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Do ICTs enhance teaching and learning in South Africa and Egypt?

The Digital Education Enhancement Project (DEEP) is exploring how information and communication technologies (ICTs) can improve the quality of teacher education and learning. Research looks at primary schools in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province and in Cairo, Egypt.

The first phase of this research was carried out with 50 teachers and over 2,000 pupils and the findings show that ICTs can transform educational opportunities for teachers and pupils. Digital devices such as lap-tops and hand-held computers, so far aimed mostly at the business market, can be used by schools for a range of professional and learning experiences.

Teachers work in pairs to carry out and then evaluate a short, curriculum-focused, professional development using computers, digital cameras and all-in-one printer/scanner/photocopiers. Activities focus particularly on the teaching of literacy, numeracy and science. ICTs have enhanced teachers’ professional knowledge, skills, and capabilities by extending their subject knowledge, enabling planning and preparation for teaching to be more efficient and extending existing curriculum activities. All participating teachers have introduced ICTs into their lessons.

DEEP research shows that:

Some of the most effective practice was developed by teachers with no previous experience of ICTs and/ or no prior experience of using ICTs for teaching.
Use of ICTs increased pupil school attendance levels.
The use of ICTs enabled the development of a new and more effective curriculum, improved classroom practices and learning activities
Use of peer learning approaches allowed teachers and students to develop a wide range of ICTs skills quickly, focused on the aims of the curriculum.
Participants readily learnt to use hand-held/ lap-top computers and a variety of programmes and accessories such as scanners, printers and digital cameras.

The significance of the DEEP programme has been recognised in Egypt: plans are in progress to extend the programme to 72 rural schools across the country. In South Africa, the DEEP project is being integrated into the Nelson Mandela Foundation and University of Fort Hare’s Unit of Rural Schooling and Development from September 2005. The project will continue an expanded training and research programme into how the use of ICTs can provide quality education and professional development for children and teachers living in rural areas.

Politicians and education planners need to:

recognise the potential of ICTs and build links between teacher education and agriculture, healthcare and other government services
realise that the lack of software using teachers' and children’s first language (such as Xhoas and Arabic) limits the effective uses of ICTs, relevant content should also be produced in local languages
investigate the potential of new, mobile technologies such as lap-tops and hand-held computers– existing cost analyses are likely to be based upon older ICTs and their uses
ensure ICTs are appropriate to local settings and integrated into daily routines - this would entail peer and team learning and the involvement of users in evaluating the educational relevance of ICTs hardware and software
ensure teacher development is not isolated from ICTs developments focusing on students and curriculum
encourage development of local and international professional e-networks so that school communities can share their experiences.

The use of ICTs in some of the poorest parts of the world, if well planned and implemented, can have a significant impact on the self-image, confidence and professionalism of teachers. In this way, ICTs offer the potential to redefine and enhance the status of teachers within communities and more broadly across the communities they work with.

Source(s):
‘Deep Impact: an investigation of the use of information and communication technologies for teacher education in the global south: researching the issues’, Researching the Issues Series 58, London, Department for International Development (DFID) Full document.
DEEP Impact: How ICT can improve teacher education Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development, Hewlett Packard and Microsoft

id21 Research Highlight: 7 September 2005

Further Information:
Jenny Leach
Digital Education Enhancement Project (DEEP)
Open University
Faculty of Education and Language Studies
Stuart Hall Building
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1908 652 444
Fax: +44 (0) 1908 652 218
Contact the contributor: fels-deep@open.ac.uk

The Digital Education Enhancement Project (DEEP), UK

Views expressed on these pages are not necessarily those of DFID, IDS, id21 or other contributing institutions. Unless stated otherwise articles may be copied or quoted without restriction, provided id21 and originating author(s) and institution(s) are acknowledged.

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