EduSSA

From OER in Education

Education in sub-Saharan Africa - projects

SOME TEXT


(see EduSSA/resources, see also OER teacher education resources).

Reports ...

Publications directly related to OER4Schools

  • Three papers covering Phases 2 and 3 are forthcoming (please email us at sch30@cam.ac.uk for updates):
    • Hennessy, S., Haßler, B. & Hofmann, R. (2015, in press). Challenges and opportunities for teacher professional development in interactive use of technology in African schools. In J. Tondeur & J. Voogt (eds.), Technology, Pedagogy and Education: Special Issue on "Capacity Building for 21st Century Learning in Africa: A Focus on ICT Integration in Education."
    • Hennessy, S., Haßler, B., & Hofmann, R. (under review). Pedagogic change by Zambian primary school teachers participating in the OER4Schools professional development programme for one year.
    • Haßler, B., Hennessy, S., & Hofmann, R., with Makonga, A. (in preparation). Sustainability and scalability of pedagogic innovation in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of the OER4Schools professional development programme.
  • Published work includes:
    • B.Haßler, S. Hennessy, A. Cross, with E. Chileshe and B. Machiko (2014). School-based professional development in a developing context: Lessons learnt from a case study in Zambia. Professional Development in Education. doi:. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2014.938355.
    • Lawrie, J., Hennessy. S. & Haßler, B. (2014) Technology and teacher professional development. (Chapter 7). In Burns, M. & Lawrie, J. (Eds.), Teacher professional development in fragile contexts: A guide for policymakers and practitioners. New York, NY: Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies.
    • Hennessy, S., Haßler, B., & Mwewa, G. (2012). Using digital technology and school-based professional development to leverage interactive classroom teaching in Zambia. In J. MacBeath & M. Younger (Eds.), Millennium Goals Revisited: A Common Wealth of Learning. London: Routledge. Available online.
    • Haßler, Hennessy and Lubasi (2011), Changing Classroom Practice using a School-Based Professional Development Approach to Introducing Digital Resources in Zambia, Itupale Online Journal of African Studies, Volume 111. Available at: http://www.cambridgetoafrica.org/resources/Itupale_Volume_3_2011.htm#hassler_et_al
    • Hennessy, S., Onguko, B., Ang’ondi, E. K., Harrison, D., Namalefe, S., Naseem, A., & Wamakote, L. (2010). Developing use of ICT to enhance teaching and learning in East African schools: a review of the literature (No. 1). Cambridge, UK and Dar es Salaam, TZ: Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development - Eastern Africa.
    • Hennessy, S., Harrison, D. & Wamakote, L. (2010). Teacher factors influencing classroom use of ICT in sub-Saharan Africa. Itupale Online Journal of African Studies, 2 (“Education in Africa: Developments for the 21st Century”), 39-54. Available at: http://www.cambridgetoafrica.org/Itupale_Volume_2_2010.htm

The DfID ANTSIT project [1] report is available here:

CCE literature review

  • The CCE literature review on uses of ICT in primary and secondary schools and teacher education institutions in African Commonwealth countries, with a particular focus on East Africa, in order to inform our research and professional development work, is available here [2]. The review is available in:

Other reports

UNESCO Education for All, Global Monitoring Reports

UNESCO (2014). Teaching and learning: achieving quality for all. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/efareport/reports/2013/

HEART Educational Technology Topic Guide

This topic guide, produced by The Health & Education Advice & Resource Team (HEART), and funded by Department for International Development (DFID), is available here: oro.open.ac.uk/41070/1/2014.pdf

Pedagogy, curriculum, teaching practices and teacher education in developing countries

Westbrook, J., Durrani, N., Brown, R., Orr, D., Pryor, J., Boddy, J., Salvi, F., (December 2013). Pedagogy, curriculum, teaching practices and teacher education in developing countries: final report..

Education in sub-Saharan Africa - background reading

This document has a rough collection the recent literature regarding teacher education in developing countries.

OER4Schools background reading.docx (info) OER4Schools background reading.pdf (info)


EduSSA/reports

Key texts in education

There are a number of key texts, often given in references in the OER4Schools units. Primarily about UK education, but inspiring in the global context none the less:

  • Maddock, M., Peacock, A., Hart, S. & Drummond, M.-J. (2012).Creating Learning Without Limits. Maidenhead: Open UniversityPress.
  • Alexander, R. (ed) (2010), Children, Their World, Their Education: Final Report and Recommendations of the Cambridge Primary Review. London: Routledge.
  • Index for inclusion (add reference) see Index for Inclusion

EFF toolkit http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/

Education in sub-Saharan Africa - background reading

Below is an overview of the recent literature regarding teacher education in developing countries.

[ Education in developing countries background reading.docx] (info) [ Education in developing countries background reading.pdf] (info)

Contents

Commission for Africa Report CREATE • Making Rights Realities: Researching Educational Access, Transitions and Equity • Making Rights Reality Teacher Education through Open and Distance Learning (Danher & Umar) Developing Countries in the E-learning Era (Depover &nd Orivel) Teacher Motivation in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (Bennell & Akyeampong) Addressing the Local in Localization (Jimes, Weiss and Keep) Teacher Education and the Challenge of Development (Moon) OER AFRICA ONE Data Report Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning Literature Review in Science Education and the role of ICT (Osborne & Hennesy) SAQMEC TESSA UNESCO Education for all • EFA Policy Paper (2013) • EFA Report (2005) • EFA Report (2010) UNESCO Teacher Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa • What do recent evaluations tell us about the state of teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa (2008) • Report of the 2007 Teacher Education Policy Forum for Sub-Saharan Africa (2007) • Teacher education policy: international development discourses and the development of teacher education (2007) • Third Global Forum on International Quality Assurance, Accreditation and the Recognition of Qualifications (2007) • HIV and AIDS Education: Teacher Training and Teaching – A Web-based desk study of 10 African countries (2006) • Teachers and Educational Quality: Monitoring Global Needs for 2015 (2006) WORLD BANK Toolkits and Resources • The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource • OER Africa • TESSA • Education Endowment Foundation Toolkit • INEE Toolkit • INEE Minimum Standards reference tool • ASKAIDS Toolkit for Consulting Pupils

Commission for Africa Report (2010) The Commision for Africa Report Still Our Common Interest was launched on 13 September 2010 as a follow-up report to the Commission’s original report, Our Common Interest, published in March 2005. The report has three sections. The first looks at what has happened in Africa in the past five years: its economic growth, progress against the Millennium Development Goals, and the new challenges and opportunities it now faces. The second comprises an audit of progress against each of the recommendations made in the 2005 report. The final section makes recommendations for next steps. The report was timed to feed into the international discussions at the MDG Summit in New York in September 2010.

Links: Download here: http://www.commissionforafrica.info/2010-report

CREATE CREATE (2011) Making Rights Realities: Researching Educational Access, Transitions and Equity. Falmer, University of Sussex.

Many researchers working on the multi-country MUSTER research programme led by the University of Sussex returned to issues raised through the projects initiated under the DFID-funded consortium research programme CREATE (Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity) which reported in 2011. The Consortium continued to find concerns about the deployment and quality of teachers. In a twelve-point development programme (http://www.create-rpc.org/policy/programme/outline/) the recommendations echoed the earlier concerns set out in the MUSTER analysis, which included the need to ‘review the teacher education systems and reform to prioritise skills and competences linked to more effective learning: upgrade subject and pedagogic knowledge and skills and consider less emphasis on initial training and more on in-service support’ (p. 60).

One observer analysing the growing critique of teacher education policy has quite boldly suggested that ‘business as usual’ in the structure and process of teacher education systems is just not an option (Birdsall et al., 2005) and the evidence from the MUSTER and CREATE research programmes gives strong support to this contention. (For an earlier country-specific analysis see Zeichner and Dahlstrom, 1999).

Links • Web link: http://www.create-rpc.org/ • Download publications from: http://www.create-rpc.org/publications/

Publications • Akyeampong, K. (2009) Revisiting Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) in Ghana. Comparative Education 45 (2). • Birdsall, N., Levine, R. and Ibrahim, A. (2005) Toward Universal Primary Education: Investments, Incentives and Institutions. London: Earthscan. Cameron, S. (2008) Education Decisions in the Slums of Dhaka. BAICE Conference: Internationalisation in Education: Culture, Context and Difference, Glasgow, Scotland. • Obanya, P. (2010) The Politics of Access to Education: The Nigerian Story. CREATE. Annual Lecture, International Development Centre, London, UK. • Sabates, R. and Hernandez Fernandez, J (2010) Parental Education and Children’s Educational Access over Time: Evidence from Six African Countries. Paper presented at the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth General Conference, St. Gallen, Switzerland. • Somerset, A. (2009) Universalising Primary Education in Kenya: The Elusive Goal. Comparative Education 45 (2). Zeichner, K. and Dahlstrom, L. (1999) Democratic Teacher Education Reform in Africa: The Case of Namibia. Boulder: Westview Press.

Making Rights Reality

Download from: http://www.create-rpc.org/pdf_documents/Making-Rights-Realities-Keith-Lewin-September-2011.pdf

Summary: for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (CREATE) ‘Making Rights Realities’ was launched at the 2011 UKFIET Conference in New College, Oxford, and at UNICEF HQ in New York in September. This new paper synthesises some of the key findings of the Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (CREATE). For CREATE, please see above.

Recent publications of interest (download papers from http://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/1591): • Sabates, R., Hossein, A. and Lewin, K. (2013) School drop out in Bangladesh: new insights from longitudinal evidence. International Journal of Educational Development, 33 (3). pp. 225-232. • Lewin, K. and Sabates, R. (2012) Who gets what? Is improved access to basic education pro-poor in Sub-Saharan Africa? International Journal of Educational Development, 32 (4). pp. 517-528. • Lewin, K., Wasanga, P., Wanderi, E. and Somerset, A. (2011) Participation and Performance in Education in Sub-Saharan Africa with special reference to Kenya: Improving Policy and Practice.roject Report. CREATE, Falmer. • Lewin, K. and Little, A. (2011) The policies, politics and progress of access to basic education. Journal of Educational Policy, 26 (4). pp. 477-482. • Lewin, K. and Little, A. (2011) Editorial - Access to education revisited: Equity, drop out and transitions to secondary school in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Education and Development, 31 (4). pp. 333-337. • Lewin, K. (2011) Expanding Access to Secondary Education: Can India Catch Up? International Journal of Education and Development, 31 (4). pp. 382-393. • Lewin, K., Lu, W., Yuan, L., Wei-tao, Z., Tian-tian, W., Jie, W. Y. and Chang, Q. H. (2011) Education and Change in Rich, Poor and National Minority Areas in China: Two Decades of Transition. Project Report. CREATE, Brighton. • Lewin, K. and Sabates, R. (2011) Changing Patterns of Access to Education in Anglophone and Francophone Countries in Sub Saharan Africa: Is Education for All Pro-Poor Project Report. CREATE, Falmer. • Lewin, K. (2011) Beyond universal access to elementary education in India: is it achievable at affordable costs? Project Report. University of Sussex, Brighton. • Lewin, K. (2011) Taking Targets to Task Revisited: How Indicators of Progress on Access to Education can Mislead.Project Report. CREATE, Falmer. • Lewin, K. (2011) Looking Back to See the Future: Four decades of development in educational planning In: Directions in Educational Planning: International experiences and perspectives. IIEP/UNESCO Publishing, Paris, pp. 253-272.

Danher, P.A. & Umar, A., Eds. (2010) Teacher education through open and distance learning. Vancouver: Commonwealth of Learning.

Download from: http://www.col.org/resources/publications/Pages/detail.aspx?PID=332

Summary: The global need for teacher education is greater now in the early 21st century than ever before. According to UNESCO, half of the world’s 195 countries will have to expand their stock of teachers significantly – some by tens of thousands – if the goal of universal primary education as articulated in the Dakar Framework for Action in 2000 is to be met by 2015. Socioeconomic inequities, political instability, demographic changes and crises such as the HIV/AIDs epidemic have engendered huge shortfalls in teacher supply and low teacher quality in many developing countries. It is now clear that “bricks and mortar” approaches to expanding teacher education may not be adequate if the current and projected shortfalls in teacher supply and low teacher quality are to be properly addressed.

Today, however, both research and practice are showing the tremendous opportunities in large-scale education provision offered by open and distance learning (ODL). Capitalising on the strengths afforded by innovative information and communication technologies and media, ODL broadens and streamlines access to teacher education in a way that traditional delivery modes cannot. At the same time, adopting ODL requires new thinking about learning and teaching strategies, applications, costs and other practicalities.

The contributors to the 13 chapters in this book are nationally and internationally renowned scholars in teacher education, ODL or both. Collectively, the perspectives and insights they provide – varying in a range of contexts and countries – respond to three key questions:

What are the intentions, forms and effects of current enactments of ODL? What are the implications of those enactments for envisaging and implementing effective, efficient and equitable teacher education? What new perspectives on educational provision are created by the contemporary and possible future intersection between teacher education and ODL?

As readers will find, whether they are new to the topics or well familiar with them, the result is an authoritative, contemporary and thoughtful discussion of both the promise and ongoing challenges of mobilising the benefits of teacher education through ODL.

Contents: • Chapter 1: Setting the Scene for Interrogating Teacher Education through Open and Distance Learning – Abdurrahman Umar and Patrick Alan Danaher • Chapter 2: Contemporary Research on Open and Distance Learning in Teacher Education – Patrick Alan Danaher and Abdurrahman Umar • Chapter 3: Educational Principles and Policies Framing Teacher Education through Open and Distance Learning – Mary Simpson and Benjamin Kehrwald • Chapter 4: Open and Distance Learning for Initial Teacher Education – Ann Shelton Mayes and Hilary Burgess • Chapter 5: A Capability Approach to Open and Distance Learning for In-Service Teacher Education – R.E. (Bobby) Harreveld • Chapter 6: Learning and Teaching Strategies and Practices in Teacher Education through Open and Distance Learning – Glen Postle and Mark A. Tyler • Chapter 7: Using ICT to Train Teachers in ICT – Colin Latchem • Chapter 8: The Use of Media in Teacher Education through Open and Distance Learning – Ken Stevens • Chapter 9: Using the New Information and Communication Technologies for the Continuing Professional Development of Teachers through Open and Distance Learning – Sólveig Jakobsdóttir, Lindy McKeown and Debra Hoven • Chapter 10: Creating New Forms of Teacher Education: Open Educational Resources (OERs) and the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) Programme – Bob Moon • Chapter 11: The Cost-Effectiveness of Using Open and Distance Learning in Teacher Education – Bruce Thompson • Chapter 12: Quality Assurance in Distance Teacher Education: The Experience of Universitas Terbuka – Tian Belawati and I.G.A.K. Wardani • Chapter 13: Creating New Perspectives on Teacher Education through Open and Distance Learning – Patrick Alan Danaher and Abdurrahman Umar

Depover, C. and Orivel F. (2013). Developing Countries in the E-learning Era. Fundamentals of Educational Planning Series, number 96. UNESCO-IIEP.

Download Publication details from: http://publishing.unesco.org/details.aspx?&Code_Livre=4997&change=E Summary: In addition to reducing geographical isolation, distance education, thanks to its more favourable cost structure, allows the monitoring of social and economic remoteness. It may thus have much to offer for developing countries. Digital technologies not only bring remote populations closer, they also permit the development of adapted and diversified pedagogical models, with an economic approach aiming at more than just economies of scale. In this book, Christian Depover and François Orivel examine some of the ways developing countries – in particular on the African continent, where needs often exceed resources – might benefit from distance education. The authors give particular attention to the development of higher education, its quality, productivity and cost control. Content: • I. Introduction • II. Frame of reference - Basic concepts - The notion of distance, its forms, and its role in learning - The hypothesis of learner autonomy - The role of tutoring • III. Institutional and pedagogical models for DE - Institutional models - Pedagogical models • IV. The coverage of DE and e-learning - Primary and secondary school - Non-formal education - Teacher training - Higher education and adult education • V. The structure of a DE system - Functions required - Structures to be established - New organizational models for DE • VI. Analysis of DE costs - Cost analysis before the introduction of e-learning - What do we know today about the costs of e-learning? - How have DE costs changed with the appearance of ICT? - What are the prospects for DE in developing countries? • VII. Developments expected in DE - Changes in pedagogical models - Ownership and availability of technology - The scarcity of learning resources - Benefits expected from the expansion of DE in developing countries • VIII. Conclusion

Bennell, P., & Akyeampong, K. (2007). Teacher Motivation in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Researching the Issues 71. DFID Department for International Development

Download from: http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/PDF/Outputs/PolicyStrategy/ResearchingtheIssuesNo71.pdf

Summary: This report synthesises the main findings and recommendations of an international research project on teacher motivation and incentives in sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia. It is based on the findings and recommendations of national case studies in the two poorest regions of the world, namely sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where the greatest challenges remain with regard to EFA. A total of 12 country studies were undertaken in the following countries: Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia South Asia: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan Following the introductory chapter, Chapter 2 summarises relevant motivation theories and then reviews the available evidence on teacher motivation. The research design and data collection methodology are described in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 then summarises the evidence from the country case studies with respect to levels, trends and patterns in teacher motivation. The main reasons for low teacher motivation are examined in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 then reviews the evidence concerning the impact of low motivation on teacher deployment, behaviour and performance. The final chapter summarises the key recommendations of the country studies about what should be done to improve levels of teacher job satisfaction and motivation.

Jimes, C., Weiss, S. and Keep, R. (2013) Addressing the Local in Localization: A Case Study of Open Textbook Adoption by Three South African Teach, Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, Volume 17, Issue 2 - July 2013.

Web link: http://sloanconsortium.org/jaln/v17n2/addressing-local-localization-case-study-open-textbook-adoption-three-south-african-teach

Summary: The article presents a case study of the adoption and use of open textbooks by three high school teachers in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The textbooks, collaboratively authored and distributed through the South African initiative, Siyavula, are available online and are openly licensed, allowing teachers to freely use, modify, print, and share them with peers. Building on prior research conducted on the Siyavula project, the study consisted of interviews with teachers in South Africa to assess their reasons for adopting open textbooks, and their experiences using Siyavula’s open textbooks in the classroom.

The study revealed that beyond the cost-savings and flexible printing possibilities afforded by using open textbooks, the teachers’ adoption and use of the open textbooks were tied to the local nature of the textbooks, as well as the localization opportunities made possible through open licensing. Specifically, the study revealed the importance of content rooted in the cultural and geographic contexts in which teachers teach—for example, through authentic scenarios and accessible texts for students and teachers to work with. Moreover, because the Siyavula textbooks were collaboratively written by local field experts and scholars, the content was viewed by the teachers as higher in quality than proprietary textbooks, which often have few authors and are disseminated by large publishing companies. Furthermore, the study found that localization of the textbooks involved not only to the ability to modify and annotate the content to meet classroom needs, but also the ability to meet local socioeconomic constraints, including technological and budgetary limitations. The findings also indicated that the textbooks’ collaborative authorship and possibilities for user modifications facilitated communication about enhancements to the textbook between the textbook authors and the teacher users.

On the whole, the findings support nascent, prior research revealing that when open educational resources (OER) are created, developed, and evaluated through processes drawing upon individuals who live and work within the context in which the OER are being created for, the end result is more useable. The results of the study support the need for further research in other settings globally, centering on, for example, the role of collaborative authorship in relation to perceived quality of content.

Moon, B. (2013). Teacher Education and the Challenge of Development: A Global Analysis. Routledge.

Summary: In developing countries across the world, qualified teachers are a rarity, with thousands of untrained adults taking over the role and millions of children having no access to schooling at all. The supply of high-quality teachers is falling behind: poor status, low salaries and inadequate working conditions characterise perceptions of teachers in numerous countries, deterring many from entering the profession, and there are strong critiques of the one dimensional, didactic approach to pedagogic practice. Despite this, millions of teachers are dedicated to educating a newly enfranchised generation of learners.

Teacher Education and the Challenge of Development is co-written by experts working across a wide range of developing country situations. It provides a unique overview of the crisis surrounding the provision of high-quality teachers in the developing world, and how these teachers are crucial to the alleviation of poverty. The book explores existing policy structures and identifies the global pressures on teaching, which are particularly acute in developing economies.

In summarising the key policy and research issues and analysing innovative approaches to teacher supply, retention and education, this book: establishes an overview and conceptual analysis of the challenge to extend and improve the teaching force in developing contexts; sets out and analyses the quantitative and qualitative evidence around teacher contexts and conditions; - provides a series of national studies that analyse the context of teachers and the policies being pursued to improve the number and quality of teachers; - looks at a range of significant issues that could contribute to the reformulation and reform of teacher policies; - provides an overarching analysis of the nature and challenges of teaching and the possible interventions or solutions, in a form accessible to policy and research communities.

This book will be of interest to educationalists and researchers in education, teachers, policy makers and students of development courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Of particular interest: Section 1: International dilemmas in teacher education and development

OER Africa Web link: http://www.oerafrica.org/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

Summary: OER Africa provides access to information to learn about and benefit from Open Educational Resources (OER). OER focuses on the supporting and developing in four thematic areas: agriculture, health education, foundation courses and teacher education. The African Teacher Education OER Network is about encouraging understanding, use and sharing of Open Educational Resources (OER) to support teacher education and development in Africa. Teacher Education OER Projects: The University of Fort Hare’s B Prim Ed- a high quality programme for in-service Eastern Cape teachers which ran from 1998 to 2006. The Data Informed Practice Improvement Project (DIPIP) aimed to create a context in which ‘critical friends’ (post graduate students and district facilitators) worked with school teachers on data which provides evidence of learners’ performance. ACEMaths Project piloted a collaborative process for the selection, adaptation and use of OER materials for teacher education programmes in South Africa. Saide Teacher Education Series.

ONE Data Report (2010)

Download here: http://www.one.org/report/2010/en/downloads/

Summary: ONE is a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school and improving futures. Cofounded by Bono and other campaigners, ONE is nonpartisan and works closely with African activists and policy makers.

ONE’s DATA Report concentrates on two tasks: Firstly, it offers a final verdict on whether the G8 have delivered on the historic promises made in Gleneagles. Secondly, it makes some recommendations which are based upon the successes and failures of the G8’s current set of commitments, the changing landscape both inside and outside the African continent, and the priorities of African partners. We hope these recommendations will feed into deliberations in advance of the G8/G20 Summit in Canada and the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in New York in September, where a review of the MDGs will take place and, ONE hopes, a renewed strategy and plan for their attainment, especially in Africa, will be agreed.

Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 97–112. Special Issue: Distance and E-Learning in Science and Related Subjects.

Web link: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/copl20/26/2#.UjB0b6ATbM5

Summary: The papers in this special issue of Open Learning discuss the theoretical and practical issues of teaching, learning and assessing science and health‐related subjects at a distance. This has been an under‐reported and under‐researched aspect of distance education.

Articles include: • Dodds, T. (2011). Open and distance learning for health: supporting health workers through education and training. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 173–179. • Gaskell, A. (2011). Open Learning science special issue. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 91–92. • Gemmell, I., Sandars, J., Taylor, S., & Reed, K. (2011). Teaching science and technology via online distance learning: the experience of teaching biostatistics in an online Master of Public Health programme. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 165–171. • Jordan, S. (2011). Using interactive computer‐based assessment to support beginning distance learners of science. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 147–164. • Kulasekara, G. U., Jayatilleke, B. G., & Coomaraswamy, U. (2011). Learner perceptions on instructional design of multimedia in learning abstract concepts in science at a distance. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 113–126. • Mawn, M. V., Carrico, P., Charuk, K., Stote, K. S., & Lawrence, B. (2011). Hands on and online: scientific explorations through distance learning. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 135–146. • Mills, R. (2011). Can we teach science at a distance? Yes we can! Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 93–96. • Moseley, A. (2011). Learning with online and mobile technologies: a student survival guide, by Janet McDonald and Linda Creanor. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 183–185. • Scanlon, E. (2011). Open science: trends in the development of science learning. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 97–112. • Swithenby, S. J. (2011). Accessible elements: teaching science online and at a distance, by Dietmar Kennepohl and Lawton Shaw. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 181–183. • Whalley, P., Kelley, S., & Tindle, A. (2011). The role of the virtual microscope in distance learning. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26(2), 127–134.

Osborne, J. and Hennessy S. (2003) Literature Review in Science Education and the role of ICT: Promise, Problems and Future Directions. FutureLab Series. Report 6.

Download publication from: http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00190441/

Summary: The paper attempts to review the state of science education today, the impact of ICT use on the curriculum, pedagogy and learning, and the implications for future practice. The first section outlines a range of perspectives on the aims of science education and the associated choices concerning curriculum and pedagogy. It shows that science education within the UK is in the second phase of a two-part revolution. The first phase, in the 1980s, achieved the implementation of compulsory science education for all from 5-16. The second phase, begun in the mid 1990s, has attempted to argue for, and develop, a curriculum which genuinely meets the needs of all pupils rather than the few who will enter the corridors of science. Its goal of fostering ‘scientific literacy’ will require a new pedagogic approach, one that moves away from knowledge delivery towards involving pupils more actively in engaging with scientific ideas and developing the skills necessary for appraising evidence, handling risk and uncertainty, and recognising social and other influences on (and consequences of) decision making and research.

The second section of the paper describes the potential role which ICT may play in revitalising science education to meet such aspirations. It shows that this powerful tool can be employed flexibly to support different curriculum goals and forms of pedagogy; that there are diverse ways of linking ICT use to existing classroom teaching (including supporting, extending or replacing it); and that there are different modes of using the same tools. Yet, whilst the appropriate use of ICT clearly has a transformative potential for science education and student learning, this is often found only in isolated pockets of innovation and associated with enthusiastic individuals. As such, ICT still needs to embed itself in the ‘habitus’ and culture of the ordinary classroom teacher. Part of the problem lies with the current content-laden National Curriculum and associated assessment measures which reinforce a cultural perspective on teaching science through a process of transmission (Hacker & Rowe 1997). These impediments have served to stifle the development of classroom use of ICT in ways which effectively exploit its interactivity and potential for supporting active pupil participation, exploration and collaboration in science activity.

By contrast, the values of the new emergent science curricula for all pupils which give more emphasis on developing critical and analytical skills are more likely to foster and support the use of ICT. As the school curriculum begins to forge a stronger link between science-as-it-is-taught and science-as-it-is-practised, a major constraint currently affecting the integration of ICT use within the curriculum may be lifted. In short, access to information and data, its interpretation and critical evaluation, will become central features of any new syllabi. Such a shift would encourage a change in pedagogy and the interactive use of ICT to support and develop students’ scientific reasoning and analytic skills. The use of ICT will then, perhaps, lie at the core of science teaching and learning rather than languishing on the margins. Section One of the report presents perspectives on the aims of science education and considers the roots of this discipline. It resumes with a discussion of the contemporary picture of science education, its purpose and its prospects for the 21 century.

SAQMEC (The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality):

Download publications from: http://www.sacmeq.org/publications

The following may be of interest: • Hungi, N. (2011). Accounting for the Variations in the Quality of Primary School Education. Download from: http://www.sacmeq.org/sites/default/files/sacmeq/publications/07_multivariate_final.pdf • Makuwa, D. (2010). What are the levels and trends in reading and mathematics achievement? Download from: http://www.sacmeq.org/sites/default/files/sacmeq/reports/sacmeq-iii/policy-issue-series/002-sacmeqpolicyissuesseries-pupilachievement.pdf • Moloi, M. Q. & Chetty, M. (2010). The SACMEQ III Project in South Africa: A Study of the Conditions of Schooling and the Quality of Education. Pretoria: Ministry of Basic Education. Download from: http://www.sacmeq.org/reports?project=All&report=All&author=153 • Spaull, N. (2011). Primary School Performance in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, and South Africa. Download from: http://www.sacmeq.org/reports?project=All&report=All&author=116

TESSA

Web link: http://www.tessafrica.net/

Download publications from: http://www.tessafrica.net/Publications-Reports

TESSA is an international research and development initiative which brings together teachers and teacher educators from across sub-Saharan Africa. It offers a range of materials (Open Educational Resources) in four languages to support school based teacher education and training.

Current projects include the ‘TESSA Secondary Science’ project which started in August 2010 and aims to extend TESSA education resources to teachers in secondary schools within 5 countries: Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania. The ‘Keeping Girls in School’ Access into Teaching Scholarship Programme provides a pathway for rural women in Malawi into teaching by offering Learning Assistant roles in local schools and by supporting women to re-take secondary school exams. A third project is ‘Embedding TESSA Activity’ which has been funded by the Hewlett Foundation with the intention of embedding and disseminating TESSA resources whilst researching the impacts and effectiveness of the resources across primarily 3 areas: the classroom, school and networks. There is also the ‘Widening TESSA Participation’ project which is funded by the Commonwealth of Learning with an overall aim to extend TESSA use in primary teacher education programmes at colleges in Uganda and Zambia. The ‘Teaching Early Reading’ initiative extends TESSA primary education resources into the important area of early childhood education. In 2011-12, TESSA supported five Fellowship places in partnership with the Open Learning Network (OLnet).

UNESCO Education for All (EFA)

Education is one of UNESCO’s principal fields of activities. Since its creation in 1945, the Organization has worked to improve education worldwide believing it to be key to social and economic development. The Organisation aims to help build a sustainable world with just societies that value knowledge, promote peace, celebrate diversity and defend human rights, achieved by providing Education for All (EFA). Its close links with education ministries and other partners in 193 countries place UNESCO in a key position to press for action and change.

Download publications from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/resources/online-materials/publications/ http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/advocacy/global-action-week/gaw-2013/unesco-publications/

EFA Policy Paper 09 (2013). Schooling for millions of children jeopardized by reductions in aid.

Download publications from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002211/221129E.pdf

Summary: This paper, jointly released by the Education for All Global Monitoring Report and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, shows that progress in reducing the number of children out of school has come to a virtual standstill just as international aid to basic education falls for the first time since 2002.

EFA Report (2005). Education for All - The Quality Imperative.

Download from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/efareport/reports/2005-quality/

Summary: Quality is at the heart of education. It influences what students learn, how well they learn and what benefits they draw from their education. The quest to ensure that students achieve decent learning outcomes and acquire values and skills that help them play a positive role in their societies is an issue on the policy agenda of nearly every country. As many governments strive to expand basic education, they also face the challenge of ensuring that students stay in school long enough to acquire the knowledge they need to cope in a rapidly changing world. Assessments show that this is not happening in many countries. This Report reviews research evidence on the multiple factors that determine quality, and maps out key policies for improving the teaching and learning process, especially in low-income countries. It monitors international assistance to education and progress towards the six goals of Education for All, to which over 160 countries committed themselves in 2000, at the World Education Forum.

EFA Report (2010). Reaching the marginalized.

Download from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/efareport/reports/2010-marginalization/

Summary: Education systems in many of the world's poorest countries are now experiencing the aftermath of the global economic downturn. The 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, argues that the crisis could create a lost generation of children whose life chances will have been irreparably damaged by a failure to protect their right to education. The Report examines who these children are and why they are being left behind, and looks at concrete solutions for making sure that no children are excluded from schooling.

UNESCO Teacher Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa (TISSA)

The Teacher Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA) contributes to improve access, quality and equity of education through improving the quality and quantity of the teaching force in the region. The initiative supports the region’s Member States in addressing teacher-related challenges over a period of ten years (2006-2015). TTISSA is one of UNESCO’s three core Initiatives in education, along with the Global Initiative on Education and HIV and AIDS (EDUCAIDS) and the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE).

The initiative works in partnership with other stakeholders to ensure a coherent, strategic approach to teacher issues.

Download publications from: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/education-building-blocks/teacher-education/ttissa/publications/

Publications include: What do recent evaluations tell us about the state of teachers in Sub-Saharan Africa (2008) Summary: This paper was commissioned by the EFA Global Monitoring Report as background information for the 2008 report and presents some teacher and school / class characteristics in several Sub-Saharan countries.

Report of the 2007 Teacher Education Policy Forum for Sub-Saharan Africa (2007) Summary: This is the Report of the Teacher Education Policy Forum for Sub-Saharan Africa held in Paris in November 2007.

Teacher education policy: international development discourses and the development of teacher education (2007) Summary: This paper, produced for the Teacher Education Policy Forum for Sub-Saharan Africa held in November 2007, considers key development theories and their relevance to teacher education policy.

Third Global Forum on International Quality Assurance, Accreditation and the Recognition of Qualifications (2007) Summary: Organized by UNESCO’s Division of Higher Education in Dar es Salaam in September 2007. The final report addresses outcomes of the workshop on quality assurance in teacher education.

HIV and AIDS Education: Teacher Training and Teaching – A Web-based desk study of 10 African countries (2006) Summary: This working document was commissioned by the Division of Higher Education in order to facilitate the integration of HIV and AIDS in TTISSA and to promote effective teaching of HIV and AIDS in schools, especially at secondary level

Teachers and Educational Quality: Monitoring Global Needs for 2015 (2006) Summary: This publication by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) provides a comprehensive assessment on the state of teachers and education quality based on a wide range of data sources, including school censuses, assessments of student and teacher knowledge and statutory teacher data.

World Bank

In 2011 the World Bank, recognising the significance of teachers to the development agenda, established an information base (SABER-Teachers) which seeks to accumulate data and research around eight core teacher policy goals. The eight goals were selected because they are related to either student or teacher performance, they are priorities for resource allocation and they are actionable, that is government policies can make a difference. SABER (System Assessment and Benchmarking for Education Results) is part of the World Bank’s focus, at least over the coming decade, on learning and the need to address the low levels of attainment in many developing countries.

The World Bank eight core teacher policy goals: 1. Setting clear expectations for teachers 2. Attracting the best into teaching 3. Preparing teachers with useful training and experience 4. Matching teachers’ skills with students’ needs 5. Leading teachers with strong principals 6. Monitoring teaching and learning 7. Supporting teachers to improve instruction 8. Motivating teachers to perform

The following publications may be of interest: • Mulkeen, A. (2006) Policy planning, utilization and management of rural primary school teachers in Africa. Report of the Maseru Workshop 2005. Washington, DC: World Bank. • Mulkeen, A., Chapman, D., Dejaegghere, J. and Leu, E. (2007) Recruiting, retaining and retraining secondary school teachers in principals in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank Working Papers 99, African Human Development Series. Washington, DC: World Bank. • World Bank (1990) Conditions of Service among Primary and Secondary Teachers in Tanzania. World Bank. • World Bank (2001) Brazil: Teacher Development and Incentives, a Strategic Framework. Report no. 20408 BR. • World Bank (2004) World Development Report 2004: Making Services Work for Poor People. Washington, DC: World Bank. • World Bank (2010a) Education Strategy 2020. Washington, DC: World Bank. • World Bank (2010b) Achieving World Class Education in Brazil: The Next Agenda. Washington, DC: World Bank. • World Bank (2011) Report on Education in Ghana. • World Bank Independent Evaluation Group (2006) From Schooling Access to Learning Outcomes: An Unfinished Agenda. An Evaluation of World Bank Support to Primary Education. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Toolkits and Resources:

The OER4Schools Professional Learning Resource Interactive teaching with and without ICT Web link: http://orbit.educ.cam.ac.uk/wiki/OER4Schools

Contents: Unit 1: Introduction to interactive teaching and the use of ICT Unit 2: Whole class dialogue & effective questioning Unit 3: Group work Unit 4: Assessment for learning and lesson pacing Unit 5: Enquiry-based learning and project work Unit 6: Sharing the vision and action research

OER Africa OER Educational Technology provides technology to (1) overcome institutional barriers in Higher Education, (2) follow a case study to learn how to deploy educational technologies in your institution and (3)to get the most out of using educational technology in Higher Education. Web link: http://www.oerafrica.org/

TESSA TESSA is an international research and development initiative which brings together teachers and teacher educators from across sub-Saharan Africa. It offers a range of materials (Open Educational Resources) in four languages to support school based teacher education and training. For further details please see above. Web link: http://www.tessafrica.net/ Download publications from: http://www.tessafrica.net/Publications-Reports

Education Endowment Foundation Toolkit The EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit is an accessible summary of educational research which provides guidance for teachers and schools on how to use their resources to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. The Toolkit currently covers 33 topics, each summarised in terms of their average impact on attainment, the strength of the evidence supporting them and their cost. Web link: http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/

INEE Toolkit This INEE Toolkit contains a wide variety of practical, field-friendly tools and resources to guide educationalists, humanitarian workers and government officials working in the field of education in emergencies through to recovery. Key themes: HIV, Inclusive Education, General Education Web link: http://toolkit.ineesite.org/toolkit/Home.php

INEE Minimum Standards reference tool Web link: http://www.ineesite.org/en/minimum-standards/reference-tool

ASKAIDS Toolkit for Consulting Pupils ASKAIDS: African Sexual Knowledges and HIV/AIDS Web link: http://orbit.educ.cam.ac.uk/wiki/ASKAIDS Contents: 1. Acknowledgement 2. How to use 3. Background 4. Key research findings 5. How to consult pupils 5.1. Why Consult Pupils 5.2. Preparing to Consult Pupils 5.3. Tools for Consultation with Young People 5.4. How We Used These Activities in Our Research 6. Final reflection

TESSA Research Links An international development initiative which brings together teachers and teacher educators across Sub-Saharan Africa. http://www.tessafrica.net/tessa-research-links

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