Lack of Technology in the Most Impoverished Schools Allows for Innovative Solutions
Sep 20, 2010
The Enterprising Schools September theme of Curriculum Tools and Technology draws into question the lack of technology in the most impoverished schools in developing countries around the world. How we can think of technology in a different context than we are accustomed to in our every day lives?
The word ‘technology’ comes from the Greek ‘tekhnologia’ meaning ‘systematic treatment’. Subsequently, the dictionary defines technology as ‘the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.’ How can we consider these definitions when schools in the affordable private school market are among the most impoverished communities around the world? For schools with extremely limited resources, how can we bring innovation to technologies-not technologies like the latest iPhone, text messaging, or the latest computer software- but technologies in the root sense of the word, “systematic treatment”? When we bring innovative solutions rather than gadgets, we will get to the root of the problem.
The approach that the IDP Foundation has taken in the IDP Rising Schools Program in Ghana is to embrace the manner in which the local Ghanaians have taken to improve their educational system by setting up non-governmental private schools. The IDP Rising Schools Program has 73 participating schools and will have 120 by the end of year 2010. The large majority of the schools do not have computers. Most do not even have functioning restrooms: lack of infrastructure is one of the principle problems school proprietors address with their microloans provided by the IDP Rising Schools Program. However, with innovative solutions like the IDP Rising Schools Program, proprietors are able to access capital through the microloans and make sustainable changes in their schools.
Another innovative solution that is gaining momentum in the Affordable Private School (APS) market is Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI). The Education Development Center is one organization that has embraced IRI as a powerful educational tool that requires little hardware (only a radio) and one adult facilitator. The sole purpose of the integration of IRI in schools is to provide a mechanism for the improvement of the quality of education in schools, not to radically change the existing condition of the schools. IRI has been employed in countries including India and the Sudan as a technology that is reachable, usable, effective, and not overly intrusive. Click here to find “Improving Education Quality through Interactive Radio Instruction: A Toolkit for Policy Makers and Planners.”
Therefore, when we think about how to bring technology and tools to the curricula of APS, let our good intentions in improving education quality not be blurred by flashy high tech gadgets. Integrating technology in its purest form, a systematic solution, is the best route. Highly technological materials and tools will come later. Training school teachers and proprietors, working together, and the common goal of providing quality education for children through solid partnerships is the most powerful technology to bring to the curricula in the most poverty stricken areas of the world, and should be at the forefront of the attention of entrepreneurs in the Affordable Private Schools market.
- Brooke Ramsey's blog
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