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

In observing the teacher training sessions in Ethiopia it became apparent thatoperating the different functions of the laptop was prioritised over learninghow to integrate them into the classroom. This was reflected in feedback fromstudents three months after initial deployment where they commented thatthey did not view the laptop as an integrated part of their education. A girlfrom Grade 3 encapsulated this, explaining (17/12/08) that although she diduse the laptop a lot at home:„I don‟t use it so much in school – there is not time because weare just having classes.‟Another girl from Grade 8 expressed a similar view (17/12/08):„The laptop does not disturb my studies because I don‟t use thelaptop on weekdays – my parents have scheduled it for theweekend only – they have made that rule. Games is the thingthat I use the laptop for most. The bad thing about the laptopis that I am afraid that it will conflict with my studies.‟The reports of laptops being restricted to home use indicated the extent of thechallenges encountered. Some children were allowed to bring the laptops toschool but when talking about how they made use of them in the classroom itbecame apparent that there was a significant disparity between theirbehaviour and the proposed OLPC learning methodology (Negroponte 2008).A girl from Grade 8 explained (17/12/08):„We send messages on the laptops to each other in the class –some people use it for education, some people use it for justtalking – but most of the messages being sent in the classroomare not educational. My parents are happy that I have thelaptop – but now they say that we spend too much time on itand are studying less.‟Teachers in Menelik said that the presence of the laptops in the classroomhad resulted in the behaviour of the children being so disruptive that theyhad even tried to ban the children from bringing them into school. Onefemale teacher from Grade 3 expressed her frustration (11/12/08):280