Our guide to the current state of m-learning in Africa is Dr Álvaro Sobrinho, an entrepreneur and philanthropist from Angola. He is the chairman of the Planet Earth Institute (PEI), a charity that is focused on bringing scientific independence to Africa. PEI has conducted a number of consultations on m-learning, gathering reactions from stakeholders from the African, mobile and learning communities.
Q1. What is mobile learning (m-learning) – how do you define it?
Put simply, it’s learning that is primarily on handheld or portable devices. There’s still a bit of confusion about the term, specifically with how it relates to ‘e-learning’, but essentially the way I view it is learning on a mobile phone or tablet. That makes it different to e-learning and other traditional methods, because it can be far more personal and informal if it’s on a device we carry around with us.
Q2. What is the state of m-learning in Africa today?
It’s mixed for sure. There is a lot of excitement and an increasing number of big organizations are now running programs, from international groups like USAID and UNESCO to national governments and sponsored initiatives from the telecommunications industry. And you can see why: the mobile phone revolution has been extraordinary in Africa, with the World Bank (2012) reporting that there are over 650 million mobile subscribters on the continent, an increase of over 2,600 percent in the last decade.
However, the PEI’s m-learning consultation, conducted last year, discovered a growing frustration that m-learning is still a bit of a gimmick. Many of those consulted from the world of academia, government officials and private sector called for a more integrated approach to m-learning. It shouldn’t be seen as a replacement or a silver bullet, but should be part of a wider educational strategy. Scientific and educational development takes more than just new gadgets and devices.
Q3. What needs to change?
I think more collaboration between educators, governments and the private sector (and the media), to try and better integrate m-learning into existing and future strategies. There also needs to be better training available for teachers and those being asked to utilize mobile educational tools. It was very clear from our research that it’s no use simply putting textbooks on tablets or giving students new learning apps. M-learning is much more about a change in teaching approach than it is about devices – and here lies the big challenge for m-learning.
Q4. Why do you think mobile is fundamental to bringing change?
There is no doubt about it, mobile has the potential to revolutionize Africa’s educational development, reaching more people and making learning more personal, relevant and intuitive. Just look again at the numbers. Increasingly everyday services will be offered on mobiles, as we’ve already seen with banking (led by Kenya’s m-Pesa) health, agriculture and weather updates. M-learning is happening informally whether education ministries like it or not, and the education community needs to seize the opportunities.
Q5. In what ways do you see mobile technology changing learning in Africa?
What came through clearly in our research is a willingness in Africa to integrate informal and formal learning. Rigid educational settings, including classrooms, don’t offer the flexibility that many on the continent need. M-learning does, meaning people can learn when it suits them on technology that is increasingly available. While it’s not a replacement for formal teaching, the importance of this informal education is enormous and for me, that will be the biggest change. Whether it’s a farmer getting weather tips via SMS or artisanal miners being shown simple health and safety advice on tablets by community leaders in rural societies, it’s all education able to benefit Africa’s development.
Q6. Do you think that the biggest role for m-learning will be in schools/for people of school age?
I think m-learning in schools will only continue to grow and, over time, I hope they will begin to improve education standards and reach. Projects like Dr Math have already shown value and scale, aiming to reach over a million learners in the next few years, connecting primary school children to professionals to answer simple questions. And similarly, the MoMaths and M4girls initiatives from Nokia are trying to do the same.
But while huge potential is there, there are real dangers and drawbacks about some of these initiatives. As Dr Niall Winters (who joined me at the PEI consultation) points out, m-learning is too often failing teachers at the moment. Currently, too many teachers are left outside the room when these new tools and platforms are developed. If m-learning is really to have a sustained and broad impact in schools, teachers need to be at the heart of it.
Q7. Other than schools, where else do you see m-learning making a major impact? E.g. workplace learning?
One of the most interesting things that came out of our consultation was the issue of mobile workplace learning, and we’ve since been working with a number of private sector bodies that want to develop new vocational or skills-based courses using tablets. PEI is currently developing schemes related to health and safety and basic management skills for a number of African countries, all delivered on a mobile tablet (stay tuned for announcements over the next few months). In many ways, this type of m-learning has the potential to have a bigger instant impact, because it can help people get jobs and improve their work very quickly, and almost every business on the continent is desperate to close the skills gap.
Q8. What technologies will be involved? Will it be mostly SMS, or will mobile Web also be significant?
Individual delivery choices have to be based on circumstance and project, and I think there will be a mix of SMS, Web-based and preloaded devices for the foreseeable future, until one platform potentially becomes dominant. SMS is a great way to reach rural communities, but increasingly the pilot programs that PEI is working on, for example with Skills@Work, will preload applications onto devices. Preloading apps means they are able to work offline, as well as offering much more advanced and engaging content (including audio and video for example) than you can with traditional SMS.
Q9. What are the drawbacks of m-learning in Africa? What hurdles need to be removed if m-learning is going to go mainstream?
When the PEI consultation asked what was the biggest hurdle to m-learning today, the most common answer was: cost. Not necessarily the cost of the device – mobiles are becoming widely available at ever falling prices – but more the cost of connection. Ultimately, the costs to get connected are often far too high for the end user.
Content development is an enormous challenge, too, because m-learning does not just mean delivering information to people. Learning isn’t just uploading a textbook to an app or mobile device, it’s about re-designing and enhancing the way people are taught and the way we learn. And that means training and engagement with everyone involved. To quote Steve Vosloo (UNESCO’s former senior project officer for m-learning) who chaired the PEI workshop session at UNESCO: “Education is still highly resistant to change. We need to make the case for m-learning. Because kids have tablets, because it’s cool or because it’s addictive aren’t good enough reasons!”
Aside from these individual hurdles, I would say the biggest drawback for current m-learning programs and discussions in Africa is unfortunately the distortion that the hype and excitement brings to broader educational policies. Because it makes a nice headline, m-learning is skewing much of the debate on science, education and technology in Africa. While we welcome increased investment in m-learning, I’m increasingly worried by seeing budgets of Ministries of Education of Science and programs of international organizations being totally and blindly devoted to m-learning. M-learning is not the answer to everything and isn’t a magic solution. One of the reasons the One laptop per child program was deemed a failure was because of a lack of collaboration between educational ministries and institutions, and m-learning advocates should learn from that.
Q10. What have been the recent landmarks in m-learning Africa?
African Governments are increasingly involving m-learning and ICT in their education policies. In fact, the World Bank found that by 2007-2008 48 out of 53 African countries had ICT education involved in their policies. To name a few specifically, Mozambique’s Ministry of Education now has the Technology Plan for Education, which includes a large proportion of m-learning; while the Ugandan Education Ministry has introduced SMS service for examination registration and results information.
As well as the examples I pointed to earlier in South Africa (Dr Math, MoMaths and M4girls), the SMS Education Management Application (SEMA) in Kenya was largely considered a successful project. The interesting thing about SEMA was that it focused on supporting teachers, rather than students, helping around 200,000 primary school teachers with logistical information, tips and advice.
In general, I think there is an important piece of work to be done around best practice and a library of case studies for m-learning, and I’m delighted it’s something UNESCO is currently trying to do, as recommended by the UNESCO
Mobile Learning Week Report, back in 2011 (see page 13).
Q11. What for you have been the most inspirational stories in m-learning?
I think the way mobile has developed in Africa has largely been in response to immediate need. And for me, some of the most inspirational examples don’t yet come from m-learning as such, but in how mobiles have fast become crucial to people’s lives. That includes everyday services such as the m-banking revolution led by M-PESA, but also more socially focused initiatives, like the Ushahidi platform, a free tool to share geo-tagged eyewitness reports by email or text, which has transformed the way people received information about elections, for example.
I think the m-learning community need to draw on how these inspiring examples connected with people and helped them achieve what they wanted to on a mass scale.
Q12. Who are the big players in m-learning in Africa – who are the suppliers/consultancies/associations/agencies/operators that are making a difference today, and who is showing potential for the future?
Alongside the national African governments, the big international organizations, particularly UNESCO and the World Bank, are certainly important players. International businesses, such as Nokia and Vodafone have also been heavy early investors in the projects and programs already running, as has the telecoms industry association the GSMA. There are also lots inspiring independent initiatives, such as the new SmartWoman Project.
In the future, I hope to see more local ownership and more involvement from the emerging start-up technology scene in Africa. The boom in African tech/innovations hubs is supporting entrepreneurs and new wave of local technology-centric businesses – I hope these hubs will play an increasingly large part of all mobile developments on the continent, including education.
Q13. What do you see as PEI’s role in m-learning?
PEI is a development charity focused on science in Africa, rather than being a m-learning or educational specialist. PEI is helping to incubate and support innovations or projects that can help Africa’s scientific and educational development, and m-learning is an important part of that. In the m-learning sector PEI recognized that there was a knowledge gap when it comes to a higher education level, as most programs are currently aimed at primary or secondary. PEI then used its networks to conduct an international consultation, interviewing over 100 key people across governments, academia and industry. These consultations are designed to shed light on the issues and help bring together ideas and partners for future projects.
On the back of the consultation last year, PEI is now developing a pilot education and work-skills project using mobile devices in partnership with a major university in Ghana, for example. We’ll help get the right partners and structure in place to make sure the project is mature and stable, and then we’ll use the lessons and experience to inform our campaigning and policy work. The consultations act as a very fertile ground to get new projects and programs together, and it’s a line of work we’ll be expanding to look at a whole range of key issues regarding scientific development on the continent.
Q14. What are your top 5 tips for best practice in m-learning?
1. Get everyone involved from the start – while projects can be initiated top down, they have to have buy in from all involved and users need to have a say in how they are developed.
2. Don’t be drawn in by the gadget – remember it’s just a platform. As someone in our consultation said, ‘Sometimes the best m-learning tool is the pencil!’
3. Look again at content – don’t just put textbooks on tablets. Re-design the approach and think about how mobile can enhance learning.
4. Keep a good record of your project and be prepared to share the knowledge – the m-learning community is still new and needs to learn from each others experiences.
5. Long-term thinking – sometimes projects have stopped after a relatively short amount of time, largely due to a lack of funding, so it’s important to have long-term sustainability plans and work with local partners.
Q15. Are there any useful resources you’d like to recommend – sites, articles, books, associations etc?
UNESCO’s Turning on mobile learning and GSMA/McKinsey’s Transforming learning through mEducation are both very good for backgrounds. Keep an eye out for news from UNESCO’s M-learning Week, which is taking place in Paris this month; and updates from experts such as Steve Vosloo, Prof John Traxler and Dr Niall Winters, who have all been involved with the PEI’s work in the last year and are right at the heart of things.
Dr Álvaro Sobrinho is one of Africa’s leading business figures and philanthropists. Born and raised in Angola, Mr Sobrinho has been at the forefront of the rise of one of Africa’s most powerful economies and is now a major investor across the continent. Dr Sobrinho is also heavily involved in the development of science, technology and innovation in Africa, most notably as chairman of the Planet Earth Institute, a charity with the mission of the ‘scientific independence of Africa’.
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