The Laptop Project: Digital Content
Traditional educational resources such as textbooks, workbooks and PowerPoint presentations are flat and not interactive. While some advances have been made, such as introducing more video into classrooms or introducing additional game-based learning activities, there is still much more technology and design can do to enhance the learning experiences in classrooms across the country. Today’s learners and teachers deserve innovation beyond online textbooks or videos–even beyond gamification. The benefits of educational content that are developed and produced as interactive, digital environments and utilize multiple tools within the platform go beyond increasing engagement in students and decreasing upkeep costs for institutions.
Students who engage with digital learning environments that are thoughtfully designed and presented in innovative ways are more likely to retain more information and perform better academically.
The global best practices are;
In Rwanda, the Rwanda Education Commons (REC) in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MOE), expanded access to quality education by building communities of educators around the sharing of educational materials and resources. MOE was involved from the inception of the project, local staff were all Rwandese, and the project was housed and embedded within MOE’s offices. REC built a digital library containing materials supporting each unit in Rwanda’s secondary school curriculum and Rwanda’s primary school curriculum. The materials are a mix of locally produced content, regionally adapted content, and relevant, internationally sourced content.
The Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development of South Korea in 2007 implemented a project known as Digital Textbook. The project of the digital-textbooks was promoted to overcome the limits of the paper textbooks and to cope with the change to the ubiquitous society effectively. The Plan for digital-textbook was brought up for overcoming the limits of the paper textbooks, such as the lack of speed and visual effect in the environment of rapid change and shortened the life cycle of knowledge, the lack of inducing interest, the limit of space and the volume of information, the inevitable delay of distribution, etc.
The digital-textbook is one that can be read, seen, and listened to using wired and wireless telecommunication networks after recording contents of textbooks on digital media with the digital data. It provides not only the contents of the paper textbooks but also the integrated function of cutting-edge multimedia such as a huge amount of learning materials, movies, animations, virtual reality and hyperlinks. And it can further provide a wide range of learning materials in link with the Database of various institutes in society.
According to The Global Information Technology Report 2015 on understanding digital content and services ecosystem, three key groups of stakeholders are involved in creating a vibrant and sustainable content ecosystem: (1) the government—both in its role as a policymaker and as a provider of essential services online; (2) the content developers, which range from the small startups in the country to large global companies; and (3) the enablers—the operators and brands that provide either the distribution or, in some cases, the monetization models to sustain the content ecosystem. Any emerging-market country seeking to jumpstart its digital content ecosystem not only has to ensure coordinated action among the three sets of stakeholders but also has to align these actions both with the state of development of the ecosystem and the sustainability model supported by the local economy. Both private and public stakeholders need to take part in developing and sustaining the digital content and services ecosystem that drives digital inclusion in a country.
The ICT Model Learning Resource center is a hub required to facilitate teaching and learning, research and innovation in all the schools. Its primary objective is to ensure effective and efficient learning of 21St Century ICT skills through the maximization of the readily available resources within our schools.
It enhances the core functions of teaching and learning, research and innovation through application of modern ICT resources and services in schools.
The Model portrays a classroom that has two aspects: the collaborative section and the normal classroom set up. The collaborative set up is intended for pupil’s discussion groups where students can brainstorm, program and have practical sessions using the robotics that they have at their disposal. The normal classroom section portrays the section of class where teachers can teach normally.
At a glance the classroom is fully equipped with IT infrastructure, it incorporates a projector, a teacher’s board, smart screen, Wi-Fi Router, a teacher’s desktop, a storage cabinet that has devices, books and robotics compartments. It also incorporates a trolley to carry electronic devices from one point to another. The Resource Centre provides ICT services and support in terms of internet connection, which provides the whole school with a wireless connection.