This
Options Paper for the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology
(MOEST) discusses the ways in which information and communications
technologies (ICTs) can be leveraged to support and improve the
delivery of quality education for all Kenyans. As part of the
USAID-funded dot-EDU project, the Education Development Center
(EDC) and the Academy for Educational Development (AED) led the
development of this document.
The ideas presented here respond to the educational priorities
outlined in Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005 and the KESSP* document.
They include:
- Increasing
Educational Access in Urban Slums and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands
(ASALs)
- Improving
Quality Teaching and Learning
- Increasing
and Improving Skills Development Programmes for Out-of-School
Youth and for Women in the Community, esp. for Literacy
- Improving
Educational Policy and Coordination
- Improving
Educational Management through EMIS
- Monitoring
and Evaluation in the Education Sector
- Considering
Costs and Benefits of Educational Interventions
Addressing
the Country's Educational Priorities
The options
presented in this report are listed below under headings corresponding
to the educational priorities outlined above:
- Increasing
Educational Access in Urban Slums and ASALS
- Improving
Quality Teaching and Learning
- Increasing
and Improving Skills Development Programmes for Out-of-School
Youth and for Women in the Community, esp. for Literacy
- Improving
Educational Management through EMIS
- Improving
Educational Policy and Coordination
- Improving
Quality and Equity
- Considering
Costs and Benefits of Educational Interventions
- Monitoring
and Evaluation in the Education Sector
Throughout the
development of this report, we considered the ways in which ICTs
could improve educational outcomes. By driving the process with
education (rather than technology) at the forefront, we were able
to consider a broad range of interventions – and creative ways
for educators to use these tools to support teaching and learning.
ICTs can only support teachers, not replace them.
Outlining
the Options
In all, over twenty options are presented and discussed.
For ease of review, each option is discussed briefly below and
is described in greater detail in the main body of the text (follow
the link to the full PDF file at the top of this page).
IRI
in ASALs and Urban Slums
Kenya can begin testing IRI strategies in pilots
that will provide high quality, minimal-cost learning opportunities
for learners in ASALs and urban slums. The pilot would serve several
purposes: to familiarize Educational Media Services with the skills
and systems it will need to take on such a task; to demonstrate
the IRI methodology to a wider audience of policy makers, planners,
funders, and communities; to demonstrate the learning outcomes
that IRI can achieve among the populations of urban slums and
ASALs; and to provide a body of radio programs that can be used
in long-term implementation when taken to an expanded scale.
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e-Content
Development
With
the advent of the Internet and other technologies which are changing
the way we operate locally and globally, the MOEST’s goal should
be to demystify and leverage these tools to provide deeper conceptual
knowledge of the world around us. Technicians can be employed
to fix and maintain the computers, however, teachers and educators
must know how to exploit ICT for what they do best – opening learners
up to the world of knowledge.
Computers themselves,
however, do not come pre-packaged with relevant teaching content.
Although the Internet provides a vast number of resources, most
are in English and may need to be modified in order to be relevant
for Kenyan students and curriculum needs. Investments in custom-made
digital materials with highly relevant content for Kenyan classrooms
in rural and urban contexts are important if the MOEST wants to
tap into the real potential of ICTs for learning. Building capacity
in Kenya to create instructional materials for an increasingly
digital world is an investment that will pay dividends for improving
the quality of education. This section articulates the ways in
which the MOEST’s Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) can begin
developing and delivering educational content for delivery through
a variety of digital media.
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ICTs
in Teacher Training Colleges
Investment into upgrading computer labs and building
ICT capacity at the Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) is an intervention
which can quickly yield high returns. By providing adequate access
to ICTs, the TTCs can use ICTs to achieve learning objectives
at various levels. At the simplest level ICTs allow for storage
and display of information. However, using ICTs also fosters exploration
of materials and ideas. ICTs allow learners to apply a concept
or understanding to a new situation; to analyse ideas by organizing
them and manipulating them; and to learn how to evaluate and problem
solve. At the highest level, ICTs are used to foster the design
or construction of integrating projects, whereby students must
explore wide range of ideas and resources, analyse and evaluate
them, and synthesize them in a project. ICTs can fully utilize
the multimedia environment to support this process.
The TTCs should
aim to have networked desktop computers for lecturers and networked
computer labs for students. This option presents integration models
which will foster the thoughtful use of ICTs by teacher educators
and students.
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Computers
in Secondary Schools
There are currently 4000 public secondary schools
in Kenya and the recent massive increase in primary school enrolment
is putting pressure on the demand for and access to secondary
schools. The MOEST remains concerned with the quality of secondary
education which is characterized by poor performance in core subjects
such as Mathematics and Science. There are obvious benefits for
integrating computers into secondary schools as students at this
age need to focus on subject-specific content, greater critical
thinking skills, scientific inquiry, and math, science and languages.
Students will benefit greatly with the analytical, creative, and
collaborative power of computers to map out and analyse assumptions,
present ideas, and participate in projects with peers from around
the country and around the world.
As noted above,
foundation skills should be a stepping stone to using ICTs to
enhance teaching and learning objectives. The same ICT integration
concepts used in the TTC model can be adapted for secondary school
teachers and students. ICT integration will take teachers and
students beyond seeing ICTs as computer studies and computer literacy
skills. Although these are important skill sets, they are not
sufficient in leveraging the true potential of ICTs to improve
creativity, innovation and collaboration – key capacities in the
new knowledge economy. In both programmes, the assessment criteria
should be made explicit to new users and opportunities to experiment
and work with the tools towards achieving these criteria. This
will ensure that their new knowledge and skills are conceptualised
and more likely retained.
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Computers
in Primary Schools Cluster Centres
Capacity should be built at cluster schools and
ICT readiness assessments conducted for classrooms. One way of
doing this is to introduce the concept of “learning circles” and
project-based learning. Learning circles/stations are a powerful
classroom management approach, especially for multi-grade classrooms,
where the teacher organizes her classroom into 4-6 different stations
that reinforce concepts in the curriculum through multi-modes
of instruction. For example, to teach fractions in a multi-grade
classroom, the teacher separates children into groups of 5-10
students, depending on the class size. The teacher uses manipulatives
like dice at one station for tactile learners to reinforce concepts,
has an older student teach the young students at the chalkboard
for drill and practice, has a worksheet station for assessment
of concepts that are in line with curriculum examinations, and
then has a real-life application station. This will require development
and support of content through KIE, as discussed earlier.
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ICT
for In-Service Teacher Training
Large-scale ICT capacity building workshops for
in-service teacher training should build off existing structures
that deliver quality ongoing professional development for teachers.
The program should be consistent with the workshops for lecturers
and pre-service teachers at teacher training colleges. Instructional
goals and activities should be highly conceptualised to address
educational outcomes and teachers’ realities. Introduction to
computers should discuss the constraints and opportunities of
using ICTs for education. Activities should focus on increasing
efficiency in the teacher’s workload and integrating ICTs to improve
teaching and learning objectives. The distance learning material
developed under the School Based Teacher Development (SbTD) program
and any new materials developed for the School Empowerment Program
could be put on CDROM and on a website to be available to all
teachers with computer access at any time.
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IRI
for In-Service Teacher Training
The most powerful use of radio as an in-service
training device is to build training into IRI lessons. It is one
thing to advise teachers on how to teach fractions, it is quite
another to build teacher activities into a radio lesson that is
teaching fractions to a classroom full of children. Radio can
model the ways in which a teacher can introduce the concept of
fractions, lead teachers through the process of explaining fractions
in concrete terms, solve problems in the radio lesson, and then
model different kinds of instructional practice, and show how
to evaluate and assess student mastery of the concept and practice
of using fractions. The teachers’ guide can then provide follow
up activities after the broadcast.
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Video
for In-Service Teacher Training
Digital camcorders now deliver superb quality for
as little as US$1000, and the hardware and software for editing
digital video is also falling in price and complexity of usage.
Simply shooting and editing digital video is something that many
people adopt quickly and easily. However, the skills needed to
produce a video that expresses a training message clearly and
economically are another matter. For that reason, a dual approach
is suggested.
Strategy One
would be to furnish district offices with digital camcorders that
could be used at training events so that teachers can watch themselves
and their colleagues, and reflect and comment on what they see.
The primary purpose would simply be to have a visual record of
a teacher’s performance for discussion and review. There would
probably be no attempt to edit the results, and once viewed, the
sequence might be erased, although each teacher might save a digital
archive of how their skills increased over time.
Strategy Two
would be to use digital video for the purposes of training teachers
across the district, province or even the country. Sequences would
be shot in classrooms by a trained teacher trainer/videographer(s)
based at the national and/or provincial levels. The videographers
would travel to classrooms and training sites and assemble and
edit VCDs or DVDs of specific classroom practices. These could
be used as a longitudinal monitoring instrument that measured
changes in the national teaching capacity, and also used in training
in TTCs and for in-service training purposes.
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Open
and Distance Learning
The importance of open and distance learning (ODL)
is mentioned in many parts of this document – the scale of the
problems and the size of Kenya make it virtually imperative that
much of the pressing educational burdens will have to be addressed
using approaches that rely on technology to deliver more educational
content, and to improve the quality of teaching and student performance.
This section takes the opportunity to make some general observations
about the process of ODL, and to point to a wide array of potential
applications, not all of which we have had the opportunity to
point out in the specific sections that pertain to them.
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ICT
Infrastructure
A number of key issues must be considered for ICT
equipment and other related infrastructure. Options presented
here include discussions of computer leasing programmes for teachers
and other education officials as well as options for developing
computer labs at centralised Teacher Advisory Centres and other
centrally-located support institutions in the districts. Additionally,
infrastructure assessments are presented as well as hardware and
software requirements.
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Community
Learning Centres
Utilizing ICTs to reach disadvantaged groups and
expand their educational opportunities demands working within
the larger community and often across sectors in order to provide
a sustainable solution. Community Learning Centres can be used
to address the multiple goals of access, equity, quality, relevance,
and efficiency, but sustainability becomes one of the greatest
challenges. If CLCs are considered for provision of access to
education by underserved segments of the population, then sustainability
must be considered beyond a purely market-based perspective. CLCs
should be considered as one valuable tool which the government
can subsidise for the delivery of education to difficult-to-reach
communities.
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Refurbishment
Centres
Refurbishment centres already exist in Kenya for
the delivery of adequate ICTs to schools. This section draws heavily
on the ICT Scoping Paper developed by Imfundo and Digital Links
International with Computers For Schools Kenya. Based on the findings
of the ICT Scoping Paper (which we fully support based on our
own experiences with refurbished computers in other African countries),
the MOEST should strongly consider assisting CFSK to expand their
refurbishment capacity as well as create other refurbishment centres
around the country. These can be done in association with CFSK,
SchoolNet Kenya, Microsoft, or other development partners. These
centres should primarily employ volunteers, with particular emphasis
on young women. The volunteer model has proved very successful
in Namibia by SchoolNet Namibia, where young women are brought
into the ICT field. CFSK is already employing a similar model
in Kenya.
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IRI
for Non-Formal Education
The IRI programs used for this purpose would be
the same ones described above for school-based learners in ASAL
regions and urban slums of Kenya with approximately 100 or 130
programs per grade level. As part of its goal to increase access
and quality, the MOEST is looking into the possibility of acquiring
a broadcasting channel. However, it might take some time to sort
out the issues related to this, particularly the costs associated
with maintaining the transmitters. It would still be possible
to move forward with IRI programming even with restricted availability
of airtime. Programmes for schools might be broadcast in the morning
and/or afternoon for schools, and repeated in the evening for
out-of-school learners. The main difference would lie in the systems
set up to support and manage the IRI learning environment. Where
the provision of instructional systems in ASAL regions would remain
the jurisdiction of the MOEST, and would probably emphasize the
school as a basis for managing instruction, these out-of-school
learners are likely to be meeting in community learning centres,
often managed by the private sector (communities, churches, NGOs
etc).
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ICTs
and EMIS
This section reviews the current proposal described
in the KESSP document and articulates an appropriate way forward.
Three funding-level options are presented. Under the low cost
option, the key items that can be accomplished without massive
infrastructure investment are undertaken. As more funds become
available, the system can be expanded in concert with resources.
Critical to maintain under this structure is the core implementation
and design capacity team, and the important preparatory work that
can still support early successes. Options include: core information
creation and harmonization; data collection; software application;
data processing and analysis; information sharing and dissemination;
policy and planning: EMIS infrastructure; and capacity building.
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Adoption
of National ICT Policy
To support a coordinated approach to ICTs in education,
a number of policy recommendations are made in this section. These
include the adoption of the draft National ICT Policy to ensure
a consistent framework is utilised for ICTs in education activities;
the development of an ICTs in Education Steering Committee to
develop and revise quality assurance guidelines for programs;
the accreditation of commercial institutions for the delivery
of distance education; the development of guidelines based upon
the Community Learning Centre described in this report, particularly
to reach out-of-school girls; and the implementation of an “e-rate”
(education rate) to ensure that the cost of basic connectivity
is affordable.
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Improving
Quality and Equity through Connectivity Growth
Most of the available options for the effective
use of ICT in support of education are much more powerful when
the activity is linked in a communication network that permits
Internet access for email, administrative communication, file
transfer and web site browsing. This element of the system adds
value at every level of the educational system: it enhances the
performance of the traditional work of the Ministry by greatly
accelerating internal communication, and it brings new dimensions
to what can be accomplished under new objectives by bringing access
to instruction and information resources to groups that otherwise
would be excluded.
There are several
potential approaches for leveraging the advantages that an extensive
WiMax network could offer to the MOEST’s goal of bringing all
secondary schools online. Just what would be appropriate would
depend on certain regulatory issues as well as on the availability
of resources or willing donors or private sector partners to participate.
For the sake of this analysis, three levels of option are discussed:
Level 1) a small, single tower program serving the schools within
the broadcast radius, designed primarily as a demonstration model
to allow the MOEST to learn from a pilot activity distributing
classroom support and in-service teacher training; Level 2) an
operational system located in strategic rural or geographic areas;
and Level 3) a national network developed through a commercial
partner to build out and operate a WiMax system that would serve
not only the schools but also all other commercial, governmental,
or residential who desired service.
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Total
Cost of Ownership Model
The TCO model captures the different options available
and applicable for the deployment of ICTs for teaching and learning
in schools. The proposed model seeks to evaluate all the costs
associated with the appropriate and applicable technology for
each situation. Equal emphasis is placed on the initial investment
as well as the continuous operational costs associated with the
ownership of the technology. To illustrate the scope and relative
magnitudes of the different costs, three ICT scenarios are presented
in Appendix G. Sample one presents the TCO for placing 4 workstations
for use by teachers in 100 schools. Sample 2 presents the cost
of deploying radio-based programmes in 1000 schools. And sample
three presents the costs of placing computer labs with 20 workstations
each into 1000 schools. All figures in these simulations are based
on average market rates. The purpose of these presentations is
to illustrate the importance of considering the total cost of
ownership by emphasising the importance to budgeting for ongoing
maintenance and support, upgrades, and training of support personnel
and teachers.
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Monitoring
and Evaluation of ICTs in Education
Based on local experience and international research,
it is clear that a comprehensive set of indicators must be developed
to discretely reflect the goals articulated in the ICT in Education
strategy documents. This Options Paper articulates key areas for
measurement to support the development and delivery of ICT throughout
the education sector. The three key areas identified are (1) Infrastructure
& Access, (2) Training & Usage, and (3) Impacts. Possible
research areas are also presented.
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