ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2005

In association with Development Policy and Practice and the International Development Centre at the Open University

Milton Keynes, UK
7th-9th September 2005

Connecting people and places: challenges and opportunities for development

SPECIAL PARALLEL SESSION ON TEACHERS, TECHNOLOGIES AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA ABSTRACTS

Session A: September 7th, 14.00-15.30

This is a special session from the Digital Enhancement Education and Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Projects in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at the Open University

THE POLICY CONTEXT OF NEW FORMS OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Bob Moon

Teacher supply and teacher education in Sub-Saharan Africa is in crisis. Millions of new teachers are required if ‘Education for All’ goals are to be achieved. Teaching as a career, however, continues to suffer as new better paid ‘knowledge economy’ jobs lure away potential applicants. And, additionally, the HIV/Aids pandemic is impacting significantly on the teaching profession. One in ten teachers will die of HIV/Aids in the coming five years. This paper looks at the policy contexts in which this crisis is being addressed. Data on which decisions are being made will be explored. The paper will argue that teachers need to become centre stage if the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved and that radical, innovative solutions for supply and education need consideration. The paper will then review the new pan-African Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) programme which aims at providing one contribution to meeting the challenges posed.

REALISING THE POTENTIAL OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO ENHANCE THE KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING AND DIGNITY OF TEACHERS IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH
Jenny Leach

This paper is addressed to the international community of educators and educational policy-makers who, it is argued, need to commit to joint research and creative action in respect of the challenge of Education for All (EFA). The first section, the Global Challenge, summarises:
the implications for teacher education of the Education for All agenda, particularly the potential of ICT in addressing this problem;
an applied research project exploring new models of teacher education using ICT in rural and resource challenged environments.
The second section, Current Debates, explores:
six arguments about such uses of ICT, identified as the technological view; the donor view; the anthropological view; the standard view; the individual view; and the transmissional view
and
seven responses to these arguments: the developmental view; the democratic view; the cultural view; the deep view; the community view; and the pedagogic view.
The paper concludes with recommendations for policy makers and donors, and actions for educators.

WOMEN AND TECHNOLOGIES: A CASE STUDY FROM RWANDA
Rakhee Patel

A decade on from the atrocities of the genocide, Rwanda is rebuilding. The national government is placing significant emphasis on rebuilding through education and, in particular, the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide the means for expansion and improvement of access. The Kigali Institute of Education is one of the national institutions mandated to lead the reform movement. This paper will report the findings of a study of women working in the Institute. Detailed, qualitative interviews were carried out with a range of female academic staff. The analysis points up some of the difficulties and contradictions of women and ICTs in the Rwandan context.

ICTS AND TEACHER EDUCATION IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH: COSTING THE BENEFITS OF LEARNING
Tom Power

There is widespread commitment and investment in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for education and development in the global south, in line with international commitments to the Millennium Development Goals. This paper contrasts two models of ICT implementation in these contexts – the most common format, where a suite of refurbished ICTs is installed in a fixed location; and the novel format used in the first phase of DEEP (the Digital Education Enhancement Programme), where teachers are provided with a smaller number of mobile digital tools. The latter model is often criticised on the basis of cost. This paper applies a standard model for calculating the Total Cost of Ownership to the two formats. The results of this analysis challenge some of the common assumptions about the costs of ICT for education in developing nations.
Page last updated: 18 August, 2005