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

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Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Education in Africa: an overview 81 Box 1 below describes an extensive IRI initiative, which was implemented in Guinea. The IRI series reaches students and teachers on a national level and is integrated with teacher development initiatives. It is used in almost all primary schools across the country, reaching some 880,000 students. Box 1: IRI in Guinea Since 1990, USAID has been part of a multi-donor effort to help the Government of Guinea implement a reform programme for primary education. An interactive student and teacher radio programme, which has been implemented nation-wide, forms part of this effort. All six elementary school grades benefit from the radio programme three times per week, for a 90-minute period, during 22 weeks of the school year. The show is entirely in French, is called Under the Kapok Tree, and has already received wide praise from school directors, parents, teachers, and, most significantly, the children themselves. The radio show was developed by the Education Development Centre (EDC) in close collaboration with IN- RAP, the Guinean Government’s National Institute for Pedagogical Research and Action, and uses a ‘multi-channel approach’, including audio, visual, and tactile-kinesthetic strategies. Children are taught language, mathematics, science, community health, early childhood development, and other pertinent subjects. While the show is being broadcast, teachers usually follow the instructions of the ‘radio teachers’, directing children to sing songs, answer questions, manipulate objects, draw pictures, move physically, and work in small groups to solve problems. To support the broadcasts, wind-up radios have been distributed nationally. Additional support is provided by teachers’ guides, student activity books, posters, and science kits. Introductory workshops and bi-monthly meetings are also provided to teachers to help them to adapt to an interactive style of teaching. Source: Lartigue L. (2002) Evaluations of IRI have shown that this method, both consistently and significantly, improves learners’ performance (Murphy, et al., 2002). Bosch, Rhodes, & Kariuki (2002) explain that a number of well-evaluated 9. ICT in Primary and Secondary Education
82 Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning projects have revealed that students using IRI programmes show better learning achievements than students in control groups using conventional teaching methods. One of these tests was done in Guinea with second grade students using the integrated French and mathematics series described in Box 1. These students improved approximately 8% more than corresponding students who did not use IRI. Other studies have demonstrated IRI’s effectiveness not only for mathematics, but for a range of subjects and age groups. Furthermore, in most cases, scholars show progressively greater learning gains over time. In South Africa, for example, it was shown that students who received fewer than 33 English in Action lessons improved by 6.7%, those who received between 34 and 66 lessons improved by 13%, and students who received more than 66 programmes improved by 24%. Box 2 below describes a new IRI series which reaches out to students who otherwise would be without schools, in particular those who have become increasingly vulnerable due to poverty and HIV/AIDS. This example shows how IRI can by used effectively to overcome barriers of access in Africa and to ensure that more children become educated (Bosch, Rhodes & Kariuki, 2002). Table 10 above shows three cases in which educational television has been used in secondary schools. Murphy, et al. (2002) note that Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda currently use television to improve the quality of classroom teaching. Many of these projects are of a pilot study nature. In primary schools, educational television was used as early as the late 1970s in Côte d’Ivoire (see Box 3), but since then, there have been no significant initiatives in African countries (with the exception of South Africa). 9. ICT in Primary and Secondary Education The form of educational television that has been around the longest is programming transmitted by a major public broadcasting organization in the form of open-access programmes aimed at particular groups, including preschoolers and enhancement programmes for schoolage children, in addition to adults who wish to acquire new skills or knowledge. A newer variety of educational television takes the form of direct instruction for various educational levels, including primary and secondary education. At this level, television can be very effective, particularly when used to reach underprivileged groups such as rural children (Wolff, et al., 2002).
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