Digital Technology Can Help Reinvent Basic Education In Africa (qz.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Quartz: African countries have worked hard to improve children's access to basic education, but there's still significant work to be done. Today, 32,6 million children of primary-school age and 25,7 million adolescents are not going to school in sub-Saharan Africa. The quality of education also remains a significant issue, but there's a possibility the technology could be part of the solution. The digital revolution currently under way in the region has led to a boom in trials using information and communication technology (ICT) in education -- both in and out of the classroom. A study carried out by the French Development Agency (AFD), the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), Orange and Unesco shows that ICT in education in general, and mobile learning in particular, offers a number of possible benefits. These include access to low-cost teaching resources, added value compared to traditional teaching and a complementary solution for teacher training. This means that there's a huge potential to reach those excluded from education systems. The quality of knowledge and skills that are taught can also be improved.

Comments

Re:Have these people ever been in Africa?

[KiloByte]

The kind of idea dreamed up by technology fans who haven't got the slightest clue about the actual challenges facing the kids there.

Those guys do know this better than you, it's just that their aim is not as benevolent as you'd expect.

Getting teachers there would cost orders of magnitude less than "one iPad per child", but won't line the pockets of people interested in their pockets being lined.

Any technological device would also end up being robbed by the local warlord. This is the primary obstacle for making sub-Saharan Africa less of a hellhole.