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Information and Communication Technologies in Developing Countries

The term developing country (defined here as having an economy with lower rather than high per capita gross national income, according to the World Bank) is inadequate to express the diverse social, economic, and political conditions of the many nations falling under this umbrella. Examples of such countries, according to the World Bank, include Albania, Belize, Cambodia, Djibouti, and about 135 others spread across the globe. The key challenge uniting these nations is a severe constraint on resources to invest in people. Given the capacity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to efficiently deliver information to large populations, ICTs hold great potential for developing nations. Most importantly, ICTs can be applied for educational uses such as computer-based and online instruction to reach many more people than traditional classroom-based approaches. Key considerations in implementing and evaluating ICTs for education in developing countries include their impact on access to education, evidence of effectiveness, and costs. This entry discusses the use of ICTs, access to ICTs, and the effectiveness and costs of using ICTs in education in developing countries.

Use of ICTs in Developing Countries

ICTs have traditionally been used in developing countries as a means to reach populations that, because of remote location or limited resources, would otherwise not have access to educational services or other important information. Types of ICTs put to such uses include interactive radio, distance and online instruction, computer-based technologies, and more recently, mobile phones. Purposes of these technologies are similarly diverse: providing daily instruction to children, training teachers, and providing literacy instruction for adults. For example, many developing countries have turned to distance and online education to prepare and certify large numbers of teachers. The One Laptop per Child project has put computers in the hands of millions of low-income children across the world.

A key recent development in ICT use in developing countries is the growing availability and use of mobile phones and other handheld devices for educational purposes. This strategy holds promise because of the widespread ownership of mobile phones in developing countries among even the poorest citizens. In many such countries, the mobile phone represents the only piece of technology available to many adults. Even those who cannot afford to purchase mobile phones often have access to rental phones. Mobile phones have been used in developing countries for instruction, teacher training, communicating with students and parents, and payment of teachers, who often must take time off from teaching to collect their pay in distant cities. According to evidence, the use of mobile phones may be particularly appealing to younger users, but less so for older people, who may regard the use of phones for instruction with skepticism. Given the proliferation of mobile phones in developing countries, coupled with increasing use of this technology for educational purposes, governments and educational institutions must begin to devise explicit policies and practices for their use in education.

ICTs and Access in Developing Countries

A primary advantage of using ICTs for education in developing countries is the potential to reach a much larger audience than traditional face-to-face instruction can. For example, Mexico’s Telesecundaria program provides secondary education through satellite-based television instruction to hundreds of thousands of Mexican children and adolescents living in rural areas. ICTs can also serve teachers in remote rural areas who have difficulty attending training opportunities that are often available only in cities. As an example, since 2005 the Open University of Indonesia has offered in-service training leading to a bachelor’s degree for hundreds of thousands of practicing Indonesian teachers, who must earn this degree by 2015 to remain in the classroom. Although the Open University has primarily relied on delivery of print-based materials and face-to-face tutoring for its teacher education programs, the university has also used ICTs such as CDs and DVDs. The university’s graduate-level courses are also taught using online techniques, including discussion forums and knowledge management systems. Given the remoteness of much of the Indonesian archipelago, distance learning provides access to many thousands of teachers who otherwise would not have access to training opportunities.

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