Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Whole Class 21st Century Learning Works for Every School!


CyberSmart! Africa is piloting whole class 21st century learning at the elementary level. Why whole class learning? Because it enables more students – even in the poorest schools – to efficiently benefit from living in a globalized world!

We have adapted interactive white board capabilities to serve the unique needs of development education in Africa. Our technology is easily transported between classrooms, even those where light shines through holes in the roof! In fact, the whole set-up can be disassembled and reassebled by teachers and students in 10 minutes or less! It consumes very little power, but is powerful in terms of delivering all of the basic interactive functions.

Focusing on learning, heavy on training

We use interactive whiteboards as a catalyst to develop an active classroom where the teacher facilitates student engagement in the learning process, as compared to a lecture style of instruction. Nearly all of our efforts (and budget) goes into professional development, where teachers learn how to carry on learner-centered instructional conversation with students. Furthermore, teachers support each through ongoing meetings, and archiving lessons they have found to resonate in the classroom.

The whole class instructional approach enables us to integrate technology directly into authentic, everyday classroom teaching and learning. For example, when it’s time for science instruction the teacher might draw on the resources available through the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia or Wikipedia.

We are also realizing other benefits to the whole class instructional approach, including:
  • an observable increase in student motivation
  • an appeal to various learning styles, such as visual learners
  • the ability for an entire class to gain knowledge through the use of integrated software, including multimedia encyclopedias
  • the ability for students to learn and apply basic ICT skills within the context of classroom instruction
  • the ability for teachers to scan, display, and work with textbook content that would not otherwise be possible due to book shortages

In sharp contrast to the use of interactive whiteboards in technology-rich developed nations, the interactive whiteboard represents students’ only hope to gain regular exposure to interactive learning software, multimedia encyclopedias, and the internet. Furthermore, use of the interactive whiteboard is continually facilitated by a well-trained educator who has actually created lessons that are carefully aligned to the national curriculum, as well as 21st century learning standards as defined by
UNESCO and the International Society for Technology in Education.

Monday, June 21, 2010

How much ICT is enough? Without standards, nobody knows!


What is a standard? It’s an agreed-on level of practice by which something can be measured and evaluated. Without implementing standards, there is no way to determine success! Nor can we learn succinctly from the successes - and failures - of others in the field.

Indeed, standards are everywhere. At home, we raise our children to meet certain standards of behavior. Our automobiles are inspected, speed limits are established and rules of the road apply in order to meet safety standards. Hotels and restaurants that have attained a higher star ranking are considered to have achieved certain standards of excellence. And every nation in the world has established multiple standards for learning by which students are assessed. Without these standards, our children might be considered rude, our cars crash more often, our service be subpar, and our children less guided to academic success.

How much ICT is enough for elementary schools, middle schools and high schools? Without standards, who knows? Still, I see computers being installed in schools throughout Africa without much guidance from the internationally recognized learning standards. It’s as if learning will just ‘happen’ once the technology is in place, as if computers and the Internet themselves provide some magical solution that will automatically enable quality pedagogy.

We are hypnotized by technology because this is the 21st century, and we are impatient to connect and achieve all of the social and economic benefits associated with living in a globalized world, thanks to the magical computer solution. Companies, governments and institutions spend vast sums of money to build and maintain school computer facilities with every good intention - but it’s not enough. The result, more often than not, is that school computer facilities are inappropriately utilized, and more often simply underutilized, because their net contribution to student learning is vague at best.


CyberSmart! Africa’s approach to ICT integration is simple. We begin with a strong foundation based on how teachers can teach and how students can learn in order to reap long-term social and economic benefits from our globalized world. The technologies we employ are then backed into specific learning objectives; and the objectives are based on globally recognized standards.

Globally recognized standards for 21st century learning do exist and they should be seriously considered in order to maximize the benefits of technology in service of learning. Both UNESCO and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) have developed a framework of standards by which 21st century learning can be effectively integrated with everyday teaching and learning. Together, they provide the basis for a comprehensive assessment system for both teachers and students.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

CyberSmart! Africa = 21st Learning for Every School!


What drives us at CyberSmart Africa? It’s all about inclusion – leaving no school behind – even those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. How is it done? By implementing sustainable and scalable approaches to education that draw upon affordable and innovative technologies, the latest research, and community-building activities among schools.

Having just celebrated 50 years of independence and self-rule, and facing health, economic, and educational challenges - as do many of its neighbors in the Global South - Senegal is struggling to continue to develop itself and prepare for a better future. In order to succeed economically in today’s world, it must raise a generation of young learners who possess 21st century skills. This includes the ability to collaborate, think critically, solve meaningful problems, and integrate digital tools.


Technology must be in service to learning, not the other way around

Tech lite: We use inexpensive, portable equipment suitable for use in every school – even those with only the barest of infrastructure. Computer labs are not a requirement, or even feasible for most schools. We also believe that ICT skills can be learned naturally as a by-product of supporting instructional strategies and everyday classroom learning.

Pedagogy: We encourage an active, learner-centered classroom where students assume the responsibility for learning while the teacher plays the role of facilitator.

Training: Teachers participate in supportive professional learning communities. They create, adapt, and improve lessons at the grassroots level.

Sustainability: The focus is to build a self-supporting instructional capacity with a minimum fixed ICT infrastructure investment.

Scalability: Teacher learning communities connect, share knowledge, and benefit from scale as learning materials and experiences are shared among larger quantities of participants. Our minimum and low cost technology infrastructure allows for rapid growth.


CyberSmart! Africa’s Pilot Initiative in Senegal

Our pilot initiative shows that every classroom can be a 21st century classroom!

CyberSmart! Africa is introducing cost-effective and locally adapted solutions in support of learner-centered pedagogy in four regional/rural elementary and middle schools in 2 administrative regions, plus one out-of-school, informal education learning environment.

We coach teachers to develop lessons and classroom activities correlated to the Senegalese national curriculum. Our pedagogical model is designed to be maintainable and reproducible. Pilot activities focus on whole class elementary school instruction in core academic subjects, plus highly personalized middle school and out-of-school instruction. All aspects of this pilot initiative correlate to 21st century learning standards adopted by UNESCO and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

The pilot initiative operates through 2010 and plans call for expansion to include 20 schools in 2011. The participating schools are located in and around Mbour and Louga, Senegal.


Technology

CyberSmart! Africa has customized and integrated a highly innovative and cost-effective approach for whole class instruction. We use a low cost interactive whiteboard configuration that has been specially adapted to work in every classroom environment – even those where the sun shines straight through holes in the celing! We also use Livescribe Pulse Smartpens to deliver powerful interactive lessons that combine four powerful learning modalities – speaking, writing, reading, and listening. All lesson content is developed at the grassroots level. To complement all of these activities, CyberSmart! Africa engages students and teachers by using ‘Flip’ video cameras to create digital stories that excite and inspire the entire community.


Background

CyberSmart! Africa began in 2007 as a single-school, personal initiative of Jim Teicher, co-founder of CyberSmart! Education (USA), a company engaged in teacher online professional development in 21st century skills. CyberSmart! Africa partners include the Senegalese Ministry of Education, The Millennium Villages Project and its urban counterpart, the Millennium Cities Initiative (joint initiatives of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Millennium Promise and the United Nations Development Programme), and The Women’s Health Education and Prevention Strategic Alliance (WHEPSA), operating the “10,000 Girls” initiaitve in Kaolack, Senegal.

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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Thanks, Livescribe!

The Livescribe Pulse SmartPen - an individualized 21st century learning tool that we are introducing in West Africa -- provides an eye-opening and innovative learning intervention in a world where technology integration has always been associated with installing school computer labs and then learning ICT skills in them.

The Livescribe SmartPen is an amazing new learning tool! The SmartPen records and links audio to what you write on special 'dot' paper. Then you just touch the pen tip to whatever was written, and the linked audio plays back though the pen’s speaker or plug-in earphones. The power of the SmartPen lies in it’s ability to combine four ways of learning – reading, writing, speaking and listening – into a rechargable, take-anywhere package.

Thanks to the Livescribe Corporation, we are able to pilot the SmartPen in both middle schools and after-school learning environments. Middle school teachers in
Louga, Senegal, are actively using the SmartPen as part of English, science, math, and geography instruction, as well as for student note-taking. I recently observed a math teacher who was using the Smartpen to explain the step-by-step logic behind a geometry exercise. I also observed students learning English by first sketching a car and then labeling the parts with an audio recording of the word (correct pronunciation and all!), and learning geography by drawing a map of Senegal and using the SmartPen to record audio commentary on the different geographic regions. It was amazing!

We are also using the SmartPen as part of an after-school program in partnership with the “
10,000 Girls” initiaitve in Kaolack, Senegal. In this setting, it is the girls who, along with their after-school tutor, will define the best ways to use the SmartPen's capacity to enhance and make the most of their tutoring and peer-learning time.

In total, we have already started to pilot the SmartPen with over 120 students! Students are highly motivated to learn when the SmartPen is integrated into classroom instruction. Still, we believe that the real power of the SmartPen lies in it’s ability to individualize instruction. We also plan to use the SmartPen as a means for teachers to communicate with illiterate parents who might otherwise never engage in a school/home dialogue.


CyberSmart! Africa’s work in Louga, Senegal, is in partnership with
The Millennium Villages Project and its urban counterpart, the Millennium Cities Initiative. Both are joint initiatives of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Millennium Promise and the United Nations Development Programme.

Read though our continuing postings about how CyberSmart! Africa is using the Livescribe Pulse SmartPen, and watch for videos that show the SmartPen in action!