David Hollow's presentation, entitled The XO Laptop in Ethiopia: Reflections on Assessing Impact, was delivered at Africa Gathering on 25 April 2009.

1. The XO Laptop in Ethiopia:
Reflections on Assessing Impact
Africa Gathering
David Hollow
d.m.hollow@rhul.ac.uk

2. ICT for Education…

3. Overview
• Why impact assessment?
• The role of research
• Case Study: XO laptop in Ethiopia
• Lessons learnt
• Wider application

4. Impact within ICT4D
• Key current debate within the ICT4D community
How can we know if our interventions are having any
actual ‘development’ benefit?
• Variety of approaches
• Place of research

5. Rationale for research
• Explore challenges of assessing impact
• Operating in partnership
• Utilise as a lens for analysis
• Evaluate the evaluation process

6. Case Study: XO laptop in Ethiopia
• Education in Ethiopia
• The XO 5000 initiative
• The role of BlankPage
• Monitoring and Evaluation

7. Methods
Exploratory
Methods
Classroom
observations
Interviews with
students
Research
diariesBaseline
tests
Interviews with
parents
Stories from
students
Focus groups with
teachers

8. Lessons: Content
‘When they first gave us
the laptop I was worried how
to use it … Now I know how to
do most things with it. There
is not much subject matter
on the laptop, I would like it
more if there was more
content on it.’
(Female student, G7)

9. Lessons: Teacher training
‘The project is going
well but we need more
training. Most of the
students are now more
advanced than us – so
we need training in order
to be able to teach them.’
(Male Teacher, G4)

10. Lessons: Integration
‘I use the laptop
a lot, but most of the
time I am using it at
home. I don’t use it
so much in school –
there is not time
because we are
just having classes’
(Female student, G3)

11. Lessons: Frustrations
‘At first my parents like
me having the laptop but
now they are complaining
because we are spending
too much time on the laptops …
we are using it all the time
and not studying as much as
we used to’
(Male student, G8)

12. Lessons: Frustrations
‘The main problem we are
facing is the students are using
the laptops in the classroom
and are not listening to the
teachers. We forbid them
from bringing them into the
classroom but they are still
bringing them and they are
disrupting things.’
(Female teacher, G3)

13. Lessons: Role for Akili
• Limitations of Constructivist models of learning
• Need for more progressive pedagogy
• Akili provides a bridge – within the curricula system
• Significant technical challenges

14. Recommendations
• Teacher training – pedagogical and technical
• Strategic plan for integration into classrooms
• Communication with parents and community
• Consider adjusting focus to secondary students

15. Wider Application
• Partnership
• Transparency
• Expectations
• Communication
• Unanticipated outcomes
• Capacity development

16. Wider Application
‘The focus group that you conducted with the
teachers was a significant turning point for the
programme. It was a shift from an authoritarian
approach to one where we engaged more with the
teachers and the schools … Before that it was just
about deploying computers and struggling with
support.’
(ECBP project lead)

17. Reflection
• Do we actively assess the impact of our programmes?
• Do we engage beneficiaries in decision making processes?
• What methods and approaches can we use to help do this?
• Are we conscious of the influence of power and aspiration?
• Do we see ICT as our tool and development our objective?

18. Further information on BlankPage:
www.blankpage.ch
Further information on ECBP and the XO 5000:
www.ecbp.biz
For a copy of the full M&E report please contact:
d.m.hollow@rhul.ac.uk