PROJECTS

Recherche

Panafrican research agenda on the pedagogical integration of information and communication technologies.  The purpose of the proposed Panafrican Research Agenda on the Pedagogical Integration of ICT is to contribute to this broadening process and to participate in the access, construction, and production of knowledge in the information era. The objective of this research project is to better understand how the pedagogical integration of ICT can improve the quality of teaching and learning in Africa. The development of an Observatory on ICT in African education would be the main activity in the initial two-year phase, modelled on observatories in other sectors, such as oceanography, which have successfully gathered, organized and updated data for researchers and practitioners in specific fields. The main project partners would be the education faculties in eleven countries across Northern, West, Central, East and Southern Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, the Republic of South Africa, Senegal and Uganda. The Réseau ouest et centre africain de recherche en education (ROCARE) /Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa (ERNWCA) would be responsible for continent-wide project coordination. The University of Montreal would be the technical partner, playing a key role in matters of science, technology and publication. National Committees would approve the Observatory content, and an International Scientific Committee would oversee project evolution. The Observatory would be assessed in part by a statistical analysis of Internet data and an online survey. Lessons learned would be documented and continuously incorporated as the project unfolds.

Panaf Observatoire. L’observatoire est un outil pour recueillir des données sur les TIC en éducation avec une Recherche simple — qui vous permet de voir des résultats se rapportant aux institutions d’un seul pays, ou une Recherche avancée — qui vous permet de comparer des résultats de différents pays et institutions, ou une Recherche sommaire — qui vous permet de parcourir une carte sommaire des pays et des institutions qui participent au projet.

(Unesco). LAMP Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme. Governments the world over are engaged in a battle to create and maintain high-skilled jobs for their workforces. This relentless competition has led policy-makers to monitor one set of skills in particular: literacy. Literacy is seen as a gateway enabling individuals to learn new skills in both the classroom and the workplace, while assuming their rights and responsibilities in society. So it is no surprise to find the most industrialized countries investing millions to develop new assessments like the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL). UNESCO believes that this kind of survey is not a luxury but a necessity for sound policy-making by countries rich and poor. Consequently, the UIS has developed the Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP) in partnership with other international agencies and technical experts. LAMP builds upon the ALL survey by measuring five levels of literacy and numeracy skills through an innovative combination of household survey methods and educational assessments conducted on a five- to ten-year cycle. However, LAMP goes a step further by also measuring five component skills that underpin fluent reading. A major challenge lies in ensuring that test questions reflect local socio-cultural and linguistic circumstances. As a result, LAMP works closely with participating countries to design appropriate instruments and ensure that each assessment is tailored to the specific needs and requests of national policy-makers. Through this collaborative approach, countries strengthen local capacities to conduct their own surveys while collecting the data needed to focus on real needs and better target resources. LAMP is also a cornerstone of UNESCO’s Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE), which provides a global framework for achieving the goals of the UN Literacy Decade.

UNESCO (Kadriye Ercikan, Rubab Arim, Maria Oliveri, Deborah Sandilands editors) (2008). Evaluation of the Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP) / UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)

(World Bank) Low cost user devices for the poor. Hope or hype? Together with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, infoDev is sponsoring a series of activities — policy dialogues, events, working groups — and new informational resources to promote reasoned, and sober debate on the potential and realities of producing, introducing, using and maintaining “cheap ICT devices” in developing countries. The buzz and excitement surrounding the idea of a “$100 laptop” has caught the imagination and fancy of many around the world. Announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos in early 2005, this well-known initiative for an inexpensive portable computing device for use by students in developing countries has been celebrated in the press, embraced by prominent political figures, and found support from some of the world’s largest corporations. While the One Laptop Per Child Initiative — the formal name of the project initiated by Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab which is receiving so much attention — is the most prominent initiative of this sort, many other projects and programs are currently underway aimed at providing inexpensive information appliances for the poor, in a variety of formats (PC, laptop, mobile phone, PDA, etc.) and proposed for use in many sectors in developing countries (especially, and notably, in education). Few would argue that new technologies do not hold great promise, and that the cheaper these technologies are, the better for everyone. That said, many critics question whether projects and initiatives in this area really should be given such high profile and priority, especially given many of the pressing and immediate needs related to basic infrastructure and services in many developing countries. Despite the explosion of interest and discussion in this topic, it is difficult to find consolidated information about who is doing what, and what some of the related issues, concerns and challenges are. In support of a variety of upcoming initiatives in this area, infoDev maintains a short set of resources to help interested parties stay up to date with the latest news, projects and initiatives related to this topic.

Application

BridgeIt/Text to teach. BridgeIT, a mobile teaching tool deploying in Tanzania, is changing the way students and teachers interact in the classroom. The program, launched in 2007, allows teachers to download educational videos (focusing on math, science, and life skills) onto mobile phones. The phones are then connected to classroom televisions which display the videos. Students watch the videos, which usually run four to seven minutes, and then teachers use BridgeIT-designed lesson plans to build on the ideas set forth in the videos. The short educational videos are transmitted to teachers in 150 schools in seven regions of Tanzania (Lindi, Mtwara, Pwani, Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Dodoma and Kilimanjaro). In a country in which classrooms are often overcrowded (the program originally aimed to reach 10,000 students; due to crowded classrooms and teachers teaching multiple classes through the day, BridgeIT lesson plans have so far been taught to more than 40,000 students) and the demand for books greatly exceeds the supply, lessons via video are an effective way to reach a large number of students. But more so than just a video downloading device, the phones also serve as a link between BridgeIT and teachers. Kate Place, Program Manager of BridgeIT, explains that the focus of the program is twofold, with a focus on both students and teachers. She says, “The real basis of the program is trying to improve learning gains among students, and to try to improve teaching methodologies in the classroom.” While final results of the pilot program haven’t been compiled yet, Place says that anecdotal reports from teachers say that attendance and classroom participation in BridgeIT classrooms is higher than in non-BridgeIT classrooms. Locally called Elimu kwa Teknologia, which means Education through Technology, BridgeIT provides on-demand access to digital video content. “People have asked, ‘why not a DVD player, or something else?’” says Place. “A lot of these schools are in rural locations, and [using mobile phones] allows for the on-going dissemination of new content. Once the new system is in place, we can be in touch with these teachers and these schools throughout the country on an on-going basis.” The continued access is a bonus, as teaching methods can be adjusted throughout the school year based on the needs of students and teachers. Another benefit of distributing videos via mobile is the ease of disseminating new content; according to Place, new educational videos are released every three months, so the content is constantly evolving. So far, more than 125 videos have been produced and more than 1500 teachers have been trained in BridgeIT classroom procedures.

ILI. Bridges to the future initiative. The Bridges to the Future Initiative (BFI) addresses the Digital Divide of education and technology in emerging economies by improving literacy, basic education, and technological literacy, thereby assisting the world’s poorest peoples to better determine their own social and economic future. The BFI will accomplish this mission by: Bringing together public and private as well as national and international agencies and foundations Leveraging information and communication technologies Adapting to diverse contexts and diverse learners Implementing the program through national operational agencies Collaborating within and across national boundaries.

Press Releases and Progress Reports January 2007:

Progress Report in India January 2007

Progress Report on BFI in Ghana June 2005

Progress Report on BFI in South Africa February 2005

Progress Update on Bridges to the Future Initiative (BFI) in India January 2004

eGranary Digital Library. The eGranary Digital Library provides millions of digital educational resources to institutions lacking adequate Internet access. Through a process of garnering permissions, copying Web sites, and delivering them to intranet Web servers INSIDE our partner institutions in developing countries, we deliver millions of multimedia documents that can be instantly accessed by patrons over their local area networks at no cost.

Euro-Africa ICT. The EuroAfriCa-ICT project  aims at promoting and supporting the development of S&T cooperation on ICT research between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa and between Europe and the Caribbean. MAIN ACTIVITIES Organisation of two “Euro-Africa Cooperation Forums on ICT Research”: one in Europe (Brussels, Belgium - 2009) and one in Africa (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - in early 2010), Organisation of five FP7/ICT awareness workshops in Africa and the Caribbean (Benin, Jamaica, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda) supported by a wide promotion of opportunities offered by FP7/ICT, Organisation of four concertation meetings in Europe supported by the implementation of strong links with national, European and international programmes and initiatives (including European Technology Platforms, ETPs and Joint Technology Initiatives, JTIs), Support to the development of partnerships and emerging cooperation projects based - among other things - on the implementation and development of a EuroAfriCa-ICT database.

(Geekcorps) CanTV. In the village of Bourem Inaly, Mali there are over 120 television sets powered by 12-volt car batteries, but there is almost nothing to watch. With its CanTV project, Geekcorps has helped the local radio station stream video content to the local community over WiFi. The radio station, which rents these units out, benefits from a new monthly revenue stream while the villagers benefit with an improved source of news and entertainment.

One goal of the CanTV project is to make it possible to build the CanTV receivers or TV cantennas (antennas built with cans) using locally using locally available parts, with the exception of the $25 audio/video receiver currently imported from Canada. Also, the TV cantennas have been designed so that a local technician can quickly learn how to install them without special tools. The radio station already has access to television broadcasts via satellite, and a TV over WiFi transmitter installed in August 2005 by Moussa Keita of Geekcorps.
Recently, Geekcorps successfully installed CanTV’s in fifteen different households (213 people) across Bourem Inaly. As a result, the radio station earns roughly $45 dollars a month or (22,500 CFA) on the rentals of the CanTV’s which goes a long way in helping to ensure the radio’s own financial sustainability. The radio station’s goal now is to reinvest its profits to purchase an additional CanTV each month so more of the local community can benefit from their new service offering.

cantv

(Geekcorps) Cybertigi. Extending ICT services to  rural areas. Cybertigi, based in Mali, is a project aimed at extending the ICT services available in relatively urban centers outward to village sized (and smaller) communities. The goal is to design and build a system which addresses the basic communication demands of rural communities, and construct it in such a way that it can be an autonomous, entrepreneur-based, and commercially viable system shortly after its implementation.
The guiding principals of the project are straightforward:
• ICTs need not be limited to larger population centers. It is possible to meet the demand for ICTs in more rural settings in practical and applicable manners.
• Providing new tool sets to people (in this case in the form of ICTs) can yield multiplier benefits.
• Infrastructure hurdles can be overcome with adapted technologies.
• ICTs can be used to create economic opportunities previously unrealizable.
• There are social benefits to having access to ICTs and comparable tools.
We are attempting to build a symbiotic model where each actor in the system benefits from the overall well being of the “circuit” it is a part of.
Each circuit is comprised of several actors:
The CLIC: a cybercafé in a more urban environment where emails will be channeled through, paper and photo prints will be processed, and news feeds will be gathered.
The village Kiosk & its manager (branded as “Cybertigi” in the villages): a local kiosk where the community is able to access the services such as scanning, emailing, news feeds, etc.
The Mototigi: an intermediary who will physically transport data and documents between the CLIC and the Cybertigi/Kiosk.
Local photographer: an agent of the Cybertigi/Kiosk who will help develop clientele while receiving a portion of the business he/she generates through taking photographs.
When a person comes to the village Kiosk and demands a service - say a scan/print - they carry out the process at the kiosk [make their scan] and deal directly with the Kiosk manager. The scan is then stored on the village Kiosk until later in the week when the Mototigi passes by and collects the data. The Mototigi then proceeds to the CLIC where he/she processes the data. Emails are sent, scans are printed, photos are developed. But the information travels in both directions. After the messages composed at the Kiosk are sent any new incoming messages are gathered and stored for delivery back to the Kiosk. The latest news feeds are also gathered and stored. Prints and photos are collected to be remitted at the Kiosk.
Within each week there is at least 1 voyage between the Kiosk and the CLIC. Each time the Mototigi gathers data from the Kiosk he/she is also delivering the data from the previous visit at the CLIC. Each Kiosk has data gathered/delivered at least once per week, meaning the lag between when you scan something or send an email is no more than 6 days. Where possible this can be reduced to 3 days, or 2 circuits per week.
The information is collected and transferred at the Kiosk and CLIC via a Nokia 770 internet tablet specially configured for the system. There is a VIA in the Kiosk and another located at the CLIC to handle the data when it arrives there. The Nokia 770 is the transfer mechanism between the two points. In the future, as the project matures, we envision the Nokia 770 acting as a portable Kiosk to service even smaller hamlets of only a few hundred people on the waypoints between the Kiosk and the CLIC. Coupled with a portable scanner, keyboard, and headset it has the potential of offering the same degree of service in many of the most rural areas of the countryside.

(Geekcorps) IESC Geekcorps Desert PC Communication System. Lack of access to information is a particularly acute problem in Mali. The vast, multi-lingual, relatively poor, and disproportionately illiterate nation cannot rely on newspapers or television to spread information. Radios are the medium of choice - they are relatively affordable, run on batteries instead of electricity, and don’t require users to be literate. In 2005 USAID Mali and partners like Geekcorps made special efforts to bring radio to the rural north, where nomadic populations remain largely isolated and are often marginalized from community, political participation, etc.
One of Geekcorps’ partner radio stations was Radio Beeray, a private radio established by Africare in Bourem Inaly, a village in the remote northern region of Mali. Bourem Inaly is only accessible by boat after a 30-minute drive from Timbuktu, which itself is two days’ drive from the capital in a good SUV. Public transportation takes days longer.
IESC Geekcorps staff and volunteers designed the Desert PC to withstand a high heat, high dust, low electricity environment. It is the first rugged PC custom built from available parts to survive the harsh desert environment of northern Mali and provide affordable Internet access.
While the individual technologies used to build it are not new, the configuration, location, and application are new and unique. The system has empowered the isolated Bourem Inaly community by providing them with access to new information and communications tools.
The Desert PC Communication System has brought tangible results to Bourem Inaly:
The staff of Radio Beeray has access to quality information via the Internet, and as a result, the entire community gets better information from the community radio.
The increased efficiency of the solar power system resulted in more electricity, which increased radio transmission and lighting usage by two to four hours per day.
Because the staff no longer has to travel to cyber cafés to send email, etc., Radio Beeray was able to reduce monthly operating costs by nearly US$100. With these savings the station could afford to hire a new staff member.
Radio Beeray is able to afford independent maintenance of the system.
Based on the Desert PC’s success throughout the pilot, it was proposed for future rural area Internet access, including all remote Africare sites, and to sites in Niger.

Global teenager project. The Global Teenager Project (GTP), initiated and co-funded by IICD, offers thematic Learning Circles to Elementary, Secondary and Vocational schools, including Special Needs Education. Founded in 1998, GTP offers collaborative global learning to over 10.000 students in 34 countries, in the following six languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Arabic. GTP Learning Circles are offered twice a year, including themes based on the Millennium Development Goals.

(Lettera27) WIKIAfrica. WikiAfrica facilitates access to information, while encouraging knowledge sharing and archiving. WikiAfrica aims at expanding and improving the information available online about Africa. WikiAfrica considers Wikipedia and Wikimedia as an extended international forum, capable of giving Africa a voice and visibility.

Wikipedia is an online, multilingual, open encyclopedic project. On Wikipedia, contents are collaboratively written by volunteers from all around the world.
The project WikiAfrica is designed to Africanize Wikipedia through networking, researches, projects, publications, and events. WikiAfrica contributes both online and offline to Wikimedia projects with texts, quotes, images, audio and video files. In order to achieve its mission, WikiAfrica is divided into different areas of intervention. On Wikipedia you can see how the project unfolds.
WikiAfrica is open to the active participation of all institutions, organizations, and individuals who share its mission statements. The project is supported by lettera27 Foundation in collaboration with Wikimedia Italia.

(OLPC) OLPC. Mission Statement: To create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning. When children have access to this type of tool they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future.

Right to education project. We aim to promote social mobilisation and legal accountability, looking to focus on the legal challenges to the right to education. The cornerstones of the Project are this wide-reaching website, ongoing research and a wide network of human rights and education activists. It is a partial continuation of the groundbreaking older Right to Education Project of the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Katarina Tomaševski.

(IDD). Interactive radio instruction. IDD pioneered the use of radio to bring curriculum and teacher training to classrooms in some of the world’s least-developed countries. Throughout Africa and South America, radio has been a tremendous resource for learning and dissemination. Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI), which only requires a radio and an adult facilitator, reaches large numbers of teachers and learners who are isolated by distance and poor infrastructure. It can be used in almost any setting, from formal classrooms to community learning centers to outdoor venues. IDD develops radio curricula that enliven the classroom with imaginative use of stories, songs, physical activities, and role-plays that encourage and model interactive exchanges between teachers and students. The exercises lead the children to use multiple skills beyond memorizing and repeating. IRI also provides new opportunities for teachers. IDD programs are always accompanied by training to guide teachers to develop new and effective teaching skills, structure exercises and games that prompt analytical thinking, and encourage students to form opinions and hypotheses. IDD works with local educators and musicians to develop IRI programs that are based on or enhance the national curriculum. After making an investment in the initial development process, countries can readily institutionalize IRI programs and sustain them via low per-student costs.

The digital doorway. The joint DST/CSIR undertaking aims to introduce computer literacy into the ambit and experience of all South Africans through the implementation of the concept of Minimally Invasive Education. The aim is to provide people in rural and disadvantaged areas with freely accessible computer equipment and open source software, enabling them to experiment and learn without formal training and with minimal external input.
The initiative seeks to verify results in the South African context, of research conducted in India*, indicating that children possess the cognitive ability to acquire functional computer skills without formal training. The project entails providing access to a multi-terminal multimedia computer system, which provides access to various applications and information. Similar findings in South Africa could serve to inform policies and methodologies to introduce alternative mechanisms for computer literacy. It could also suggest another pathway towards building human capacity in support of the advancement of the Information Society in South Africa and its adjacent regions.

TESSA Teachers Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. TESSA brings together teachers and teacher educators from across Africa. It offers a range of materials (Open Educational Resources) in four languages to support school based teacher education and training.

(Unesco) TTISSA Teacher training initiative for sub-saharan Africa. The Teacher Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa  (TTISSA) contributes to improve access, quality and equity of education through improving the quality and quantity of the teaching force in the region. The initiative supports the region’s Member States in addressing teacher-related challenges over a period of ten years (2006-2015). TTISSA is one of UNESCO’s three core Initiatives in education, along with the Global Initiative on Education and HIV and AIDS (EDUCAIDS) and the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE).

UNESCO (2009). Evaluation of TTISSA.

CONTENTS. The Teacher Training Initiative for Sub‐Saharan Africa (TTISSA) is the ten‐year UNESCO  response to the request by African Member States to implement a teacher‐focused Initia‐ tive, as the acute shortage of qualified teachers has been identified as one of the biggest  obstacles to the realization of the Education for All (EFA) goals in Sub‐Saharan Africa  (SSA) by 2015.     TTISSA was launched in January 2006 in 17 first phase countries, and is now rolling out to  cover all SSA countries before 2015. The purpose of TTISSA is to increase the quantity and  improve the quality of the teacher workforce in SSA order to contribute to improving ac‐ cess, quality and equity of education towards the achievement of EFA. The Initiative advo‐ cates a holistic approach to addressing issues concerning teachers and teaching personnel  in SSA, which are captured under the 4 key expected results defined for TTISSA:  1. status and working conditions of teachers improved 2.teacher management and administration structures improved  3. appropriate teacher policies developed  4.quality and coherence of teacher professional development enhanced

(Unesco) LIFE: Literacy Initiative for Empowerment. It is a key strategic framework which UNESCO has put in place for implementing the United Nations Literacy Decade, with a focus on countries where the literacy challenge is most critical. Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone Arab States: Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan Asia and the Pacific: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan Latin America and the Caribbean: Brazil, Haiti.

UNESCO (2009). Advancing literacy. A review of LIFE 2006-2009.

CONTENTS. Recognizing the magnitude of the literacy challenge, UNESCO launched the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE – 2006-2015). LIFE is one of UNESCO’s three flagship initiatives dedicated to advancing the EFA agenda. It is also a key operational mechanism for achieving the goals of the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD – 2003-2012). The LIFE initiative targets 35 countries that are home to 85 per cent of the world’s population without literacy competencies. It is built on a foundation of genuine commitment and provides a new vision and course of action. Now that the initiative has been in place for three years, it is time to take stock, assess its achievements, identify lessons learnt and move forward. UNESCO prepared the present Review of LIFE 2006- 2009 with the following aims in mind: a) to assess the overall performance of LIFE and evaluate the results of its implementation at country level; b) to make a case for literacy; c) to share experiences and lessons learnt with interested stakeholders; and d) to contribute elements that will enhance discussions on how to advance the LIFE strategy and plan the way forward.

UNESCO/UNICEF Projet Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Radio instruction aimed to empower the women by providing learning opportunities, but the appeal of income generation was needed to serve as an entry point. For many women, finding and developing the tools to direct their existence meant being able to produce and sell. The learning then had a strong earning aspect with subjects of direct relevance to those who were struggling to make ends meet. Key areas for content were identified: livestock rearing techniques; family care (family planning, health, nutrition and hygiene); income generation using locally available raw materials and basic business skills, for a new market economy. Literacy subjects were then grafted on to these (the maintenance and upgrading of literacy skills). Income-generation served as motivation to the literacy and numeracy content of the broadcasts. Centrally planned learning materials are supplemented by locally produced print materials and radio programmes. Initially five booklets and 17 radio programmes were produced by the National Coordination Committee. A further 23 printed booklets were produced in Ulaanbaatar on health, income generation and literacy support. They included topics such as family planning, making camel saddles and Mongol deels (clothes), producing milk and meat products, making fuel from animal dung, leather processing, felt-making, vegetable-growing, civics and small business development. The literacy support booklets tackle subjects as varied as Mongolian fairy tales, mathematics and the environment. The booklets were distributed by jeeps and took 1 to 7 weeks to reach the learners. Printed materials were produced at local level too. Radio programmes are broadcast at times convenient to the women, mostly at evening time, They generally relate to the booklet content and used a variety of formats. A few are broadcast from Ulaanbaatar such as “Sunrise” and “Shortcut” which cover topics of general interest, whilst others are more specific and directly related to the needs of the Gobi women. The role of visiting teachers is to reduce nomadic women’s isolation and support their learning process. Each teacher is responsible for 15 learners and is expected to visit them once or twice a month. Given the distance between nomadic families and the lack of learning opportunities provided by the State, women are encouraged to involve their family in the learning activities and present them to the teachers. Most of the teachers are volunteers, people who have completed secondary schooling, even university and are well-versed in a subject.

Sesame Street.For 35 years, Sesame Street has been consistently honored for its contribution to generations of children’s development; it continues to be the benchmark for the very best in educational programming. The world’s largest informal educator of young children around the world, Sesame Street remains firmly grounded in the cognitive basics and the academic, social, and emotional skills necessary for school readiness. Sesame Street’s team of educators, researchers, and writers continues to focus on designing segments that help children think things through without sacrificing the creativity and fun that has made the show a trusted favorite for generations.

Telesecundaria.Telesecundaria is a system of distance education programs for secondary and high school students created by the government of Mexico and available in rural areas of the country as well as Central America, South America, Canada and the United States via satellite (Solidaridad 1 and Satmex 5).

Telecurso. Brazil, with its large territory and low school attendance, has been experimenting with radio and television education for more than three decades. Yet, a private enterprise, the Globo Television Network – stepped on to the stage and created the first Telecurso, adding a number of important innovations. This program was a major success and was aired for more than 15 years. In the early 1990s, with the rapid transformation and globalization of Brazilian economy, industrialists were having problems with the appallingly low schooling levels of its workers. To alleviate the problem, the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo funded, with US$30 million, a new Telecurso for its workers. The new program deploys only professional (soap opera) actors, making the production very expensive (the hour of video production cost about forty thousand dollars). Telecurso 2000 stresses basic skills and all teaching is contextualized. Since it is aimed at young adults, it does not put classrooms, teachers or students on the screen. All scenes take place in factories, streets, homes, offices, newspaper stands and travel agencies. Real life problems precede the presentation of theories and explanations. Telecurso 2000 also borrows heavily from the pace of commercial TV, moving very fast and including plenty of humor, very much like the programs Brazilians usually watch.

(Usaid) USAID/Malawi TIkwere interactive radio. Malawi’s education system struggles with large class sizes, limited supplies, and insufficiently trained teachers. The USAID-supported Tikwere interactive radio instruction project is part of an effort to improve the teaching and learning conditions for over 3 million pupils in the primary schools. Meaning “let’s climb” in Chichewa, one of Malawi’s national languages, Tikwere is broadcast national on the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, with two 30-minute programs for Standard 1 daily. Broadcasts include stories, activities, and exercises that require interactive action of both pupils and teachers.The program is based on a new curriculum and will reinforce instructional strategies that emphasize student-centered approaches, active learning, and equitable classroom management for Grades 1-3 nationwide. Over 800,000 pupils in Standard 1 and their 8,000 teachers tune in to the program on 10,000 wind-up radios in over 5,300 public schools. The official program launch ceremony took place on January 18th, 2008. USAID technical and financial support totals $5.3 million for the three-year Tikwere/IRI program (2007-2010) in Malawi. Funding comes from the Congressionally mandated School Fees Initiative, which aims to address the hidden costs of schooling in two countries specifically selected in Africa, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

hole in the wall. Hole-in-the-Wall is one such idea, which offers the world a surprisingly fresh perspective on the learning process. Breaking the traditional confines of a school, Hole-in-The-Wall Education Limited (HiWEL) takes the Learning Station to the playground, employs a unique collaborative learning approach and encourages children to explore, learn and just enjoy! As a concept, Hole-in-the-Wall has multiple dimensions and a potential which is virtually limitless. What it offers someone depends on the perspective one is looking from. For experts, like Nicholas Negroponte of MIT, Hole-in-the-Wall is a ‘Shared Blackboard’ which children in underprivileged communities can collectively own and access, to express themselves, to learn, to explore together, and at some stage to even brainstorm and come up with exciting ideas. For villagers, it is more like a village Well, where children assemble to draw knowledge and, in the process, engage in meaningful conversation and immersive learning activities that broaden their horizons. And finally for children, it is an extension of their playground where they can play together, teach each other new things, and more importantly, just be themselves.

Dr Sugata Mitra on how children teach themselves (TED)

Learning through teaching: Peer-mediated instruction in Minimally Invasive Education Ritu Dangwal and Preeti Kapur British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 40 No 1 2009, 5-22.

Children’s learning processes using unsupervised “hole in the wall” computers in shared public spaces Ritu Dangwal and Preeti Kapur Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 2008, 24(3), 339-354.

The relationship between environmental factors and usage behaviors at ‘Hole-in-the-Wall’ computers Jennifer DeBoer International Journal of Educational Development Volume 29, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 91-98.

‘Hole-In-The-Wall’ Computer Kiosks Foster Mathematics Achievement - A comparative study Parimala Inamdar and Arun Kulkarni Educational Technology & Society, 10 (2), 170-179 (2007). (One of the 50 most viewed publications on TeLearn open archive.)

Public computing, computer literacy and educational outcome: Children and computers in rural India Dr. Ritu Dangwal International Conference on Computers in Education 2005, Singapore.

Public-Private Partnership in a Minimally Invasive Education Approach Dr. Swati Jha and Shiffon Chatterjee International Education Journal, 2005, 6(5), 587-597.

Acquisition of computing literacy on shared public computers: Children and the ‘Hole in the Wall’ Dr. Sugata Mitra, Dr. Ritu Dangwal, Shiffon Chatterjee, Dr. Swati Jha, Ravinder S. Bisht and Preeti Kapur Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 2005, 21(3), 407-426. (Recipient of AERA SIG Communication of Research Annual Award for the Best Education Research Article in an Open Access Journal for 2005)

A model of how children acquire computing skills from “Hole in the Wall” computers in public places Dr. Ritu Dangwal, Dr. Swati Jha, Shiffon Chatterjee and Dr. Sugata Mitra Information Technologies and International Development Journal, Summer 2005, Vol. 2, No. 4, 41-60

Self organising systems for mass computer literacy: Findings from the ‘Hole in the Wall’ experiments Dr. Sugata Mitra International Journal of Development Issues, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2005) 71-81

Impact of Minimally Invasive Education on Children - An Indian Perspective (colloquium) Dr. Ritu Dangwal, Dr. Swati Jha, Preeti Kapur British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 37 No 2 2006, 295-298.

Computer skills development by children using ‘Hole in the Wall’ facilities in rural India Parimala Inamdar Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 2004, 20(3), 337-350.

Children and the Internet: Experiments with minimally invasive education in India Dr. Sugata Mitra and Vivek Rana The British Journal of Educational Technology, volume 32, issue 2, pp 221-232. (2001)

Children and the Internet: New Paradigms for Development in the 21st Century Dr. Sugata Mitra Talk at the Doors 6 conference of the Doors of Perception at Amsterdam, Holland, November 11, 2000

Minimally Invasive Education for mass computer literacy Dr. Sugata Mitra Presented at the CRIDALA 2000 conference, Hong Kong, 21-25 June, 2000