Presentation for my E-Government Class

1. ICTs & Education
Education is the key that unlocks the rest of the SDGs; ICTs
can help us use that key.

2. Importance of Education
• Governments that prioritize education have healthier, empowered and
prosperous citizens
• Education is connected to longer lifespans, better career opportunities, and
overall prosperity
• And yet we are still seeing inequalities in resources and educators
• Where there is high quality education there is also infrastructure, wealth
equity, basics like food and healthcare and clean water, so these goals are
interconnected.

3. Sustainable Development Goal #4
• According to UN: Goal 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• This includes boosting primary and secondary education, supporting adult
education (particularly in women), promoting literacy and increasing the
number of qualified teachers
• ICTs are a tool that can & should be used by gov to pursue SDG 4
• Some literature refers to this as ICT4E (…4 Education)

4. Possibilities & Challenges of ICT4E
• Distance learning
• 24/7 experience of curriculum
• Technology literacy
• Including the family at home (parents can learn from child)
• Students are empowered by exposure to ICTs in education

5. Obstacles to ICT4E implementation
• When schools offer tech to students, it helps close the gap between
advantaged & disadvantaged
• But wealth inequalities can lead to unequal adoption/access, further widening the gap
• A country or region’s lack of internet connection & teacher preparedness
• Low funding investment from government or foreign aid
• Duplication of effort (reinventing the wheel unsuccessfully in multiple areas)

6. How to Respond to Some Obstacles
• Anticipate sustainability issues
• Train teachers before introducing tech to classroom
• Continuous monitoring, evaluation, and educator-education
• Think outside the box
• Partnerships between private and official institutions (and between
governments)

7. Obstacle: Teacher Unpreparedness
• How to respond: passionately invest in educators
• UNESCO teacher portal for collaboration, continuous professional training
• UNESCO’s ICT Competency Framework for Teachers provides innovative
educational policy to help prepare schools and teachers

8. Case Studies: Brazil
• ProInfo Integrado project
• Brazil has a large geo. area, large population & economic inequality. Quality
of education is not good there, but is improving thanks to government
efforts & collaboration.
• Project distributes computers and internet access to public schools
• Agreements with Linux to provide free software

9. Brazil continued
• Despite equipment and infrastructure investment, room for improvement
includes:
• Teacher training in computer literacy
• Improvements in working conditions
• Poor pedagogical resources

10. Case Studies: Uruguay
• Most of population concentrated near capital; these citizens had internet
connection, but rural & scattered communities did not
• Plan CEIBAL (Educational Basic Connectivity for Online Learning) intends
to connect as many citizens as possible to internet
• Plan CEIBAL also made Uruguay the first country to partner with One
Laptop Per Child on a nationwide level (2007-2009)

11. One Laptop Per Child
• OLPC is a non-profit to provide children in developing countries with
rugged, low-cost, low-power, internet-connected laptops
• Laptop is both a tool to learn with and a window into full education
participation with the world
• OLPC promotes social inclusion and empowerment through the use of ICTs
• Children become owners of laptops, so they can bring them home each day
(maximizing the use of government-invested equipment in the home)

12. Uruguay Continued
• Plan CEIBAL initially connected all public school children (grades 1-6) &
their teachers with these laptops
• Uruguay moved “outward to inward,” starting with remote communities &
ending at the capital, where the highest population is.
• The project is popular & effective – in later years, Uruguay has brought
laptops to secondary, technical and nursery schools.
• In total: 450,000 laptops to students & teachers, as well as free internet
access

13. Strengths of CEIBAL
• Students report increased self-esteem, motivation and parental participation
in learning
• Government partnered with a discrete non-profit with a simple yet effective
mission
• Dedication to including teachers and students’ families in tech training
• Outward-to-inward first brought assistance where it was needed most, which
maintained momentum into final phases of initiative.

14. Keys to ICT4E Success
• Infrastructure (internet connectivity, but also nutrition & safety)
• Government buy-in (government lead by example)
• Teacher training (including technical support)
• Continuous monitoring
• Creative thinking
• Spirit of collaboration & cooperation

15. Areas for Future Research
• ICT4E successful initiatives on a national level are impressive, but local-level,
more imitable efforts need attention
• How to address inequality of access & education in the United States
• Also, use of mobile technology in the classroom

16. Importance
• When a government recognizes that improvement of education leads to
better individual income, health and career prospects, their budget should
reflect that priority
• Young people develop self-esteem, belief in their abilities & become
connected to global learning.
• Internet technology also helps a person connect to open access resources
and courses outside of their geographic area.

17. Public Library’s Role
• Public library is (in US) well situated to help bridge the technology access
gap
• Libraries are considered safe, associated with learning, a good place to go
after school.
• For students with online course components but no home internet, public library is
vital
• Librarians are also informal information and tech literacy educators

18. Conclusion 
• Libraries can also use government funding to help excluded students get
hands-on experience with iPads, 3D printers and other learning technologies
wealthy families are able to supplement curriculum with.
• ICT4E can be a powerful tool, with creative thinking to address the main
challenges to SDG 4: lack of opportunities, resources, and connectivity.