ICT IN SCHOOL EDUCATION

 “While ICT is no substitute for formal education, the role of technology can support educational goals and widen the reach of teachers and school systems,” according to a new paper from infoDev, a global development partnership that supports sharing of information about information and communication technology for development (ICT4D).

ICT in School Education (Primary and Secondary), an infoDev-commissioned paper by Price Waterhouse Coopers India, examines the key issues and challenges in the effective implementation of ICT in school education and provides suggestions to address these challenges.

www.infodev.org/en/Article.650.html

SUPPORTING OPEN SCHOOLING IN GHANA

A new report funded by COL is supporting the establishment of open schooling in Ghana. “A Sustainable Open Schooling System for Ghana” by COL consultant Mr. Ed Du Vivier provides recommendations for how the Centre for National Distance Learning & Open Schooling (CENDLOS) can function as a national body that advocates, co-ordinates and assures quality of opening schooling programmes at all levels.

The report, which provides strategies for organising, regulating, staffing, managing and financing open schooling, has been presented to the Ministry of Education in Ghana. This represents part of COL’s work to expand open schooling to meet growing demand for education resulting from the introduction of Universal Basic Education.

NEW RESEARCH INTO mLEARNING

mLearning: A Platform for Educational Opportunities at the Bottom of the Pyramid is a new publication released by the GSMA Development Fund, an association of the world’s mobile communications companies. This research report explores the current landscape of mLearning in the developing world, how mobile devices are being used for learning and the future potential. It documents eight case studies from around the globe and makes four conclusions:

• The business case for mLearning (i.e., who pays) is still under debate,
• Scalability and replicability are a challenge because content must be locally specific and current,
• There are significant handset and technology limitations, and
• mLearning is still an emerging and fragmented market.

 www.gsmworld.com/documents/mLearning_Report_Final_Dec2010.pdf