southern africa regional meeting on integrating …...southern africa regional meeting on...

Southern Africa Regional

Meeting on Integrating ICTs in

Teaching and Learning

23-24 November, 2015

Gaborone, Botswana

Southern Africa Regional Meeting on Integrating ICTs in Teaching and Learning 2 | P a g e

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa would like to express its sincere gratitude to all

delegates from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and

Zimbabwe, who travelled to Gaborone, Botswana for the Southern Africa Regional Meeting on

Integrating ICTs in Teaching and Learning, for their active participation in all the discussions, and for

sharing their countries’ experiences.

The UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa would also like to thank the Botswana National

Commission for UNESCO for their important efforts in making sure that this meeting could take place

in a successful manner.

The organizers received positive feedback from the participants and it is trusted that this report

captures all reflections, discussions and recommendations.

This report is prepared by Ms Gertie Steukers, UNESCO.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................ 2

Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................... 3

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 4

Opening Session ..................................................................................................................................................... 6

Official Opening .................................................................................................................................................. 6

Meeting Objectives ............................................................................................................................................ 6

Presentations .......................................................................................................................................................... 8

Creating Personal Learning Environment (PLE) with Social Media Tools and Supporting Continuing

Professional Development (CPD) (NAMIBIA) ..................................................................................................... 8

Experiences of integrating ICTs in Teaching and Learning (ZAMBIA, LESOTHO, BOTSWANA, MALAWI,

SWAZILAND, ZIMBABWE) ................................................................................................................................... 8

ICT Integration in Teaching & Learning in the Classroom: CFIT Namibia and Beyond (NAMIBIA) ................... 10

Information For All programme (IFAP) strategic plan and its way forward ..................................................... 11

Open Educational Resources – Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMIBIA) ............................................. 11

Creating Communities of Practice – Kopano Education Forum (NAMIBIA) ..................................................... 12

Establishing Strategic Partnerships – Korea Funds-in-Trust (MOZAMBIQUE).................................................. 12

Policy Framework for ICT Integration ................................................................................................................... 14

Strategizing for Progress ....................................................................................................................................... 15

Summary and Way Forward ................................................................................................................................. 17

Annex I: Final Programme .................................................................................................................................... 19

Annex II: Attendances ........................................................................................................................................... 20


INTRODUCTION

The Kigali statement on Post 2015 Education has recognized that achieving quality of education is a

matter of urgency in Africa. Noting that educational quality and learning are determined by inputs,

processes and outcomes, the Ministers have committed to explore innovative approaches to

education, including the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The

Ministers declared that ICTs must be harnessed to strengthen education systems, knowledge

dissemination, information access, quality and effective learning, and more effective service

provision. System strengthening should also draw on South-South and triangular collaboration and

sharing of best practices, adapted to country and regional contexts.

ICTs play an increasingly important role in the way we communicate, learn and live. ICTs have

transformed many aspects of our lives and offered unprecedented opportunities and challenges for

education. Education institutions, at all levels, need to provide every citizen with the knowledge,

skills and competences as well as the lifelong learning opportunities required for living and working

in an increasingly technology rich environment. Education systems should also ensure that they are

able to exploit the potential benefits of ICT to expand access to, and enhance the quality and

relevance of learning throughout life.

UNESCO therefore works towards an education system that is conversant with aspects of technology

and inclusive of ICTs. In the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning, access, inclusion and quality

are among the main challenges that need to be addressed. A review of a number of case studies of

ICT in Education Policies indicates that effective ICT in education policies depend on three main

pillars, namely: access to ICT infrastructures and equipment; teacher capacities; and monitoring.

Therefore, before ICT integration into national education systems can be effective, policy measures

need to be in place.

To unleash the full potentials of ICTs in underpinning the achievement of post-2015 education

targets of “equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030”, agreed at the World

Education Forum in Korea, policy makers need to understand ICT's role in delivering equitable and

quality lifelong learning opportunities. The sector-wide strategies of integrating ICT in the post-2015

education agenda need to be informed by debates between the education and ICT sectors.

At the International Conference on ICT and Post-2015 Education in Qingdao, People’s Republic of

China from 23 to 25 May 2015, it was pointed out that the successful integration of ICT into teaching

and learning requires rethinking the role of teachers and reforming their preparation and

professional development. The Qingdao Declaration is the first global declaration on ICT in

education, which provides Member States with policy recommendations about how to effectively

use ICTs to address current educational challenges and to ensure equitable quality education and

lifelong opportunities for all. The Declaration highlights in particular the paramount role that teacher

development and support has to play. It stresses that increasing efforts have to be made to promote

the culture of open educational resources and the need to ensure quality assurance and recognition

of online learning. In the Qingdao Declaration, Ministers of Education agreed that they will therefore

ensure that teacher training institutions are equipped and prepared to use ICT adequately to expand


the benefits of training and professional development programmes to all teachers, and to act as the

vanguard for technology-supported innovations in education.

The recent acceleration of technological change, including internet developments, mobile

technologies, cloud computing as well as the rise of open education resources, to cite a few

examples, results in a renewed, even stronger interest in the potential of ICTs to solve the existing

problems and shape the future of education. Technology in education has also not yet fully delivered

on its promises and better plans and strategies are needed. The soft infrastructure of trained

teachers is still missing and is something that needs critical investment. Without adjusted strategies,

technology continues to increase the gap rather than to bridge it.

Within the Southern Africa sub-region, several practices regarding the integration of ICTs can be

shared. Against this background, the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa in collaboration

with the Botswana National Commission for UNESCO organized a two-day Regional meeting on

Integrating ICTs in Teaching and Learning in Gaborone, Botswana, on 23-24 November, 2015.

The meeting was held against the following objectives:

To share experiences from current teacher training/development projects in the region

related to modes of initiatives (face-to-face, blended, online training), content (teacher

training materials in digital literacy, knowledge deepening and knowledge creation) and

partnerships established (private sector, Intergovernmental Organizations and in order to

learn from the roll-out models, share teacher training materials and Intergovernmental

Organizations);

To share the Information For All programme (IFAP) strategic plan and its way forward;

To advocate for effective methodologies in measuring teacher training/development and

usage of ICT in education;

To establish strategic partnerships between national governments, private sector and

Intergovernmental Organizations to effectively cooperate and collaborate on ICT teacher

training initiatives;

To strategize towards a regional Action Plan on Integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning.


OPENING SESSION

Official Opening

The participants were officially welcomed by the Secretary-General of the Botswana National

Commission for UNESCO.

On behalf of the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Education & Skills Development, Mr Simon

Coles, Deputy PS responsible for basic Education, addressed the official opening remarks of the

meeting. Mr Coles emphasized how this meeting is a great opportunity to share experiences and

work collectively towards a holistic approach for promoting ICTs in Education. He referred to the

Education 2030 Framework for Action (FFA) which has recently been adopted in a special high level

meeting concurrent to the 38th session of UNESCO's General Conference, at the UNESCO

Headquarters in Paris, France, and which provides for the harnessing of ICTs.

Mr Coles informed the participants that Botswana has made some significant reforms and intensified

teacher capacity building to promote the integration of ICTs. The available ICT infrastructure has

however not yet transformed educational practices.

Mr Coles acknowledged that the countries in the Southern Africa sub-region are at different stages

of development when it comes to ICT integration; standards are therefore not uniformly applicable.

Sharing experiences within the region however, will assist us in developing a strategy that will

promote transformational change in the area of ICTs in Education. On that note, Mr Coles also

emphasized the importance of partnerships in Education. “Education is a human right and a public

good which governments need to strongly defend. The state should not be alone in developing the

education system and educational quality; the state should join hands with the community,

development partners and the private sector.” Just like in the broader education sector,

advancements in ICTs are attributed to partnerships, local as well as international. This meeting will

assist us in constructing these partnerships in order to contribute to progress in the area of ICTs in

Education.

Mr Simon Coles officially opened the Southern Africa Regional Meeting on Integrating ICTs in

Teaching and Learning.

Meeting Objectives

Ms Carolyn Medel-Anonuevo (UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa) presented the objectives

of the meeting. She explained that the focus of this meeting is on the integration of ICTs in teaching

and learning. She explained that the discussions will therefore not focus on ICT infrastructure and

hardware or the use of social apps and social media, rather on how to use ICT as a methodology.

Share experiences

Share the Information For Action Plan (IFAP) and way forward (inter-sectoral discussion)

Advocate for effective methodologies in integrating ICTs in teaching and learning and

measuring their effectiveness


Establish strategic partnerships

Strategize towards regional interventions to support national actions.

Three important verbs are thus set out to be the focus of the discussions: sharing, advocating,

establishing partnerships and strategizing.

These objectives are reflected in the two-day programme of the meeting:

Day I: Sharing of experiences and discussions.

Day II: How do we develop ICT communities of practice in the region? How do we strategize

partnerships? How do we translate this in Action Points?

Session outlines:

Session 1: Situating our work

Session 2: Sharing Experiences on ICT Integration in Teaching and Learning

Session 3: Presentation of Information For All programme (IFAP) strategic plan and its way forward

Session 4: Discussing Policies on ICTs (Group Work and Plenary Presentation)

Session 5: Sharing on Open Educational Resources

Session 6: Creating Communities of Practice

Session 7: Establishing Strategic Partnerships

Session 8: Strategizing on how to improve the Integration of ICTs in Teaching and Learning

Session 9: Planning for Next Steps


PRESENTATIONS

Creating Personal Learning Environment (PLE) with Social Media Tools and Supporting

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) (NAMIBIA)

Mr Erkkie Haipinge, Lecturer of Educational technology and Project Based Learning at the University

of Namibia, presented on the use of social media in creating personal learning environments as an

opportunity to support continuing professional development.

Mr Haipinge situated the notion of personalized learning as the type of learning that is regulated by

the learner and that is concurrent with his or her interests, learning needs, directed by his or her

learning style and levels of motivation. Following this notion, he introduced the concept of a

personal learning environment which empowers students to take charge of their own learning,

prompting them to select tools and resources to create, organize and package learning content to

learn effectively and efficiently. The concept of PLE was subsequently linked to Continuing

Professional Development and social media tools. Mr Haipinge explained how social media enables

(1) the creation of a personal learning space – use of social media for self-generating content and

managing this content; (2) social interaction and collaboration – use of social media to engage in

basic sharing and collaborative activities; and (3) information aggregation and management – use of

social media to synthesize and aggregate information.

He furthermore mentioned a range of social media that can be used – including tools such as

Evernote, Edutopia, Researchgate, Google Drive, Wikispaces, WordPress, Mendeley, and

Academia.edu, in addition to the well-known social media – to enable certain learning activities.

He concluded by stating that all learning is personal and that we all have our unique learning goals

and motivations. To support this personal learning, social media provide tools for continuing

professional development and to create personal learning environments.

With this presentation, Mr Haipinge situated the ICT discussion and reflected on how ICTs can be

used as enablers for learning, to facilitate the learning process.

Experiences of integrating ICTs in Teaching and Learning (ZAMBIA, LESOTHO, BOTSWANA,

MALAWI, SWAZILAND, ZIMBABWE)

Zambia

Mr Alick Siankumo presented the highlights of a desk study on effective practices on the use of ICTs

in education, commissioned by the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa.

Mr Siankumo set out the ICT framework by explaining that Zambia has an ICT Act, ECT Act and

National ICT policy in place. Within the Ministry of Education, a drafted ICT in Education policy has

been awaiting approval since 2007. Zambia has been making efforts in the areas of internet

connectivity, training of teachers and supply of computers. ICTs are integrated in certain courses

throughout the curriculum.


Zambia faces challenges in terms of infrastructure and capacities (there are no institutions that train

teachers in ICT integration). The management and coordination of the integration of ICTs is also not

well-established. The policy framework needs to be more practical to ensure progress.

Lesotho

Ms Marethabile Matilda Khanyane shared the experiences of integrating ICTs in Education in

Lesotho.

Lesotho has an endorsed ICT Policy since 2005 and a draft ICTs in Education Action Plan.

ICTs ought to be integrated into teaching and learning in secondary and primary schools by including

ICT as a subject in the curriculum and by using ICT to teach other subjects. This is however not

happening because there is a significant lack of trained teachers, hence only computer appreciation

is taught in schools.

Both the Lesotho College of Education and the National University of Lesotho have made some

efforts towards ICT integration, but successes have been hampered by challenges, including the lack

of technical support, ICT readiness, and lack of funding.

Botswana

Mr Masome Rebaone, Principal Education Officer in the Ministry of Education and Skills

Development shared Botswana’s experiences in the area of integrating ICTs in education.

Botswana has a national ICT policy, of which 2 or 3 pages refer to the education sector and an

education specific ICT policy. Botswana has made efforts in school ICT infrastructure provision,

curriculum reforms for integration of ICTs and teacher professional development in the area of ICTs.

Botswana faces challenges regarding connectivity, ICT awareness, monitoring and evaluation and

high teacher workloads, among others.

Malawi

Ms Rose Kalizang’Oma explained Malawi’s context regarding the integration of ICTs in Education.

Malawi has an approved IT Policy in place. Most integration efforts have been made in the Higher

Education sector. Malawi is facing challenges in terms of capacities of ICT personnel, the cost of

internet connectivity and infrastructure. These challenges make it difficult to easily introduce and

sustain the integration of ICT for teaching and learning.

Swaziland

Swaziland has a National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) Policy in place since

2006. The government is committed to enhance teaching and learning through the use of ICTs and

has also established an e-government unit with e-government strategy. A draft ICT in Education

policy is awaiting approval since 2010.


A study of 2012 highlighted that 20 percent of schools was equipped with computers. The majority

of primary schools do not have ICT facilities but at least 75 percent of high schools do.

The ministry has undertaken a number of initiatives to advance ICT integration (primarily in

secondary schools). Challenges such as lack of qualified ICT teachers, lack of infrastructure, high cost

of internet connectivity and lack of support from educational administrators in providing necessary

resources, skills and infrastructure, call for further capacity building, developing partnerships and

sensitization.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s second Science Technology and Innovation Policy (Draft; 2012) stresses ICT literacy. The

new curriculum has seen the development of ICT syllabuses from Early Childhood Education (ECD)

up to A Level. These new syllabuses are due to be implemented in all schools in 2017. In addition,

the new curriculum has taken a position that ICT literacy becomes a cross-cutting issue, which means

that all learning areas must integrate the use of ICT tools and gadgets in order to gain maximum

benefit. The Ministry is gearing efforts towards advancing the integration of ICTs in Education.

Among others, the Ministry has developed Teacher Professional Standards (TPS), one of them in ICT

literacy. The Ministry, with the support of the Office of the President and other partners has also

initiated the Teacher Capacity Development Programme by which 6 universities are offering degrees

to teachers in selected disciplines, of which one is in ICT.

Discussion

Even though the countries in the Southern Africa Region are very different when it comes to ICT

readiness, they are facing similar challenges regarding their integration efforts.

Infrastructure and ICT literacy

Teacher training / lack of experts

Attitude and mind-set – cultural aspect and fear

ICT Integration in Teaching & Learning in the Classroom: CFIT Namibia and Beyond

(NAMIBIA)

Dr Perien Boer, Senior Lecturer Educational Technology, shared the experiences of Namibia’s

implementation of the UNESCO/China Funds-in-Trust Project (hereafter: CFIT).

Namibia has a national ICT policy in place, as well as an endorsed ICT Policy for Education (since

2006) with the Tech/Na! Implementation Plan Guide. Efforts are geared towards advancing the

integration of ICTs in Education: the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture is offering International

Computer Driving License (ICDL) courses to teachers; education students are equipped with ICT

integration skills through their teacher training; ICT is an examinable subject (computer studies,

keyboard and word processing skills).


The CFIT project was the first national (institutional) effort to address ICT integration in the primary

phase. The project focused on ICT Literacy, Training of Trainers for ICT support; efforts at addressing

e-content that is local; and building a virtual forum for support and community of practice.

The project built on a continuous informed approach: activities were informed by an ICT school

readiness survey, a questionnaire for the establishment of the virtual forum and the results of an

action research initiative in 56 pre- and lower primary classrooms.

In order to advance the integration of ICTs in educational practices, the project followed a triple

layered approach by focusing on the teacher educator, the teacher and the learner. The project

provided equipment (infrastructure) informed by the classroom needs, as well as advanced ICT

integration skills (capacity) through varied trainings.

Information For All programme (IFAP) strategic plan and its way forward

Mr Hezekiel Dlamini, UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa, presented the Information for All

programme (IFAP).

The Information for All Programme is an intergovernmental programme, created in 2000. Through

IFAP, Governments of the world have pledged to harness the new opportunities of the information

age to create equitable societies through better access to information.

IFAP works on 6 priority areas: (1) Information Accessibility; (2) Information for Development; (3)

Information Ethics; (4) Information Literacy; (5) Information Preservation; and (5) Multilingualism in

cyberspace.

With this presentation, the participants learned about the close inter-relation between the two

sectors: the communication and information field and the education field. Because of the strong

interconnectedness when it comes to ICT integration, it is important to look into creating

partnerships between the two sectors. This need can also be translated to the country level: ICT

ministries and education ministries are in need of creating synergies.

Open Educational Resources – Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMIBIA)

Mr Jan Nitschke and Ms Willemien Louw from the Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL)

presented the Notesmaster Namibia initiative (NNI), an e-learning system with the aim of creating

an educational resource, national in scope and freely accessible.

Notesmaster Namibia is the joint initiative between the Namibian College of Open Learning

(NAMCOL) and Notesmaster Global that started in 2012. Notesmaster is a freely accessible ‘open

source’ platform, specifically designed to facilitate the development of a global education network

for secondary level students. The Notesmaster Namibia Initiative brings new technologies that foster

a collaborative approach to digital content development for teachers in Namibia to address the

challenges they are facing with regard to accessing relevant, good quality online digital resources

and their effective integration into the classroom.


Open Educational Resources (OERs) refer to resources and materials used to support education that

may be freely accessed, reused, modified and shared by anyone. The OERs on Notesmaster Namibia

are locally authored, interactive and open to secondary school learners and teachers.

NAMCOL recognizes teacher capacity building as key in achieving effective use of technology in the

classroom. Teachers therefore receive various trainings.

The Notesmaster Namibia initiative was selected as one of the winners of the World Summit

Awards, which recognizes global digital creativity and innovation with social impact.

Creating Communities of Practice – Kopano Education Forum (NAMIBIA)

Mr Markus Mbambo, Coordinator at the Continuing Professional Development Unit of the University

of Namibia, presented the Kopano Education Forum.

The Kopano Education Forum was established in the framework of the UNESCO/China Funds-in-Trust

project “Capacity Development for Quality in Pre- and Lower Primary Teacher Education in

Namibia”. As part of the component on the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning, the project

generated the Kopano Education Forum. ‘Kopano’ refers to a word borrowed from the Silozi

language meaning “togetherness”, “working together” or “unity”. Research shows that teachers

often feel lonely in their profession and Namibia’s education community too, frequently operates in

isolation. The CFIT project therefore generated Kopano as a learning community of practitioners, an

online community of Namibian education stakeholders that serves as a support system as well as a

hub for educational innovation, inspiration and new ideas. The forum intends to be an inter-

institutional responsibility, coordinated by the UNAM CPD unit.

The main functions of the Kopano Education Forum were presented as follows:

To provide a virtual space that brings educators in ‘virtual togetherness’ in a virtual learning

community regardless of distances;

To create an online community of education stakeholders that serves as a support system,

as well as a hub for educational innovation, inspiration and new ideas;

To facilitate discussions and communication amongst education stakeholders;

To provide storage space for available learning materials;

To enable all educators to have access to materials and ideas;

To serve as an inter-institutional responsibility coordinated by UNAM CPD Unit, thereby

bridging the gap between institutions.

The forum is hosted on the open source social networking software Elgg.

Establishing Strategic Partnerships – Korea Funds-in-Trust (MOZAMBIQUE)

Mr Kauxique Maganlal, ICT Specialist and Advisor of the Minister of Education and Human

Development, shared Mozambique’s experiences regarding ICTs in Education.


Mr Maganlal informed the participants that, following the Technological Plan for Education (TPE -

2011), Mozambique is evolving from single ICT initiatives to a global and integrated strategy for ICT

in education that promotes synergies.

The Technological Plan for Education will develop education through an integrated political vision for

ICT in Education, complemented by a sustainable financial strategy and an ecosystem that

streamlines the plan and the Mozambican economy. The Strategy Document of TPE defines a

medium and long term vision for ICT in Education. The governmental priorities regarding the

integration of ICTs are outlined in the document as (a) equipment and internet; (b) training and

motivating of teachers to use ICTs; (c) contents and assessment; and (d) administrative and

education management. These priorities are set with the objectives to (1) develop technical and

literacy competencies that are critical for Mozambique; (2) promote the evolution of the teaching

model through the gradual introduction of ICT, pooled with the evaluation of teacher and school

roles and with new curricula and evaluations; and (3) promote a learning paradigm focused on the

student.

The implementation of TPE will be phased. Teachers mobilization and students preparation for the

labour market are the short term priorities. The implementation of TPE will enable not only the

significant improvement of the ratio of students per computer, but also the generalized access to

the internet.

Through the TPE, Mozambique is also gearing efforts towards enhancing teachers’ ICT competencies

and in the field of online learning. In each area however, challenges are faced in terms of teacher

capacity, infrastructure and monitoring and evaluation. The UNESCO/Korea Funds-in-Trust Project

on “ICT Transforming Education in Africa” will assist in addressing these challenges. The project will

focus on capacity building in 24 teacher training colleges and school management. By focusing on

infrastructure, OERs and capacity building, the project approach adopts a forward looking vision.


POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR ICT INTEGRATION

As per the below table, all eight countries reported to have a national ICT policy framework in place.

The majority of the countries have worked on Education specific ICT policy frameworks.

Many of the countries are however sitting with ICT in Education policy drafts which are awaiting

endorsement. Policy implementation is reported to be slow or hampered, and not adequately

monitored with lack of accountable entities. The lack of policy awareness and lack of funding and

capacity were reported as additional concerns for adequate implementation, as well as the need for

inter-ministerial collaboration in the area of ICTs.

Country National ICT Policy ICT in ED Policy Challenges

Botswana National ICT policy: Maitlamo ICT Policy (2005)

Thutonet (2006) • Slow implementation • Limited human resources • Lack of experts • Electricity challenges • Low bandwidth

Lesotho National ICT policy Draft ICTs in Education Action Plan

• Funding • Technical capacity

Malawi National ICT policy • Funding • Capacity • Cost of infrastructure

Mozambique National ICT Policy (2000) and Implementation Strategy (2002)

Technological Plan for Education (2011)

• Funding • Teacher capacity

Namibia National ICT Policy Namibian ICT Policy for Education (2006)

• Adequate implementation • Changes in administration • Staff turn-over • Funding • Monitoring and evaluation • Accountability

Swaziland National ICT policy Draft ICT in ED policy (draft since 2010)

• Funding • Support at all levels • Monitoring of implementation

Zambia National ICT policy Draft ICT in ED policy (draft since 2007)

• Funding • Capacity • Fragmentation of delivery • Policy clarity

Zimbabwe National ICT policy: Second Science Technology and Innovation Policy of Zimbabwe (2012)

The participants also discussed suggested national and regional efforts to address the identified

policy challenges.


Regarding the national level, the participants identified the importance of gearing efforts towards

capacity building, policy awareness, improved coordination, infrastructure, and development of e-

content.

Regarding the regional level, the participants made the following recommendations:

Establish bilateral and multilateral agreements - partnerships within the region;

Promote communities of practice and regional fora;

Develop a regional ICT policy framework;

Develop a SADC strategic document which binds countries to their own ICT in Education

policies and promotes accountability;

Promote sharing of ICT experts across the region.

STRATEGIZING FOR PROGRESS

In the framework of strategizing for progress, the participants identified 4 priority areas (policy,

capacity, curriculum and advocacy) for advancing the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning and

concurrent action points for the national and the regional level.

POLICY – Action Points National Regional

Review national policies with a view to integrate ICTs in education/teaching and learning;

As a principle, use bottom-up approach to inform policy (in context and culture);

Develop an implementation plan to accompany the policy, involving public private partnership;

Monitor and evaluate.

Harmonize for a common policy framework;

Support each other.

CURRICULUM – Action Points National Regional

Review the current national curriculum to be used as a vehicle to enable the integration of ICT in teaching and learning;

Make sure subject syllabuses indicate integration ideas through aims and objectives;

Make sure school syllabuses include teacher support guidelines such as lesson templates, examples of sites to access content;

Design curriculum to include ICT as a subject from K – 12;

Design Teacher training curricula to support teacher’s ability to use ICTs;

Develop digital learning content to provide teachers with learner support materials.

Develop regional guidelines for adequately including ICTs in the curriculum.


CAPACITY – Action Points National Regional

Build/strengthen capacities of national trainers with an inclusive perspective (curriculum developers, inspectors, in-service officers, policy developers);

Build/strengthen capacities of training institutions with an inclusive perspective (facilitators, administration, subject lecturers);

Build/strengthen capacities of teachers with an inclusive perspective (facilitators, administration, subject teachers).

Draw up an inclusive comprehensive Regional framework for capacity building

ADVOCACY – Action Points National Regional

Sensitize management throughout the system (PS, legislators, education managers) on the integration of ICTs to serve national sustainable development goals;

Raise community awareness to target ICT mindset;

Sensitize private ICT companies/industry; Incentivize integration practices.

Mobilize all stakeholders and sensitize leaders/management;

Share best practices and resources; Sensitize private ICT companies/industry.


SUMMARY AND WAY FORWARD

Throughout all presentations and discussions of the two-day workshop on integrating ICTs in

teaching and learning, a few important elements can be extracted:

Understanding ICT integration – Integrating ICTs in teaching and learning implies more than

infrastructure and ICT literacy skills. These elements of ICT readiness are in fact pre-requisites for

integration. ICTs can only serve as enablers for learning if (a) they are available (infrastructure) and if

(b) one knows how to use them (ICT literacy skills). Integrating ICTs into teaching and learning

practices can thus only follow ICT readiness.

Following the diverse ICT environments within the Southern Africa sub-region, the discussions

throughout the two-day workshop varied between the ICT readiness and the ICT integration

discussion.

ICT Readiness a) ICT Infrastructure b) ICT literacy

ICT Integration 1: Understanding of ICT integration / conceptual framework 2: Capacity to guide integration – teacher capacity 3: Policy framework for integration in ED

ICTs as enablers for learning assist in achieving educational goals while deepening knowledge and

learning. When ICTs enable the learning process, five levels of integration lead to the creation of

knowledge-based societies (fundamental, adoption, adaptation, infusion, innovation).

Creating this common understanding of ICT integration is an important step in moving closer

towards the successful integration of ICTs to facilitate the learning process in the Southern Africa

sub-region.

The cost of ICT infrastructure – In terms of ICT readiness, the majority of the countries emphasized

their struggle with the provision/quality of ICT infrastructure (equipment and connectivity).

Following the abovementioned discussion of infrastructure being a pre-requisite for integration, this

is a serious concern that needs immediate attention. Partnerships and collaboration with service

providers and private ICT companies/industry need to be explored as a matter of urgency.

Capacity needs – The urgency of teacher capacity building was a recurring concern throughout the

two-day meeting. Teachers need to be equipped with the skills to use and integrate ICTs in teaching

and learning (in-service as well as pre-service). This is closely linked to the need for ICT experts to

increase national understanding, spearhead ICT progress and train trainers. Sharing the ICT expertise

across the Southern Africa sub-region was proposed as a suggestion for addressing this concern.

Addressing a mind-set issue – Participants identified the negative mind-set regarding ICTs in

education as a major challenge towards sustaining technology integration practices. Participants

pointed out that this mind-set is closely interlinked with culture. The living idea is that ICTs make

plenty of information available which would influence children/learners’ thinking. In order to

safeguard social and cultural values, children should not be allowed to use the internet and


smartphones, among others. This suspicion regarding the use of ICTs hampers progress and should

be addressed by means of advocacy and sensitization efforts.

An inter-sectoral ICT discussion – It became evident throughout the discussions that ICTs have an

inter-sectoral character. The fragmentation of the ICT mandate calls for clear coordination efforts.

The communication and information sector should work closely with the education sector to

generate progress in the area of integrating ICTs in education. It follows that coordination and

collaboration between education and ICT ministries is vital.

Exploring mobile learning – Throughout the two-day meeting, mobile learning did not enjoy the

centre of discussions, albeit it was brought up multiple times. Mobile phones are important

technology tools to be integrated in education. Considering the challenges faced in the sub-region

regarding infrastructure, smartphones and mobile connectivity are almost secure phenomena.

Countries should explore ways of integrating the perks of mobile phones into the (formal and/or

informal) learning framework.

Validity of a regional framework – Throughout the deliberations, it became apparent that even

though, the regional differences are vast, the countries in the Southern Africa sub-region are facing

similar challenges regarding ICT integration in education. A regional push towards progress would

therefore be a legitimate approach. Participants indicated the benefits of regional fora, the sharing

of experts and the development of a regional policy framework, among others, to advance regional

progress regarding the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning.

Following all of the above areas of challenge and concern, the participants identified the opportunity

of organizing national consultations for ICTs in education, bringing together the different

stakeholders (inter-sectoral) involved to discuss a national action plan and potentially to establish an

ICT integration National Task Force to take things forward and to keep things moving. UNESCO will

explore the possibility of supporting these national consultations.


ANNEX I: FINAL PROGRAMME

DAY ONE, 23 NOVEMBER 2015

7:30-8:00 Arrival and Registration – Botswana National Commission

8:00-8:30 Opening session – MC (Botswana NATCOM)

Welcome remarks and introduction of participants– SG/Botswana NATCOM

Opening remarks – Mr. Simon Coles, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education & Skills Development

Group Photo

8:30-9:15 Presentation of objectives/flow of the program – ROSA

SESSION ONE: Situating our work 1. Creating Personal Learning Environments with Social Media Tools and Supporting

Professional Development - Mr Erkkie Haipinge (University of Namibia) 2. Highlights of Desk Study on Effective Practices on the Use of Information and

Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education, Alick Siankumo, Zambia Discussion

9:15-10:30 SESSION TWO: Sharing Experiences on ICT Integration in Teaching and Learning 1. Connecting Classrooms Program - Ms Nobantu Kalake (British Council-Botswana) 2. ICT Integration in Teaching & Learning in the Classroom: CFIT Namibia and Beyond -

Dr Perien Boer (University of Namibia) 3. Lesotho sharing of experience

Discussion

10:30-11:00 Health Break

11:00-12:30 SESSION TWO cont. Sharing of experiences :Botswana, Malawi, Swaziland, Zimbabwe

12:30-13:00 SESSION THREE: Information For All programme (IFAP) strategic plan and way forward Moderated discussion and question and answers , Hezekiel Dlamini, UNESCO ROSA

13:00-14:00 LUNCH BREAK

14:00-15:30 SESSION FOUR: Discussing Policies on ICTs (Group Work and Plenary Presentation)

15:30-16:00 SESSION FIVE: Open Educational Resources – Namibia College of Open Learning by Mr Jan Nitschke and Ms Willemien Louw

DAY TWO, 24 NOVEMBER 2015 8:00- 8:30 Recap of Previous Day – Gertie Steukers, UNESCO Windhoek

8:30-9:15 SESSION SIX: Creating Communities of Practice Kopano Education Forum in Namibia - Dr Kamwi Nyambe (University of Namibia) Discussion

9:15- 10:30 SESSION SEVEN: Establishing strategic partnerships between national governments, private sector and Intergovernmental Organizations to effectively cooperate and collaborate on ICT teacher training initiatives The Example of Korea Fund- In-Trust (KFIT) Project on the Implementation of ICT in Education (case of Mozambique) - Eng. Kauxique Maganlal (Mozambique Ministry of Education and Human Development) Discussion

10:30-11:00 Health Break

11:00-13:00 SESSION EIGHT: Strategizing on how to improve the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning – Group Work Plenary Presentation

13:00-14:00 LUNCH BREAK

14:00-15:45 SESSION NINE: Planning for Next Steps

15:45-16:00 CLOSING

16:00- Cocktail


ANNEX II: ATTENDANCES

Country Nr Name Position Institution E-mail

Botswana

1 SEKOBOANE Mpho

Education Officer

ICT & Media Services

[email protected]

2 REBAONE Masome

Principal Education Officer

Ministry of ED & Skills Development

3 SELETE Letsweletse

Project Manager


[email protected]

4 KGABI Baipidi

Chief ED Officer


[email protected]

5 MODIMAKWANE Dineo

Education Officer

Botswana NATCOM

[email protected]

6 MASEKO Phidelma

Programme Officer (CI)

Botswana NATCOM

[email protected]

7 AKAND Asador

Principal Technical Education

Officer (ICT)

Botswana NATCOM

8 Dr MENGWE Moses

DTVET

9 MAJWABE Shadreck

10 MTAMAKI Cacius

Lesotho

11 KHANYANE Marethabile

Matilda

Teacher Trainer Lesotho College of Education [email protected]

[email protected]

00266 587 035 95 12 MOTSOANE Phatsa Moses

Senior Curriculum Specialist-

Creativity & entrepreneurial

National Curriculum Development

Centre

[email protected]

Malawi 13 KALIZANG’OMA Rose D. J Chief Education Officer Ministry of Science and Technology [email protected]

Mozambique 14 MAGANLAL Kauxique Minister ICT Advisor Ministry of Education and Human

Development

[email protected]

00258824972770

Namibia

15 NASHIKU Tomas Steven Computer Technician Ministry of Higher Education,

Training & Innovation

[email protected]

16 MBAMBO Markus

Coordinator, Continuing

Professional Development

University of Namibia [email protected]

17 Dr BOER Perien

Senior Lecturer University of Namibia [email protected]

081 251 7342 18 HAIPINGE Erkkie Lecturer University of Namibia [email protected]

19 NITSCHKE Jan Jakobus Deputy Director Namibia College of Open Learning [email protected]


20 LOUW Wilhelmina Programme Developer Namibia College of Open Learning [email protected]

Swaziland 21 TSELA Leonard Mgcibelo Senior Inspector of Schools ICT Ministry of Education & Training [email protected]

Zimbabwe

22 SHAVA Kudzai Lecturer Ministry of Higher & Tertiary

Education

[email protected]

0782 732 275 23

MAKANDA Arthur Pascal Director-Curriculum Development

& Technical Services

Ministry of Primary & Secondary Education

[email protected];

[email protected]

EU 24 GRONQVIST Mikaela Heidi EU Delegation to Botswana [email protected]

Worldbank 25 LOUNGO Lolo Tibone Operations Analyst World Bank Botswana [email protected]

UNESCO

26 MEDEL-ANONUEVO

Carolyn

Senior Education Programme

Specialist

UNESCO Regional Office for

Southern Africa

[email protected]

27 COULIBALY Abdoul Wahab

Education Programme Specialist UNESCO Regional Office for

Southern Africa

[email protected]

28 STEUKERS Gertie

International Education Consultant UNESCO Windhoek National Office

for Namibia

[email protected]

29 CHICUECUE Noel National Programme Officer for

Education

UNESCO Maputo National Office

for Mozambique

[email protected]

30 DLAMINI Hezekiel

Communications and Information

Programme Specialist

UNESCO Regional Office for

Southern Africa

[email protected]

southern africa regional meeting on integrating …...southern africa regional meeting on...

Documents