IIEP/UNESCO Summer School 2009 Paris, 30 July 2009

1. New technologies for basic education and literacy Multi-lingual interventions in India and South Africa IIEP/UNESCO Summer School 2009 Paris, 30 July 2009 Prof. Dan Wagner, Visiting Expert, IIEP International Literacy Institute University of Pennsylvania wagner@literacy.upenn.edu www.literacy.org

2. Main points Prefatory notes a. What is ICT4D? b. Why do this work? • Technology and literacy: Possible? • Trends: Fiscal and human investments • Can it be implemented? Examples from India and South Africa • Conclusions

3. ICT4D – what is it? Is it this?

4. ICT4D – what is it? This?

5. ICT4D – what is it? Or this?

6. Why do this work? • Literacy remains the most important global educational outcome. What can global science offer to United Nations MDGs and EFA? • In education in LDCs, the biggest policy issue is multi-lingualism. • Lately, ICT is often considered to be the ‘answer’ – but what is the problem? • What can learning sciences bring to the table?

7. 1. Technology and literacy Many policy-makers say impossible, because… • Infrastructure is not available • Costs are too high • Illiterates can’t use technology • Technology can’t really fight illiteracy -> Current evidence suggests the contrary (see later). …But there are R&D questions as well, such as… • Can ICT really enhance learning, and how much? • Who is the end-user (teachers, learners, kids, adults, in- or out-of-school)? • How to handle specific languages and orthographies? • What are tradeoffs between hardware and software solutions?

8. 2. Spending on ICTs is increasing worldwide… Overall Global ICT Spending USD trillions ICT Spending by Region USD trillions WISTA, 2008

9. 2. …but there is a problem of allocation • While “digital divide” is decreasing betweencountries… • Digital divide is increasingwithin countries. • More than 90% of ICT investments in education in LDCs go to secondary and higher education • This allocation excludes more than half the population (1-2 billion people) in poor countries.

10. Large inequalities by gender, ethnicity and language In poor (and ‘fragile’) countries, more the half the population may be illiterate or low-literate For fragile states especially, 100-200 million children are out-of-school youth 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2. Similarly, there is a problem of skill allocation Youth and Adult Illiteracy Rates(15 years and older, 2000) TechnologicalIlliteracy Traditional Illiteracy OECD countries Africa Arabregion Latin America East Asia & Oceania South Asia

11. 2. And by gender Adult Illiteracy by Gender (2004) (15 years and older)

12. 2. The kinds of ICT inputs vary greatly • Access • Improving dramatically, but limited learning impact • Connectivity • Improving moderately, mainly urban areas • Content (local languages and subject matter) • Modest efforts, and almost none among the poor • Building literacy competencies • Rare Our goal should be: Focus on EFA – and beware of ICT-only (focused) solutions…

13. 3. Bridges to the Future Initiative (BFI) India – Andhra Pradesh state Target groups: Reaching the poorest people: • Girls and women • Ethnic and linguistic minorities • Lowest income and unemployed • Fragile states: out of school, refugees, etc. South Africa – Limpopo

14. Emphasis on learning Telugu as main implementation language. – ICT support the value of local languages Learning approach - Relevance of content - High quality instruction - Extremely “user-friendly” 3. India: Empowering a multi-lingual approach

15. 3. India: Important learning gains • Two evaluations • Location, near Hyderabad • Ages: 15 - 25 years • Little or no schooling • Ave. 2 hours/week • Results: More than twice as fast rate of learning as control. • ALSO, replicated on young rural children in Grades 1-2 • Costs: module production, about US$200K Math ICT-based Reading Control, no-ICT Learning rate per hour

16. 3. South Africa: Limpopo Province • High poverty, poor schooling • 4 official languages in the Limpopo province (11 in S. Africa) • Mass Literacy Campaign • Multimedia cost: US$250K for basic literacy

17. 3. South Africa: Learning to Read and Write See CD-ROM lessons

18. 3. Moving forward the evidence agenda Monitoring and Evaluation of ICT in Education: InfoDev/World Bank Handbook for Developing Countries How to: • Use indicators to measure effects • Plan for M&E • Build M&E capacity • Promote “pro-equity” approaches

19. 3. Handbook for M&E of ICT4D: The Model

20. 4. Conclusions • Investments in ICTs are growing, but much is going to the wrong places • Thus… • Particular EFA needs (multiple languages and skill levels) should be carefully addressed • Increased ICT investments should be made in learning rather than hardware • More evidence needs needs to be gathered on learning outcomes of ICTs • Gadgets are not enough • Sustainability is a key issue – what are recurrent costs? • Learning sciences and global human development • We need to consider multilingualism and local skill base • We can open up new ways of motivating and learning

21. For more information • Literacy.org (for BFI reports and ILI docs) • INFODEV.org (for the Handbook) • Wagner@literacy.upenn.edu

22. BFI - India The launch of the BFI in Andhra Pradesh, 2003