by Eva Kagiri 11-02-2010

My Relationship With Information and Communication Technologies

The 2010 Africa eLearning Conference was drawing closer and I happened to be one of those fortunate ones who got a ticket to Lusaka in spite of the full flights caused by the World Cup Fever in South Africa. The week before, I had been clicking on the link everyday, as though conducting a ritual. Each time I would go directly to the icon - Call for Papers.

I am a believer in ICT 4 D and a follower. This means that each time I think about development, I think about ICT (okay, well, not entirely but somewhat). So my challenge with the Call for papers was not that I did not understand the concept, but it created a situation where I had many un-answered questions. The biggest question was strategy - are we using ICT strategically to eradicate poverty? IT and Communication Experts are constantly coming up with new applications, and the numerous social media tools that exist now - I cannot keep up - when I sign into Facebook, I discover Twitter, Ning, My space, You Tube, Blogs etc, etc, etc and remembering passwords to all these things is taking a toll on my brain - but still I remain a firm follower of ICT and what it can do for development.

I am glad that there are many tools at our disposal, that mobile phones are a revolution in developing countries (read the Economist September-October, 2009 Issue), that some countries in the south now have Internet Kiosks - indeed I am very glad that we are continuing to invent; but back to my call for papers - as I read through the themes, it seemed to me that the eLearning Conference is hoping to hear about results.

Not results about how we have deployed some technology to Africa, but how that technology has impacted people’s lives; what change has it brought to someone’s life? Do they now get medical attention when they should? Are students learning better? Are teachers teaching better? Is our technology eradicating poverty? I could not help wondering how many stories will be presented on that kind of tangible impact. I could also not help but question the strategies we use when introducing ICT technology to developing countries; take for instance the Rural internet kiosk, wonderful - but how many people can use a computer in that village and who will teach them how to use the computer? In that video, I could not help but notice only those with substantial educational background seemed to understand how the rural Internet kiosk could impact their lives. Have we perhaps paid more attention to the technology and failed to see the problems.

The latest qualm about technology is the huge gap that still exists between the producers and the society. ICT is supposed to improve already existing systems, not build new ones - if I don’t know how to read or write, having internet and a computer is of no use to me; unless I can use it to learn those skills - and even that, I need to be taught. Another simple example - the rate at which mobile phones and computers are produced is higher than the rate at which - literacy rates increase, basic infrastructure is built, child mortality and malnutrition are reduced. Can ICT fit into society instead of the other way round? Can we start learning With and Through ICT instead of About ICT?

What eLearning? - ICT in Acquiring Knowledge

eLearning is perhaps one of the most popular ways that people are making use of ICT. eLearning is learning through and with ICT. Through ICT, students reach their teacher whenever support is needed and collaborate with peers in knowledge building. With ICT, students learn by studying materials and doing assignments. Students can use for example computers, mobile phones and USBs for learning.

Accessibility to education still remains a great challenge in many southern countries. Constraints like distance, space, time and content are mostly listed as the hindrances to accessing a wider range of knowledge. Mostly external factors are what define the lives the people instead of personal decision; for instance, the possibility of one learning how to read before adulthood, or if one will get information on how HIV can be prevented, or how important issues like clean drinking water is. One central external factor behind this division is for instance if a child is living in a major city or in rural areas.

At MKFC, we have been seeking to address this issue with eLearning, our motto - Sharing Awareness. In our projects we concentrate on communities that lack adequate knowledge of basic things that are useful for their wellbeing. We also promote participatory involvement and aim at increasing community responsibility and ownership. The real change makers must be the community members themselves.

Our role as outsiders is only to offer additional knowledge, and to give strong support to the community’s commitment change. That change can be phenomenal and rip down old traditions that may have been harmful to the societies. One of the ICT tools we use in learning is mobile phones. As developing countries become wealthier, the amount of money used for mobile phones is growing faster compared to anything else like water or energy. Whatever thoughts this raises in our minds, it also offers huge possibilities for exchanging know-how.

The Day a Mobile Phone Changed Our Lives - Ghana’s Experience on Learning With and Through ICT

Text To Educate - Health Management at Community Level
MKFC Stockholm College Case

Country
Ghana, Niliyungdo
Partners
eCAP Ghana Foundation

Project

In 2009 MKFC conducted a project in Niliyungdo Ghana on health management. Niliyungdo is a village situated more than 1000Km from Accra and like most rural communities in Africa, the community has no basic infrastructure. The commencement of the project began with a request from the local chief to provide information and education on how they could reduce child mortality, malnutrition and diarrhoea in their community. There were two main problems that needed to be addressed in order for the project to be a success:

• While eCAP Ghana posessed alot of knowledge on the local environment and culture, they did not have the practical skills and knowledge on how they could solve the problems the villagers had pointed out.
• MKFC had the required knowledge and information that would capacitate eCAP Ghana, however, the means of transferring this knowledge from Stockholm to the Villagers was challenging.

In order to solve the problems, the two organizations created platforms for eLearning. Two platforms were used - an online Learning Management System and Mobile phone. The Learning Management System could only be accessed when Internet was available, however, the mobile phone was more accessible and had constant connectivity even in the remote village.

MKFC developed an education process together with the local partner that ran through out the project period. The process began with the local team learning through the online system over 2 weeks period and then travelling to the village to carry out activities. Through sms, MKFC would send key points, reminders and actions that the local team were supposed to educate and carry out with the villagers. For example, in the case of diarrhoea, detailed information on facts, causes, prevention and treatment of diarrhoea were studied online before a visit to the village. While in the village, MKFC sent short sms to the local team on the prevention and treatment actions that the villagers need to do in order to reduce occurrence. In this case, water treatment methods like Solar Disinfection (SODIS). Through sms, the local team could also ask questions from MKFC on sight in cases where they needed help.

The local team was also required to take photos with their mobile phones of their surroundings and work while in the village before, during and after the end of the project period. Through this method, we were able to monitor what changes the community members had carried after the education in their environment. Phones were also used to record discussions with the community members on their feedback and questions. This information was later uploaded to different social media platforms like blogs and Youtube.

Eva Kagiri, eva@mkfc.se
www.stockholmcollege.se
www.ecapeastafrica.com