Enhancing access and use of stories using ICT in literacy development in Uganda: Enabling and constraining

factors

Paper presented at The 2nd National Conference on Literacy

12 – 13 March 2014Juliet Tembe

Outline

• Introduction• ICT in education• Types of devices• Issues of access• Constraints in using ICT• The ASP experience so far• Conclusion

Introduction

• "In the small village of Hafizibad in Pakistan's Punjab province, a young girl is using her mobile phone to send an SMS [text] message in Urdu to her teacher. After sending, she receives messages from her teacher in response, which she diligently copies by hand in her notebook to practice her writing skills." (Winthrop, R. and Marshall S. Smith , 2012)

ICT in education

• The untapped resources• Use of mobile technologies in numeracy (GIZ) study• Improve teaching skills & curriculum• providing teachers with professional development

opportunities

…ICT in education

While many children enter school, yet few stay enrolled and

Even fewer are mastering the basic skills needed to progress in their education

Aim to provide African children with sufficient familiar language stories for enjoyable reading practice

Create a firm basis for literacy development

Issues of access

• Limited internet use (Only 16% )• Access mostly through cellphones – increase

in broad band• Masts are for network for remote rural areas• Free wireless for schools via “white spaces” by

Google and Microsoft

Types of devices

• A variety of devices abound that can enhance the use of technology in our classrooms for developing literacy skills.

Constraints in using ICT for literacy

• complacency in uptake of existing opportunities to use technology by many teachers

• general apprehension on the part of teachers in reskilling to embrace technology

• change in perceptions as well as policies. • Affordability? Connectivity?

The African Storybook Project

• resources that African children currently get to help them to learn to read,

• aim to exceed this quality and variety through the use of technology but without massive investment in infrastructure or devices

• Part of the goal in pilot sites is to test various approaches that fulfil this consideration

African Storybook Project

• Therefore designed with a simple, clean, non-bandwidth intensive interface that can be accessed via a variety of devices

• challenge of delivering digitized stories in contexts where there may be no electricity, and infrequent or absent internet connectivity.

African Storybook Project

• digital storage can reduce development costs and duplication of effort,

• has great potential for preserving texts,• facilitating in-country and cross-country

access, • creating versions in multiple languages.Webinar presentation by Maggie de Jong

Thank you