Innovative and Sustainable Mobile Learning in Africa

1. Innovative and Sustainable Mobile Learning in Africa Jenny Leach Open University, UK j.leach@open.ac.uk John Traxler University of Wolverhampton, UK john.traxler@wlv.ac.uk

2. Our Issue The apparent disjunction between innovation and sustainability Are they incompatible? In Africa, are either achievable?

3. Our Presentation • The environment • DEEP in South Africa • PDAs • Working with schools • ‘micro’ teacher training • SEMA in Kenya • Mobile phones • Working through government • ‘macro’ teacher training • Discussion

4. Physical Infrastructure 1 • Sparsity, vast distances and low densities of population • Schools in sub-standard buildings or none at all, • especially rural schools, • Poor roads, transport systems and postal services • Poor landline phone networks, • unreliable and often unprofitable • Poor mains electricity, unreliable and concentrated in towns and cities • Little or no Internet bandwidth outside major cities • Often just internet cafes or hotel business centres in cities • Very few modern PCs or peripherals in the public sectors • And little user expertise • especially in smaller towns and rural areas.

5. Physical Infrastructure 2 • Lively and energetic mobile phone networks • Carrying GSM increasingly GPRS • The potential for solar power or local generation • A regulatory and licensing system in a state of flux • High levels of mobile phone ownership, acceptance and usage.

6. Education and Teacher Training • Free Primary Education / Education for All • large class size • problems attracting and retaining pupils • un-trained or under-trained teaching force • with only a limited repertoire of pedagogies • over-centralisation • within schools and across the schools sector • shortage of materials for teachers and pupils.

7. Digital Education Enhancement Projecthttp://www.open.ac.uk/deep Jenny Leach Research Centre for International Research and Development in Teacher Education across Cultures and Societies (RITES) The Open University, UK

8. Study 1 (Funder DFID & Hewlett Packard) • 48 teachers in 24 primary schools (12 in Egypt and 12 in Eastern Cape) • Participating teachers carried out and evaluated a sequence of curriculum focused, school based professional development activities using a range of resources and new technologies, including lap tops. • Use of the HP Jornada 565 Pocket PC in this study was viewed primarily as a source of personal support for project participants.

9. Study 2 (Funder: bridges.org) • 28 teachers in 14 rural schools in the Eastern Cape • Professional development activities devised specifically for handhelds, orientated towards the Eastern Cape context. E-books developed with the local culture, literature and environment in mind. • Each teacher had an iPAQ (including Pocket Excel, Pocket Word, Pocket MSN, i Task, Outlook, Microsoft Reader, Calculate, Games, iPAQ image zone) and professional resources including (science & literacy activities etc e-books)

10. Context and teacher prior experience: Egypt (Study 1) • Urban Cairo serving the most disadvantaged communities; • Majority of teachers 20-30 years of age; 50% are female • 22 had ‘some’ experience of ICT prior to the project, but only 3 had used them ‘a lot’ and only half had used them in their teaching; • None had used a handheld computer.

11. Context and prior experience Eastern Cape (Study 1 & 2) • Remote and disadvantaged schools; • 60% with no electricity; 50% no telephone connectivity; • 2/3rds of teachers aged 40-49, over half female; • Majority had never used a computer; of the 10 who had, only 5 had used them ‘occasionally’ in relation to teaching; • None had used a handheld computer.

12. The Cairo Experience • Handheld seen as ‘useful’; • 19 used it once a week or more, 3 daily; • Majority thought it helped their ‘understanding of the language and concepts of ICT’; • 9 thought it was ‘of more’ or ‘equal’ value to other computers they had used; • Home use was the most common although some also used the device with pupils in the classroom.

13. Limitations - Cairo • Arabic is teachers’ home language; • Lack of support for Arabic a disincentive for use in writing practices; • All teachers mentioned the language issue constrained their use of the device; • Functions used most frequently those least language dependent e.g. calculator, games, camera

14. The Eastern Cape Experience • Handheld highly popular; • Most used it once a week or more, several on daily basis; • Majority used device both at home and in the classroom; • Several used the device whilst travelling; • Majority report it helped their ‘understanding of the language and concepts of ICT’; • Many thought it was ‘of more’ or ‘equal’ value to other computers they had used: ‘I can do anything I may do with other computers’

15. Eastern Cape experience • ‘Using the hand held gives me information. It is very helpful for preparing lessons at home, because it is easier than writing by hand’. • ‘I use it for getting and making resources when I get to school – I have used it in recording project information, making notes, recording students’ language practice..I take pictures and get resources for my lessons.. I use the calculator a lot’. • ‘It is very educational to my learners…’ • ‘The Jornada is my companion’.

16. Limitations - Eastern Cape • Data loss due to loss of battery power frequent; • Many teachers had to walk considerable distances or work out a system for regular charging at home; • Sudden, total loss of precious data ‘devastating’ for teachers and students.

17. Common misconceptions • State of the art computers inappropriate tools for teachers in poor environments; • Devices will be stolen or lost; • Handhelds will be too complex for teachers to use, especially novice users; • Small PC do not lend themselves to classroom use, especially when there are very few devices and many students.

18. DEEP’s 4D Technologies • Developmental; • Democratic; • Deep Learning; • Dignity

21. Network coverage • Towns • Highways • Coast • Pay-As-You-Go almost universal • Teachers seem to be ‘early adopters’ • Digital Links ICT Scoping Study network -> <- population

22. Network coverage • 70% of the country’s population in 30% of the country’s area • includes all towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants, major roads, borders, coasts and NGO centres. • at a local level coverage still be incomplete and unreliable • pushing into rural areas • per-second tariff appeals to poor • Safaricom GPRS now on both networks and moving to pre-paid

23. Mains electricity • A limiting factor on network expansion • Internet connectivity • Practically non-existent • Some internet cafés in biggest towns, not in schools or ministries

24. National Organisation zQASO DEO HT KRT gKRT MoEST ID code

25. SMS texting is an appropriate technology for two issues • in-service teacher training • & • schools census returns

26. Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) • Current data collection • Courier, phone, post: slow, error-prone, costly • Current data analysis • Non-existent • Proposed: annual, termly, monthly

28. The Challenges • Universal Primary Education • Massive increase in enrolment • “implementation of the FPE programme in 2003 resulted in an upsurge of enrolment in public primary schools by over 1 million pupils from 5.84 million to 6.94 million” • Educational IS • Infant feeding • Girl-child marriage • Falsified returns • Rescue girls • Teacher Training • Retention • Girl-child marriage • Corruption • Over-centralised school management • Over-crowding • the theme: “leading from the middle”

29. School Empowerment Programme • Appropriate technologies • A/V, print ………..and SMS • GPRS, smartphones, SD cards • Capacity building • With MoEST • Partners • BBC, CEL ….and UoW • Supporting GoK MoEST with DfID Imfundo • Alwan, KIE etc (local producers, developers) • Targets • 200,000 in-service primary teachers (HTs & KRTs)

30. Study guide Week-by-week support Content: hints, tips, outlines, lists, summaries, revision Reminders: assessment, contact, broadcast, discussion, video, meeting Discussion: feedback, seminar, query Pastoral: Support, encouragement Urgent: cancellation, change The SEP Component Formats include:

31. TAC QASO DQASO HT TAC H H HT HT QASO QASO TC QASO TAC 1 KRT 1 QASO 1 KRT 1 HT 1 QASO 2 KRT 2 KRT 2 HT 2 TAC 2 QASO n TAC n HT n KRT n KRT n Message Database Collaboration Rules Calendar of SEP events HT Support Group Meeting ; INSET Reviews SMS, WAP, GPRS Peer groups {clubs} EMIS Database SMS Syntax Tac Cluster Groups QASO –TACs / TAC-HTs WWW {HTTP Access} EMIS Admin & Reporting SEP admin & reporting SEP Monitoring SEPmonitoring SEP admin page EMIS admin page MoE IT team SEP admin (sema !) SEP managers The System

32. SEMA registration register # 4010101202# krt# beatrice maeba#34# f REGISTER # 4010101204 # GKRT # EMILY OMWAKA # 42 # F

33. SEMA activation ACTIVATE #153

34. SEMA convene convene# #HT#5150702#26:05:06 09:00#ENKASITI#ATHLETICS MEETING prison

35. SEMA messages Send#51502#zQASO#Swara na Ndovu haziambatani. Utachonga viasi Send#51502#zqaso#the alleged case is under the police- Ronga and cid hqts. However, records in sch do not show existance of the name. Send#51502#zqaso#the sema system has poor filtering capacity. it works on gigo principle. We started late but we r on coarse. Joj Send#51502#zQASO#wangoru, im still in Rongai. Lets catchup as i land back. Thanks. Joj

36. EMIS data

37. Concerns • Innovation vs Sustainability • Can we have both? • Digital Divides: • Other dimensions • What about remote rural areas, women teachers? • Exemplars or equity? • Development • Must we re-enact Developed Countries’ evolution of e-learning or mobile learning?

38. Traxler, J., & Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2005). Mobile Learning in Developing Countries (G. Chin, Ed.). Vancouver, BC: Commonwealth of Learning. Kukulska-Hulme, A. & Traxler, J. (2005) Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Educators and Trainers, London, Routledge