework for Action promotes the following strategy:
Education Forum to pledge themselves to:
The role of information and communication technologies
! Mobilize strong national and international political (ICT) in the knowledge economy and in education will
commitment for Education for All, including signifi- continue to expand and develop. The potential of these
cantly enhanced investment in basic education. technologies must be harnessed to support EFA goals at
affordable cost. While they often tend to separate the
! Promote Education for All policies within a sustainable haves from the have-nots, weaken social bonds, increase
and well-integrated sector framework clearly linked to disparities, and threaten cultural cohesion, ICTs can
poverty elimination and development strategies. also help expand the reach and enhance the quality of
education for all learners. They should complement
! Ensure the engagement and participation of civil society more traditional technologies such as books and radio.
in educational development.
The swiftness of ICT developments, their increasing
! Create safe and healthy educational environments con- spread and availability, the nature of their content, and
ducive to effective learning, including the provision of their declining prices are having major implications for
good quality learning materials that will enable all learning. Governments will need to establish clearer
learners to attain and surpass well-defined levels of policies in regard to science and technology and under-
achievement. take critical assessments of ICT experiences and op-
tions, including their resource implications, in relation
! Enhance the status, morale and professionalism of to the provision of basic education, emphasizing choices
teachers. which bridge the “digital divide”, increase access and
quality and reduce inequity.
! Implement integrated sector strategies for gender
equality in education, which recognize the need for EFA partners also need to tap the potential of ICT to
changes in attitudes, values and practice. enhance data collection and analysis and to strengthen
management systems, from central ministries through
! Develop responsive, participatory and accountable sys- sub-national levels to the school; improve access to edu-
tems of educational governance and management. cation by remote and disadvantaged communities; sup-
port initial and continuing professional development of
! Harness new information and communication technolo- teachers; and provide opportunities to communicate
gies to help achieve Education for All goals. across classrooms and cultures.
! Implement education programs and actions to address The Road from Jomtien to Dakar has been a rich learning
the HIV/AIDS pandemic. experience for everyone involved in education. Looking
ahead, the learning society is within reach and the World
! Conduct educational programs in ways that promote Education Forum is an important milestone towards its
mutual understanding and peace and help to prevent achievement.
intolerance, violence and conflict.
For more information, you may visit the web sites:
! Systematically monitor progress towards Education for http://www2.unesco.org/wef/ or http://www2.unesco.org/efa/
All goals at the national, regional and international lev-
els.

*
Svein Osttveit is Executive Secretary of the Education for All Forum, an inter-agency body established in 1990 by UNDP,
UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank.

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Academy for Educational Development
Connecting People - Creating Change
Stephen Moseley, President

AED and EFA of the Academy’s work is focused on ensuring educational


The Academy for Educational Development (AED) is par- opportunities for girls, people in rural areas, and other disad-
ticularly pleased to have the opportunity to co-sponsor this vantaged populations.
issue of TechKnowlogia, which is devoted to the Education
For All activities leading up to the EFA World Education The Academy provides its services on a nonprofit basis by
Forum in Dakar, Senegal, in April. Providing the opportunity entering into agreements with governments, communities,
for a quality education for all is the cornerstone of develop- schools, and donor institutions to assist ministries of educa-
ment in all countries. tion and educational institutions in improving their own
skills and meeting their educational goals. The AED Global
In support of the meeting in Dakar, AED has prepared the Higher Education Policy Center is helping colleges and
U.S. assessment report, Education For All: A Global Com- universities worldwide to identify and apply alternative ap-
mitment, in collaboration with non-governmental organiza- proaches to funding and development in light of the urgent
tions and U.S. governmental agencies. The AED report de- need to offer opportunity for the increasing number of sec-
tails U.S. progress during the past decade at home and its ondary school graduates who have little or no access to
assistance to other nations in reaching the goal of universal higher education in many countries around the world. An-
primary education set at Jomtien. The report is available in other AED Center, Ready to Learn, emphasizes early child-
print from AED directly by mail, or through AED’s website hood development assistance.
site, www.aed.org, and through the EFA web site
www2.unesco.org/wef/. In addition, the Academy provides services that address
youth development, health improvement, communication and
While great progress has been made, the education divide technology applications, and educational and cultural ex-
between industrialized and developing nations is growing. change and international training. During the year 2000,
The World Education Forum provides an extraordinary op- AED is placing special emphasis on improving child survival
portunity to build upon the great strides that have been made from preventable diseases through the use of education and
in broad, systemic education reform and development to en- communication programs that help parents to adopt new
sure that a quality education is available to all within the methods and technologies at the community and village
decade ahead. level.

AED's Focus AED extends its appreciation to the many representatives of


AED is an independent nonprofit organization committed to countries and educational institutions, of multilateral and
solving critical social problems in the United States and bilateral donor agencies and foundations, and to educators
throughout the world through education, training, social around the world who support the Academy’s work.
marketing, policy analysis, and innovative program design.
The Academy is dedicated to improving people’s lives by More Information
increasing knowledge and promoting democratic and hu- A complete list of countries served and the descriptions of
manitarian ideals. Since its founding in 1961, AED has been projects undertaken by the Academy are available at the
devoted to providing specialized assistance to more than 100 Academy’s web site: www.aed.org.
countries and to communities throughout the United States to
develop innovative solutions to the challenge of providing Or write to:
quality education for all. AED
Office of the President
AED draws upon an international staff for education plan- 1825 Connecticut Ave., NW
ning, management information systems, in-service and pre- Washington, D.C. 20009
service teacher preparation, assessment of needs for curricu- Tel: 202-884-8000
lar changes, and application of broadcast and digital tech- Fax: 202-884-8400
nologies for effective delivery of education programs. Much Email: admindc@aed.org

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THE COMMONWEALTH of LEARNING
"Our long-term aim is that any learner, anywhere in the
Commonwealth, shall be able to study any distance-teaching
program."
From "Towards A Commonwealth of Learning, 1987"

WHAT IS THE COMMONWEALTH? concerned with the promotion and development of distance
education and open learning. COL is helping to increase the
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independ- capacities of developing nations to meet the demands for
ent sovereign states, which provide support to each other, improved access to quality education and training.
and work together toward international goals. The Com-
monwealth is described as a "family" of nations, originally Distance education is now a part of the mainstream of edu-
linked together in the British Empire, and now building on cation and training. It enables students to learn at the loca-
their common heritage in language, culture and education, tion, time and pace of their choice, for far less money and
which enables them to work together in an atmosphere of with far greater results. COL's goals include maximizing the
greater trust and understanding than generally prevails transfer of information, ideas, innovations and resources to
among nations. With more than 50 member countries, the support this rapid evolution of distance educational training.
Commonwealth represents 25% of the world's population
and a great diversity of races, cultures, creeds and political Since 1990, COL has introduced, or enhanced, teach-
beliefs. ing/training programs in more than 40 countries; conducted
seminars and studies on specific educational needs and es-
tablished a network of education and technology specialists
WHAT IS THE COMMONWEALTH OF LEARNING? around the world. They are now contributing to many varied
educational programs, often using low-cost and innovative
Founded in 1987 by the leaders of the Commonwealth coun- technologies, throughout the Commonwealth and also to
tries at their meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia, The other non-Commonwealth countries.
Commonwealth of Learning has a mandate to encourage the
development and sharing of open learning/distance education COL is governed by an international Board of Governors,
materials, expertise and technologies, and other resources for whose Chairman is Dr. Ian Macdonald of Toronto, and di-
students throughout the Commonwealth and other countries. rected by its President and Chief Executive Officer, Profes-
sor Gajaraj Dhanarajan.
Headquartered in Vancouver, The Commonwealth of
Learning (COL) is the only international organization solely COL's Web site: www.col.org

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