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A World Bank Blog on ICT use in Education

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Exploring issues related to the use of information and communication technologies to benefit education in developing countries

August 2009

Finding (useful) research on ICT use in education in developing countries

Submitted by Michael Trucano on Thu, 08/20/2009 - 23:17

image of pressed papers in Insadong, Seoul, Korea from Flickr user Jared at flickr.com/photos/35468148654@N01/296520686, used under the terms of the Creative Commons by attribution 2.0 license (via Wikimedia Commons)I am often asked to recommend "useful research on ICT and education issues in developing countries".

While there are resources to which I inevitably turn (and which I recommend time and again, a topic for future consideration on this blog), there is a question which I have a more difficult time answering:
 

"How do I find, and stay in the loop on, useful research, documentation and lessons learned on ICT and education issues in developing countries?"

Making ICT and education policy

Submitted by Michael Trucano on Thu, 08/13/2009 - 23:04

public domain image from Jossifresco via Wikimedia Commons

India is currently engaged in a consultative process to formulate a new ICT and education policy.  The United States is doing the same to prepare its new National Educational Technology Plan.

In the context of a discussion of ICT/education policies, GeSCI's Jyrki Pulkkinen takes a step back and asks, who really needs policy? While he doesn't provide answers to this question himself in his note (yet -- I suspect this is coming), he follows up with a set of high-level, practical guiding questions for people involved in these processes.  

When thinking about the questions that Jyrki poses, I had a few questions of my own: What are best practices for the development of such policies and plans?  Where can we turn to for examples of such policies and plans to help inform work in this area?

Surveying the use of mobile phones in education worldwide

Submitted by Michael Trucano on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 23:03

image courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons, sourced from Flickr user saschapohflepp, used according the terms of its Creative Commons licenseThe Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools in India has just announced a mobile phone ban, echoing similar calls in many other places (from Sri Lanka to South Korea, from the UK to the Philippines to France) to restrict student access to what are often seen as 'devices of distraction'.

Why then will the World Bank will be kicking off a study next month looking at "The Use of Mobile Phones in Education in Developing Countries"?