Originally posted on the GBI Portal – Page 11

IFC’s Report on Mobile Money: A Framework to Analyze a Country’s Readiness for Mobile Money

Photo Credit: Bancore Mobile Financial Services

On February, as a part of the ICT Learning Days at the World Bank, Sonja Oestmann, the Director of Consulting and Partner of Intelecon, presented the findings from a report commissioned by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) about mobile money. Entitled “Mobile Money Study 2011,” the reports focused on the mobile money markets in four countries – Nigeria, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Brazil.

The IFC has committed to further expanding financial inclusion by 2013 and see the potential in mobile money to help reach this goal. But while it has been successful in some countries, it has yet to take off in others. By focusing on vastly different countries in terms of region, socio-economic conditions, and financial infrastructure, the focus of the report was to show the different ways in which mobile money can be used as well as the business models that make them sustainable. It also used Kenya and Japan as examples of countries in which mobile money has succeeded.

Framework

The report included a framework to assess the sustainable viability of mobile money in a country as well as the most appropriate business model to utilize. This includes the partnership strategy, the necessary regulation environment, and the development tracks of mobile money products and services. By creating a structure of the market research that must be conducted, the report is aimed at providing this knowledge to regulators, mobile network operators, commercial banks, microfinance institutions, telecommunications manufacturers, and all others interested in expanding mobile money opportunities.

User Demand

The report also examined where the user demand of mobile money is based on the major money flows within each country. Based on these flows, the report listed the following as potential areas of demand:

Government-to-person (G2P) payments
P2P transfers
Payroll payments from small companies in the informal sector
Public transport payments
Bill payments to major utilities (e.g., electricity and water), postpaid mobile accounts, fixed phone subscribers, pay TV (cable and/or satellite)
Retail payments
Business-to-business (B2B) payments
Credit and microfinance
International remittances
Savings

Survey Findings

Surveys were conducted in order to further understand how and why individuals were using (or not using) mobile money in the four countries. One of the more interesting findings from the survey is the ability of marketing to increase the adoption of mobile money. Individuals using the service became aware of it directly from either the bank or the MNO. But the nonusers heard about the service indirectly from mass media. The conclusion in the report is that increasing adoption could be done more effectively through direct marketing with a personal touch. Another interesting finding is the state of the formal financial services effect on the perceived value of mobile money. In countries where the financial services sector is less extensive, mobile money is seen has a cheaper and faster alternative. But in countries with a strong financial services sector, cost and speed were not as important. Its perceived value was seen as an increased convenience.

Conclusions of Studies

The main conclusion from the report was that the value proposition for mobile money depends on the existing financial service infrastructure. When financial services are unavailable to a larger population, there is a higher demand for fast and cheap money transactions. But as the services improve, partnerships between banks and MNOs increase in significance. At the same time, the demand for mobile banking decreases as other e-payment services become competitors. In countries with an established and advance financial services sector, the demand for new services is based on performing at higher speeds, with greater frequency, and increased convenience.

March 6, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

CARMA: the destiny of carbon

Power generation accounts for about one-quarter of global carbon emissions, a major cause of global warming. CARMA (Carbon Monitoring for Action) was created to inventory and monitor this massive output to “equip individuals with the information they need to forge a cleaner, low-carbon future.” There are over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies worldwide available on CARMA’s database, which is produced and financed by the Confronting Climate Change Initiative at the Center for Global Development. CARMA can be used by consumers, investors, shareholders, and policymakers to name a few for influencing decisions on power generation.

For power plants within the U.S., CARMA uses E.P.A. data. For non-reporting plants, CARMA estimates emissions using a statistical model that utilizes detailed data on plant-level engineering and fuel specifications. The database is updated quarterly to reflect changes in ownership, construction, renovation, planned expansions, and plant retirements. The plants can generate power from any number of sources, including hydroelectric, fossil fuels, and nuclear. According to the site, “CARMA does not endorse or favor any particular technology. Our goal is to simply report the best available information on sources of power sector carbon emissions.” In many cases data can be downloaded from the site.

March 6, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Food Security, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

ICTs for “Productivity” Component of the Ag. Value Chain

Photo Credit: The African

Smallholder farmers face agricultural productivity challenges in the areas of under-investment in R&D; the actual processes of agricultural research and communication; access and utilization of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, agrochemicals, etc. by farmers; and accurate information on field production practices. On the other hand, success stories of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to minimize each of these challenges are being documented across the globe and the potential for increasing the impact of ICTs on agricultural production is huge.

As the first in the 3-piece series on “Mapping ICT Solutions along the Agricultural Value Chain”, this post explains how ICT solutions are being used or can be used by value chain actors within the productivity segment of the value chain. ICT solutions in this category may support value chain actors who are involved in agricultural research and development, input manufacture and supply, extension, and production for increased access to information and knowledge for agricultural production.

Potential ICT Solutions for Agricultural Research and Development (R&D)

Agricultural R&D is a key component of the value chain and in most developing nations, has great limitation due to poor access to the global knowledge pool by the developing nations researchers. ICT solutions in this sub-category may support the work of agricultural researchers, agricultural science students, extension staffs, and farmers to facilitate access to scientific knowledge, exchange of information between and among them.

Examples of ICT solutions identified include mobile applications such as the i) OakMapper, a mobile application which allows users to submit occurrences of Sudden Oak Death (SOD), search for incidents, and to report them to the geospatial enabled database; ii) Rural Universe Network (RUNetwork), a network of several partners in the Caribbean to help improve the availability of local knowledge and information through the development of a rural communication system; iii) eRails, a free website for partners across Africa working in the area of agriculture and rural development to help them share their new innovations; iv) AGORA and TEEAL by FAO and Cornell University respectively helping to increase access of developing nations researchers and academics to scientific journals to facilitate their research work.

Photo Credit: Thulasy Balasubramaniam and Graham Lettner

Potential ICT Solutions for Access to Agricultural Inputs

Increased access to inputs such as seed, animal feed, fertilizer, machinery, financial support, insurance, and irrigation systems at the right time, the right price, and in the right amounts is key for successful production by farmers. Actors within this segment are mostly private sector and for-profit firms that need to be in constant communication with the smallholder farmers to ensure profitable investment. Communication tools are important for continuous flow of information between these partners to be able to develop the right input that works for the farmers. At the same time, input manufacturers and suppliers are expected to collaborate with researchers who test these inputs for their suitability for farmers to help in commercialization and scaling up promising agricultural technologies that could benefit smallholder farmers.

ICT solutions within this category may support activities of input manufacturers, suppliers, and users for timely, more efficient and effective use of these agricultural inputs. Some of the ICT applications identified include the use of i) E-Voucher system in Zambia to facilitate easy access to inputs by farmers, help involve the private sector, and reduce fraud in the delivery of these inputs; ii) the Agrian Mobile Information Center, a mobile app that allows users to access product information while in the field, search by product name, active ingredients, signal word, etc. and iii) Kilimo Salama, an input insurance system in Kenya for farmers as they purchase inputs for their farms.

Potential ICT Solutions for Agricultural Production

Apart from inputs and other new technologies from research, farmers put in a lot of resources and efforts into the actual production process on the field. Smallholder farmers across the globe are known for their innovative activities in the face of limited access to scientific knowledge and resources for production. Information communication technologies can play significant role in either way – connecting them to scientific resources and information and also link these farmers together to share their indigenous knowledge and experiences acquired over the years. ICT solutions in this sub-category may help in communicating information to support field activities by farmers such as weather, pest and diseases, soil nutrient levels, harvesting practices, gestation cycles, and knowledge sharing among farming communities.

Photo Credit: FAO

Some of the tools identified within this group include i) Crop Calendar, an online resource created by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which provides timely information about seeds to promote local crop production by farmers; ii) iCow, a voice-based mobile application that prompts cattle farmers on vital days of cows gestation period; iii) NEXT2, a geo-social application that is able to connect farmers with similar interest that are geographically co-located through SMS, voice, or mobile web to share local knowledge, expertise and experiences; and iv) a host of traditional radio programs that are assisting farmers’ production activities.

In concluding this piece, it is clear that the huge potential of the new digital network for agricultural productivity is yet to be fully exploited for smallholder farmers. The technologies are affecting the work of agricultural researchers, extension workers, input manufacturers and distributors, private sector organizations interested in partnering with governments to improve agriculture, and some farmers at the remotest communities. But stakeholders need to devise better strategies for fully integrating these solutions into their projects.

This is the first in a 3-part series that explains the role of ICTs within the three major stages of the agricultural value chain – Productivity, Marketing, & Monitoring and Evaluation. We’ll soon be launching a dynamic and interactive version of “Apps4Ag Database” project on March 9^th during GBI’s TechTalk:Mapping ICTs Along the Ag Value Chain.

March 6, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Food Security, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Mapping ICT Solutions along the Ag. Value Chain

The agriculture and food security value chain system is known for its complexity with varied actors at various levels interacting among themselves and with their external environment to provide sustainable food security situation across the world. In this complex system, the key for success depends on how well the value chain actors collaborate and coordinate their activities throughout the entire process from research and development through production to consumption.

The agricultural value chain identifies a set of actors and their respective activities that are aimed at bringing basic agricultural product from research and development, through production in the field, marketing and value adding processing to the final consumer. Within the agricultural value chain, irrespective of the model of the chain, three key components can be identified. These are activities associated with – i) productivity (Research and Development (R&D), input manufacture and supply, production on the field); ii) marketing (transport and storage, processing, retail and wholesale); and iii) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) (policy and traceability). Marking out these components allows for identification of the actors that work within these three main categories along the value chain.

Communication tools for coordination of roles

In a complex system like the agricultural value chain, coordination of roles is key as the actors collaborate to exchange resources. Successful coordination of role calls for appropriate communication approaches and media for smooth flow of resources from one stage to another and from one actor to the other. The importance of communication within the value chain is becoming clear especially with the surge to develop new and innovative information and communication technologies (ICTs) for agriculture and food security.

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s new Global Broadband and Innovations (GBI) program with the mandate to focus the Agency’s attention and resources on leveraging the adoption of ICTs across its development portfolio has been exploring the role of the new technologies along the agricultural value chain for improved resource flow. Throughout our desk research, we have found that there are several discussions, and activities going on with the use of ICTs in agriculture and food security, and others specifically on value chain development. However, little is done to bring the two issues together.

The ICTs for Agriculture team at GBI has over the past few months been working to bring these two issues together to help identify what ICT solutions currently in the market are best fit for each stage of the agricultural value chain. The team has identified and selected over 125 ICT solutions (apps and projects) that apply to the various actors within the agricultural value chain, specifically for this initial stage of the project and has mapped out these tools along the chain.

This is an introduction to a 3-piece series that explains the role of ICTs within the three major stages of the agricultural value chain – Productivity, Marketing, & Monitoring and Evaluation. We’ll soon be launching a dynamic and interactive version of “Apps4Ag Database” project on March 9^th during GBI’s TechTalk:Mapping ICTs Along the Ag Value Chain.

March 5, 2012/by actualize

Connectivity, Legal & Regulatory, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Nigerian federal government liquidates NITEL

The Federal Government has decided to liquidate NITEL (Nigerian Telecommunications Limited), the telecommunications company in debt, after failing to sell the company in the past 11 years.

NITEL has been liquidated after struggling with debt for 11 years. (image: file)

This process was approved by the National Council on Privatisation, headed by Vice President Namadi Sambo, at a meeting on Monday after considering a report by one of its committees.

NITEL and its mobile arm M-Tel would be sold through “guided liquidation” in view of the company’s huge liabilities, the Bureau of Public Enterprises said in a statement.

“The TC recommended that ‘guided liquidation’ should be adopted as the strategy for the privatisation of NITEL/M-Tel in view of the huge liabilities of both companies and that there was no viable financial alternative presented by the management of NITEL/M-Tel,” Chukwumah Nwokoh, BPE spokesman, said.

Nwokoh said the NCP supported the recommendation of the Technical Committee that opted for ‘guided liquidation’. Despite, venues not accounting for, “the management of NITEL/M-Tel had been obtaining their salaries from the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Consequently, the NCP directed the Sub-Committee of the Technical Committee on Information, Communication, National Facilities and Agric Resources to immediately carry out investigations and ensure that all revenues received were accounted for.”

Speaking to Daily Trust, Elias Kazza, Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporations president, said privatisation efforts on NITEL failed due to the selfish interest of some Nigerians.

Segun Adekoye

March 5, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

ICTs for “Marketing” Component of the Ag Value Chain

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Markets for agricultural products is another critical component of the value chain – i.e from the time the produce is ready for harvest till it reaches the final consumer. A number of activities take place within this period from storage, processing, transportation, retail, and wholesale that add value to the produce. These value adding processes are greatly affected by factors such as inefficiencies in trade policies – both local and international, poor post-harvest handling techniques, challenges with storage and processing, limited infrastructure for transportation of produce, and lack of access to credit by farmers at the lean season to help them extend shelf life of their produce.

In the context of communication, the World Bank’s eSourcebook defined marketing in terms of “finding out” what customers want and “supplying it” to them. ICT solutions that target markets for farmers’ produce may have features that connect producers to traders, provide market alerts and status of prices to both producers and traders at various markets, facilitate easy and smooth transactions and price negotiations, ensure easy flow of goods across regions/states, aid market research, and improve storage and processing challenges for value chain actors. Effective deployment of these tools will increase food availability, increase income of producers and traders, minimize post-harvest losses, and help stabilize food prices.

Potential applications of ICTs for retail activities

Smallholder farmers are producers and at the same time retailers. Commodities produced beyond household consumption go to the market for retail. Farmers sell at the farm gate, in their homes, local markets and regional markets to get cash to meet other social and economic needs at home. But due to poor market information at the time of harvest (even at the time of cultivation), farmers are exploited by middlemen or market women who determine the price, and most of the times, the farm produce are left to rot at the farm or the market due to glut in market at the time of harvest. ICTs are helping to reduce this challenge in most developing countries to increase market information for producers. These ICT solutions may support activities of smallholder farmers, traders and consumers with market information and other transaction processes to help deliver produce to the consumers.

Examples include the use of Agriculture Price Alert, an iPhone mobile application that send push notification to users (farmers, traders, consumers) when prices reach the limit they set; M-Farm, a mobile application that helps users to get up to date crop price information, connect farmers together to jointly sell their produce, and help group-buying of farm utilities together; and CellBazaar that uses a suite of applications including SMS, the web and voice to bring ‘the market’ to the handset of its users.

Potential applications of ICTs for wholesale activities

Photo Credit: ICTUpdate

Farm produce also travels from the farm gate to wholesale markets and supermarkets. The produce undergoes value-adding processes such as sorting, storage, processing, grading, packaging, labeling and certification, which may be undertaken by the farmer or the wholesaler. The entire process involves logistics and communication to be able to deliver the right product to the right market. There are specific ICT solutions that support activities of commercial farmers, traders, processors, graders and consumers with market information and transaction processes to ensure quality products in the market. Some of these activities cut across national and regional boundaries for international markets.

Examples include Virtual City AgriManagr, which allows traders to manage the weighing, grading and receipting of their produce collected from each farmer at the collection point and pay suppliers using cashless transactions, Regional Agriculture Trade Intelligence Network (RATIN) which supplies traders with improved early warning marketing and trade information leading to more efficient and competitive transactions in food trade between surplus and deficit regions in East Africa, and the Africa Commodities and Futures Exchange (ACFEX), a Pan-African multi-asset derivatives exchange that provides a continent wide price discovery mechanism, transparency, risk management in a number of areas including agriculture.

In conclusion, a range of ICT solutions are within this “marketing” category of the value chain. Solutions providing market information to farmers prior to cultivation for decision on what crop to cultivate and how much to farm; those that give price alerts from different market locations for farmers to decide on who to sell their produce to; others that connect farmers and traders together to negotiate and exchange their commodities; those that facilitate transactions and payments; and other solutions that ensure storage/warehousing to help add value to the produce and increase farmers’ income.

March 4, 2012/by actualize

Mobile Money, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Social Investing in Mobile Money: Two Recent Investments in Expanding Mobile Financial Services to the Poor

Mobile Transactions Agent next to a store

Photo Credit: http://venture-zamtan.blogspot.com/

As the Mobile World Congress 2012 wraps up in Barcelona, there has been a flurry of news about social investments in mobile money. On Wednesday (February 29^th), Omidyar Network and ACCION International announced a $3.2 million investment in Mobile Transactions International, a Zambia-based organization with a technology platform and network of agents for mobile transactions. On Thursday (March 1), CGAP, Grameen Foundation, and MTN Uganda announced a partnership along with $1 million investment into an initiative to research and design mobile financial services for those living on under $2.50 per day.

Investment Details

As the first venture capital investment in a start-up technology company in Zambia, Omidyar and ACCION see Mobile Transactions as a leader of expanding access to financial services in the country. The money will be leveraged to build up its executive team, agent network, and further develop their platform in order companies and poor consumers both in Zambia and in new markets to make mobile transactions. The investment into Mobile Transactions includes $500,000 in convertible debt funding from Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), a nonprofit organization focused on alleviating poverty through market-based solutions and financial investments. This funding will eventually be convertible into shares of the Mobile Transactions. As typical with venture capital investments, Arjuna Costa, Director of Investments at Omidyar Network, and Monica Brand, Fund Manager for ACCION’s Frontier Investments Group, will serve on Mobile Transactions’ board.

Mobile Transactions’ business model combines their proprietary technology with an agent network with the goal of creating a “Cashless Africa.” This idea is that all businesses can transact through mobile phones with the unbanked as well as those without mobile connectivity. Their services offer customers the ability to transfer money, make and receive payments, and eVouchers. This business model was created based on the fact that in countries like Zambia over 80% of the adult population does not have access to formal financial services and roughly 50% of them do not have access to a mobile phone.

The focus of the investment by CGAP, Grameen, and MTN Uganda is to build on the success of mobile money providing access to financial services. The idea is to take it a step further by creating a suite of products and services that fit the needs of low-income consumers. The diverse partnership is aiming at combining the expertise of each organization to provide better access to mobile financial services. CGAP, as a part of the World Bank, focuses on expanding financial services to the poor through independent research, policy solutions, and advisory services to governments and financial service providers. Grameen Foundation, through its AppLab in Uganda, already has the knowledge and experience of expanding the reach of financial services to poor consumers by utilizing mobile technology. MTN Uganda also has had success with mobile money in Uganda which includes building the technical infrastructure and establishing a strong agent network.

Social Investing

Mobile money has been in the news lately as global corporations are becoming interested in its revenue possibilities. Visa and Mastercard recently partnered with mobile operators across Africa and the Middle East to start offering their own form of mobile money. Western Union continues to create partnerships in order for their international money transfer services to be used via mobile phones. While these examples are corporations looking to enter new markets and generate new revenue streams, the social investments have much different and hopefully more impactful focus.

Social investing is a necessary component for mobile technology to reach the unbanked. These social businesses have a clear idea of who their targeted consumers are. With this understanding, the products and services will be designed to meet the consumers’ needs. As mentioned, in Zambia, there is a low penetration rate of mobile phones so creating a system based solely for individuals with mobile phones would not reach all the unbanked. The beauty of Mobile Transactions’ services is that provides needed services that are accessible by all, whether they have a mobile phone or not. In Uganda, the AppLab has done extensive research on providing information services via mobile phones to rural communities. The testing and delivery of these services has allowed the AppLab understand the needs of the consumers in the country. This has helped to guide further development of current products as well as the future development of new products. Both of these social investments are exciting as they will create new products and services to expand financial services to the unbanked.

March 2, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Humanitarian Assistance, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Immediate Care, is there an app for that?

PEPID Elements: Environmental Medicine & Disasters allows users to identify natural resources around them that can be used in emergency situations. The app includes identification, management and treatment of environmental disaster medicine conditions including mountain medicine, survival situations for both natural and manmade scenarios, heat injury and illness, cold injury and illness, electrical and lighting injury, and bites and stings. The comprehensive treatment section has a complete drug database containing adult and pediatric dosing, indications, adverse reactions and administration information. Elements was designed by PEPID, provider of medical software and drug databases.

March 2, 2012/by actualize

Economic Growth & Trade, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Workforce Development

FASTECH promoting Nigerian entrepreneurship education

The FCT Agency for Science and Technology (FASTECH) is currently partnering with an international NGO, Junior Achievement, to promote entrepreneurship education in primary and secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, Nigeria.

Woman holding plaque from Junior Achievement

Yelwa Baba-Ari, FASTECH Director, says their relationship with Nigerian NGO, Junior Achievement, should promote entrepreneurship. (image: file)

The partnership will include setting up clubs and organising entrepreneurship competitions in schools. Yelwa Baba-Ari, FASTECH Director, said yesterday building entrepreneurial skills is part of the agency’s mandate.

“If you expose them to entrepreneurship by the time they finish secondary school, they can assist their parents in paying the school fees,” she said.

“A lot of them are not exposed but this gives them confidence be it in communication or leadership skills and builds confidence in them to face the challenges of the society. We will partner to make sure that the schools become awake to its importance. We will collaborate with you to do competition for the students and to see that we establish clubs in more schools.”

Stressing on the importance of acquiring entrepreneurial skill, Baba-Ari said government in this country was a major employer of labour but now the economy encourages people to be on their own.

Segun Adekoye

March 2, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Education, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

From Classrooms to Economies, INTEL White Paper Says eLearning is Making a Postive Impact

Photo credit: Kitguru.com

Intel’s recently released white paper entitled “The Positive Impacts of Learning”, provides new research data that concludes that eLearning is improving the quality and effectiveness of education. An updated version of the 2009 paper, it offers a comprehensive glimpse at some key research findings aimed at helping educational leaders identify relevant eLearning benefits to make well-informed decisions for developing eLearning strategies.

Intel realizes, along with much of the ICT sector, that with an endless array of both failed and successful examples of implementation strategies for eLearning — and few published results of strictly controlled experimental studies — it is difficult for researchers to produce valid data that can actually prove the efficacy of improving the quality of education through the use of ICT. By comparing data from a spectrum of different studies conducted in the US and various countries, the paper draws several important conclusions supporting the theory that eLearning is in fact positively impacting not only students and teachers, but also their families, communities, societies, and economies.

Students:

Research has shown that there are three major areas of student learning affected by eLearning: engagement, motivation and attendance. Teachers that were surveyed or consulted in many of the studies reported that student motivation was improved the most out these three areas, as much as 76% of low achieving students involved in 1:1 computing programs in one teacher survey.

Access:

Access to technology is a large factor in student performance levels. Studies have found that 1:1 computing programs are much more beneficial than computer labs. Through analyzing 13 different countries, researchers have found that students with easy access to ICT in the classrooms or involved in 1:1 programs are significantly more likely to use ICT than students who only had access to computer labs. Not only do these students use the devices more, but another study showed that academic scores and attendance improved significantly.

Quality of Learning:

When deciding how deeply the technology should be integrated into the learning process, Intel concludes that the more opportunities and easier accessibility that students have to the technology, the greater the effects. Intel has found that student-centered teaching methodologies coupled with blended learning, a strategy that mixes different educational environments, is the most effective way of ensuring that students fully value and explore all learning possibilities available through the technology. With similar advantages found in differentiated instruction methods, students are then able to learn at their own pace and adopt strategies to develop skills needed for self-regulated learning.

Performance:

Photo credit: anonymous from blogspot.net

The white paper suggests that various aspects of student performance, particularly 21st century skills needed to compete in a developing global economy, are significantly improved through the use of ICT. For example, “in one two-year study of upper elementary classrooms with 1:1 computing access, students outperformed non-laptop students on English Language Arts (ELA) literary response and analysis and writing strategies, (Suhr et al., U.S.).”

Teachers:

Access:

Research shows that giving teachers computers or helping them to purchase them is incredibly valuable to these programs. Through boosting teacher confidence in the validity of the information that they are teaching and offering various ways to plan lessons efficiently, teachers can become empowered through technology. Intel suggests that by creating learning management systems, software applications for managing online learning, and training teachers how to use them, educators can share and contribute to a growing body of open educational resources (OER).

Performance:

Besides visible improvements in the quality of student learning, teachers management skills improve as well. Better organizational skills and levels of productivity were reported in most of the studies referenced in the report. In one study, “68 percent of teachers with 1 to 3 years of experience say that technology has increased their effectiveness by making them more productive, (Project Tomorrow, U.S.),”

Society and Community:

A number of studies suggest that eLearning is creating benefits for students across all social classes but that disadvantaged, at-risk, and disabled groups of students benefit more. For example, “the Texas Technology Immersion Pilot showed that economically disadvantaged students reached proficiency levels matching the skills of advantaged control students, (Texas Center for Educational Research, U.S.).” At the broader social level, Intel suggests that by improving basic education, eLearning can indirectly reduce levels of criminal activity and increase students’ involvement in improving their communities.

Photo credit: impactlab.net

As policy makers use eLeaning to improve basic education, they are focusing on the larger effects on the economy. Emphasizing this fact, the report highlights the creation of more job opportunities and developing a workforce better able to fill these jobs. For example, “The OECD estimates the demand for employees with technology skills is growing at a pace that most labor markets struggle to satisfy, stating that approximately 16 million people are employed by the ICT sector, and representing approximately 6 percent of the OECD business sector employment. Furthermore, the estimate is that this sector is growing faster than most other business sectors.”

The full report and bibliography for the studies referenced above can be accessed here.

March 1, 2012/by actualize

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