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If 2007 was the apex of OLPC hype, 2008 brought us mobile phones as the solution for everything, and 2009 ushered in the dominance of the netbook, what do you see as the next new thing for 2010? Will there be a continued focus on flashy but educationally suspect hardware? Could this the year Linux, lead by Ubuntu, breaks out? Can Windows 7 bring back the luster to Microsoft? Or will multi-platform Android make both moot? Enough about technology – where is the educational breakthroughs? Will Constructionism flourish in 1:1 computer deployments? Can Open Content gain traction in curriculum development? Might teacher training actually get more than lip-service? Finally, will we really stop wasting children on ICT4E assessments?
Back when One Laptop Per Child started, they made an interesting point around evaluations of computer usage in schools. Their core belief was that all evaluations were flawed because we don’t have the right tools to assess the impact of ICT in education, and therefore talking about testing the efficacy of 1:1 computing was wasted effort. I’ve heard this refrain repeated often since then, and not just by those promoting technology in schools. Its a equal thought from those that feel geek lust is clouding our judgment and we should focus on teachers, not technology. Its also promoted by those that point out changes to educational methodologies have often happened by force of will, not empirical results. While we may have differencing opinions on OLPC or its benefits, the basic questioning of ICT4E evaluations is compelling. Starting with the simple question of “Do we need assessments?” we can branch into related questions that examine the basic assumptions we hold dear
Blind? Deaf? Impaired? Then in most of the developing world, this means you're also dumb. You're excluded from formal educational opportunities at an early age and possibly even shunned by your family and community. But this doesn't have to be the fate of physically or mentally challenged children anywhere. Assistive information and communication technologies can allow those with disabilities to learn and grow, indistinguishable from any other child. But we have to ask questions about them in our context. Especially since you could even argue that educational systems are often impaired themselves - lacking budget, expertise, and will power to recognize that assistive technologies exist and should be employed for the betterment of all.
While there is much effort & focus on deploying educational hardware in the developing world, much less hype and attention is focusing on the content students will use once these systems are in the hands of hungry young minds. How can educational systems, and the stakeholders that support them, adapt existing and new content onto these devices? Will this adaptation be able to challenge the existing income streams and vested interests of current content production & dissemination models? And should this content focus on ebooks and other electronic media the replicates existing content, or is this an opportunity to change the way in which content is created, teacher’s educate, and students learn?
What is your vision for an African learning environment that transcends the formal educational system to offer multiple learning opportunities to youth via multiple facilitators? And how can the full breadth of information and communication technologies - from the humble radio or newspaper to advanced computers and the Internet - be utilized in that vision in a cost-effective and practical manner?
So improving access to education is one of the best investments that donor agencies and governments can make. Now what if it were possible to nearly double the number of secondary and university seats in a developing country overnight and with relatively little investment from the public sector? eLearning - the provision of educational opportunities via information and communication technologies - could have that kind of scale with recent advances in electronic content creation and the proliferation of technology devices.
Look at any ICT-enabled school classroom, and there is often a greater excitement for the technology with boys than girls, which by middle or secondary school, can translate into ICT tools being an exclusive domain of boys, excluding half the learning population from their benefit. How can technologists and educators design more gender neutral, or pro-female ICT-enabled learning experiences? And from these experiences, can we hope to also change the gender balance in the ICT industry? Or will ICT, as an industry, always be mainly male”?
Given the limited resources available in educational systems in the developing world, and the lack of any great will to change the situation, is it better to invest in known teacher aids like textbooks, chalkboards, or basic school supplies or do new technology options, like ebooks, smart boards, computers really offer a paradigm shift in educational efficiencies?
Educators often get overlooked, with a rush to put gadgets in children’s hands. But teachers can leverage small ICT investments into big impacts. What technology tools available in South Asia can help advance their teaching skills and classroom effectiveness? If you know of a tool that’s both appropriate for teachers in South Asia and available in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, or Sri Lanka please let us know.
When planning ICT deployments in schools, there is much talk around making the effort sustainable. But what does “sustainability” really mean in this context? If we tweak and paraphrase the Wikipedia definition of “sustainability”, we could say that: “Sustainability is the ability of an educational ecosystem to maintain scholastic processes, functions, diversity and productivity into the future.” Yet that’s a pretty broad and vague statement. Bringing it down to a practical level, how might we introduce information and communication technologies into existing educational ecosystems where they can absorb it and own the change? Starting with cost, where most do, is “sustainability” covering local costs through local fees or taxes? Should national governments be the funder? Or is sustainability actually greater than merely its monetary price, but actually creating community ownership to the point of local customization in implementation, and self-propagating growth and expansion
Go to most ICT-enabled schools and you see computer labs set up for student use, which often indicates that "Computers" are taught like a subject (ie. math), or a skill (carpentry). Parents and business leaders look to this model as preparing students with 21st Century skills. But could there be a better way to distribute computing resources? A 1:1 computer-to-student saturation that encourages private ownership of technology and individual exploration and learning, rather than a limited shared-use of educational tools. Or is a one computer per student model an administrative and financial challenge with limited additional benefit? And could there be a mixed model where shared and private use can co-exist?
The Educational Technology Debate is one year old this month and to celebrate, we had a Live Debate: Are Most Investments in Technology for Schools Wasted? at the World Bank offices in New Delhi, India. With six great speakers, we focused on the issues around technology implementation in educational systems of the developing world to answer the question: Are most investments in technology for schools wasted?
From single-purpose educational aids like the Teachermate to commercial netbooks that can be re-purposed for the classroom, information and communication technology is dropping in cost while increasing in functionality and robustness. Soon, these ICT devices will be like slates in the 1800′s – ubiquitous. In 2008, infoDev at the World Bank complied a Quick guide to low-cost computing devices and initiatives for the developing world to try and record the most prominent or promising of these devices. For June, the Educational Technology Debate will attempt to update and organize this list through two efforts:
Numerous initiatives, most prominently the One Laptop Per Child program, seek to introduce computers to students around the globe. Yet, are computers the right technology for ICT in education? Perhaps mobile phones, of which the ITU estimates there are 4.1 billion subscriptions, would provide a better technology for students? For teachers and policy-makers seeking to increase educational outcomes with inexpensive digital devices, do computers or mobile phones offer a better ICT investment?
By the end of 2009 OLPC should pass a stunning milestone – 1 million XO laptops deployed in over 40 countries around the world, almost all in 1:1 computer to child ratios. Next, the humble XO laptop which was once ridiculed by the titans of technology, spawned the netbook. And the netbook is eating the computer market at a stunning growth rate. But OLPC has impact deeper and farther than just XO’s passed out or netbooks snapped up. Its changing education, technology, even culture in ways beyond any one person’s understanding. What do YOU think we’re learning from Negroponte’s wild idea of Constructionism via XO laptops?