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HIGHLIGHTS ICT investments in education have a number of direct and indirect benefits: Not only do they improve teaching and help to reach distant students but they also strengthen the ICT ecosystem through better infrastructure, improved technological literacy and greater demand for Internet access. Successful educational ICT programs include all the elements needed to ensure that real benefits are delivered to children and schools. Although many educational ICT programs report improved attendance rates as a short-term upside, real benefits — such as improved literacy and numeracy, a more productive workforce and lower poverty levels — require long-term policies and reliable support. Fixed broadband access and PCs are the predominant technologies used in ICT in education. However, there are a number of reasons why mobile technology will have an increasingly important role to play, including availability, affordability and ease of use.

Vol. 1, No. 2, December 2009

Internet-Based Education Initiatives: More Funding Is Creating More Opportunity

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 2

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ICT IN EDUCATION 3 A. ICT initiatives for education need to look at the larger picture, including hardware, software, access, content and training 3

B. Reliable funding should be considered when implementing ICT education projects for long-term success 4

C. Mobile technology has an important part to play 4

MARKET DETAIL 6 CASE STUDY: Uruguay — Ceibal Project: One Laptop per Child 6

CASE STUDY: The Philippines — Smart Schools 7 CASE STUDY: India — an open and distance education hub 8

CASE STUDY: Nigeria — SchoolNet, MTN Schools Connect 10

CASE STUDY: Tanzania — Mobile technology brings interactive education to schools 11

CASE STUDY: South Africa — Dr Math exploits the pervasive use of mobile phones and MXit as a communication tool in schools 12

CASE STUDY: Mozambique — SchoolNet 13

CONCLUSIONS 15 Key findings 15 Recommendations 15

RELATED RESOURCES 16

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Introduction Information and communication technologies (ICT) are at last finding their place in education in developing markets. Although the link between technology and long-term educational benefits, such as higher literacy and numeracy, remains unproven, its use appeals to students and helps teachers keep their attention. Using a variety of approaches, programs around the world report improved attendance levels following the introduction of technology into classrooms. Furthermore, countries benefit in a variety of ways from such investments, including improved PC and Internet literacy, additional communications infrastructure investment and higher Internet access adoption. Access to Internet resources is not widely available in many developing regions, usually for reasons of cost but also because of a lack of infrastructure, content and/or skills. Schools, libraries and Internet cafés provide the principal means of Internet access in regions such as Africa, given limited residential adoption in particular (see Exhibit 1).

Exhibit 1: Points of access for Internet users, Africa, 2008

Source: Research ICT Africa

We believe that to be successful, ICT investments in education in developing regions need to be tailored to local needs and designed for long-term financial viability. Furthermore, mobile technology should be increasingly integrated, given its widespread availability and affordability. This report highlights some important aspects in delivering successful and long-term ICT educational programs. It starts by highlighting the importance of taking a whole-system approach to an educational ICT initiative. It then looks at the factors that help ensure the initiative is viable and can provide lasting benefits. We then highlight the role — traditionally addressed by PCs and fixed-line technologies — that mobile technology can play in education. Finally, we examine a number of case studies of the use of ICT in education from around the world, indicating the diverse ways in which ICTs are used in education.

Cyber/Internetcafé58%

Home/other person's home

7%

Work20%

Educational institution/

library

15%

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Opportunities for ICT in education Investments in ICT in education continue to be an important area of development. Particularly where private sector investment and households have seen declines in income and spending, governments continue to invest in fundamental services. One prominent initiative is the One Laptop per Child project, initiated by Nicolas Negroponte; both the Fijian and Rwandan governments announced commitments during November 2009 alone. Developments in mobile technology mean that access and devices are more widely available to lower-income consumers and rural areas. Its use in education will no doubt increase, given the unique benefits mobile technology can offer.

A. ICT initiatives for education need to look at the larger picture, including hardware, software, access, content and training Successful educational ICT programs include all the elements needed to ensure that real benefits are delivered to children and schools. The Philippines Smart Schools project, for instance, includes access, content and training, even highlighting these three areas in its choice of logo. Teaching — referring to the training of teachers — is sometimes overlooked in ICT programs but is a key element, without which investments are wasted. A similar point is highlighted in Nigeria in the MTN Schools Connect project, which also encompasses hardware, access and training and, in addition, also includes the provision of electricity, which is, of course, key for all ICT projects and is not always available. This project also included satellite access equipment, given limited Internet coverage in many rural areas. Projects using ICT primarily as a tool for teachers have found success. For instance, in Tanzania, 3G technology lets teachers access training videos. The mobile network provides access to a library of video content, and a 3G handset allows the teacher to download videos. In this case, a complete system including all the required elements is provided in a relatively simple and cost-effective way. At the other end of the spectrum is the One Laptop per Child project, which supports initiatives such as Plan Ceibal in Uruguay to provide inexpensive computers to schools. OLPC has been criticized for focusing on only one part of the role of technology in education — the hardware; some schools where these laptops are used do not have Wi-Fi access, and content availability has also been scarce. The Indian government refused to adopt the project, stressing the high cost involved compared with alternative types of projects. Relevant content tends to be the area where focus is lacking. In a document prepared for the UNESCO World Conference focusing on ICTs for higher education, three of the four highlighted pitfalls in introducing ICTs into education had to do with content limitations, whether being inappropriate, of poor quality or lacking relevance. The document also highlighted the importance of working with educational establishments to identify requirements and develop appropriate content and other elements. In countries where fixed broadband availability is widespread, the ability to connect schools economically is relatively simple, therefore making devices available to more students might be the priority issue. In many emerging markets, Internet access might be available only through satellite or mobile networks, and so solutions will need to revolve around those available technologies. The Dr Math example in South Africa, where GPRS networks are widespread and the cost of access low, demonstrates the potential for using handsets as a means of improving education; the challenge here is scaling the program to be able to handle a huge amount of real-time questions.

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On a broader level, it is also worth noting that ICT investments in education should not be looked at in isolation but also in conjunction with other government policies, such as encouraging competition in ICT markets to increase availability and decrease costs. An important area of development in Africa, for instance, is the lack of international bandwidth, and governments across the continent have been working to attract investments for submarine cables.

B. Reliable funding should be considered when implementing ICT education projects for long-term success Although many educational ICT programs report improved attendance rates as a short-term upside, real benefits — such as improved literacy and numeracy, a more productive workforce and lower poverty levels — require long-term policies and reliable support. As discussed, the different elements that comprise a solution require continued support: Hardware and software need maintenance and upgrading; content needs updating and refining; and access and training are ongoing costs. By demonstrating the benefits, governments will be better able to justify continuing investments and support for providing ICT in education. Furthermore, private-sector funding, although largely driven by corporate responsibility and commercial factors from ICT companies, is also driven by other benefits including a well-educated workforce, increased usage of communications technologies and better communications infrastructure. There is also some evidence to suggest that driving Internet usage through schools drives increases in home Internet access. Internet access through educational establishments, Internet cafés and other publicly available establishments are very important in many emerging markets. In Africa, for instance, more than 50% of the Internet population access in one of these ways and not through work, from home or on the mobile. In some cases, such as Cameroon and Rwanda, this portion exceeds 90%. Financing for education is largely driven by governments. However, there are a number of examples where schools can look at maintaining or at least supporting their own ICT funding. The Smart Schools project in the Philippines, for example, is financed publicly when the technology is installed during the first year of the project; thereafter the school can choose to charge for Internet access to raise continuing funds. We expect that RailTel’s project in India will work in a similar way, where the study centers set up at railway stations with Internet access also become Internet cafés available to the public. This is an attractive business model, supported by international development agencies such as ITU; at the recent ITU conference in Geneva, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: ―Connected schools can become connected community ICT centers.‖ This also highlights the importance of different government departments working together. Mozambique is an example where a coordinated government policy has driven Internet access rates over the past few years. The government implemented an ICT education policy several years ago as part of its antipoverty policy and is currently enjoying the benefits, including higher Internet usage, improvements in education levels and lower poverty rates.

C. Mobile technology has an important part to play Fixed broadband access and PCs are the predominant technologies used in ICT in education. However, there are a number of reasons why mobile technology will have an increasingly important role to play, including availability, affordability and ease of use.

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Fixed technologies have very limited coverage in many emerging markets, and cellular network investments are increasing their coverage and capacity. In many markets, mobile broadband adoption already exceeds that of fixed technologies. In Tanzania, for instance, 2.5G and 3G networks are used to deliver video downloads for school teachers that they can use in their classes. In India, one of the largest universities has started working with 3G service providers and Ericsson to make educational content available through mobile technologies in order to reach rurally based students. The availability of cellular technologies is also driven by their affordability: They are a very cost-efficient way of providing access where other technologies are not available. Furthermore, although cellular networks can support both PCs and handsets, the price of handsets is significantly lower than PCs, and penetration is already high in many markets. The mobile handset is also made more affordable by its simplicity, requiring little or no maintenance or training costs. Children and students, if they are not already familiar with a handset, quickly and intuitively learn how it works. Specialist support requirements are minimal. The need to ensure power availability is largely in the hands of the operators, while there is already a strong infrastructure for powering the handsets themselves. Such developments have even encouraged the private sector to develop education services. Nokia’s Life Tools, a range of services targeted at low-income rural markets, targets education among three initial services — agriculture and entertainment being the other two. It offers a monthly subscription service through technologies such as SMS offering language and general knowledge education through the mobile handset. These have already been launched in developing countries such as India and Indonesia, in conjunction with mobile operators and local content developers, and further services are being developed to address local market needs.

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Market detail

CASE STUDY: Uruguay — Ceibal Project: One Laptop per Child One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a US nonprofit organization set up to develop and distribute low-cost, low-power, rugged, connected laptops to the world’s poorest children. It launched in 2005, created by faculty members of the MIT Media Lab, and the first device was developed later that same year. The target price point is $100 per device, which is called the XO-1, and currently the price has fallen to much lower than $200. Connectivity is provided through Wi-Fi. The project has had some success around the world, most notably in Latin America and to a lesser extent in the US. More recently, it was announced that a global ―center of excellence‖ for the project would be set up in Rwanda, whose president announced that all 2.2m schoolchildren in the country would receive an XO-1. The Ceibal Project in Uruguay is the largest and most widespread national deployment of the device, with the goal of providing laptops to all schoolchildren between 6 and 12 years old. The Uruguayan government claims this goal was recently reached, and to date more than 380,000 devices have been handed out to children and teachers, with the next step being to target secondary schools.

Exhibit 2: The Ceibal Project’s XO-1

Source: One Laptop per Child, November 2009

Despite the success, the project has limitations — for instance, there is a lack of such things as educational content and servers for schools. However, the most controversial issue is whether there is a need for all school children to have their own device. The Ceibal Project reports a $260 initial cost plus a $21 annual operational expense. Moreover, even though the devices are rugged, giving one to a child risks loss and damage. Indeed, the project has been criticized for being highly politicized, with the timing of the project’s completion coinciding neatly with elections.

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CASE STUDY: The Philippines — Smart Schools Since December 2004, under the Department of Education’s Adopt-a-School program, Smart Communications and the Philippine Business for Social Progress foundation have worked together in the provision of the Smart Schools Program (SSP). More than 400 companies and private sponsors have taken part so far. The program started off with the formation of Republic Act 8525 in 2000 to encourage investment in public education from private entities via tax incentives.

Exhibit 3: Smart Schools Program

Source: Smart Schools Program, November 2009

The Smart Schools Program has three components:

Access: Additional hardware for the school’s computer lab, networking of the computers in the lab and, until year-end 2009, one year free unlimited Internet access through Wi-Fi thanks to Smart Communications Inc., a wireless subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT).

Content: Free web hosting for the school’s website, access to relevant web-based educational information through the Smart Schools website (www.smartschools.ph), web and content training, and an online incentive program; in addition, since October 2009, partner schools will be able to use e-learning software donated by Smart.

Training: ICT training for teachers not only on basic computer and Internet literacy but also covering content and web development, ICT integration into the classrooms, troubleshooting and maintenance of the machines, and leadership training for school heads. 50 teachers have benefitted from a scholarship program for master’s studies in partnership with the Learn.ph Foundation. 20 have already graduated from the University of Makati with a Master of Arts in education, majoring in instructional media and design. Building these competencies for one teacher translates into building the competencies of classrooms with 60 to 80 children.

The SSP builds upon an already existing network of school laboratories, funded by the Department of Education and the Department of Trade and Industry, or DTI. In addition, the schools have to be within coverage of Smart’s fixed wireless network and have access to electricity. Initially, SSP targeted the secondary schools where the computer labs were set up, and there was a sufficient amount of staff to carry out the project. Then it also started encompassing elementary so-called feeder schools, those whose graduates go on to study at Smart high schools, to enable continuity of the program and longer exposure to ICT technologies. After the initial period of one year, computer maintenance is at the school’s discretion. Thus, SSP helps to draw up a sustainability plan advising the beneficiary schools how to gain funds for Internet fees. Smart encourages schools, through Parent Teacher Community

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Associations, to use the computer lab as an Internet café. Since schools are not allowed to charge a fee for usage of their equipment, such agreements have to be established. The project is successful due to its integrated approach to ICT; it not only provides PCs but also access, content and training on how to use the Internet. In addition, if parents and teachers agree to let the labs become training centers for the public, it benefits the community by enabling them to gain valuable ICT skills. As a result, more public schools are interested in the program. Smart Schools have 270 member schools (180 high schools and 90 elementary schools), and more than 300,000 teachers and students are directly and indirectly trained across the country. The downside of the project is that it doesn’t reach rural and remote schools that are lacking infrastructure or are outside the reach of Smart’s network.

CASE STUDY: India — an open and distance education hub

India — with its large population of almost 1.2bn people, more than 70% of whom inhabit rural areas (EIU, August 2009) — faces a big challenge in regard to education provision. To address this problem, in September 2004, India was the first country to launch a satellite, called Edusat, solely dedicated to the provision of educational content. In July 2005, a broadcast network on Edusat for schools — ViCTERS (Virtual Class Technology on Edusat for Rural Schools) — followed. For the poorest people without access to TV, the classes are transmitted through Gyan Vani FM radio stations, which are dedicated to broadcasting educational programs. In India, there are 14 government-run open universities. The largest one, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), recently initiated several programs intended to accelerate its ICT-based educational services. One of them is a virtual classroom project in partnership with government-owned RailTel Corporation of India. Study centers are being set up at 3,000 railway stations and utilize RailTel’s high-speed fiber-optic cable network. Students will be able to communicate with teachers via IGNOU’s distance learning modules and online tests. Utilizing the 30,000km of RailTel’s fiber-optic backbone, the university plans a further rollout of Internet access centers across the railway network to reach remote and rural areas.

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Exhibit 4: Map of RailTel’s fiber-optic network in India

Source: RailTel India, November 2009

In October 2009, IGNOU signed a memorandum of understanding with Ericsson India for the implementation of 3G services in delivering educational content. During the six-month pilot,

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1,000 of the 2.5m student base will receive 3G-enabled content. After that, IGNOU plans a countrywide rollout with inclusion of all courses. The university will charge a negligible amount of money, Rs20-25, for making distance learning available via 3G. In addition, it plans to sign an agreement with India’s 3G service providers. The goal of such initiatives is to provide an all-encompassing education system that can reach the lowest echelons of society with a particular emphasis on rural areas. Developing a distance education program that uses the benefits of mobile technology will likely succeed due to the wide spread use of mobile phones in India.

CASE STUDY: Nigeria — SchoolNet, MTN Schools Connect SchoolNet Nigeria (SNNG), part of the SchoolNet Africa initiative, is an organization committed to bringing ICT to public schools in Nigeria. It was launched in September 2001 and works in partnership with government agencies such as the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Federal Ministry of Education as well as MTN, Multichoice, Intel, Microsoft and others. MTN’s Schools Connect project seeks to support government efforts to address infrastructural challenges in the Nigerian education sector in line with the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), an economic reform program.

Exhibit 5: Computer lab, Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro

Source: Alumni Association of CHSA, November 2009

MTN Schools Connect provides a server with workstations, electricity generators, VSAT equipment and Internet connectivity for one year as well as technical training for teachers. The program has 108,302 students and 6,036 teachers in 49 schools in 12 states.

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CASE STUDY: Tanzania — Mobile technology brings interactive education to schools

In 2007, Elimu kwa Teknolojia (education through technology) was launched in Tanzania. The

program is a partnership of the International Youth Foundation (IYF), the Ministry of Education

and Vocational Training (MoEVT) and the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE),

Nokia Corporation, and the Pearson Foundation. The program is supported by a $2m grant from

the US Agency for International Development (USAID). It leverages mobile technology in order

to bring interactive, multimedia education programs to teachers and students between the age

of 10 and 12. The initiative was initially launched in 2003 in the Philippines as ―Text 2 Teach‖

where it has grown to reach 203 schools, 1,000 teachers and almost a million students.

Exhibit 6: Classroom using downloaded videos to assist in school teaching

Source: IYF, June 2009

In Tanzania, the technology used in the Philippines had to be readjusted because of the lack of widely available satellite technology to transmit the videos and set-up boxes to store them. Instead, 3G technology (2.5G technology is used in the areas where there is no 3G) is deployed to transfer videos. The videos are then stored in a server with Vodacom. In addition, Vodacom provides free broadband access for video downloads and technical assistance. The teachers can also send SMS queries to the helpline, which provides assistance to them. In the classroom, the 8GB Nokia N95 phone connects to the TV and acts as a downloading and storage device. The short, five- to seven-minute-long videos are deployed as part of a lesson, introducing a more interactive approach to schooling. The teachers can also download lesson plans as well as receive training on how to make the best use of available material. Currently, the program operates in 150 schools in seven regions, benefiting around 25,000 students. After implementing the program, schools are reporting an increase in attendance levels, by as much as 80-89% according to one school’s head teacher (IYF survey, 2009).

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CASE STUDY: South Africa — Dr Math exploits the pervasive use of mobile phones and MXit as a communication tool in schools In January 2007, The Meraka Institute in South Africa launched Dr Math, a mathematics education and tutoring program. Dr Math provides mathematics solutions to pupils from grades 3 to 12 with an instant online tutor. The application uses MXit, the hugely popular mobile social network, as a platform. MXit is a mobile instant messaging platform used by 8-10m children in South Africa. The idea behind the program’s model is that students can send online questions to Dr Math, who they keep as a friend on their contact list. Tutors and teachers, otherwise known as Dr Math, make themselves available at certain times of the day (between 2pm and 8pm) to answer questions. Tutors are students from the University of Pretoria’s Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology department, who are required to complete 40 hours of community service as part of their coursework. There is an online prompt when Dr Math is available, and students can then send questions on their way home, on the bus, etc. The system can handle some 50 enquiries per hour. In addition, there are competitions when tutors are not available — multiplication tests, etc. — with rankings of highest scores.

Exhibit 7: A conversation between Dr Math and an application user

Source: Laurie Butgereit, June 2009

Dr Math has changed the way teaching and learning is perceived. The students are very open to using mobile phones, and the teachers appreciate it. The application leverages the pervasive usage of the mobile phone among South African youth; many more have access to mobile phones than they do PCs. In addition, this application is superior to similar ones launched using SMS as a carrier because GPRS access is much cheaper. More than 5,500 users benefit from the application. Scaling up the program could prove difficult, however, since it relies on tutors to answer questions. A recent partnership with the Ministry of Education will help roll out the program across the country.

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CASE STUDY: Mozambique — SchoolNet After almost two decades of civil wars, in the late 1990s, Mozambique was considered to be the poorest country in the world, suffering from high illiteracy levels and low school completion rates. The government recognized the significant role ICT plays in erasing poverty and gender inequality, and in 2000 Mozambique was the first country in Southern Africa to adopt a national ICT policy, allocating around 5% of the country’s GDP to telecommunications development. SchoolNet Mozambique was established in 1997 as Internet para as Escolas (Internet for Schools), a pilot project targeting 10 educational establishments. It was based at the Center of Informatics, University of Eduardo Mondlane (CIUEM) and received support from the World Bank’s World Links program and the Acacia Initiative of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). In 2001, within the framework of ICT Policy Implementation, SchoolNet Mozambique became an internal activity of the Ministry of Education. The project’s objective is to bring computer laboratories to all schools, with particular emphasis on pre-university level schools, as well as to promote ―Education for All‖ — an effort to reach youngsters outside the formal educational network. SchoolNet also focuses on improving the quality of education through ICT as well as on using ICT as a tool for social empowerment. It works in partnership with public and private entities such as: IDRC, TDM (Telecomunicações de Moçambique), Foris Telecom and Microsoft. Thanks to SchoolNet, by July 2006, PC labs were founded in 75 of the 300 targeted schools with around 25 schools connected to the Internet. In February 2009, 1,000 laptops, also known as Magalhães, were donated to Mozambican primary schools by the Ministry of Education and Portugal Telecom. In addition, in summer 2009, a joint venture between Sahara Computers and the Mozambique Information & Communication Technology Institute (MICTI) opened a PC assembly plant in Mozambique. It will produce up to 3,000 laptop and desktop computers per month. Furthermore, the new telecom player Foris Telecom, a mobile WiMAX and ISP, established a partnership with Eduardo Mondlane University (20,000 students) and the teacher training center Pedagogical University (40,000 students), offering bundled notebooks with Internet connectivity and free unlimited VoIP calls among students for $30 per month (notebooks are paid for in 24 installments). It is also in talks with the government for special pricing of netbooks and interactive whiteboards for school teachers.

Exhibit 8: A low-cost computer, Magalhães

Source: Magalhães, November 2009

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The major downside of the project is the high cost of Internet subscription. This issue was addressed by some schools by turning the technology classroom into a public Internet access telecenter and technology training center. Furthermore, in some cases the cost of the leased line was shared with other area schools, which could access the line through Wi-Fi and other technologies. The government’s commitment to ICT proliferation across Mozambique also extends to the general public through multimedia community centers. By year-end 2008, 23 such centers were open. There is also continued investment in communications and electricity infrastructure.

Exhibit 9: Percentage of schools with IT infrastructure in Mozambique

School type Number of public schools Schools that have

computer facilities

Primary schools, grades 1-5 8,700 0.02%

Primary schools, grades 6-7 1,320 1.14%

Secondary schools, grades 8-10 156 9.62%

Secondary schools, grades 11-12 35 91.43%

Source: Mozambique Ministry of Education & Culture

Exhibit 10: Number of computers in schools in Mozambique

Source: Mozambique Ministry of Education & Culture

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Zambézia

Tete

Sofala

Niassa

Nampula

Maputo Cidade

Maputo

Manica

Inhambane

Gaza

Cabo Delgado

Computers in public schools per region

Author: Jan ten Sythoff (jsythoff@pyr.com) Editor: Fred Linden (flinden@pyr.com) Support: www.pyramidresearch.com/insiders.htm (info@pyr.com) © PYRAMID RESEARCH | GLOBAL TELECOM INSIDER VOL. 1, NO. 2 15

Conclusions

Key findings

Government spending is an important growth component for many economies around the world, and investments in key social services such as education continue to grow. Furthermore, the cost of ICT continues to fall, driven by many factors including higher availability of international bandwidth and wider cellular network coverage.

ICT investments in education can have a number of benefits, enabling both better quality and quantity of teaching. In addition to the long-term benefits of a better educated workforce, other benefits revolve around an improved ecosystem including higher technology literacy, more and better digital content and improved communications infrastructure.

ICT in education programs must look at providing all the different components of a system so that they have real results. Hardware, software and access products and services are not enough, and, in particular, localized content and training should not be overlooked.

Coordination at a number of different levels provides the best results. This includes co-ordination between government departments, the private sector, NGOs, as well as the educational institutions themselves.

Mobile technology has an increasingly important part to play, having the attributes of availability, affordability and ease of use.

Recommendations:

Vendors — Work with relevant partners to help in the development of complete systems. In particular, helping to develop relevant localized content is an important challenge, and expertise in this area will help to differentiate from competitors.

Governments and regulators — Make sure different ministries and regulatory bodies are working together to ensure maximum benefit from investments in ICT across the board. In evaluating educational ICT investments, include external benefits, which will be important to other stakeholders.

Mobile operators — Educational services are a growing opportunity and can be provided over relatively simple technologies, such as SMS. Mobile social networks are an increasingly important growth area where such services can be offered or at least drive data traffic.

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