Africa - Incubators and Tech Hubs : A Young Professionals Key to ICT Entrepreneurship

Africa - Incubators and Tech Hubs : A Young Professionals Key to ICT Entrepreneurship

SUMMARY

>THE INDEPENDENT SPACES

A relatively new and still very much expanding idea, these hubs are not to be confounded with cyber cafes. Instead, these hubs represent much more than that! They are an internationally networked platform whom allow their members (young entrepreneurs, students, hackers…) to penetrate into the ICT world and build connections with the hubs partners (Recognised companies,Governments, international Universities) interested in building connections and knowledge exchange between entrepreneurs.

"These range from incubation and training spaces like MEST Ghana to co-working environments such as ActivSpaces in Cameroon, and community spaces like the Co-Creation Hub in Nigeria.There are now more than 50 tech hubs, labs, incubators and accelerators in Africa, covering more than 20 countries. In Nairobi, we have six." (Eric Hermann, 2012). 

It is where Business + Academic + Programming and Design communities all come together under one roof, making something that is greater than the sum of their parts.

>COLLABORATING

Several of these independent hubs and incubators moved to collaboration on March 3rd 2010 joining forces at the iHub launch in Nairobi. 'Each of the labs shares in a common vision to promote technology as a platform for entrepreneurship on the continent. The labs have a lot to gain by working together and it was in this thinking that AfriLabs was born. 

By working together the labs improve their chances of success, generating more success stories and decent work for young Africans, both as a means of self-employment and as job creation for others'(AfriLabs.com, 2012).

>The AfriLabs main webpage: http://afrilabs.com/about

The 14 Current Members: 

iHub - Kenya, Hive Colab - Uganda, ActivSpaces - Cameroon, BantaLabs - Senegal, NaiLab - Kenya, MEST - Ghana, iceAddis - Ethiopia, Co-Creation Hub - Nigeria, iLab - Liberia, RLabs - South Africa, BongoHive - Zambia, Malagasy i-Hub - Madagascar, m:Lab EA - Kenya, Wennovation Hub - Nigeria

A CLOSER LOOK AT A HUB'S LAYOUT AND MISSION

iHub (Nairobi, Kenya) - a one minute tour of the hub 

NaiLab (Nairobi, Kenya) - Mission

Map showing technology hubs, Incubators, and areas amongst and independent from AfriLab's members in Africa:

https://africahubs.crowdmap.com/

THOUGHTS

Hubs in General: The creation of internet hubs and general ICT access such as Zamnet, born in the University in Zambia, NaiLab, iHub etc..., allows students, teachers, and people in general the opportunity to acquire knowledge, basic news, courses, and benefit from unbelievable wells of knowledge worldwide. These Hubs as individual entities take the access a step further by collaborating with companies, and giving youths a mode of connecting and becoming part of projects as well as creating their own.They are a sort of ICT watering hole if you will. Education and Employment are ways of fighting poverty, and these internet HUBs are a way of increasing access to it as well as linking individuals potential to wider audience-more global.

Additionally, the fact that these hubs/incubators are built ground up, and hence controlled from the field allows for an insight of the culture, possibilities, and financial strains/needs that may not be recognised as efficiently otherwise. 

Lastly, the collaboration AfriLabs only goes to strengthen the individual hubs potentials for sharing and building ideas. This association builds on the hubs opportunity to reach a greater audience, sets a stronger image/stand on African ICT, as well as allows hubs to collaborate on more important projects, while learning from each others mistakes as well as achievements.

References

Erik Hersman:(19 July 2012 Last updated at 23:00 GMT) From Kenya to Madagascar: The African tech-hub boom: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18878585, last updated:
Afri Labs Website: http://afrilabs.com/
Bongo Hive Website: https://africahubs.crowdmap.com/

VIDEOCONFERENCE-BASED DISTANCE LEARNING AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS

 Kohen (2012) -Executive Director in Columbia University's Earth Institute wrote in the blog http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/distance-learning-and-the_b_1928535.html?utm_hp_ref=education-technology, that  in  the 21st century, more levels of education and lifelong learning are needed. He stated that with the developments in communication  technology and educational technology, people can reach  education and new knowledge more easily  through new ways in  teaching and  learning.  As Aydın (2012) mentioned in her article, although videoconferencing as a new tool  has been going on used for a long time, in 2000s its spread use  has increased.

 As defined at http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/videoconf/

 "Videoconferencing is conducting a conference between two or more participants at different sites by using computer networks to transmit audio and video data". The ways  videoconferencing can  be used in educational  contexts are described in the website. (For more information you can visit the  website above.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN80mo0Figg

Aydın (2012) stated that in spite of the dramatic increase in the use of videoconferences, the studies on the impact of instructor’s communication behaviors on students’ learning are not enough in number. The study by Aydın (2012) has found positive correlations between "task attractiveness, social attractiveness, affective learning and instructor evaluations" (p.247) in videoconference-based open and distance courses. According to the results of this study conducted in Anadolu University of Turkey with the students from Azerbaijan who are attending the university programs in distance, the students with positive attitudes toward task and social attractiveness of their instructors  perceive the content and the strategy of the courses more positively. They are also more satisfied with the instructors.

What is the use of such a study? Aydın (2012) proposed that the designers and the practitioners of the videoconference-based distance courses can take these issues into consideration through implementation and design process.  She added that  the instructors may start their courses with some small activities to create a social and positive climate.

Videoconference systems that enable us to reach knowledge sources in hundreds of kilometres distance, as human beings, I think that affective factors mentioned by Aydın (2012) that seem to have great impact on learners  shouldn't be neglected even while instructing or directing them through via computers.

REFERENCES

Aydın, I. E. (2012). Relationship between affective learning, instructor attractiveness and instructor evaluation in videoconference-based distance education courses.  The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology ,  11( 4), 247-252

Cohen, S. (2012). Distance Learning and the Future of Education. Posted on January 10, 2012, retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/distance-learning-and-the_b_1928535.html?utm_hp_ref=education-technology

http://videoconference.edublogs.org/2010/07/14/5-ways-to-use-videoconferencing-in-education/

http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/videoconf/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN80mo0Figg

Updated Version

A SCENARIO-PEDALE

According to Konert,  Richter, Mehm, Göbel, Bruder, & Steinmetz (2012), teachers aim to give instructional support to their students to be able to diagnose their progress and difficulties in learning. As proposed by Konert et al. (2012), open ended questions, social interdepencies, groupings and supervision by the teachers are some ways of merging diagnosis and learning. As a proposal by these authors, peer assessment is intended to integrate into computer-based adaptive diagnostic learning environment. In the article “PEDALE – A Peer Education Diagnostic and Learning Environment” by Konert et al. (2012), although the starting point is math for evaluation, "the underlying approach for the model", "the implementation details" and "evaluation setup" are identified in detail (Konert et al., 2012, p.27).

Konert et al. (2012) explained that what is tried to be realized  with this PEDALE method  is creating a digital learning environment that allows the management of diagnostic and educational content and instructional feedback with the help of peer assessment and so closing the gap between diagnosis and learning.

What are some bases for  the motivation for PEDALE method?  According to Konert et al. (2012), there still remain some "conceptual" and "technical challenges" (p.28) in using software for diagnosis and learning purposes. One of them is "Computer Diagnosis Problem" defined by Konert et al. (2012, p.28) that procession and interpretation of   text answers, drawings and  open ended questions is still very difficult for computer systems although expressed by Prediger et al. (2008 in Konert, et al. 2012)  that open ended test questions are the most crucial  for teachers from a diagnostic aspect . The second motivation is called by Konert et al. (2012)  "Individual Group Assessment Problem" (p.28). It is a desire to let the knowledge share among students without any risk. Described by Konert et al. (2012), through this model it is wished to create a mixture of peers with different proficiency level and learning styles in matching who will work together.   You can see a detailed outline of the scenario proposed in the full article.

  

ADVANTAGES

1.  According to Stepanyan et al. (2009 in Konert, J. et al. 2012),in addition to raising  interest of the students in terms of peer work evaluation,  they can acquire better knowledge  through working in collaboration with   computer support as stated by Mohammad et al. (2009 in Konert, J. et al. 2012).

2. Teachers can easily create  e-learning content specific to a class through the use of an authoring environment (Mehm, 2010 in Konert, et al. 2012),

 Some points that need to be worked on more:

1. According to Konert, et al. (2012), to enhance  motivation and smooth flow of the experience, games should be included. So,the scope can be widened.
2. He also proposes that a web-based solution needs creation to be used by students after the classrooms.  They can  receive feedback from their peers about their homework and enhance their knowledge outside the classroom environment.

REFERENCES

Konert, J., Richter, K., Mehm, F., Göbel, S., Bruder, R., & Steinmetz, R. (2012). PEDALE - A Peer Education Diagnostic and Learning Environment. Educational Technology & Society, 15 (4), 27–38.

You can also see this page:

http://www.gamedays2012.de/index

LectureTools: Teacher favours; students appreciate; but both are hesitating

Are you looking for a new interactive way of presenting your lessons in class? Then LectureTools, a web-based application for creating interactive presentations in classroom is a great idea.

What makes LectureTools different? Let’s have a look at its special features:

• Robust: Using LectureTools, you cannot only import your PowerPoint presentations but also incorporate multiple-choice, short-answer or ordering questions, as well as images and videos onto slides.
• Interactive: The Presentation Dashboard offers a place for teacher-students and students-students interaction just as texting via Facebook. Here the students can post questions (they can decide to show their name or not) and follow the class discussions to facilitate understanding. This function helps to encourage questions during class; especially it is helpful to some shy students. It is perfectly done especially in a classroom with teaching assistant who is there. In addition, because the program is web-based, the questions and answers are automatically saved and can be retrieved later.
• Flexible: Students can control the view of their individual screens, take notes on slides, mark slides as confusing, bookmark slides to review later and direct questions to instructors by typing inquiries into a comment box. Or if they want to study from a distance, it is just possible.
• Classroom management support: Teacher can review the quality of their teaching and student performance in the lecture by downloading the data about classroom interactions as a whole class or a particular student after class.

Source: Retrieved from http://www.lecturetools.com/student-ipad-app

How to organize and attend such a lecture? There are two conditions: internet connection and a laptop, or a tablet or a smartphone on the part of the student. Regarding the fee, it is free for teachers but students are charged a flat $15 fee at the beginning of the semester.

In my opinion, LectureTools is what we all expect how information technology can support the teaching and learning process. It combines all the features of the most ideal classroom at present: each student with a laptop coming to classroom, working together on the e-platform, feeling free to answer questions and having more opportunities to get the best support from the teachers and the classmates.

However, one big head-aching question is the likelihood of the students to get distracted while they are online because the teacher cannot monitor their screen. Second is the financial problem as not all students can afford a laptop. Therefore, the implementation of this new tool seems to be far-reaching on a large-scale, especially in disadvantaged schools. Given that you are a teacher who is teaching in the school where One Laptop per Child is running (OLPC); would you give it a try? Personally, I would.

The original article can be retrieved at: https://blogs.elon.edu/technology/lecturetools-an-engaging-presentation-tool-to-use-in-the-classroom/

More information about LectureTools can be found at: http://www.lecturetools.com/lecture-engagement-system

Schoology- Social Network for Education

“Schoology is social network-based tool that allows teachers to interact with students in a way that satisfies both technological needs and curricular elements” (Manning, et al., 2011). With the interface and functions similar to Facebook, this platform includes attendance records, online gradebook, tests and quizzes, and homework dropboxes. Schoology not only facilitates the connections among existing school reporting and information systems but also among teachers, students and parents in a safe, secure online environment.

According to International Business Times, in March 2012, Schoology was named as a finalist for the prestigious CODiE Awards given by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) in three categories: Best Classroom Management System, Best Education Community Solution, and Best K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution. Schoology reached 1 million users, raised $6 million to expand its social networking platform for schools in April, 2012. With continuous efforts to offer users the best mobile technology in November 2012, Schoology App Center was launched, this app was fully supported by iPhone 5, the 5th generation iPod Touch, and any mobile device using iOS 6.0.

There are many competitors in the learning management system space; primary services focused on education can be compared as the following table:

     As teachers, we can manage the class with ease due to numerous useful functions as posting academic content, check student attendance, preview the class from the student’s viewpoints and so forth. Schoology not only help us keep our teaching styles updated to the twenty-first century, but it also provides a bridge for teachers to connect to students’ learning styles. Schoology enables students to fulfill classroom work while having the ability to seamlessly communicate and collaborate with fellows through a safe and secure network. Parents are given a code to follow their student’s learning process which can be considered the most significant benefit in terms of parental care to their children.

 References

Manning, et al (2011).

Retrieved from http://journals.library.wisc.edu/index.php/wej/article/viewFile/379/444

https://www.schoology.com/home.php

http://venturebeat.com/2012/04/16/schoology-hits-1-million-users-raises-6-million/ 

http://blog.schoology.com/2012/11/schoology-iphone-ipad-app-v2-3/

http://www.siia.net/ 

Computer-adaptive Testing

Computer-adaptive testing is a form of computer-based test that adapts to the examinee's ability level. For this reason, it has been called tailored testing, according to wiki. CAT selects questions so as to maximize the precision of the exam based on what is known about the examinee from previous question. Based on students response, the computer program adjusts the difficulty of the questions throughout the whole assessment. If the examinee performs well on an item of intermediate difficulty, he or she will be presented with a more difficult question. Or if he or she performs poorly, he or she will be presented with an easier item. As the assessment adapts to students' ability, the assessment can identify the skills that students mastered effectively and provide more accurate scores for all students. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELKCZpvpH6A&noredirect=1

The strength and pitfalls of it
According to Smart Balanced Assessment Consortium website,  computer-adaptive testing can provide more clear picture to teachers of what students are good at and what students still need help and additional support.And also by using this program teachers,parents and principals can get the result more quickly compared with traditional testing.CAT also provides teachers and schools a more accurate way to evaluate students' ability. And also, students love this type of exam.
However,CAT can also be costly to be developed as it needs lots of test items and many pilot-testings must be conducted. Smarted Balanced estimates that once its adaptive tests are fully developed, its test bank will contain at least 30.000 items across all grades. But I still think it is worth as students can have a more accurate and fair assessment for their achievement and readiness of college and their future.



Reference:
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2012/10/17/01adaptive.h06.html
http://www.smarterbalanced.org/smarter-balanced-assessments/computer-adaptive-testing/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computerized_adaptive_testing

Educational technologies have a positive or negative effect in students' learning?

Summary

            This is a Research on academic performance and technology by John Cradler, Mary McNabb, Molly Freeman, and Richard Burchett, (2002).

             The Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET) has gathered compelling research and evaluation findings to answer frequently asked questions about how technology influences student learning process.

 Currivular Goals  

1. "Achievement in content area learning

2. Higher-order thinking and problem solving skill development

3. Workforce preparation" (Cradler, McNabb, Freeman & Burchett, 2002, p. 47).

           

1. Content Area Achievement

            A review of studies conducted by the CEO Forum (2001) emphasizes: “technology can have the greatest impact when integrated into the curriculum to achieve clear, measurable educational objectives.” In English language arts and social studies, teachers obsereved that the students skills change. The student knowleadge increased in the below characteristics:

• "Research skills,

• Ability to apply learning to real-world situations,

• Organizational skills, and

• Interest in the content" (Cradler & Cradler, 1999, p. 47).

2. Higher-Order Skills Development

           " Higher-order thinking and problem solving skills (e.g., information research, comparing and contrasting, synthesizing, analyzing, and evaluating)" increase the students' content knowleadge and the realization of the content domains. (Cradler et al., 2002, 47).

            "The technology tools for constructing artifacts and electronic information and communication resources support the development of higher-order thinking skills." (Cradler et al., 2002, p. 48).

3. Workforce Preparation

Research shows that when students learn to use and apply applications used in the world of work, such as word processors, spreadsheets, computer-aided drawing, Web site development programs, and the Internet, they aquire proper skills for their technology works. (Cradler, 1994, p. 49).

Concluding comments

The advantages of this research are: that technology can be effectively in school communities and help and support the students. It is important research with which we can distinguish the positive influence which technology has in students and help them to improve their abilities through the technology implementation in the classroom.

Using Crazy Talk to Increase Student Learning with 1st Grades

Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=whvXX2H0Nfg

Producer: Megan Power,a teacher of Poway Unified School District (USA).

You can see also:

www.iste.org/L&L 

http://caret.iste.org 

References

Cradler, J., McNabb, M., Freeman, M., Burchett, R. (2002). How Does Technology

            Influence Student Learning? Journal of Learning & Leading with Technology, 29(8), 46-50

            Retrieved November 5, 2012, from

            http://dixiesd.marin.k12.ca.us/dixieschool/Dixie%20Tech%20Plan/ResearchC        radler.pdf

 Cradler, J. (1994). Summary of research and evaluation findings relating to technology in education. San Mateo, CA: Educational Support

            Systems.

Cradler, R., & Cradler, J. (1999). Just intime: Technology innovation challenge grant         year 2 evaluation report for Blackfoot School District No. 55. San Mateo, CA: Educational Support Systems.

Power M. (2009). Retrieved November 5, 2012, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=whvXX2H0Nfg

                                Flipped classroom - A backwards classroom

During the last years an alternative teaching method has been introduced within the classes mainly as a solution to the strict class timetables. Although, most of the teachers are willing to apply innovative teaching methods and techniques, such as the problem-based learning, differentiated instruction and assessment, the immediate feedback, it seems that the size of a class hour is in most of the cases prohibitive for these kind of initiatives.

The " flipped classroom" came as a solution to this time management problem. The traditional structure of a class hour indicates at first place a teacher’s lecture and then students are given homework based on the lecture. According to the flipped classroom lecture is becoming the homework! A teacher can use any type of technology such as videos he made himself using screencast, you tube videos, blogs, open educational resources, and interactive educational games in order to present his lecture and students can watch it at their home at their own pace. Then the classroom is basically becoming a field of interaction with students. Students can apply their knowledge in exercises guided from the teacher who is now a tutor for them. All the questions and problems that could be emerged from an e-lecture can be discussed within the classroom using additional tools, team projects and immediate feedback. The core of learning, meaning team work and interaction with the teacher, more learning activities applied to the new information, immediate feedback along with teacher’s guidance have now more time to be applied and a class hour can be more productive (Bergmann & Sams, 2011)

The special feature of the flipped classroom is that it is actually a form of blended learning. Technology and educational technology is being used while the valuable role of teacher-tutor is enhanced. Furthermore, educational technology can be used in different ways. Only simple tools such as videos could be enough but also more complicated such as open educational resources, and educational platforms depending on the available school facilities or the children’s access to them. Moreover, students at the same time are being introduced in the world of technology and educational technology not as a different field of study but as an actual tool of learning and experimenting (Hertz, 2012)

Of course important issues should be on the table when it comes to technology and learning process, such as students’ accessibility to the needed tools. A teacher should keep them in mind and adjust his teaching method. However, it seems that in the case of the "flipped classroom" we can see technology even in its simplest form in the service of education.

references/sources links:

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2011) How the Flipped Classroom is Radically Transforming Learning. The Daily Riff. Retrieved on 5/11/2012 from: http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/how-the-flipped-classroom-is-radically-transforming-learning-536.php

Hertz, M., B. (2012) The Flipped Classroom: Pro and Con. Edutopia. Retrieved on 5/11/2012 from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-pro-and-con-mary-beth-hertz

http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/

http://www.techsmith.com/flipped-classroom.html

Useful Technology Tools for Students with Learning Disabilities

Summary

            The follow article developed by Jane Quenneville (2001) and it is mentioned in the technology tools for students with learning Disabilities (LD).

           This article describes different approaches which teachers can use in classroom with children with Learning Dissabilities. It presents different examples of technology devices which they are usuful and intresting for children with learning dissabilities. These devices can increase the learning outcomes of these children and the adaptation in classroom. 

Description

There are many technology devices which can help the children with learning disabillities.

Computer supports for writing

           Computers give the possibility to change the writing process and  to develop and record ideas, to edit ideas, and to publish and share with others.  Jane Quenneville (2001), mention "word processors, word prediction, portable note-taking devices, prewriting organizers, and multimedia prewriting prompts."

                                                        Portable note-taking devices                                                                          

                                                                Prewriting Organizers

Prewriting prompts: Multimedia software

           Children with Learning Dissabilities can use the visual and other multimedia in order to have more benefits for writing and develompment of prior knowleadge. 

"Bahr, Nelson, and VanMeter (1996) compared the effects of two computer-based writing tools on the story-writing skills of fourth through eighth grade students with LD." The researchers proposed that teachers can find a balance between  time spent planning stories and time generating actual text.

Benefits computers: Editing and publishing

            For students with LD, computers, portable keyboards, and specialized software are advantages for their learning outcomes. Computers offer an improvement in the quality and quantity of writing in students with Learning Dissabilities. Finally, computers give the posibility to students to improve the works succesful. (Quenneville, 2001).

In addition, there are a  software and one project which are proper for students with Learning Dissabilities and they are useful in order to help students to adjust in the classroom. You can see the "Totally Words", a learning software for children and adults with Down's Sydrome and the "AuRoRa Project" for Autistic children.

Concluding comments

Technology can help students with LD to adapt in the classroom. It is an effective way to introduce students with LD in classrooms and they feel more convenient and happy in classroom. It is important to improve the technology tools in order to help students with LD and students general.

Technology in special education classroom

Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uBbY-s5b1RE

Young student use intellikeys USB

Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h9hdMJmAZ5QProducer: David Robertshaw, Product Manager.

Related Link

http://www.pluk.org/Pubs/ATguide4LD_419k.pdf

References

Bahr, C. M., Nelson, N. W., & VanMeter, A. M. (1996). The effects of text-based and   graphics-based software tools on planning and organizing of stories. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29, 355-370.

Quenneville, J. (2001). Tech Tools for Students with Learning Disabilities: Infusion  into Inclusive Classrooms. Journal of Preventing School Failure, 45(4), 167- 170. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from

http://www.ldonline.org/article/6380/

Robertshaw, D. (2009). Retrieved November 3, 2012, from,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h9hdMJmAZ5Q

Exciting New Frameworks for Creating Open Educational Resources (OERs)

Two recent developments for educators using Open Resource technologies have a lot of potential; how they eventually pan out needs to be seen

On Oct 15, the 20 Million Minds Mix , a platform that enables teachers or anyone for that matter to custom-make textbooks by editing, revising, creating and reusing material in order to provide free/more affordable learning material to students was launched. It has access to over 5 million units of material  from Connexions, a collection of OER and more than 140 academic publishers. The platform helps in speedy composition, pricing and delivery, besides a real-time copyright clearance for articles/textbooks. Dean Florez, president of the foundation states,  “We strongly believe that giving educators a space that provides an abundance of resources and the flexibility for building low cost textbooks is the perfect recipe for making substantive change in the textbook industry."

Google’s Course Builder which was launched in September this year is an open source application to custom build courses. A comprehensive online tool for building learning resources with scheduled activities and lessons, basically to provide an online education. There is also a provision for ‘Hangouts on Air’ for live teaching. However basic skill with JavaScript, HTML and the Google App Engine  is required.  It is therefore perhaps more aimed towards  institutions looking to put large courses online rather than individual instructors. According to Google, Stanford University, Indiana University, UC San Diego and  Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) among others have shown an interest. It is experimental in nature and in line with Google’s other educational initiatives like Google Apps for Education and Google in Education.

Introductory video of Google Course Builder

These two developments are huge steps forward and hopefully will give a boost to the generation and sharing of more accessible educational resources. They will definitely be a help in creation and construction of new knowledge by serious educators and its more accessible delivery to learners. Of course, they are both too new to be evaluated critically at this stage. Many factors like quality assurance, technical knowledge required, ease of use, acceptance by primary users will determine what shape and form they take in future.

For a detailed report you can read :

PRNewswire

Edutopia

Wired

You might also like to see:

Teachers without Borders

OER Commons

Sugata Mitra - a second approach at using technology to expand the reach of education

 GRANNY CLOUD TEACHING

SUMMARY

Following the self-instruction discovery that students teach themselves in India through the hole-in-the wall experiments Sugata Mitra went on to further these findings. The Granny Cloud Teaching approach attempts to 'Deepen the students learning experience' (Sugata Mitra) using the method of or like a Grandmother-stand behind the children and admire them. Using a recruitment base in the UK, where he lectures at Newcastle University - A recruitment for 'grandmother' volunteers who had broadband and were willing to devote an hour of free time was undertaken. the chosen volunteers would then connect to a rural area and speak, encourage, talk to the children.The move and ideas have now equally been adopted in schools in the UK with its application of computers in schools for classroom group work.

See the following link: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EVxqH73n1A

PROS/CONS of the GRANNY CLOUD

As with his initial experiments, I believe the use of the internet and a volunteer group to facilitate and spread the possibility of transferring information, and generating learning in underdeveloped and rural areas is important. Sugata Mitra often refers to the idea that because of the fact that these areas are poor or rural they often do not attract the best teachers nor always are economically able to maintain schools. Therefore this approach is another method at spreading information this time in a more personal manner than his initial hole in the wall experiments.

However, in being an approach that attempts to 'close the gap' it is also important to think that not everywhere will they be capable of adopting this self-regulated learning. Firstly, in some areas just trying to get a broadband connection may prove difficult -so technical issues and availability may be problematic.

Additionally, this is a good idea for learning the basics…and building perhaps a certain amount of knowledge but not for in-depth studies-it can only bring one so far. Some form of 'teacher', which is more skilled than the 'grandmother' will at some point need to come into play. 

Lastly, as with everything the social context and culture may come to affect the opportunities in that children may be prevented from learning with the tool in the first place; with ideals that they have other tasks and chores to perform for the family, and varying opinions on girls versus boys educational needs to name a few. 

“Not allowing students to use the Internet is like taking a modern soldier, taking away his gun and gear and telling him to fight.” – UK Sugata Mitra, Newcastle