Worst practice in ICT use in education

This page in:

doing these things will not make you happyIn business and in international development circles, much is made about the potential for 'learning from best practice'.  Considerations of the use of educational technologies offer no exception to this impulse.  That said, 'best practice' in the education sector is often a rather elusive concept (at best!  some informed observers would say it is actually dangerous).  The term 'good practice' may be more useful, for in many (if not most) cases and places, learning from and adapting 'good' practices is often much more practical -- and more likely to lead to success.  Given that many initiatives seem immune to learning from either 'best' or even 'good' practice in other places or contexts, it may be most practical to recommend 'lots of practice', as there appears to be a natural learning curve that accompanies large scale adoption of ICTs in the education sector in many countries -- even if this means 'repeating the mistakes' of others.

But do we really need to repeat the mistakes of others? If adopting 'best practice' is fraught with difficulties, and 'good practice' often noted but ignored, perhaps it is useful instead to look at 'worst practice'.  The good news is that, in the area of ICT use in education, there appears to be a good deal of agreement about what this is!

Here's a list of some of what I consider to be the preeminent 'worst practices' related to the large scale use of ICTs in education in developing countries, based on first hand observation over the past dozen or so years.  I have omitted names (please feel free to fill them in yourself).  The criterion I used for selection was simple: The given worst practice was easily observable in multiple prominent initiatives, with (one fears) a high likelihood of re-occurrence, in the same or other places.  In no particular order:

1. Dump hardware in schools, hope for magic to happen
This is, in many cases, the classic example of worst practice in ICT use in education.  Unfortunately, it shows no sign of disappearing soon, and is the precursor in many ways to the other worst practices on this list.   "If we supply it they will learn": Maybe in some cases this is true, for a very small minority of exceptional students and teachers, but this simplistic approach is often at the root of failure of many educational technology initiatives.

2. Design for OECD learning environments, implement elsewhere
With the best of intentions, and often 'assisted' by vendors, many groups (including many governments) have sought to simply transfer ICT-related models and practices from classrooms in industrialized countries to less developed education systems in other parts of the world.  Sometimes this works, but unfortunately many places roll out programs and products that have at their core sets of assumptions (reliable electricity and connectivity, well-trained teachers, sufficient available time-on-task, highly literate students, space to implement student-centric pedagogies, relevant content, a variety of cultural norms, etc.) that do not correspond with local realities. The result is often (and not unsurprisingly) not very good.

3. Think about educational content only after you have rolled out your hardware
Deploying lots of computer infrastructure in schools is expensive (and complicated).  So expensive, in fact, that many critical complementary investments (in training, in tech support, in content, etc.) are 'postponed' until a later date.  Sometimes this is a calculated bureaucratic maneuver/risk -- the thinking is that, once the hardware is in place, the need for content will be more clear, and it will be easier to make the case for related funding at that time) -- and other times this is simply a lack of good planning.  But it is a fact that, in many places, only once computers are in place and a certain level of basic ICT literacy is imparted to teachers and students is the rather basic question asked: What are we going to do with all of this stuff?

Related to this ...

4. Assume you can just import content from somewhere else
Some places recognize the need for quality educational content from the start, but assume they can simply import it from somewhere else.  In addition to obvious potential cultural issues, the successful integration of content developed elsewhere into daily teaching and learning practices is inhibited by a lack of clear understanding by teachers of the relevance of such materials to the required curricula.  Much effort typically needs to be expended to map this content to explicit objectives and activities in the local curricula. (And of course: Teacher training helps too!)

5. Don't monitor, don't evaluate
This should be self-evident. That said, there are only a handful of really credible, rigorous impact evaluation studies done of educational technology initiatives in developing countries.  Most evaluation work focuses on (perceptions of) changes in attitudes as the result of the use of educational technologies, and the success (or lack of success) in meeting various simple metrics (number of computers installed, number of teachers trained, etc.). Such information is important, of course, but it is hardly sufficient. What is the impact of ICT use in education? If we don't evaluate potential answers to this question, rigorously and credibly, all we are left with is well-intentioned guesswork and marketing dross. 

6. Make a big bet on an unproven technology (especially one based on a  closed/proprietary standard) or single vendor, don't plan for how to avoid 'lock-in
Let's acknowledge that the speed of technological changes almost always outpaces the ability of educational planners to keep up.  In response, some policymakers seek to get 'ahead of the curve' by placing large bets on new, largely unproven technologies in an effort to 'leapfrog' what is happening in other education systems.  In other cases, education systems effectively outsource most of the capacity to manage activities in this area to a vendor or other third party.  There are potentially valid reasons to pursue such courses of action in some cases, but they are inherently very risky, especially if clear plans are not made on how to 'exit' such decisions and relationships.

7. Don't think about (or acknowledge) total cost of ownership/operation issues or calculations
What does ICT use in education cost? Some people would have you believe it is only the initial cost of hardware. Businesses have long known that this is not the case, but many education policymakers seem not to have grasped (or willfully ignore) this fundamental issue. We know that "total cost of ownership or operation" (TCO) is often underestimated, sometimes grossly, when calculating costs of ICT in education initiatives in developing countries.  Estimates of initial costs to purchase equipment to overall costs over time vary widely; typically they lie between 10-25% of total cost.  That said, there is a dearth of reliable data, and useful tools, to help guide education decisionmakers in their assessments of the true costs of educational technology initiatives.

8. Assume away equity issues
One compelling justification for large-scale investments in the use of ICTs in education is that they can help address equity issues related to the 'digital divide'.  That said, introduction of ICT in schools often exacerbate various entrenched inequities in education systems (urban-rural, rich-poor, boy-girl, linguistic and cultural divides, special needs students -- the list is long).  Things can be done to mitigate such challenges, and indeed pro-equity approaches of utilizing ICTs are possible, but they don't happen without careful proactive attention to this issue. 

9. Don't train your teachers (nor your school headmasters, for that matter)
If there is one clear lesson from the introduction of educational technologies in schools around the world, it is that teacher training is critical to the success of such initiatives.  Outreach to teachers, through both regular technical and pedagogical support  and on-going professional development, should be seen as cornerstones of any large ICT investment in schools.  And: Targeted outreach to school principals is often crucial if teachers are to have the necessary freedom to take advantage of new opportunities offered through the use of ICTs.

10. ___
[I thought I would leave #10 blank as an acknowledgement that there are many additional worst practices that merit mention, but I have run out of space. Do feel free to submit your candidates below.]

For those who work in educational technology, none of these will be new. For many others new to this topic, the items on this list may appear to be so obvious that they need not even be mentioned. Even if indeed they are 'obvious', that unfortunately hasn't stopped them from occurring (and re-occurring) around the world with depressing regularity.


Other recent items related to ICT/education of potential interest from the World Bank:

1. infoDev has released a preview of the key findings [pdf] from its upcoming Survey of ICT & Education in India & South Asia

2. You can now RSVP to wbeducation@worldbank.org for the following two events at the World Bank in DC in May (both start at 12:30pm and are open to the public):

 

 

 


Join the Conversation

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly
Remaining characters: 1000
Yishay Mor
I agree with every word, with a single big caveat: context. While these are all common mistakes (or, in design language "anti-patterns", each and every one of them can boast a particular set of circumstances where they are the right thing to do. But that's an exception, which bounds the rule. On the other hand, in the case of "best practices" it is often the exceptions that are presented as rules. Even a broken watch is right twice a day, and a watch that is 5 minutes early helps you catch the bus. No solution is always good or always bad - a solution is effective per certain problems in a certain context. I propose a change of language. Instead of best and worst practices, lets talk of design narratives and design patterns. A design narrative tells the story of a problem and how it was solved (or attempted to be solved) in full detail, including all the contextual information, misfires, recoveries and lessons learnt. A design pattern identifies recurring triplets of problem, context and solution across narratives.

I agree with every word, with a single big caveat: context. While these are all common mistakes (or, in design language "anti-patterns", each and every one of them can boast a particular set of circumstances where they are the right thing to do. But that's an exception, which bounds the rule. On the other hand, in the case of "best practices" it is often the exceptions that are presented as rules....

Read more
Wilfred
Mike, In my humble opinion, points 3 and 4 about content are the most important. My understanding of education - in Africa at least - is that most of the main players in education underestimate how hard it is to create relevant local content. The African Virtual School is all about content, both digital and in print. Our flagship book - The African Virtual School Maths Book is available on Amazon and as a digital subscription. All we need now is to convince Institutions, Agencies and African Ministries of Education to subscribe to our service :).

Mike, In my humble opinion, points 3 and 4 about content are the most important. My understanding of education - in Africa at least - is that most of the main players in education underestimate how hard it is to create relevant local content. The African Virtual School is all about content, both digital and in print. Our flagship book - The African Virtual School Maths Book is available on Amazon...

Read more
Ivonna
I like this approach of working from the "worst practice". We go to so much trouble identifying best and good practices that are often in the eyes of the beholder or very contextual and difficult to implement. What an interesting way to change the nature of the conversation ... well beyond ICT.

I like this approach of working from the "worst practice". We go to so much trouble identifying best and good practices that are often in the eyes of the beholder or very contextual and difficult to implement. What an interesting way to change the nature of the conversation ... well beyond ICT.

Prakash deo
Hi ! There is mad rush for pouring technology hardware in the schools. There have be no philosophies, no strategies, no aim or objectives even. School full of technology is a fashion. The real use of technology in learning and other associated areas need to be spelt out. Otherwise, the MNCs will sell and we will dump them in schools. Prakash Deo Bhopal, India

Hi ! There is mad rush for pouring technology hardware in the schools. There have be no philosophies, no strategies, no aim or objectives even. School full of technology is a fashion. The real use of technology in learning and other associated areas need to be spelt out. Otherwise, the MNCs will sell and we will dump them in schools. Prakash Deo Bhopal, India

Homira
Dear Mike, Yet another very relevant and candid post from you. Many of the lessons, or 'worst' practices that you describe can also be easily transferred over to the use of ICT in the health sector, so all nine points are applicable to us too. If I had to add a number 10 to your list, it would be to consider the energy needs of the equipment necessary to keep operating, and to consider the environmental sustainability of the energy source. We've had several high-tech ventures in Afghanistan that blissfully said they would just rely on power generators to juice up the laptops, but generators require fuel, and people living in absolute poverty have to make tough choices about resource use. The U.S. government's Leapfrog laptop initiative in Afghanistan is another really interesting example to look at. I also like your emphasis on what DOESN'T work because in being honest about our mistakes or mis-steps, we really learn. I also just read Aleem Walji's post on the need for public toilets in S.Africa versus the availability of Bluetooth technology. I must admit I didn't quite get the connection between the two, but his larger point about how technology can empower people, but not if their most basic needs are not met (i.e., safe water, sanitation, security). Keep up the good work dude.

Dear Mike, Yet another very relevant and candid post from you. Many of the lessons, or 'worst' practices that you describe can also be easily transferred over to the use of ICT in the health sector, so all nine points are applicable to us too. If I had to add a number 10 to your list, it would be to consider the energy needs of the equipment necessary to keep operating, and to consider the environmental...

Read more
ismael peña-lópez
10. Do not embed your project into your social context: educational community, family, neighbourhood, etc. I agree with all of them, but especially with #5 and #9.

10. Do not embed your project into your social context: educational community, family, neighbourhood, etc. I agree with all of them, but especially with #5 and #9.

Michael Rowe
Thank you for an interesting post. You're right, these guidelines on what not to do should be common sense, but strangely enough you often come across (some of) them. In South Africa, we seem to avoid these problems, not because we have a better understanding of implementing tech in the wrong way, but because our digital divide keeps the hardware and skills out of the areas where we would be prone to make the mistakes.

Thank you for an interesting post. You're right, these guidelines on what not to do should be common sense, but strangely enough you often come across (some of) them. In South Africa, we seem to avoid these problems, not because we have a better understanding of implementing tech in the wrong way, but because our digital divide keeps the hardware and skills out of the areas where we would be prone...

Read more
Paul Wilkinson
Your post is thought provoking but for me more so if I think of replacing ICT with "pencil and paper" (at least for points 1,3, 4, 5 and 9). The questions around educational design, professional development, monitoring and evaluation etc are all just as relevant no matter what level of technology (or lack of it) is involved.

Your post is thought provoking but for me more so if I think of replacing ICT with "pencil and paper" (at least for points 1,3, 4, 5 and 9). The questions around educational design, professional development, monitoring and evaluation etc are all just as relevant no matter what level of technology (or lack of it) is involved.

Michael Trucano
Just an FYI That the link above to the event at the World Bank on 13 May open to the public has now been updated (previous link was incorrect): Uruguay's Plan Ceibal: What happens when every student and teacher has their own free laptop http://go.worldbank.org/1421LKAEL0

Just an FYI That the link above to the event at the World Bank on 13 May open to the public has now been updated (previous link was incorrect): Uruguay's Plan Ceibal: What happens when every student and teacher has their own free laptop http://go.worldbank.org/1421LKAEL0

Michael Trucano
Hi Paul, Thanks for your comment. I agree wholeheartedly that these sorts of things should be relevant no matter what 'technology' we are talking about. If you haven't seen it, you might be interested in the cheeky 'Adventures in Pencil Integration' blog, http://pencilintegration.blogspot.com, which makes this point as well (albeit in a different way). -Mike

Hi Paul, Thanks for your comment. I agree wholeheartedly that these sorts of things should be relevant no matter what 'technology' we are talking about. If you haven't seen it, you might be interested in the cheeky 'Adventures in Pencil Integration' blog, http://pencilintegration.blogspot.com, which makes this point as well (albeit in a different way). -Mike