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ICT for Education in Rural Development?

ICT4RD ConferenceRural Realities, Rural SolutionsSaskia HarmsenIICD

02 November, 2011

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IICD

IICD assists people in developing countries to create practical and sustainable solutions that connect people and enable them to benefit from ICT to improve their livelihoods and quality of life

• Understanding ICT as a tool in core development sectors

• Identification and implementation of on-the-ground ICT projects

• Up-scaling of projects to programmes• Providing evidence of impact on poverty reduction

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IICD

Programs

• 12 countries in Africa and Latin America

• Sectors agriculture, health

and education

In numbers:• 330 information centers• 60,000 trained users• 600,000 direct users • 5,400,000 beneficiaries

2011-2015

• Consortium Connect4Change with Dutch NGOs (incl. ICCO, Cordaid, EduKans, Text to Change, AKVO)

• Budget Euro 41 million

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IICD programs in Education

Support on-the-ground programs• 32 programs in 8 countries• 300 teacher colleges and schools• 300,000 teachers and students

Support ICT4Education policy• Strategic advisor on ICT policy and implementation• Ministry of Education Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Malawi,

Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, (Kenya 2011)

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The ICT-based Social Innovation Process

1. Local Ownership (OW)

2. Competency Development in ICT (CD)

3. Institutional Integration of ICT (II)

Facilitation of participatory identification & formulation

4. Joint learning, monitoring & evaluation of outputs, outcomes, impact & processes

Support in knowledge sharing, lobby & policy formulation

Advice on change management & alignment

Coaching & training in social, technical & financial knowledge, skills and attitudes

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IICD themes

Key intervention areas• Improved access to & quality of teaching and learning in formal

education• Improved quality of education management and accountability• Improved quality and employment orientation of vocational training

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e.g. Education programme Zambia

Roundtable Workshop on ICT for Education• Public, private & civil society edu stakeholders• Sector analysis and needs identification• Project ideas

Complementary projects:• uses of ICTs for teaching and learning in secondary schools • school administration • content development

– Enhancing Educational Content (ENEDCO) – Education Support network (ESnet)

• teacher training (using ICTs for student-centred learning)• (ICT troubleshooting & maintenance skills)

Plus knowledge sharing & networking events with teachers, school administrators, local education officers, etc.

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What is different when focus is on rural communities?

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Case: rural communities' needs Peru

link between education, food security and health- in rural areas, girls, boys and adolescents have to walk long distances in

order to go to school: very physical exercise and linked with a very low nutrition, they cannot concentrate in the classroom, participate adequately in the community life, etc.

- more education on food and food security from basic education level onwards

productive and technical education- developing competences and capacities that are relevant to the rural

communities economically, socially, culturally and in terms of the language, in order to enable them to become the actors of their own community development and apply the innovations and technologies that are most suitable to their context

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Case: rural communities' context Peru (cont.)

bilingual Intercultural Education- Learning what is rooted in one’s own culture, language, values, vision of

society, knowledge sharing mechanisms. And the bilingual education means more than just teaching in two languages (Quechua and Spanish)

logistical - In rural areas, many schools only have one teacher and they are multi-grade

schools at the same time. Teachers need to be better trained to teach effectively and efficiently in this type of rural school (bearing in mind the bilingual intercultural aspects).

- Distances walking to school for teachers, and travel to school from peri-urban areas for teachers, means less teaching/study hours for kids

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Pastoralist children in Kenya

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Case: rural communities' context Kenya

less financial resources for equipment, no or intermittent energy

Need to think more carefully on where and how ICT can make a difference (less standard ICT for Education approach

e.g. low-cost interactive white boards make sense resource/budget wise and also in terms of interactivity, student centred learning, real integration in teaching, etc.

very difficult learning environmentsICT will only make a small difference in the context of little water, little food,

few teachers and bad buildings!

strong cultural identity opportunity when it comes to development of relevant local content, but also

difficult because of traditional distrust against "modern ICT"

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exposure via computers (and internet) enables pastoralist children get the same information and (computer) skills as

their peers in Nairobi, allowing them to take the same exams. Developing context specific educational materials for the children will make their education also more relevant. 

very strong interlinkages with other sectors many taking in elements of civic education for the community (elections and new constitution in Kenya), economic development (market info for community members), health education in schools and literacy training for adults

if the community understands what it can be used for, they will be more likely to accept it generate their own uses

Case: rural communities' context Kenya cont.

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Issues that have come up

• Locally relevant education (agric production, livelihoods opportunities, farming as income generation, civic education, health including food & nutrition, reproductive health etc.)

• Culture, language (respect for other cultures)• Difficulty of getting people to teach in remote locations with little

facilities• Teacher absenteeism• School administration• (Girl) child abuse• …

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ICT4Rural Development: Education

• What differences do you see when talking about ICT for Edu from the perspective of rural communities and rural community members? e.g. in content, in approaches, in appropriate technologies, in critical success factors, etc.

• What opportunities exist to build on (tech) convergence at community level?