In search of the rainbow: pathways to quality in large scale programmes for young disadvantaged children

Development experts have searched for universal definitions and standards of quality. But quality is contextual. Using examples from several countries, this book argues that sensitivity to diversity and to one's own preconceptions should be key elements informing all early childhood work

Acceptance of technology by parent fraternity as a means of remote learning for children: An empirical study

The main purpose of this empirical study is to understand how acceptance of technology is prevailing among the parent fraternity that helps them to develop a positive attitude towards using technology as a tool to enhance their ward’s learning process. A survey among 6361 parents (Indian origin) of primary school students (Kindergarten and primary level) regarding their perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use regarding technology-assisted learning for their wards to understand how these factors influence their attitude towards technology for learning in the future was carried out through an online questionnaire.  The result showed that the more parents found the Usage of Technology towards the e-learning process of their wards, the higher they tend to adopt the technology by exhibiting a positive Attitude towards Technology while the perception of Ease of Use of Technology also significantly predicted the perception of Attitude towards Technology.  The favourable Attitude towards Technology is more visible among the parents of students who are of lower levels of study as compared to those who are at a slightly higher level of study.  It is found that the parents of the student from the rural area schools possessed positive Attitudes towards Technology as compared to their counterparts in the urban areas. The outcome of this study is of greater relevance to the schools especially in the lower level classes to help students to harness technology from a young age because the parent fraternity is already in favour of such initiative

The One Laptop School: Equipping Rural Elementary Schools in South India through Public Private Partnerships

This articleΓÇÖs purpose is to report on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) program in South India that provides information and communication technology (ICT) to rural elementary schools. The article examines the current status of rural, government-run elementary schools in India by reviewing reports like the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) in India. Challenges like teacher absences, student drop-outs, lack of electricity, lack of separate toilets for genders, and a lack of teaching resources will be discussed. To meet these challenges, the article will describe the rise in popularity of IndiaΓÇÖs PPPs. Then the article moves to a case study investigation of a PPP, called the SSA Foundation, which implements a ΓÇ£one laptop per schoolΓÇ¥ program in rural areas in the Indian States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Using ethnographic data from field research, the case study includes a description of how the students in a rural Karnataka elementary school use their schoolΓÇÖs laptop. The school is situated in a small village where most travel is non-motorized.┬á Walking, usually without shoes, is the main form of transportation.┬á A bicycle is considered a luxury.┬á Most villagers work in the surrounding ragi and millet fields; laboring, often with only simple tool blades. Wood fires are the main source of fuel for cooking.┬á In this village, the schoolΓÇÖs laptop has become a prized possession. The case study offers a ΓÇ£thick descriptionΓÇ¥ (Geertz, 1973) of how the village schoolΓÇÖs students use the laptop for learning basic computing skills and for learning English. ┬á Keywords: elementary schooling; educational technology, Public Private Partnerships, rural India, sociotechnical narratives ┬

New media practices in India: bridging past and future, markets and development

This article provides a review of the academic and popular literature on new media practices in India, focusing on the country’s youth's use of mobile phones and the Internet, as well as new media prosumption. One particular feature of the Indian case is the confluence of commercial exploitation of new media technologies and their application for development purposes in initiatives that aim to bring these technologies to marginalized segments of the Indian population. Technology usage in turn is shaped by the socioeconomic location of the user, especially in regards to gender and caste. The potential of new media technologies to subvert such social stratifications and associated norms has inspired much public debate, which is often carried out on the Internet, giving rise to an online public sphere. In all of the writings reviewed here, the tension surrounding new media technologies as a meeting place of the old and the new in India is paramount

Is change on the horizon for Maori and Pacifica female high school students when it comes to ICT?

This paper explores some of the factors that discourage the participation of Māori and Pacific girls in ICT in New Zealand. Despite many ICT job opportunities, there has been a steady decrease in the percentage of girls, especial Māori and Pacific girls entering into ICT study, and pursuing ICT careers. This study used a modified version of the conceptual framework designed by Bernhardt (2014) based on the 'STEMcell' model. The STEMcell framework was used to explores the factors that discourage participation in ICT through such concepts as cultural, social, structural and social IT that contribute to the likelihood of student’s career choice in ICT. An online questionnaire gathered data from year 11 students studying at high schools within Wellington, New Zealand. The findings indicated that Pacific girl’s more than Māori girls reported that their family members were seen as role models, which could impact on their future career choices. The statistical results also show that stereotypes are still alive in both Māori and Pacific year 11 student’s perceptions and that both Pacific and Māori girls from year 11 are unlikely to follow a career in ICT. Currently, the number of Māori and Pacific girls enrolling in ICT subjects at secondary school is still substantially below that for boys and, until changes are made, Māori and Pacific girls going into the industry will be in the minority

A Review of IT Initiatives in Rural India

Empowerment may be at the individual, organizational or up to the whole of country level. This paper examines ICT initiatives as an empowerment enabler in rural India. One rural eHealth empowerment initiative is the Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity (KIDROP). An example of an eGovernance initiative is Bhoomi, while the rollout of computers will enable not only eGovernance but eEducation as well. Facilitating such schemes is the use of Solar Minigrids as a means of strategically adding to the electrical power supply, as a means of overcoming electricity shortages, which is even more of a problem in rural areas than it also happens to be in the urban centres of India. This paper not only explores these technological empowerment initiatives, but examines parameters aiding and hindering such stratagems, including issues surrounding resistance to change, gender role expectations in communities and lack of basic infrastructure

Sociotechnical Narratives in Rural, High-Poverty Elementary Schools: Comparative Findings from East Texas and South India

The article’s purpose is to compare case studies of computer technology use at two rural elementary schools across two international settings. This study uses the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) theory to guide this comparative investigation of how elementary school teachers and students in East Texas and South India construct meaning for computer technology. Building off of SCOT theory, the article also introduces the term, “sociotechnical narratives” as part of the analysis of the meaningful descriptions of ways that social groups use tools in relationship to their wider social context. The article found that even though the two settings, East Texas and Rural Karnataka, are about as far apart geographically as they are culturally, similar sociotechnical narrative emerged. The sociotechnical narrative includes: (1) A shared hope in the opportunity and possibilities with computer technology, (2) the development of literacy skills, and (3) similarity in knowledge tasks for the future. The study’s comparative research design provides greater depth in analyzing the meaning and uses for computer technology among students and teachers in rural, high-poverty areas across international contexts

Low cost private education in India : challenges and way forward

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 82-86).The Low Cost Private School phenomenon has gained momentum and increased visibility in recent years as researchers have begun to map and record the existence of millions of private schools that cater to the education needs of the economically disadvantaged in developing countries. These schools are profit oriented market enterprises, charging fees in the range of US$2 to US$ 15 per month while competing with free-of-cost government schools. Yet, they continue to thrive and grow in numbers. This thesis explores the factors that have led to the existence of a market driven private sector solution in a segment widely dominated by government provision of services and tries to understand the rationale supporting their existence. The thesis also delves into the question of whether low cost private schools are genuinely serving the purpose they are expected to. And whether these poorly financed, ill equipped profit making enterprises are the rights means to educating millions of children. The thesis also discusses the perspectives, experiences and challenges of different players in the low cost private education ecosystem. It closes with an understanding of the need for private sector involvement in providing education to the lower income segment and suggestions for the way forward for regulators, policy makers and the industry.by Nupur Garg.M.B.A