Communications in education

The paper aims to provide evidence of the role of communications in education. The term communications is used in three interrelated ways: it refers to the interactions and engagements which take place between different actors in the education sector; it looks at the transmission of information, knowledge or data between two or more points; and it refers to the processes and means though which these interactions take place. The report identifies where communications in the education sector has been successful and some of its weaknesses. The paper focuses on spaces for communications in education, the processes of communications and the direct and indirect impacts of communications initiatives. It gives examples of a range of communication initiatives and provides evidence of impact, where available

Educational Technology Topic Guide

This guide aims to contribute to what we know about the relationship between educational technology (edtech) and educational outcomes by addressing the following overarching question: What is the evidence that the use of edtech, by teachers or students, impacts teaching and learning practices, or learning outcomes? It also offers recommendations to support advisors to strengthen the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes that use edtech. We define edtech as the use of digital or electronic technologies and materials to support teaching and learning. Recognising that technology alone does not enhance learning, evaluations must also consider how programmes are designed and implemented, how teachers are supported, how communities are developed and how outcomes are measured (see http://tel.ac.uk/about-3/, 2014). Effective edtech programmes are characterised by: a clear and specific curriculum focus the use of relevant curriculum materials a focus on teacher development and pedagogy evaluation mechanisms that go beyond outputs. These findings come from a wide range of technology use including: interactive radio instruction (IRI) classroom audio or video resources accessed via teachers’ mobile phones student tablets and eReaders computer-assisted learning (CAL) to supplement classroom teaching. However, there are also examples of large-scale investment in edtech – particularly computers for student use – that produce limited educational outcomes. We need to know more about: how to support teachers to develop appropriate, relevant practices using edtech how such practices are enacted in schools, and what factors contribute to or mitigate against successful outcomes. Recommendations: 1. Edtech programmes should focus on enabling educational change, not delivering technology. In doing so, programmes should provide adequate support for teachers and aim to capture changes in teaching practice and learning outcomes in evaluation. 2. Advisors should support proposals that further develop successful practices or that address gaps in evidence and understanding. 3. Advisors should discourage proposals that have an emphasis on technology over education, weak programmatic support or poor evaluation. 4. In design and evaluation, value-for-money metrics and cost-effectiveness analyses should be carried out

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

This rigorous literature review focused on pedagogy, curriculum, teaching practices and teacher education in developing countries. It aimed to: 1. review existing evidence on the review topic to inform programme design and policy making undertaken by the DFID, other agencies and researchers 2. identify critical evidence gaps to guide the development of future research programme

Supporting non-state providers in basic education service delivery

Basic education is commonly regarded as a state responsibility. However, in reality, non-state providers (NSPs) have always been involved in basic education service delivery, and there is often a blurring of boundaries between state and non-state roles with respect to financing, ownership, management, and regulation. In recent years, the focus on the role of non-state providers (NSPs) has intensified within the context of the move towards achieving Education for All (EFA). The paper considers this shift, with particular attention towards service delivery to 'underserved groups', defined as those for whom access to affordable government services of appropriate quality is most problematic. In some cases, this refers to particular sub-groups of a population within a country. In other cases (notably fragile states), it can refer to large sections of the country’s population. The paper indicates the wide range of NSPs that exist to serve different underserved groups. It notes that NSPs are commonly viewed as having a comparative advantage over state provision - in terms of quality, cost-effectiveness, choice, accountability to citizens etc. However, in reality there is very limited robust analysis to support some of these claims. The paper then considers the ways in which non-state providers engage with the state in education service delivery, including with respect to contracting, policy dialogue, and regulation - and the role that donors play in this relationship. The paper concludes that relations between NSPs and the state are not straightforward given the range of different providers involved in education service delivery, with those serving the better-off tending to dominate engagement with government. This can be at the expense of smaller-scale, informal providers aiming to support those otherwise under-served by government provision. As such, the paper argues that there is a need for ‘real’ on-going dialogue which recognises the diversity amongst NSPs, to ensure collaboration between NSPs and government benefits the underserved and so assists in moving towards the achievement of EFA goals

Integrating e-learning technologies into conventional teaching and learning in the school and higher education system with scarce resources: a case study of Mzuzu University

The main aim of this study was to investigate how secondary schools and tertiary education institutions in Malawi can sustainably integrate e-learning technologies into traditional teaching and learning environments. The study was conducted in Malawi at Mzuzu University (MZUNI) and four secondary schools within Mzuzu City. Data were collected in two phases. Phase-one was a baseline study of the status of technology at MZUNI and in four conveniently sampled secondary schools in Mzuzu City. The rationale for conducting the baseline study was to ascertain the status of e-learning before conducting the intervention study. This phase used self-administered questionnaires, focus group discussions (FDGs) and in-depth individual interviews as tools for gathering data. Phase Two was interventional in nature because the researcher tried to implement some solutions which were observed during baseline study. This study used a longitudinal qualitative research approach. A mixed methods approach was used because the nature of the research questions required the use of different data gathering strategies. Study findings revealed that educational institutions that have limited resources can integrate technology in education by using resources they have. This study discovered that the following five media were sustainable and the most used technologies: The Internet, Facebook, memory sticks, personal computers and ordinary cell phones. Furthermore, challenges that institutions are likely to face when implementing technology integration included: intermittent electrical power supply; lack of resources for e-learning; resistance to use recorded e-resources; challenges with e-module production and using WhatsApp for educational purposes. The study recommends the following strategies to ensure that electronic technologies are integrated into the teaching and learning environment: MZUNI and other institutions which have limited resources for teaching and learning purposes should integrate technology in education using the most ubiquitous teaching and learning resources around them by making use of the Teaching and Learning Using Locally Available Resources (TALULAR) concept instead of solely relying on proprietary resources

Working Paper 110 - Education and Employment in Malawi

This paper analyzes the relationship betweeneducation and employment in Malawi, usingdata from the 2004-05 Integrated HouseholdSurvey (IHS-2). For both men and women,education is the passport to formalemployment and leads to higher hourlyearnings. Within regular wage employment,secondary education is associated with a123 percent wage premium, and universityeducation with a 234 percent wage premium(relative to illiteracy). In both rural and urbanareas, income is positively correlated withspecialization in regular wage employment.For example, in urban areas 60 percent of thehouseholds who derive at least 75 percent oftheir income from regular wage employmentbelong to the highest quartile of the incomedistribution. This reflects the relative scarcityof human capital. Among prime age males(25 to 39 years old), only 10 percent havecompleted secondary education. For womenin the same age group, the situation is evenworse, with the rate of completion ofsecondary schooling as low as 3 percent.The analysis of school enrolment highlightsthat teenage women experience high dropoutrates, which prevent greater femaleenrollment in higher education, and thereforeconstrain future participation in the bestforms of employment.

Expanding Access and Increasing Student Learning in Post-Primary Education in Developing Countries: A Review of the Evidence

Effective, evidence-based policies on post-primary education are of vital importance as many developing countries start to the see a bulge in secondary and postsecondary enrollment, the product of the achievement of near-universal access to primary school. Finding ways to deliver and promote access to high-quality post-primary education, and to ensure that education is relevant to labor market needs, is one of the great challenges of our times. This must be accomplished in countries where governments face severe budget constraints and many, of not most, parents are too poor to cover the costs out of pocket.International reports such as "A Global Compact on Learning", by the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, emphasize providing opportunities for post-primary education as a first-tier policy challenge. In addition, there has been considerably less progress in gender parity at the secondary level. Meeting these challenges will require a combination of using existing resources more effectively -- which requires both understanding which inputs are key and which are not -- and a range of innovations that may fundamentally alter the current methods of instruction. To that end, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) has launched a Post-Primary Education Initiative intended to promote policy-relevant research on secondary and post-secondary education in developing countries, which together will be referred to as post-primary education. This paper is a first step in that process. It reviews the evidence to date on post-primary education and highlight the gaps in the literature, with a focus on identifying policies that should be given the highest priority for future researchDifferent countries define primary and secondary schooling differently, and in many countries students attend middle schools, upper primary schools, or junior secondary schools before attending secondary school. For the purpose of this review, "post-primary education" includes everything from upper primary, middle, or junior secondary school through tertiary education, as defined by the local context in different countries, including vocational school and other alternative tracks for this age group. In practice, this means that in the research reviewed, the majority of children are in 5th grade (i.e. 10-11 years old) and older.The review is organized as follows. Section II provides some background on postprimary education in the developing world. Section III explains how papers were selected for this review. Section IV presents a conceptual framework for thinking about postprimary education (PPE), including a brief discussion of measuring outcomes. Section V reviews the evidence pertaining to the demand for schooling (the impact of policies that attempt to increase the willingness of households to send their children to school), and Section VI reviews the evidence on the supply of schooling (the impact of policies that change school and teacher characteristics, and more generally how schools are organized). A final section summarizes the findings, highlighting several research gaps that should receive high priority in future research

A Preliminary Analysis of SACMEQ III South Africa

The many and varied links between student socio-economic status and educational outcomes have been well documented in the South African economics of education literature. The strong legacy of apartheid and the consequent correlation between education and wealth have meant that, generally speaking, poorer students perform worse academically. The present study uses the recent Southern and East African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ III) dataset for South Africa to identify those factors that have a significant effect on student maths and reading performance in Grade 6. The research confirms previous findings that socio-economic status, and particularly school socioeconomic status, is important when understanding student success or failure. Other factors which contribute significantly to student performance are homework frequency, preschool education, and the availability of reading textbooks. In contrast, teacher-subject knowledge was found to have only a modest impact on Grade 6 student performance. Policy interventions are also highlighted. The study concludes that South Africa is still a tale of two schools: one which is wealthy, functional and able to educate students, while the other is poor, dysfunctional, and unable to equip students with the necessary numeracy and literacy skills they should be acquiring in primary school. Nevertheless, it suggests that there are some options available to policy-makers which are expected to have a positive effect on student performance.SACMEQ, South Africa, primary education, education, education production function, education policy, economics of education

Computer enhanced learning for mathematics in Malawi

Mathematics is a dreaded subject all over the world more so in third world countries. Results in Malawian examination papers clearly show a higher failure rate in mathematics than other subjects. New teaching methods are needed to revolutionalise pupils' perspective of mathematical concepts and help them see mathematics as a doing subject independently or as a service discipline. The new teaching methods must be seen to make mathematical experience accessible to pupils which will in turn promote pupils' enjoyment of mathematics. Lack of student active participation in present mathematics teaching methods and abstraction in some topics puts off weaker or slow learning students and develops in such students a sense of defeat and demotivation towards the subject. In Britain and other developed countries, syllabuses and teaching methods are constantly under review. In some cases new syllabuses are adopted without prior training for teachers causing additional problems, e.g. the new GCSE syllabus in U.K. which is new in methodology, content and assessment methods. This research, carried out for Malawi, particularly for the Polytechnic, looks at how this massive percentage of under achievement can be reduced. It also exposes the instructional ineffectiveness and inefficiency at learning tasks. The importance of in-service training for secondary and primary school mathematics teachers is also highlighted. Computers can be a key to realising educational goals such as promoting pupil-directed inquiry, enhancing the development of scientific and mathematical concepts and addressing more efficiently the learning needs of individual children in mixed ability and overcrowded classrooms. An assessment of Computer Enhanced Learning for the improvement and reinforcement of present teaching methods is therefore made. Finally, a set of recommendations for the improvement of mathematics education in Malawi is suggested to the Ministry of Education and Culture through the Polytechnic for implementation