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Agriculture, Basic Education, Education, Education, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

New Toolkit helps schools establish, maintain and expand computer facilities

Across the world, governments, donors, private companies, parents and schools are establishing computer facilities and connecting them to the Internet in an effort to improve education. Although well intentioned, a common result of these efforts is the challenge schools have in keeping their computers running, covering increased costs for electricity, paying for Internet connectivity and integrating the use of computers into the curriculum.

The Computer System Sustainability Toolkit is designed to help staff, students and parents at schools gain the skills needed to develop and implement plans to establish and/or sustain their computer systems. The Toolkit is written so that members of the school and community can create and implement their plans without additional external support.

Does this Toolkit work? Can computer facilities at schools really become self-sustaining entities? Can schools really generate sufficient income from their facilities to keep their systems running, to buy new equipment, and to build the capacity of their staff to use the computers? Can schools really learn to integrate the use of their computers across their curriculum? And can they do all this on their own?

The short answer to these questions, at least according to the initial evidence, is YES!

The content from the Toolkit was first used with the staff and students at five rural schools in Southern Sumatra as part of a small project that was funded by Qualcomm Wireless Reach. Before this effort, most of the computers that had been installed at these schools a year earlier were not working, the schools were no longer connected to the Internet and the IT teachers were the only teachers at these schools who were using the computers with students. Now, three years later, all the computers at these schools are fully functioning, the labs are well maintained, most teachers at these schools now use the labs with their students and each school has a well established Student Support Technicians Club (SSTC). And all this has been done with funds generated through the use of their computer facilities.

Digital copies of the toolkit in color and grayscale, along with a variety of tools and templates can be downloaded online at: http://aed.org/Publications/computer-system-sustainability-toolkit.cfm

March 23, 2011/by actualize

Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Empowering Women through ICT in Reef Conservation and Management

Three Indian fisherwomen sit with their nets

Photo credit: SPIDER

Women play a vital role in the operation of the fisheries in India, and their contributions penetrate every aspect of the industry from postharvest handling, preservation, processing and marketing. In the southern maritime states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, women dominate the retail fish trade. According to the Global Aquaculture Alliance, between 50-70% of fisherwomen and their families are dependent on fresh fish marketing or traditional fish processing for their livelihoods.

However, fisherwomen in the region want to advance their socioeconomic status beyond sustainability levels. One project, conducted by Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO) sought to help them do just that while simultaneously protecting the coral reefs on which these women and their families depend.

Coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar are facing several threats, but in Tuticorin, several villages are solely dependent on fish resources obtained from these coral reefs. Fisherwomen face uncertain catches of varying quality, difficult post harvesting techniques and increasing demand. Crowded fishing grounds, and this increase in demand often cause fishermen to adopt destructive fishing methods.

To reduce the pressure on coral reef resources and economic vulnerability of coastal communities, local fisherwomen self help groups were trained on ICTs and other methods of adult education. The aim of introducing adult education and ICT trainings was:

to empower local fisherwomen self help groups
enhance literacy and livelihood
reduce pressure on coral reef resources through greater awareness and education about marine environment and resources
minimize overall economic vulnerability of coastal communities

Two coordinators from each of 5 villages were selected and trained in adult education and ICTs. Then each village was given a computer, printer, mobile phone and access to the internet. Almost 150 women were trained in adult and environmental education, computer education and hygienic fish drying.

The results were impressive – reef damaged was “considerably” reduced – shore seine operations, mining and anchoring near reefs declines, new coral recruits were observed and live coral area began increasing. These training opportunities also helped fisherwomen earn additional income for their families.

For more information, you can read the case study here in our Project Database.

March 8, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Education, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

CGD Finds Success in Niger Mobile Literacy Project

The Center for Global Development, released a paper indicating that mobile phones can impact literacy skills, and a sustainable model may have been found. The paper is the result of an evaluation of a mobile education program, called Project ABC in Niger.

Projet d’Alphabetisation a Base Cellulaire, or Project ABC, works with non-formal education centers established by the Catholic Relief Services Niger Food Security and Nutrition Program (2007-2011), is funded by USAID/Food for Peace, and is implemented with CARE and Helen Keller International.

The project uses multimedia phones that have been programmed with a digital curriculum in the local languages of Hausa and Zarma, and incorporates a practical literacy component tied to obtaining market information via text message.

In the first year of ABC, participants learn basic cell phone technology, including SMS. In the second year, interactive multimedia phones and a digital curriculum that includes phonetic activities and varied texts are used to further develop literacy skills. Participants also use skills in literacy, numeracy, and basic cell phone technology in a companion program that teaches them how to request and retrieve market information via SMS.

According to the report:

Overall, students demonstrated substantial improvements in literacy and numeracy test scores, suggesting that the adult education curriculum is effective in increasing learning. Students in mobile phone villages showed substantial additional gains in literacy and numeracy exam scores.

There is also evidence of persistent impacts: eight months after the end of the first year of classes, students in ABC villages retained what they had learned better than the non-ABC students. These effects do not appear to be driven by differences in the class time devoted to students, teacher experience or teacher and student attendance. Rather they can be partly explained by the effectiveness of mobile phones as an educational tool: Students in ABC villages used mobile phones more frequently to make calls, write SMS and search for price information as compared to their nonmobile phone counterparts. The program suggests that simple and relatively cheaper information and communication technology can serve as an effective and sustainable educational tool for rural populations.

According to Isbrandt, the program is operational in 56 literacy centers in the rural regions of Dosso and Zinder, in primarily agricultural villages. As is the case in most rural settings in West Africa, local language reading materials are otherwise scarce. Participants in the program include 1,400 learners, half of whom are women

References

Aker, Jenny C., Christopher Knoll and Travis J. Lybert, “ABC, 123: The Impact of a Mobile Phone Literacy Program on Educational Outcomes,” Center for Global Development Working Paper, September 2010

Isbrandt, Scott (2009) Cell Phone in West Africa: Improving Literacy and Agricultural Market Systems. Retrieved September 1, 2010.

February 9, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Education, Education, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

The Impact of a Mobile Phone Literacy Program on Educational Outcomes: Literacy Learning in Niger

This is a research paper compiled by the Center for Global Development, an independent, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to reducing global poverty and inequality and to making globalization work for the poor. The paper evaluates and draws conclusions about a mobile education program, called Project ABC in Niger.

The pilot phase of Project ABC began with the Catholic Relief Service (CRS), in partnership with UC Davis, Tufts, and Oxford University and shows how SMS can turn mobile phones into a platform for adult literacy and market information for agricultural communities.

Projet d’Alphabetisation a Base Cellulaire, or Project ABC, works with non-formal education centers established by the CRS Niger Food Security and Nutrition Program (2007-2011), is funded by USAID/Food for Peace, and is implemented with Care and Helen Keller International. The project uses multimedia phones that have been programmed with a digital curriculum in the local languages of Hausa and Zarma, and incorporates a practical literacy component tied to obtaining market information via text message.

The final research paper indicates that mobile phones have had an impact on participants’ literacy skills, and the model could be sustainable in the long run:

Overall, students demonstrated substantial improvements in literacy and numeracy test scores, suggesting that the adult education curriculum is effective in increasing learning. Students in mobile phone villages showed substantial additional gains in literacy and numeracy exam scores.

There is also evidence of persistent impacts: eight months after the end of the first year of classes, students in ABC villages retained what they had learned better than the non-ABC students. These effects do not appear to be driven by differences in the class time devoted to students, teacher experience or teacher and student attendance. Rather they can be partly explained by the effectiveness of mobile phones as an educational tool: Students in ABC villages used mobile phones more frequently to make calls, write SMS and search for price information as compared to their nonmobile phone counterparts. The program suggests that simple and relatively cheaper information and communication technology can serve as an effective and sustainable educational tool for rural populations.

For the full research paper and the evaluations in the PDF format, please visit this link.

References

Isbrandt, Scott (2009) Cell Phone in West Africa: Improving Literacy and Agricultural Market Systems. Retrieved September 1, 2010.

January 18, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Education, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

There Are No Technology Shortcuts to Good Education

This article by Kentaro Toyama on the Educational Technology Debate website argues:

“There are no technology shortcuts to good education. For primary and secondary schools that are underperforming or limited in resources, efforts to improve education should focus almost exclusively on better teachers and stronger administrations. Information technology, if used at all, should be targeted for certain, specific uses or limited to well-funded schools whose fundamentals are not in question.”

January 13, 2011/by actualize

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