Techniology and education in developing countries. Describes the challenges in relation to Education For All (2015) and the role that technology could play. Presents the four pillars of UNESCO's Strategy in this domain: policies, teachers, mobile learning, and open educational resources.
13. The landscape is changing
Percentage of 15 year olds with access to the Internet, at home and in schools (2009)
Source: OECD, 2011
14. Still oversold and underused?
Average weekly use of computers in OECD countries (2009)
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Maths Science
more than 60 mins
30-60 mins
0-30 mins
No use
Source: PISA OECD, 2011.
22. One objective:
Teachers empowered to facilitate
– More learning
– Better learning
– Different learning
Four pillars:
Policies
Teachers
Mobile learning
OER
UNESCO Strategy
25. I. Challenges developing countries are facing in
harness ICT’s potentials for education
Affordability: recurrent budget to ensure universal access to ICT devices and online
digital resources, and regularly update device and internet connection
Capacity: in making and managing sector-wide ICT in education policies; both
institutional and individual capacities in implementing polices
Inclusion: equal opportunities for the poor, rural and other disadvantaged
populations, including girls; not only to the upper classes
Content: ICT facilitates and complicates the content development and
dissemination at the same time. OER holds potentials, but barriers remain
Quality assurance: quality of digital content/textbook; reform of quality framework
to embrace new ICT-enabled learning outcomes; quality online learning (e-safety of
children online)
Monitoring and assessment: need to promote systemic innovation through (non
existing?) evidence about what works and why
Complexity of the policy environment: Many actors, sometimes with vested
interests; education systems in developing countries are far more complex to
govern.
The challenges in developing countries
30. SOME SIGNS OF PROGRESS
Growth in fixed line broadband from 2007 to 2011
Developing countries: 109%
Developed countries: 40%
In 2012
Growth in mobile broadband worldwide: 40%
Growth in developing countries: 78%
Broadband can be (and is being) installed
quickly in the developing world.
Huge surge in mobile connectivity including
mobile broadband, particularly in resource
poor areas.
TRANSITION: Ladies and Gentleman… make no mistake the educational challenges before us are immense and they are urgent. Despite significant and lasting progress, the backdrop of this report is not rosy. We are still a long way from accomplishing the MGD and EFA goals we laid out over a decade ago. Without question, the educational challenges facing us today are too big and too complex to ignore any of the tools at our disposal, and, at the dawn of the 21st century, technology perhaps foremost among them. Here is a quick snapshot of some of our most pressing challenges…
67 million children of primary-school age are not in school.* And more are absent from secondary school.
1.7 million additional teaching positions will need to be created to attain Universal Primary Education by 2015.
775 million adults are illiterate.2/3rds of these adults are women.
The purpose of our report is to spread three keymessages.Put simply, our fast-changing societies and economies now demand the ability to use technology. The skills required to access, navigate, and make productive use of information in our information age is no longer optional; it’s a necessity. We have arrived at a moment where technology not only should, but must support, power and enrich education. School systems around the world are beginning to make better use of technology in education. While integration is still limited and hardly seamless, it is happening in pockets around the world and it is gaining momentum.There is no doubt that 21st century skills require the ability to:Use technology productivelyNavigate the digital world; andApply (rather than merely accumulate) knowledgeTechnology also has a fast-growing track record of:Increasing the efficiency of school systems: teachers and studentsBut we need more. We need broadband to helpTransforming traditional pedagogical models; andExtending learning opportunities beyond classrooms To make this happen a holistic policy environment that is cohesive and welcomes MSP is needed.
BUT… the news is not all bad.Just a few days ago at UNESCO an expert from Cisco explained that it is often significantly easier and cheaper to lay down the infrastructure needed for broadband services in Africa than it is in a city like Pairs where it is extremely difficult to install underground lines and wire old, closely-clustered apartment buildings.Data from the ITU indicates that over the past half decade, growth in fixed line broadband connections in the developing world has doubled that in developed countries. While this is good news (because it means the playing field is more equal) it deserves to be put in perspective. In absolute terms developing countries are still FAR behind. In 2011 25% of people in developed countries had a broadband connection. Only 5% in the developing world did. So despite the rapid growth in areas like Africa and Asia there is still a long way to go.Source: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/at_glance/keytelecom.htmlThe uptake of mobile technology has been nothing short of phenomenal. In 1995 there were 600,000 mobile subscriptions in the entire continent of Africa. In 2005 there were 87 million. Today there are around 735 million. Promisingly, the developing world is also getting access to mobile broadband. (As everyone in this room knows the utility of any mobile device hinges—to a large degree—on the quality and speed of its connection. In 2012, worldwide growth in mobile broadband services was 40%. In the developing world this number was much higher. Growth in poorer countries was 78%. This is an indication that people even in traditionally underserved areas are getting access to ICT that can fuel and extend learning opportunities. The situation is far from equal but the developing world is catching up.