ICT in Education: Preparing Children for the 21 st Century and Beyond

1. ICT in Education: Preparing Children for the 21st Century and Beyond Dr. Sheryl Walters-Malcolm, DBA Omni Consulting Services

2. Introduction • Now in information age, largely driven by increased use of the Internet • In this environment, critical resources for competitive advantage are intangible assets • Knowledge, capabilities such as innovation, technical expertise • Role of government: • Establish policies that encourage investment in information technology and facilitates innovation • Technical innovation critical element required for competitive performance of firms and nations, and for sustained growth of world economy

3. The New Economy • Convergence of digital technology, intellectual property, and customer supremacy has resulted in the transformation of ‘old’ industrial economy into ‘new and virtual’ economy • ‘Old’ economy built on tangible assets, standardization and stand-alone participants • ‘New’ economy built on intangible assets, customization, and connected participants • Efficiency in producing physical goods that workforce freed up to offer services or produce intellectual properties • Competitive advantages erode quickly; companies actively work to re-create new competitive advantage • New economy requires free business environment unimpeded by old economy regulations • Government role to cooperate with, not just regulate business • Use public policies to encourage investment in IT infrastructure, and create public-private partnerships

4. IT Industry Development Model

5. Education • Knowledge and human capital are critical elements of growth and development • The long-term solution for the economic difficulties facing citizens in developing countries is to raise the standard of education • Education policy makers are faced with the task of transforming their respective education institutions and current schooling practices to align them with the growing demands of globalization in a technology-driven world • ICT must be an integral component of the overall strategy for the improvement of the educational system, transformed to facilitate knowledge creation

6. Public-Private Partnerships • Governments in developing countries often faced with the predicament of multiple demands with limited resources • Is it reasonable to expect these governments to invest large sums of money in ICT for educational development instead of addressing more pressing needs? • Investment in ICT infrastructure remains low priority in many educational systems for countries without the financial wherewithal to successfully integrate ICTs in their education system. • Public/private partnerships enables the optimization of existing resources • Government role is that of facilitator/enabler • Private sector contributes expertise, technology and management practices

7. Public Private Partnership Illustration

8. Hole-In-The-Wall Project • Hole-In-The-Wall project partnership between New Delhi Government, NIIT, Ltd. (an IT education company) and the International Finance Corporation • Minimally Invasive Education (MIE) learning stations installed at various locations in impoverished areas in New Delhi • MIE – “a pedagogic method that uses the learning environment to generate adequate level of motivation to induce learning in groups of children, with minimal or no intervention by a teacher” (Mitra et al, 2005)

9. Hole-In-The-Wall Project • Children 8-14 years of age provided free access to computers in informal, open environment • MIE encourages children to learn on their own, with little or no intervention, and enables them to acquire computer literacy and enhance their academic levels • MIE learning stations content includes basic literacy modules, Edutainment, and other topics related to English, Science, Social Studies, and General Awareness • Children often used the stations before and after school

10. Hole-In-The-Wall Project (Observations) • Learning at the MIE stations is self directed and participatory • Self organizing groups of children – Experts, Connectors, and Novice groups • Improved academic performance • Improved retention and receptivity • Children learn through social networking. • Connect by assisting, cooperating and collaborating within groups and between individuals • Information exchange took place within and between groups • Child learns from himself as well as his peers through the process of communication • Transfer of knowledge through networking

11. Hole-In-The-Wall Project Peer-to-Peer Learning

12. NEPAD E-Schools Initiative • NEPAD recognizes that development of human resources in the region is key in its effort to eradicate poverty and ensure sustainable socio-economic development • Announced the e-schools initiative in 2003 • E-schools initiative – elements of the public sector, private sector, foundations, development agencies, and civil organizations have teamed up for this initiative • Objectives • Provide ICT skills to primary and secondary school students to enable them to function effectively in the emerging information society and knowledge economy • Make African students health literate • Provide teachers with ICT skills in order to enhance teaching and learning • Provide school managers in Africa with ICTs skills to facilitate efficient management and administration in schools

13. NEPAD E-Schools Initiative • Incorporates a Satellite Network to offer broadband connectivity to rural areas where 600,000 schools will be located • Non-grid power sources will be provided at those schools • Facilitate the distribution of educational contents • Linked to major distribution content centers in each country from which educational contents will be distributed to schools • Private sector partners five consortia led by AMD, Cisco, HP, Microsoft and Oracle, and includes more than 50 private sector companies

14. ICT in Education • Information technology best viewed as facilitator of knowledge creation in innovative societies • IT become enabler of change, and not the agent • Education policies significantly affect the innovative capabilities of a society • Direct government promotion is necessary for successful development of IT industry • Success factors • Exogenous factors • Endogenous mediating factors • Factors significantly impact success: • The extent of government promotion • The extent of private sector involvement • The level of research and development • The existence of education system that produces IT literate graduates

15. Conclusion • Information and Communication Technology production and use, and knowledge based activities are drives of GDP growth • India, for example, average growth rate of 6.8% since 1994 and able to reduce poverty by 10 approximately percentage points • Knowledge has become third factor of production • Knowledge is the key resource in a post-capitalist society “The decisive factor of production, the real controlling resource is neither capital nor land nor labor. It is knowledge. Replacing the landowner and farmer of the agricultural era, and the capitalist and proletarian of the industrial era, is the knowledge worker of the post-capitalist society. Wealth in the post-capitalist society comes from the application of knowledge to productivity and innovation, rather than from the allocation of labor and capital to productive uses.” (Trauth, 2000, p. 5)