Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Education in ... - ADEA

Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Education in Africa: an overview
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Box 12: The Bindura
Internet Learning
Centre
in Zimbabwe
In 1999, 13 computer
and Internet centres were
opened at school and community-oriented
centres in
Zimbabwe. These centres
were established through
a partnership between the
Zimbabwe Ministry of Education,
Sport and Culture
and the World Bank-sponsored
Zimbabwe-World
Link for Development Programme
(WorLD). Three of
the sites are at secondary
schools, nine in educational
resource centres and one is
in a mobile van. One of the
sites is called the Bindura
Internet Centre.
As an example of these
centres, the Bindura Centre
uses ten networked computers
and Internet access
to provide training in how
to use these tools for educational
and professional
development. Because of
its size the Centre can only
serve a limited number of
clients at one time, typically
10 to 20 people, but
the impact of the training
offered is considerable. IT
resource teachers were
recruited nationally and
were given special training
to prepare them for the
training and facilitation
they do in the Centres. The
facilitators provide instruction
in computer literacy,
software applications, and
online collaboration.
Students and teachers at
the Bindura Centre are
using the resources and
IT training to complement
their classroom activities,
Open University students
are downloading useful
research information and
private clients are developing
skills to improve
their professional and organisational
productivity.
It is a successful model
of a dual-use telecentre,
i.e., serving students and
teachers during the day
and the general community
and adult learners in
the evenings, weekends
and holidays. The Bindura
Centre serves approximately
180 students and
teachers.
Source: Bloome (2000)
11. ICT and Teacher Training