ICTs & Education

Education is the key that unlocks the rest of the SDGs; ICTs

can help us use that key.

Importance of Education

• Governments that prioritize education have healthier, empowered and prosperous citizens

• Education is connected to longer lifespans, better career opportunities, and overall prosperity

• And yet we are still seeing inequalities in resources and educators

• Where there is high quality education there is also infrastructure, wealth equity, basics like food and healthcare and clean water, so these goals are interconnected.

Sustainable Development Goal #4

• According to UN: Goal 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality

education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

• This includes boosting primary and secondary education, supporting adult

education (particularly in women), promoting literacy and increasing the

number of qualified teachers

• ICTs are a tool that can & should be used by gov to pursue SDG 4

• Some literature refers to this as ICT4E (…4 Education)

Possibilities & Challenges of ICT4E

• Distance learning

• 24/7 experience of curriculum

• Technology literacy

• Including the family at home (parents can learn from child)

• Students are empowered by exposure to ICTs in education

Obstacles to ICT4E implementation

• When schools offer tech to students, it helps close the gap between

advantaged & disadvantaged

• But wealth inequalities can lead to unequal adoption/access, further widening the gap

• A country or region’s lack of internet connection & teacher preparedness

• Low funding investment from government or foreign aid

• Duplication of effort (reinventing the wheel unsuccessfully in multiple areas)

How to Respond to Some Obstacles

• Anticipate sustainability issues

• Train teachers before introducing tech to classroom

• Continuous monitoring, evaluation, and educator-education

• Think outside the box

• Partnerships between private and official institutions (and between

governments)

Obstacle: Teacher Unpreparedness

• How to respond: passionately invest in educators

• UNESCO teacher portal for collaboration, continuous professional training

• UNESCO’s ICT Competency Framework for Teachers provides innovative

educational policy to help prepare schools and teachers

Case Studies: Brazil

• ProInfo Integrado project

• Brazil has a large geo. area, large population & economic inequality. Quality

of education is not good there, but is improving thanks to government

efforts & collaboration.

• Project distributes computers and internet access to public schools

• Agreements with Linux to provide free software

Brazil continued

• Despite equipment and infrastructure investment, room for improvement

includes:

• Teacher training in computer literacy

• Improvements in working conditions

• Poor pedagogical resources

Case Studies: Uruguay

• Most of population concentrated near capital; these citizens had internet

connection, but rural & scattered communities did not

• Plan CEIBAL (Educational Basic Connectivity for Online Learning) intends

to connect as many citizens as possible to internet

• Plan CEIBAL also made Uruguay the first country to partner with One

Laptop Per Child on a nationwide level (2007-2009)

One Laptop Per Child

• OLPC is a non-profit to provide children in developing countries with

rugged, low-cost, low-power, internet-connected laptops

• Laptop is both a tool to learn with and a window into full education

participation with the world

• OLPC promotes social inclusion and empowerment through the use of ICTs

• Children become owners of laptops, so they can bring them home each day

(maximizing the use of government-invested equipment in the home)

Uruguay Continued

• Plan CEIBAL initially connected all public school children (grades 1-6) & their teachers with these laptops

• Uruguay moved “outward to inward,” starting with remote communities & ending at the capital, where the highest population is.

• The project is popular & effective – in later years, Uruguay has brought laptops to secondary, technical and nursery schools.

• In total: 450,000 laptops to students & teachers, as well as free internet access

Strengths of CEIBAL

• Students report increased self-esteem, motivation and parental participation

in learning

• Government partnered with a discrete non-profit with a simple yet effective

mission

• Dedication to including teachers and students’ families in tech training

• Outward-to-inward first brought assistance where it was needed most, which

maintained momentum into final phases of initiative.

Keys to ICT4E Success

• Infrastructure (internet connectivity, but also nutrition & safety)

• Government buy-in (government lead by example)

• Teacher training (including technical support)

• Continuous monitoring

• Creative thinking

• Spirit of collaboration & cooperation

Areas for Future Research

• ICT4E successful initiatives on a national level are impressive, but local-level,

more imitable efforts need attention

• How to address inequality of access & education in the United States

• Also, use of mobile technology in the classroom

Importance

• When a government recognizes that improvement of education leads to

better individual income, health and career prospects, their budget should

reflect that priority

• Young people develop self-esteem, belief in their abilities & become

connected to global learning.

• Internet technology also helps a person connect to open access resources

and courses outside of their geographic area.

Public Library’s Role

• Public library is (in US) well situated to help bridge the technology access

gap

• Libraries are considered safe, associated with learning, a good place to go

after school.

• For students with online course components but no home internet, public library is

vital

• Librarians are also informal information and tech literacy educators

Conclusion

• Libraries can also use government funding to help excluded students get

hands-on experience with iPads, 3D printers and other learning technologies

wealthy families are able to supplement curriculum with.

• ICT4E can be a powerful tool, with creative thinking to address the main

challenges to SDG 4: lack of opportunities, resources, and connectivity.