Evaluating ICT for Education in Africa - Royal Holloway, University of ...

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This leads to frequent contrasts in objective or bottom line between partners,with significant implications for how programmes are undertaken. Whilstacknowledging that motivations are diverse and multiple, it is possible toargue that the primary objective of the public sector is usually political innature and that the primary objective of the private sector is usuallyeconomic. Thus, any cross-sectoral ICT for education programme will havethree broad driving motivations: political, economic and, hopefully,educational.In the light of this, the following discussion centres on the dominance ofeconomic and political agendas within ICT for education partnerships. First,the private sector economic rationale for engagement is considered, followedby the public sector political rationale. The intention is to highlight theimplications for effective partnership and to redress an imbalance inacademic literature tending to concentrate on the exploitative agenda of theprivate sector within multi-stakeholder partnerships (Martens 2007) andpresenting the public sector as a somewhat neutral partner void of agenda.This notion is challenged, asserting that the constraints and opportunitiesafforded by partnering with a politically motivated public sector are equallyas complex and challenging as those from the private sector.Educational partnerships that involve ICT are often politically attractive andeconomically lucrative and this can result in a high number of interestedparties from a variety of different sectors (Unwin 2009). The potential tomake money from the deployment of technology and the promotion ofpolitical agendas through promoting technology combine in the sphere ofeducation provision. These factors make the sphere of ICT for education anideal lens through which to assess the issue of partnership motivation morebroadly. The complex and potentially conflicting objectives, exacerbated bythe ambiguity of Corporate Social Responsibility agendas (Ford 2009,Blowfield 2005), are not inherently problematic but serve to create an arenawithin which critical engagement through monitoring and evaluation has avital contributory role.228
6.3.1 Contrasting bottom linesPartnership advocates (Warner and Sullivan 2004, Tennyson 2003) are quickto identify the different partner attributes that can enrich collaboration.However, they largely fail to explore the important constraints within thestructure of each partner affecting their ability to operate collaboratively.Determining creative and collaborative ways to overcome these is dependentupon a self-conscious awareness regarding the contrasting motivation,aspiration and subsequent bottom-line within multi-stakeholderpartnerships. The significance of this was highlighted by an anonymousprivate sector partner from the Ethiopian case study (12/12/08):„When you have partnership between public and private sectorthere is often a fundamental tension in the contrastingbottom-lines. For one the bottom line is financial and for theother the bottom line is political. This means that whenentering partnership, for either implementation or evaluation,it is vital to be fully-conscious of the differences and theimplications of these. This doesn‟t mean you should not havepartnership – the issue is one of consciousness and subsequentapproach to communication between players. This needs to bebuilt into the monitoring and approach and structure.‟6.3.2 Market-driven partnershipAs previously noted, there is widespread scepticism regarding the role of theprivate sector within development partnership (Martens 2004). This is due inpart to historical failures of partnership and the broad array of practiceencompassed within the term. Judgements regarding attribution of causalityfor the frequent failure of partnerships in the past are often dependent on theideological perspective of the observer. As Loftus (2008 p.544) notes, „stateinterference, market failure or the profit motive itself‟ are each oftensuggested as the defining factor. Within this, a regularly articulated danger ofmulti-stakeholder partnership has been the tendency for the private sector toreap most of the benefit whilst the public sector pays most of the cost (Loftus229
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the research findings to emphasise
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3.4.5 Drawings ....................
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5.4.1 Plurality of methods ........
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8.3 Implications of aspiration ....
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List of figuresFigure 2.1: MDGs (UN
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List of appendicesAppendix A: Resul
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NOLNet Namibian Open Learning Netwo
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I began this PhD two weeks after mo
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number of ICT for education program
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innovative alternatives, and the ce
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2.2 Substance, rationale and approa
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progress towards the EFA goals has
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The critique posed to the market th
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etween these two extremes as a resu
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promoted to become „the character
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appropriate application in recognit
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can instigate both harm and good, i
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Such an undertaking is central to t
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- Availability of computer networks
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assisting towards this end. The imp
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eing rooted in specific socio-cultu
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evaluation: „An evaluation carrie
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Central within this is recognising
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2.6.2 Maturing of the disciplineEar
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that conceptualises ICT for develop
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2006). This also requires the adopt
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attempt to impose overarching solut
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currently the lowest available „p
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Garcia-Montes et al. 2006). This is
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However, despite such claims and th
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into knowledge and applied in life
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dependent upon an increased emphasi
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that ICT is having on education in
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3. Methodology3.1 IntroductionThe p
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2004) and instead focused on utilis
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evaluation of ICT and development p
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ICT for development programmes (Hee
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organisations, explanation of the p
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3.3.1 EuroTalk LtdEuroTalk (http://
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further two weeks in Ethiopia in De
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I was invited by InWEnt to particip
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planning and implementation they co
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the one on the adjacent line. This
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drawings was as a precursor to anci
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Photo 3.3: Students completing the
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prior to implementation of the prog
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provided regular opportunity for se
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for education in Africa from a list
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conversations with respondents, as
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partially based on the flawed notio
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in the research then all those unab
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motivational and aspirational techn
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In the light of the complex challen
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It cannot be guaranteed that resear
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Embrace the heterogeneity of commun
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The majority of the research encoun
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which each received 20 devices for
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Figure 4.1: ICT for development pol
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Photo 4.1: Students exploring the I
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and engaged with children, teachers
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the programme with all of them havi
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widespread lack of textbooks and in
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esources but also that it serves to
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in order to reflect the involvement
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Photo 4.4: Students in Ethiopia exp
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on the donation of solar panels fro
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Photo 4.6: Teacher training in Rema
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4.3.10 Programme futureThe XO 5000
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4.4.3 The importance of ICT for edu
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theme focussed on the lack of budge
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esponses, three dominant themes eme
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The experience of interacting with
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„In the institutions we have work
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Access to a wide variety of resourc
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assessment that emphasised the tran
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have been mitigated had the project
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and the need for sustained probing.
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Descriptionof methodFocus groupsLoc
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Classroomobservations24 in Malawi a
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5.3.1 Baseline testingDiscussion at
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indicated that although apparently
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The lack of evidence from the basel
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Choose the correct answer and write
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eflection upon the format suitabili
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you can follow that. It gives you g
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Following the final iteration of gr
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Page 187 and 188: 5.4 Lessons for effective operation
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„Akili has big potential - becaus
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„The main problem we are facing i
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colonial approach‟ (09/12/08) to
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The aim of providing free and unive
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Photo 7.4: Lessons in Malawi conduc
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Photo 7.5: Girls in Rema herding go
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teachers working in primary schools
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Teachers in Rema (22/04/08) gave a
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disaster. The contrasting potential
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2006). This is demonstrated by the
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Indeed, between these two extremes
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„I use the laptop a lot at home f
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Critical thinking constitutes a sig
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misconception regarding the nature
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Bloom’s Original Taxonomy(1956)An
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associated negative consequences to
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adherence to a flawed promotion of
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„We are not interested with the t
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failing to complete primary educati
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has received some attention (Naraya
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The traditional dominant narrative
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Children reported that they felt mo
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from Golgota eagerly affirmed this,
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and 2 compared to Standard 3 and 4.
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two case studies from Ethiopia. It
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as a good way to communicate with p
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increasingly apparent that Rema was
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evaluation and sustained an overly
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symbol of something good that Malaw
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aspiration could be viewed as poten
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journalist whose article was publis
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and powerful if we have OLPC here i
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If every child in Ethiopia who is e
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population live on less than $2 per
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However, as is now explored, the ve
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the right to profit from sale of al
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8.5.2 Private sector needs creation
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merely another context within which
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Commodity fetishism through aspirat
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The absurdity of the situation was
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„As we are a part of globalizatio
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of aspiration. Engaging effectively
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(Ellul 1964) does delegitimize uncr
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motivations for partnership. The im
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educational challenges and opportun
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choice of theoretical foundation, w
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It is therefore my hope that the me
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9.2.5 Ongoing potential for transfo
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undoubtedly become more so in the f
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esearch undertaken for this thesis.
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9.5 Education: a final wordThe thes
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BibliographyAAG, 2009. Statement of
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Batchelor, S., Evangelista, S., Hea
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Development Department Education Gr
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learning: a sourcebook for evaluato
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evaluation in education. Studies in
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DFID, 2008. Private sector developm
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EFA, 2001. Dakar framework for acti
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Fadel, C. and Lemke, L. 2006. Techn
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G8, 2007. Growth and responsibility
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Greene, J., 2005. Mixed methods. In
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Harrow, J., 2001. Capacity building
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Hine, C., 2005. Virtual methods and
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Illich, I., 1969. Celebration of aw
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Oliver, G., (ed) 2005. Maitland+20:
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Lasonen, J., Kemppainen, R., and Ra
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Mansell, R., 2005. The fragility of
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Mercer, C., 2006. Telecentres and t
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Mutume. G., 2006. Harnessing the in
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Olukoshi, A., 2006. African scholar
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Paul, R. and Elder, L. 2005. The mi
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Roy, S., 2005. Globalisation, ICT a
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Shadish, W, Cook, T. and Campbell D
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Sperling, G., 2008. A global educat
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Thomas, J, 1996. Introduction: a de
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UNESCO, 2006a. Teachers and educati
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Unwin, T., 2009a. Conclusions. In U
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Walker, J, 2005. Self-determination
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Winch, C., 2005. Autonomy as an edu
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Appendices437
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439
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441
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Interviewee Company Details of Resp
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UK LtdJohn Connell Cisco Brief resp
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Appendix C: Sample of Malawi indivi
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Tell me, when you see a school like
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Appendix D: Sample of Ethiopia stud
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classes‟.For final question promp
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Children InformationInformation fro
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Appendix F: Sample of Malawi focus
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Appendix G: Sample of Ethiopia teac
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esponsibility of being apilot schoo
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laptop make to the livesof the chil
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How have you found thisdiscussion?O
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demonstrate, the eight questions an
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the technology solution and initiat
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made that rule. At the weekend I pl
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When you are writing the diary plea
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Do you think the laptops and Akili
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done?..............................
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...................................
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Appendix M: Baseline test in Malawi
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HIV?a. Yesb. No5. Are there medicin
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It is important that the test is co
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Teachers can teach students how to
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Maths1. What is the LCM of 5, 10 an
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HealthPlease explain how you can co
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- Please explain why you think thes
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495
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In wanting to do the best evaluatio
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Baselines (inc. retrospective const
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Appendix Q: Report from eLA worksho
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Incorporating more qualitative meth
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Breakout workshop 3 - DonorsProblem
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It is difficult to ensure the objec
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appease donors and secure future fu
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to demonstrate thatsomething works
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Insights regarding effective evalua
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Appendix S: Data table from Malawi
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A 10% increase in correct answers r
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with headgain overall perspective o
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