{"id":1859,"date":"2011-05-23T09:31:17","date_gmt":"2011-05-23T13:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/?p=1859"},"modified":"2012-09-27T10:39:03","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T14:39:03","slug":"mindset-network-is-etransforming-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/digital-learning-resources\/mindset-network-is-etransforming-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindset Network is eTransforming Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Human Development Index<\/a>, originally developed by Amartya Sen and Mahbub ul Haq, places education and health as 2 key measures of human development. The founders of Mindset<\/a> recognised that in order to nurture much neglected human development in South Africa and in other places on the continent, it was essential to place the focus here. As Nelson Mandela once said, \u201cEducation is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

And so, in 2002, Mindset Network was launched by Mr Mandela and has since operated as a non-profit organisation creating, sourcing and delivering high quality educational content for use in the formal education and (since 2004) health sectors where such provision can support human development. Wherever possible, access is made free or affordable to the end user. <\/p>\n

About Mindset<\/b><\/p>\n

Most of Mindset\u2019s work is directed at South Africa and in this Mindset focuses on leveraging its skills and position to assist Government deliver better services rather than establishing parallel systems of delivery. In the Schooling programme, for example, it is clear that the Apartheid legacy still bedevils many attempts to improve the quality of education delivered to most children and that there remains the tendency for more affluent learners to attract a disproportionate share of the available resources thereby advantaging them and perpetuating the original income gap. Mindset actively works to assist Government to try and correct this imbalance which, if left unchecked, will result in the gaps in income and educational attainment widening.<\/p>\n

As a non-profit organisation, Mindset relies on external funding to sustain many of its operations. To date, funding has been received in cash and in kind from South African and international businesses (including Liberty, Standard Bank, Intelsat and Multichoice) as well as multilateral donors and funding agencies. Increasing, however, Mindset is developing its own revenue streams to ensure financial sustainability and indeed an increase in its productive output. For example, all its video production and delivery capabilities have been spun out into a for-profit company servicing the needs of a range of additional clients.<\/p>\n

Mindset Content<\/b><\/p>\n

The development of high quality, contextually relevant content is naturally a key part of Mindset\u2019s business. In the last 9 years, Mindset has developed over 500 hours of video content for grade 4 to 12 South African learners and teachers and approximately 250 hours of video content for the public and Healthcare Workers on issues around HIV\/AIDs and TB. Allied to the video are hundreds of hours and thousands of pages of interactive multimedia and print content respectively. In all cases, Mindset creates content in these multiple formats to be mutually reinforcing and also to ensure that as many people as possible are able to benefit from it irrespective of the technology they have access to.<\/p>\n

The key challenges in producing such content tend to be: <\/p>\n