[kictanet] adopt a school

Wed Feb 7 20:35:40 EAT 2007

I believe that Free and Open Source Software (FOSS/FLOSS) can a play
significant role on the software acquisition frontier, capacity building,
security (no viruses) and CUTTING COSTS.

We surely do not need discounts on software to make e-centers/ digital
schools a reality.

Muthoni

On 2/7/07, Mr. Barnabas Sang <bksang at education.go.ke> wrote:
>
>  Numbers are no longer an issue taking into consideration the current
> momentum of e-leaders in our amidst:
>
> Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centers - 29,500
> Primary Schools - 19,890
> Secondary Schools - 4,125
>
> Tertiary - 3,200
>
> *ICT as an means....*
> **
> The challenge is to increased access to Secondary Education which
> currently stand at 60% transition (i.e. percentage of class eight
> graduates to Secondary education). Big question then is, Does ICT provide
> answers to such an issue? Yes.... Thus need for prioritization of ICTs
> targeting Secondary Schools and Community Learning Centers to allow youth
> out of formal schooling to access Secondary Education.
>
> Research also indicates that PC presence in schools, especially in
> Primary, have some influence on grade performance (sciences and
> mathematics). Primary schools with ICT infrastructure can benefit from huge
> knowledge-base and variety of digital content (largely Universal) available.
>
> For digital villages and e-schools to succeed, the following have to be
> prioritized:
>
>    - Content: appropriate content which supplements or complement
>    current curriculum. Thanks to Mr. Sammy Kirui (Telkom) for identifying this
>    need in ICT for Development Expo speech. This is the number one case:
>    Without appropriate content, ICT becomes a luxury and hence no school
>    management committees can justify ICT in education investment. Will there be
>    some significant change in school performance after investment? Can school
>    retention of students (against dropouts or transfers) be sustained? Will the
>    syllabi be better delivered than is the case now?
>    - Capacity building: yes digital content can be in place and
>    infrastructure and all software we need to have envisaged e-institutions.
>    Without training to manage the resources and utilized them, the investment
>    will be run down within no time. Challenges of security (antivirus:
>    experience we are observing in the NEPAD e-Schools), malfunctioning of
>    hardware (physiological differences of our landscape - dust, heat, wind/
>    power access and physical security) and social threats of Internet
>    introduced in our schools. Definitely, training is key. follow-up training
>    is critical as well.
>    - ICT Integration: This is an activity that involves integration of
>    ICT in each subject area, making ICT a media for instruction, tool for
>    delivery and channel for information access. e.g. if you're a
>    biology teacher, we expect you to take students to a computer lab twice a
>    week to teach some topics which require animation for better comprehension.
>    If one teaches Kiswahili, we expect some lesson in "Ngeli na sentensi..." to
>    be done in the lab... using Swahili version of software... This is what will
>    demystify ICT from being a preserve for tech teachers to being a tool for
>    every teacher every student rather than for computer students.
>    - ICT Infrastructure access: the Numbers, yes, 30,000 Schools as
>    indicated would require some resources. For an e-school to be effective,
>    assuming two students will share a PC in our schools, a 45 Student stream
>    class would use 25 PCs per lab. If the school is three streams, then you
>    require a minimum of two labs. To have sharing of materials and resources
>    done effectively and efficiently, a LAN is definitely required.
>    - National and Regional ICT Support Centers: to act as institutions
>    where issues are resolved as they arise in our e-institutions. Could it be
>    content? Repair? Training follow-up? Replacement etc. Support centre should
>    provide some helpdesk services.
>
> Connectivity comes to add value to all interventions, especially when an
> e-institutions realize they have content that require others to access or
> they would require access to shared resources in some portal. In some cases,
> Internet might be supplementary to the above key points. Yes, we know
> Internet is a resource where the learner and info-seekers would benefit. It
> still lies with having content (appropriate content and security), capacity
> building (on sites, portals) and Sustainable connectivity options. Thanks to
> Kai and others who're sounding an alarm for provision of this treasured
> resource to our esteem education institutions (for *Free!*). With launch
> of various products by service providers in the recent past, it is expected
> that connectivity will be available in most parts of our country /
> continent! (CEO Safaricom and CEO Celtel -> ICT for Dev Expo quotes). I will
> be more observant to see demos of these products in a few e-institutions.
>
> Thanks to PS InfoCom and all of you working to make eMado (Madaraka) PC a
> reality. I hope we have other players thinking on content (especially for
> e-education/e-learning) for various target groups; that will indeed make the
> eMado attractive.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> B. K. Sang
> ICT Department
> Ministry of Education
> P O Box 30040-00100
> Nairobi
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Alex Gakuru <alex.gakuru at yahoo.com>
> *To:* bksang at education.go.ke
> *Cc:* David Owino <david.owino at kdn.co.ke>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 07, 2007 5:51 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] adopt a school
>
> Whoaa... 30,000 Kenya schools?
>
> Gakuru
>
> *Kai Wulff <kai.wulff at kdn.co.ke>* wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> we are willing to ADOPT the connectivity to all the schools for free!
>
> Kai
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Rebecca Wanjiku <rebeccawanjiku at yahoo.com>
> *To:* kai.wulff at kdn.co.ke
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 07, 2007 15:09
> *Subject:* [kictanet] adopt a school
>
> Adopting Schools
>  It all started with "Adopt a light", an ambitious city lighting project.
> Now, Manu Chandaria, industrialist cum philanthropist wants to apply the
> same concept in ICTs.
>  Speaking at the ICT for Development Expo opening ceremony on February 7,
> Chandaria challenged Kenyans to adopt schools and make sure they can access
> computers.
>  "You can change the face of your village school. Just go there and donate
> a computer. You can change the face of Kenya," Chandaria said.
>  He also disclosed that he will finance a digital training centre in
> Mariakani. The centre will be expected to act as a base to establish digital
> villages in coastal area. One digital village will cost approximately shs
> 140,000 (USD 2000).
> ends
>
>
> Rebecca Wanjiku,
> journalist,
> p.o box 33515,
> Nairobi.00600
> Kenya.
>
> Tel. 254 720 318 925
>
> blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/
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