Tablets, phones for schools: Good or bad?

THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education wants to make use of tablets and phones as teaching and learning tools in its new curriculum.

While this sounds a great idea in the digital age, I personally think it is a bit ill-timed.

Before even discussing this, I am just thinking aloud on the number of schools I know with no basic Internet connection, text books and science laboratories. This is one of the decisions made by an excited ministry panel without any wide stakeholder consultation. How will schools mostly public ones deal with issues of filtering bad content from being accessed by our children at school?

Kenya has progressed greatly in pushing use of smart devices in their public schools. The success has been a direct result of a clear national broadband policy to bridge the digital divide. In other words a lot of work was done so that more and more people go online. Now before someone starts dreaming about tablets in a classroom the question of connectivity and teacher training must be addressed. We need to address the following issues before embarking on such knee jerk decisions, now a trade mark for the ministry in question.

For starters how many of our teachers are computer literate? I would say less than 25 percent. By computer literate I am not referring to the teacher’s ability to type a document, compose and send email. That is not computer literacy. And why is it important? How do you expect a teacher to use these devices as a teaching tool when they themselves hardly can use computers? I have trained a number of teachers from a number of public schools ICDL (International Computer Driving Lesson). This course defines the skills and competencies necessary to use a computer and common computer applications. It offers a wide range of modules including Computer Essentials, Word Processing and IT Security. We have an interesting situation where most pupils are computer savvy and smart phone “smart”. They are very good when it comes to the use of Whatsapp, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram amongst others. In a research I carried out at some schools I discovered that most public schools did NOT have a qualified computer teacher to start with. Most urban schools did, however, have a decent broadband internet connection but mainly for administrative staff. ICT skills enable teachers to use technology more effectively in the teaching process, thus achieving educational goals more efficiently, and in doing so save time and increase productivity in the classroom.

To expect our teachers to cope with new ICT teaching tools that they themselves do not have is like asking a blind man to lead a three-year to cross a very busy road. To this end the concerned ministry must first equip the teachers with the necessary skills so that the tablets and phones to be introduced will be put into maximum use.

An even bolder step would be to make ICDL certification compulsory for all teachers who graduated in the last five years. And make it a point that all student teachers at our training institutions have an approved ICT qualification before graduation. No doubt the new generations to come are digital savvy there is no denying it. Otherwise we are putting the cart before the horse.

The larger challenge is more social than technical. Take a walk around any school after they knock off and see how our children are so glued to their phones. This is a new reality. Trust me you do not want to see some of the stuff that is being exchanged on those phones. A work around that has proved very successful at certain schools in Zimbabwe include, use of pre-programmed tablets. In short these tablets have limited applications that are non educational.

This can easily be done at a system level. So in other words the ministry must have approved tablet vendors. These vendors will be able to supply and configure tablets that block bad content. A pilot run being carried out in a public school in Bulawayo allows all these devices to connect to an “intranet” that is NOT connected to the internet for certain age groups. The devices connect to what is called a digital library with “all” educational material needed by the pupil for the purposes of their education and study. They can access internet at their homes.

I find it very disturbing that an educationist like Dr Lazarus Dokora, the Education Minister finds it normal that phones must also be part of this. There is a big difference between a phone and a tablet. How does a pupil study from a phone? Tablets yes, phones no. Tablets can have WiFi access only. Whereas phones have other radio access methods like GSM/3G/4G/ Bluetooth that can easily distract pupils in class.

The other part has to do with parents and guardians. These play a major role in our children’s use of these devices for educational purposes. Parents are generally divided on this matter. And that is very normal. Peer pressure, status symbol, old school mentality come into the mix when this debate is started. But I must hasten to say that college and university students have been more intuitive and productive in the use of these devices because they are computer literate and more mature than school pupils.

The idea is certainly in line with where technology is heading. But I can say it now, more than 80 percent of our schools are not ready for this since most of their teaching staff has not received any formal ICT training. It is needless to discuss the other factor of cost of gadgets. I will leave that to the reader to ponder upon.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and that of ICT must form an inter-ministerial committee or panel to address this specific issue. This way they can come up with an e-learning value print. So many dubious versions of e-learning are doing the rounds at the schools, thanks to the computer literacy or lack thereof at the schools.

Mobile devices are not a silver bullet. In 1995, Steve Jobs famously said that the problems facing education need more than technology to be fixed. Competent, engaged teachers are more necessary than ever in the Information Age, and balancing mobile educational advantages with healthy teaching interaction is the key to maximising the worth of both. Parenting gurus, psychologists claim that these gadgets with touch screen have an effect on children under five. They believe that screen time may have a negative effect on children’s developing brain. But the tendency to be alarmist usually happens when a new form of media becomes popular with children just like when video games where introduced.

Tablets and smart phones are still new, and as such pediatric research still does not have enough data to make a clear and consistent stand on the matter.

Here comes a chance for ICT professionals to get involved in equipping schools with the necessary skills training and support. — @robertndlovu: (077) 600 2605 : ndlovu @ Ymail.com