Does 1-1 help to bridge the digital divide in education?

Cecilia Rodríguez Alcalá

One to one case study in Paraguay

The one to one model reduces the digital divide by catalyzing an ecosystem for beneficieries to develop 3 stages of digital fluency:

a) Information & communicationb) Life competenciesc) Construction of knowledge

2.8%

97.2%

YESNO

6.5%

93,5% YESNO

10.0%

90.0%YESNO

5.0%

95.0%YESNO

Schools with computer access

Schools with internet access

Homes with internet access

Homes with computer access

Digital divide in Paraguay

General Country Information

GDP (in billions of $) 16.1Population (million people)

6.24

Poverty rate (porcentage) 32

Source: CEPAL 2007, , Wolfram Alpha 2008 , CIA World Factbook 2009.

Caacupé: Paraguay's first Digital CityPublic private partnership9000 children and teachers36 urban & rural private and public schools

Digital fluency will be discussed in terms of stages which are categorized into three main levels of complexity.

Time frames are estimates according to the one to one experience in Paraguay (still being tested).

The data provided is from an initial study financed by de IDB in sept. 2009, 4 months after the deployment of 3880 laptops in Caacupé. The external evaluating firm worked with a sample of 1284 children and 38 teachers.

Children Teachers

Digital fluency and 1:1 learning

14.7%

85.3%

NOYES

84.8%

15.2%

NOYES

89.2%

10.8%

NOYES

Children with IT knowledge or IT skills (1st grade)

Children with IT knowledge or IT skills (2nd to 6th grade)

Teachers who used computers 9.6%

90.4%

NOYES

Teachers who had anemail account/searched the internet

Stage 0: before the intro of the 1:1 model

Source: ALDA Foundation 2009

STAGE 1:

access information interpret and share their findings, receive support from a global, interconnected community of learners.

are familiarized with the use of basic Sugar activities, the school server and the Internet.

1-4 months after the deployment

26.0%

74.0%

NOYES

Stage 1 Creating a community of learners: families, volunteers, academics,Programmers, NGOs, experts... reducing the socioeconomic & edu divide.Ex: communication with migrant families, Sugarlabs.

Before: geographic &

knowledge gap

After: solidarity network, domino

effect

Parent’s who identify the need of learning how to

use a computer

Stage 1Affective benefits refer to our attitudes to school, teachers and classrooms. If students enjoy going to school, they will learn better.

Self esteem, motivation ...

7%

93%

NOYES

Teachers satisfied with their work

22%

78%

NOYES

Directors satisfied with their work

12%

88%

NOYES

Teachers who manifest the importance of intro IT to their

classrooms

Source: ALDA Foundation 2009

29.0%

11.0%

29.0%

29.0%

2.0%

Promotes learning

Child center

Expands knowledge, provides information

Teaching tool

Did not answer

4.0%

96.0%

NOYES

50.7%

21.1%

14.1%

14.1%

Improves knowledge technology.

Challenge

Personal satisfac-ction.

Lot of work

73.7%

26.3%

NOYES

IT use by DirectorsOne to one as means towards personal and professional growth (teachers)

IT as an important resource for teaching-learning (teachers)

Stage 1

Source: ALDA Foundation 2009

Teacher attitude towards IT in the classroom

Stage 2: acquire life competencies with tools designed to promote both personal expression and reflection, collaboration and discovery through the creation of innovative projects.

start shifting their learning strategies towards more collaborative group settings and gradually integrate different ICT strategies across subject areas.

4-12 months after the deployment

Stage 2: Life competencies

Individual: Students identify and propose solutions to technical problems, demonstrate a proactive attitude in the discovery of higher level applications and self determination in content creation.

Stage 2: Students acquire social competencies: collaboration & group discovery inside & outside the classroom. Ex: formation of clubs.

.Project Fairs: solving community problems and requiring action from parents and local authorities.

Nothing in our children's future resembles office work from the 1970s – Walter Bender

Sugar was designed for

children to learn to learn... it is in

constant evolution...

The Journal: assessment tool that contemplates the process behind every work in chronological order. What did you do? How did you do it? What did you learn? Is it portfolio worthy?

Stage 2: self evaluation and peer critique

Stage 3: Develop metacognitive and transferable skills when

they become active at constructing knowledge by utilizing multimedia programs, animations, simulations and software programming.

Create and debug code with their colleagues and catalyze the development of powerful ideas.

Electracy: the 'kind of 'literacy' or skill and facility necessary to exploit the full communicative potential of new electronic media such as multimedia, hypermedia, social software, and virtual worlds.”

7 months onward

Children can produce geometric

pen trails from programmable turtles (or other figures ie CARS!).

Stage 3: Constructing knowledge

Visual languages rather than text based allow kids to spend their time in higher order problem solving rather than syntax.

Visual languages rather than text based allow kids to spend their time in higher order problem solving rather than syntax.

Flexible platform for trial and error.

Stage 3: Multimedia authoring tools are increasingly interactive and programmable: images, videos & sounds

Students can identify sounds, edit music, compose & create sounds and instruments

Students learn a computer's programming and modify existing code

Stage 1:

Explore their own interests and are attracted to numerous games, 137 plus Sugar activities and social networks. Learn how to search online and start developing a criteria for info analysis by utilizing the school server & free internet available to the entire community.

Are familiarized with ICT functionalities but require assistance from their peers and students to solve technical problems. Most have difficulties integrating the curriculum with complex Sugar activities.Stage 2:

Create lesson plans with an interdisciplinary outlook, role shift to a facilitator in the classroom. Participate in digital forums and online communities. Organize community fairs and clubs.

Generate content and share their works through mailing lists, blogs, photo sharing, forums and school webpages. Engage in higher level activities and develop interactive presentations.

Concluding Remarks

Stage 3: Still in progress..

“Teachers will increasingly need to orchestrate complex contexts for literacy and learning rather than simply dispense

literacy skills, since they will no longer always be the most literate person in the

classroom.” Challenges→ Games/pornography→ Social Networks – restriction vs. blockage→ Misconceptions/poor teacher preparation ie H1N1, spelling mistakes → Teacher trainings→ Technical problems

60.6%21.2%

7.1%

2.0%9.1%

More trained

Provide knowledge and opportunities for students

Overcome their dif -ficulties

Acquire a printer

Did not answer

Teacher’s Expectations for 2010

Source: ALDA Foundation 2009

Reducing the digital divide through the one to one model also helps to reduce the non digital divide in education...

Before After

Classes were suspended during rainy days. Frequent teacher strikes. Lowest school hours in the region: 180 h/year.

Schools open during rainy days and weekends.

Only 20% of students had their National ID Cards

90% of students had their National ID Cards

Instructionist teaching method: students spend 80% of their time copying and memorizing.

More interactive teaching method; role reversal. Reflection and participation during school hours. Extracurricular activities.

Teacher training during school days. High degree of theoretical content.

Teacher training during vacations. E-learning platforms (i.e. Plan Ceibal collaboration). Hand-on approach.

Poor school infrastructure. Old and worn-out furniture.

Individual desk vs. work centers. New furniture. Refurbishing of bathrooms, ceilings, etc. done by parents.

Thank you!

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