Title: African Ministers Pass ICT Directive
Source: eLearning Africa
Date (published): 13/07/2010
Date (accessed): 14/07/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
African countries have to balance their spending on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for education better. Skills development among teachers, which accounts for only 10% of most countries’ ICT budgets, has to be strengthened. Spending on costly hardware, which covers 90% of most countries budgets, should rather be reduced. This is one of the key recommendations of a communiqué released by participants in the Third African Ministerial Round Table on ICT for Education, Training and Development.

Title: Frustrations with One Laptop Per Child Initiative
Author: Sam Lanfranco
Source: OLPC News
Date (published): 18/06/2010
Date (accessed): 20/06/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
I have been working in the ICT area since the late 1970's - hence my userID of "lanfran" from back when email names were unix restricted to less than 8 characters. I am a big supporter of (proper) ICT4DEV, yet it was clear from the start that the OLPC strategy was flawed.

There were questions and issues raised when the project was first proposed, and those questions and issues are still being raised. OLPC has never felt it necessary to address the criticisms other than paint a rosy picture of what (maybe) could be done if OLPC could actually saturate developing countries with its computer.

Title: Children with home computers likely to have lower test scores, study finds
Source: ScienceDaily
Date (published): 18/06/2010
Date (accessed): 19/06/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Around the country and throughout the world, politicians and education activists have sought to eliminate the "digital divide" by guaranteeing universal access to home computers, and in some cases to high-speed Internet service.

However, according to a new study by scholars at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, these efforts would actually widen the achievement gap in math and reading scores. Students in grades five through eight, particularly those from disadvantaged families, tend to post lower scores once these technologies arrive in their home.

...The sample size was large -- numbering more than 150,000 individual students. The data allowed researchers to compare the same children's reading and math scores before and after they acquired a home computer, and to compare those scores to those of peers who had a home computer by fifth grade and to test scores of students who never acquire a home computer. The negative effects on reading and math scores were "modest but significant," they found.

Download the report: Scaling the Digital Divide: Home Computer Technology and Student Achievement
Jacob L. Vigdor, Helen F. Ladd
NBER Working Paper No. 16078
Issued in June 2010
pdf file

Title: Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development: Core ICT Indicators, 2010
Pages: 94 pp.
Publisher: International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Date (published): 04/02/2010
Date (accessed): 21/05/2010
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
1. This publication presents the first revision of the core list of ICT indicators, originally published by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development in 2005. The main purpose of the core list is to help countries produce high quality and internationally comparable data on information and communication technology. To assist in achieving this goal, the indicators have associated statistical standards and guidance.
2. There are 46 ICT indicators in the revised core list and two reference indicators. In comparison, the 2005 list contained 41 ICT indicators (and one reference indicator).
...
12. An important improvement to the first core list has been the addition of eight new indicators on mea- suring ICT in education (and one reference indicator). These indicators were developed by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) over several years and have been subject to extensive testing and consultation processes.

Title: A New ICT Maturity Model for Education Institutions in Developing Countries
Author: Julian M. Bass
Pages: 43 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-905469-12-3
Source: Development Informatics Working Paper Series, Paper No. 44
Publisher: Centre for Development Informatics, Institute for Development Policy and Management, SED, University of Manchester
Date (published): 26/04/2010
Date (accessed): 06/05/2010
Type of information: research paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf, 456 KB)
Abstract:
There is increasing interest in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education institutions in low-income countries. Developing ICT infrastructure is disproportionately expensive in developing countries and sustainable interventions are difficult to achieve: in part because leaders of educational institutions and donors have often not had the opportunity to develop ICT infrastructure planning and implementation skills. There has been a lack of concrete guidance regarding the stages of development needed to make efficient use of resources and maximise the chances of sustainable investments.

To address these needs, a novel ICT Maturity Model is presented here that provides a developmental framework for education institutions in low-income countries. The Model is unique in defining the ICT infrastructure resource levels required to achieve primary organisational objectives expressed in the form of student learning outcomes. The Model consists of eight levels, with the lowest levels defining the infrastructure required to enable initial computer training. The highest level applies to institutions where e-research is widely practised across the curriculum. The levels in the Maturity Model show management, teaching and technical staff, and donors how to make most efficient use of ICT resources by maximising opportunities for student learning.

The Maturity Model has been derived from documentary sources and an analysis of selected schools, colleges and universities in Ethiopia. The surveyed institutions include five primary schools, one higher education preparatory school, six teacher education colleges and five public universities. The Maturity Model was used as a prescriptive, developmental tool in one of the teacher education colleges and one public university. In this mode, the Model was shown to prioritise capacity building and infrastructure development initiatives that contributed to improving student learning opportunities. Although developed and tested in the context of one country, it is hoped that the Model will be applicable across a range of developing countries.

See also:
Educator's guide to student questions for this paper.

Title: Copyright and education in Africa: Lessons on African copyright and access to knowledge
Authors: Tobias Schonwetter, Jeremy de Beer, Dick Kawooya and Achal Prabhala
Pages: 16 pp.
ISSN: 2077-7205
e-ISSN: 2077-7213
Source: The African Journal of Information and Communication, Issue No 10 (2009/2010)
Publisher: Learning Information Networking and Knowledge (LINK) Centre, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand
Date (published): 25/02/2010
Date (accessed): 28/04/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) project is a pan-African research network of academics and researchers from law, economics and the information sciences, spanning Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. Research conducted by the project was designed to investigate the extent to which copyright is fulfilling its objective of facilitating access to knowledge, and learning materials in particular, in the study countries. The hypotheses tested during the course of research were that: (a) the copyright environments in study countries are not maximising access to learning materials, and (b) the copyright environments in study countries can be changed to increase access to learning materials. The hypotheses were tested through both doctrinal legal analysis and qualitative interview-based analysis of practices and perceptions among relevant stakeholders. This paper is a comparative review of some of the key findings across the eight countries.
An analysis of the legal research findings in the study countries indicates that national copyright laws in all eight ACA2K study countries provide strong protection, in many cases exceeding the terms of minimum protection demanded by international obligations. Copyright limitations and exceptions to facilitate access to learning materials are not utilised as effectively as they could be, particularly relating to the digital environment. Distance learning, the needs of disabled people, the needs of students, teachers, educational institutions, libraries and archives are inadequately addressed. To the extent that copyright laws address the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs), they do so primarily in a manner that further restricts access to learning materials. In summary, national copyright frameworks in the study countries are not geared for maximal access to learning materials, and are in need of urgent attention.
An analysis of qualitative research findings, gathered from the field in stakeholder interviews, suggests that a substantial gap exists between copyright law and copyright practice in each country studied. Many users who are aware of the concept of copyright are unable or unwilling to comply with it or to work within the user rights it offers because of their socioeconomic circumstances. In everyday practice, with respect to learning materials, vast numbers of people act outside legal copyright structures altogether, engaging (knowingly or unknowingly) in infringing practices in order to gain the access they need to learning materials.
In conclusion, evidence from the ACA2K project suggests that the copyright environments in the study countries can and must be improved by reforms that will render the copyright regimes more suitable to local developing country realities. Without such reform, equitable and non-infringing access to learning materials will remain an elusive goal in these countries.

Title: ICT for Development in Francophone Africa
Author: Lova Rakotomalala
Source: Global Voices Online
Date (published): 25/04/2010
Date (accessed): 26/04/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Although there is undoubtedly a strong push to grow information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives for development in francophone Africa, the region is still somewhat lagging behind their English-speaking neighbors. The recognition of this lag is discussed by many Francophone bloggers and aggregated at the Franco Techno Gap blog.

The cause of the lag is unclear but a few reasons are often proposed: 1) broadband internet was made available by governments of English speaking nations such as (South Africa, Mauritius, Egypt) first (fr). Consequently, cost of internet access is on average higher as further explained on l'atelier des medias (RFI) (fr). 2) Related to the previous reason: “English speaking countries seem to be doing better than the French speaking countries” as Miquel points out 3) The English language is still the default language globally when one discusses ICT.

In this post, current grass roots development projects in francophone Africa with an important ICT component will be discussed in further details...

Title: Mobile literacies & South African teens: Leisure reading, writing, and MXit chatting for teens in Langa and Guguletu
Author: Marion Walton
Pages: 108 pp.
Source: m4Lit Project
Publisher: Shuttleworth Foundation

Date (published): 24/03/2010
Date (accessed): 07/04/2010
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
The Shuttleworth Foundation‟s m4Lit project commissioned an m-novel, entitled Kontax, which was written by Sam Wilson and translated into isiXhosa by Nkululeko Mabandla. Written in the teen mystery genre, Kontax was targeted at teens aged between fourteen and seventeen years and was intitially published in daily episodes in both English and isiXhosa on the mobisite www.kontax.mobi (a website designed specifically for use on mobile phones). It was later also released on local mobile social network and instant messaging platform, MXit.
The m4Lit research project investigated how South African teens responded to Kontax, and how compatible the m-novel was with teens‟ existing mobile literacy practices. The m4lLit research project focused on exploring an apparent paradox of literacy in South Africa. In most of the country‟s under-performing schools, a majority of teens are left behind academically, many experience difficulties with literacy instruction and most have limited access to books and computers. Yet, as a result of South Africa‟s mobile phone „revolution‟ and a thriving mobile youth culture, outside school teens increasingly enjoy frequent rich interactions with the written word and with digital technologies in their peer networks. The m4Lit project asked whether South African teens‟ enthusiasm about text on phones and their widespread access to mobile Internet could be used in a literacy development project which attempted to bridge the gap between in-school and out-of- school literacies, via leisure reading and writing of fiction.

Title: All for the ‘e’: Initiatives in a limited access environment
Authors: Brian Sikute, Victor Mensah
Pages: 9 pp.
Date (published): 11/03/2010
Date (accessed): 06/04/2010
Type of information: conference paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has staked a claim as an indispensable backbone for development in all sectors. While a vigorous promotion of ICT is underway in almost all fields, the challenges of access, to most people, cannot be disregarded, much more so in a Capacity Development and Training environment.
This paper aims to share the initiatives being developed and implemented in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training in an environment with limited ICT access. The paper discusses ideas for the creation of an all inclusive environment for ICT skills development based on the findings of a brief survey on the ICT infrastructure capacity of some institutions of higher learning in Lusaka, Zambia. The paper then presents the results of some initiatives being implemented by the Commonwealth Youth Programme Regional Centre for Africa in supporting the development and use of ICTs, especially for education.

ICT and Development - Research Voices from Africa. International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), Technical Commission 9 – Relationship Between Computers and Society. Workshop at Makerere University, Uganda. 22-23 March 2010

Title: Policies, Partnerships, and Pragmatism: Lessons from an ICT-in-Education Project in Rural Uganda
Author: Laura Hosman
Pages: 17 pp.
ISSN: 1544-7529
Source: Information Technologies & International Development; Vol 6, Issue 1 - Spring 2010, 48-64 pp.
Publisher: USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Date (published): 10/03/2010
Date (accessed): 15/03/2010
Type of information: peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
For at least the past decade, political leaders and policy makers have stressed how important it is for Africa to harness technology, leapfrog development, and take part in the global knowledge economy. In numerous initiatives aimed at realizing these goals, education is a primary target, viewed as a mechanism through which information and communication technologies (ICT) can empower societies to develop technologically literate workforces. Unfortunately, there is a considerable gap between policy rhetoric and effective project implementation. Even as ICT-in-education projects increase rapidly in number and scope across the continent, many still lack necessary pre-project assessments, enumerated goals for outcomes, or understanding of what technology can and cannot do. This article’s focus on policies, partnerships, and pragmatism is informed by a case study of a multi-partnered ICT-in-education project in rural Uganda that set pragmatic technology-use goals, a project for which governmental policy provided an important initial incentive, and which was subsequently revised to address actual student needs for acquiring technology skills. The case offers important lessons to inform both similar projects and government-led policy initiatives in the future.