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Theme: Impact

Topic: Impact of ICTs on learning and achievement

Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 1:
How do exposure to and use of ICTs in school affect future employment?

The impact of ICT use in school and student exposure to ICTs, and the nature of use and exposure,
on student employability in developing has not been well documented. Tracer studies of the impact
of ICTs on further study and employment would be useful, as this could be a useful additional
measure of educational quality, beyond standardized testing results.

 Research question 2:
What is the impact of ‘computer-literacy’ instruction in schools?

In most circumstances in LDC schools, ICTs are used almost exclusively to provide instruction in
“computer literacy’. Emerging research from OECD experience suggests such instruction may not be
a productive use of time or resources – is this true in LDCs?

 Research question 3:
What is the gender impact of ICTs in education on access, use of, attitudes toward, and
learning outcomes?

Studies of the potential differential impact of ICT use by gender on student access to learning in a
variety of LDC contexts need to be done.

 Research question 4:
How can ICTs be used to present, comment on and discuss student work, and what are
the implications of such impact?

The effects of using ICTs to present and discuss student work are not well researched.

 Research question 5:
Are some school subjects better suited for ICT integration than others?
Given that access to ICTs in schools is quite limited, it would be useful to know if certain ICT
applications are better suited to use in certain school subjects and others and, if so, how ICTs can be
utilized to aid teaching and learning in such subjects.

Comments

Data is mixed on the impact of ICT use on student achievement. Even where emerging best practice
points to what should be done, ICT-related interventions in education are typically only one factor
(and typically only a minor one) in a complex mix of inputs into educational achievement. That said,
while emerging best practice exists, there are presumably many examples of "worst practice" on
interventions in education that do not positively impact student achievement.

The identification of activities that have been demonstrated to have no positive impact on student
achievement, as well as those that have a negative impact on student achievement, could help donors
as they advise education (and other) policymakers on what not to do.

An analysis of where ICTs are inappropriate tools to help meet EFA challenges should include an
examination of the necessary enabling environments that must exist if ICTs are to be used
‘effectively’. Such an analysis might be especially useful, given that many of the promises of ICTs
for education are dependent on their use to enable and support educational change, while in practice
many if not most ICT in education interventions in LDCs are used to extend and support existing
educational practices. A few large-scale cross-national studies of the impact of ICTs in education in
LDCs have been done (most notably SITES Module 2 and the evaluation of the World Bank's pilot
World Links for Development initiative). These studies included expensive and time-consuming data
collection efforts. The data collected, which is publicly available, has not for the most part been
evaluated by third-party groups not affiliated with the groups who designed, commissioned, collected
and evaluated the data, although the researchers involved in such studies have pointed out the
potential usefulness of the data collected for other researchers. Given the vast amount of data already
collected and available for analysis, it is recommended that this data be further mined and evaluated
to see what light can be shed on potential uses (and misuses) of ICTs to help meet EFA goals.

That computers should be introduced into schools so that teachers and students learn how to use them
seems to be received (tautological) wisdom. Indeed, whereas many educators in OECD countries see
computer literacy instruction as a means to an end (namely skill development that will enable
students to use ICTs for other educational uses) in LDCs it is often seen as an end in itself. Should it
be? Especially given the many current high-profile, private-sector promoted initiatives (endorsed by
many ministries of education) to introduce ICTs into schools in developing countries, even in those
most at risk of not meeting EFA goals by 2015, it is perhaps time that this question be revisited.
Theme: Impact
Topic B: Monitoring and evaluation issues

Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 6:
What would be a useful set of ‘core’ indicators that could be used across countries?

Given the great variety of circumstances and challenges, and the great variance in the use of ICTs in
education from country to country, it would be unrealistic (and inappropriate!) to attempt to
formulate a uniform set of indicators that can be used to frame data collection for ICT in education
projects. That said, it would be quite useful to have a set of commonly agreed upon, ‘core’ indicators
that can be used across countries. Important criteria to be observed in formulating these core
indicators would include local relevance, reliability and robustness when these are used for
comparison of one ICT project or country with another.

 Research question 7:
How have monitoring and evaluation work related to the uses of ICTs in education been
conducted in LDCs, and what can we learn from this?

There is a great need for case studies of how M&E activities related to ICTs have been carried out in
LDCs.

 Research question 8:
How should monitoring and evaluation studies of the impact of ICTs in education in
LDCS be conducted?

There is a great need for toolkits outlining ‘how’ to conduct ICT in education M&E activities in
LDCs, especially as they relate to education-related MDGs.

Theme: Impact
Topic C: Equity issues: Gender, special needs and marginalized groups
Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 9:
What is the gender impact of ICTs in education on access, use of, attitudes toward, and
learning outcomes?

Studies of the potential differential impact of ICT use by gender on student access to learning in a
variety of LDC contexts need to be done.

 Research question 10:


How can/should educational content for dissemination via ICTs be produced to ensure
inclusion?

Although it is widely believed to be important, little research has been done about the need for
gender and culturally inclusive electronic educational materials. Research into how such educational
materials can be produced, resulting in best practice guidelines, would be quite useful.

 Research question 11:


How to the types of learning strategies fostered by the use of ICTs impact special needs
and disadvantaged students, and how do they differ by gender?

Research into the types of teaching and learning practices fostered by ICT use (most especially more
‘learner centric’ pedagogical strategies) and how such pedagogies affect disadvantaged students
would also be quite useful.

 Research question 12:


How do different ICT applications, audio/verbal versus visual representations of
educational content, and communicative modes impact communicative practices and
create/reinforce/ameliorate various exclusions and inclusions as curriculum and
communication methods are moved on-line?
 Research question 13:
What are the best practices for producing, disseminating and using educational content
in audio format (including via radio) for deaf students?
 Research question 14:
How can issues related to ICT use for special needs and disadvantaged students by
introduced into teacher professional development activities, and what are best practice
examples of such activities?
Instruction for teachers on reaching disadvantaged groups should not be marginalized by separating it
from normal professional development activities.

 Research question 15:


What are the emotional, psychological and cultural impacts of ICT use on learners from
disadvantaged, marginalized and/or minority communities?

The impact of ICT use on learners may be most pronounced not on student achievement, but rather
on a learner’s sense of self and cultural identity.

 Research question 16:


What is the impact of the promotion of collaborative activities in groups facilitated by
ICTs on students with little interest or background in computers, and what practices
can better promote their inclusion?

 Research question 17:


Are there differential impacts of ICT use in education on identifiable sub-groups of
boys and girls?

It is well established that ICTs used in education can have differential impact on boys and girls.
However, such research has neglected to explore the possible impact of ICTs on certain sub-groups
of girls (and boys), and the resulting implications for impact of ICT in education on different types of
girls and boys.

 Research question 18:


How can ICTs be utilized to attract and retain out-of-school and at-risk students (for
example, through improved communication and provision of alternative modes of
learning)?

 Research question 19:


How can ICTs be used to reach out to and teach illiterate youth?

A number of pilot projects are researching potential uses of ICTs on literacy; a survey of the results
of such pilot projects would be quite useful.

Comments:
Issues of equity are central to the discussion of the education-related Millennium Development
Goals. For a variety of reasons and in a variety of ways, the introduction of ICTs to benefit
education can have profound impact on issues related to Education For All. While for many ICTs
offer a promise at greater inclusion of previously marginalized groups (whether marginalized by
gender, disability, distance, language, culture, race, age or economic status), their use also brings
with it very real dangers of increasing the marginalization of such groups inside the education
system.

Theme: Costs
Topic: Costs

Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 20:


What is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for computers in a variety of educational
settings, at both the school and system level? How should we calculate such figures?

Especially useful would be toolkits, workshops and case studies related to TCO analyses, at the
school and system level, of various implementations of ICTs in education to benefit education.

 Research question 21:


What are the costs/benefits of situating ICTs for use in schools outside of computer
classroom?

Cost-benefit analyses of situating computers outside of classrooms, but rather in school libraries,
teacher training institutions and community telecentres (including those that are school-based),
would be quite useful.

 Research question 22:


How can public-private partnerships be used to ‘cut costs’ and what are the resulting
cost savings (if any)?

Case studies of a variety of strategies explored by public-private partnerships to deliver ICT


hardware, educational software and content, maintenance and training as ways to share costs should
also be explored.

Comments
Significant work needs to be done related to the costs of ICT in education initiatives in LDCs. All of
the claims listed in the related “Knowledge Map” pertaining to costs found in current literature
deserve additional scrutiny.

There is little credible data related to the costs of using ICTs to support education in developing
countries. Few good, reliable cost studies of ICT in education implementations exist. Those that do
exist measure different things, and thus are not easily comparable. While the impact of ICT
interventions on student achievement may be difficult to measure, costs explicit and implicit costs of
ICT-related educational activities should be measurable.

One striking gap in the literature is a "Total Cost of Ownership" (TCO) analysis of ICTs in education
in LDCs of any kind. (TCO is a method of identifying and understanding all the costs associated with
the acquisition, deployment and support of ICT, with the aim of improving strategic decision-making
about future ICT investment.) Such analyses are needed if real costs of operation and maintenance of
ICTs to benefit education are to be undertaken. Such work is especially relevant in education systems
that exhibit great resource scarcity.

Where cost studies exist, there is a greater focus on initial costs of introducing ICTs than on the real
costs of implementing and maintaining ICTs over time. In addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that
many of the assumptions related to various components of TCO may be different in some LDCs from
OECD experience.A model implementation of a TCO study in the context of an LDC school and
LDC school system would be a big contribution to the literature and could help to move towards
establishing best practices in this area.

Given the interest in potential uses of open source software to benefit education, it is recommended
that case studies include implementations of both "free" and proprietary software solutions.

Theme: Current implementations of ICTs in education


Topic: Current projects and practices

Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 23:


How should ICT components in education projects supported by donors be identified
and quantified?
If the presence, magnitude and nature of ICT investments in education in developing countries is of
interest to donors, standard definitions of ICTs in education must be developed, agreed to,
disseminated and utilized, and changes must be made to current coding practices of donor-supported
education projects. To this end, the formation of a multi-donor task force to study and this issue and
agree upon certain common definitions and coding standards could be useful. Such standards and
definitions need not (initially) be comprehensive, but should not focus exclusively on hardware
indicators. A comprehensive study of a small number of donor-supported education projects to
identify all uses of ICTs components could be a useful tool to support the effort to articulate and
agree upon common definitions and standards.

 Research question 24:


How does access to and use of ICTs outside school impact the use and impact of ICT use
in school?

The relationship between out of school use of ICTs by students, teachers and administrators to in-
school use of ICTs in LDCs should be explored in greater depth. Given that confidence in ICT use
and ICT-related abilities in school tend to correlate with access to ICTs outside of school, studies
examining the differential impact (on achievement, uses and attitudes) of ICT use in schools in rural
and urban settings could provide an important contribution to understandings of equity issues in the
uses of ICTs in education.

Theme: Current implementations of ICTs in education


Topic: Specific ICT tools used in education

Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 25:


What models exist for the effective utilization of ICTs to support on-going professional
development for educators?

The need for trained teachers is great throughout most LDCs, and ICTs are increasingly seen as
important tools in reaching and engaging teachers on an on-going manner.

 Research question 26:


What are the best practices for mainstreaming pilot projects involving interactive radio
instruction (IRI) at the Ministry of Education, and how are such projects managed and
maintained over time?

Despite the rich experience over the past two decades on using IRI for educational purposes, there
are no case studies of and guidelines for the successful ‘folding in’ and maintenance of such
initiatives at scale inside the Ministry of Education.

 Research question 27:


Where should computers reside if they are to have the greatest learning impact in
education?

A comparative study of the benefits and costs of placing computers in computer laboratories,
individual classrooms, teacher offices, libraries, and/or community centres would be quite useful.

 Research question 28:


Is the use of ICTs as in-class presentation mechanisms as cost-effective use of
technology?

The use of television and LCD projectors are in wide use in many LDCs as information
presentations.

 Research question 29:


How have/can handheld devices (including SMS-enabled and 3G mobile phones) be
used to support education (especially related to the professional development of
teachers and school administration), and what are the emerging best practices?

Handheld devices have one great advantage over many other types of ICTs – they are mobile – and
anecdotal evidence suggests that this mobility could provide help meet certain needs of schools and
educational systems.

 Research question 30:


What successful models exist for opening ICT facilities in schools to the wider
community?

The community telecentres movement has grown enormously in the past decade. However,
sustainable models for such centres have not emerged. Increasingly, multi-purpose centres based in
schools are seen as having a greater likelihood of achieving sustainability, but little data supports
such beliefs.
 Research question 31:
How can existing community and interactive radio networks outside the education
sector be used to benefit education?

Potential target countries for this study include those with established experience and expertise in
using radio for developmental purposes outside the formal education sector.

 Research question 32:


Does the use of so-called “open source software” offer compelling benefits in education?

Impartial, independent cast studies of the costs and benefits of open software use in education vis-à-
vis proprietary solution would be quite welcome, as almost all such studies today are advocatory in
nature.

 Research question 33:


What models exist on effective public-private-community partnerships in education for
ICT equipment provision and maintenance?

Due to the large costs involved in equipping schools with and maintaining ICTs, innovative public-
private-community partnerships are being explored to help reduce costs.

Theme: Current implementations of ICTs in education


Topic: Teachers, Teaching and ICTs

Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 34:


Can the same types of pedagogical practices and transformations thought to be enabled
by the introduction of ICTs be introduced and maintained in environments where ICTs
are not used?

This is a vitally important question, for if the types of pedagogical shifts said to be promoted by ICT
use are possible without the introduction of ICTs, and such tools are the most compelling raison
justifications for ICT use in schools, this calls into question one of the key drivers for ICT integration
in schools.
 Research question 35:
How can we measure outcomes of ICT use by teachers resulting from participation in
professional development activities?

Additional research into how to measure teacher outcomes resulting from ICT-related and –enabled
professional development activities would be quite useful.

 Research question 36:


Which models of ICTs use can provide the most effective and relevant support for
professional development, including enabling peer networks, and how?

 Research question 37:


How are ICTs currently being used at the pre-service level (if at all) to train teachers in
LDCs, and what can we learn from such use?

Despite the purported promise of ICTs to aid in the training of teachers, a pressing need if education-
related MDGs are to be attained, no comprehensive study has been done of this topic.

 Research question 38:


What are the most successful and relevant strategies for using ICTs to change
pedagogical practices?

The development of models and case studies on successful strategies for using ICTs to change
pedagogical practices would be useful. Especially useful would be case studies and examples of so-
called "multi-channel learning" practices, which focus on enriching the environment by engaging the
resources that are available to help effect incremental change by coordinating the various ways to
connect learners with information, knowledge, and stimulation, and to mediate those interactions.
Such practices may be especially relevant in countries seeking to utilize ICTs to help meet education-
related MDGs.

Comments

How teachers are prepared for teaching is a critical indicator of education quality. Preparing teachers
for the challenges of a changing world means equipping them with subject-specific expertise,
effective teaching practices, an understanding of technology and the ability to work collaboratively
with other teachers, members of the community and parents.
The extent to which teacher training is currently being done with ICTs to meet these challenges is not
well documented, especially at the in-service level. It is widely believed that interactive radio may be
a cost-effective way of providing regular outreach and support to teachers, especially as it relates to
(a) teacher subject knowledge and (b) teacher pedagogical practices. In many countries, radio
networks exist that serve non-education sectors (for example, in agriculture or community
development), but that could be used to benefit education.In addition, where interactive radio is being
used, many of them are part of pilot projects, and it is unclear to what extent such initiatives can be
mainstreamed and sustained by the education system after the pilot project is completed.

Theme: Current implementations of ICTs in education


Topic: Content & Curriculum issues

Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 39:


What are the best practices for creating electronic/digital curricular content?

Case studies and toolkits related to the production of educational content related to curricula would
be valuable additions to the field. Useful case studies and toolkits would include: Adapting and
localizing educational content developed abroad for use with a country’s national curriculum; toolkit
for evaluating ‘outside’ content for inclusion in a national curriculum; models for public-private
partnerships to develop curricular content in electronic format; models for international-local
partnerships to develop curricular content in electronic format; toolkits on mainstreaming pilot
interactive radio content and pilot initiatives; toolkit on intellectual property issues and the
development of educational resources in electronic format; and case studies of human resource
capacity development as it relates to the development and maintenance of curricular content in
electronic format.

 Research question 40:


What is the relationship between uses of ICTs, curricular issues and standardized
testing?

Case studies of issues related to the use of ICTs in education, curricular content in electronic format
and standard testing schemes would be quite valuable.
 Research question 41:
What special issues relate to the creation, dissemination and use of curricular content in
indigenous languages?

A number of pilot initiatives related to the minority language content are currently underway.
Comparative case studies of a number of such projects would be quite useful, especially they relate to
how lessons learned can be mainstreamed into larger educational initiatives and where they involve
alphabets or written forms of language in little use in electronic format.

Theme: Planning
Topic: ICT in Education Policy issues

Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 42:


How can/should EFA-related issues as they relate to the uses of ICTs be included in the
decision-making processes of education officials?

Good toolkits and policymakers workshops materials have been developed (or are in the process of
development) by the World Bank Institute and UNESCO-Bangkok. However, planning and policy
issues specific to the meeting of education-related MDGs do not exist (or are not explicit) in such
materials; further work in this area would be quite useful.

 Research question 43:


What ICT in education policies are currently in place, and how do they address EFA-
related issues?

A database of existing policies related to ICTs in education should be developed and analyzed. This
could serve as a resource for both donor staff and Ministries interested in developing such policies
themselves.

 Research question 44:


How can ICTs be used to facilitate the decentralization process underway or
contemplated in many Ministries of Education?
Case studies on uses/misuses/costs of ICTs in facilitating the process of decentralization in the
education sector could be a valuable tool to help countries planning for similar processes.

 Research question 45:


How can ICTs be used to combat corruption in the education sector?

Pilot initiatives should be explored in using ICTs to disseminate information about education budgets
and activities in a set of target countries to gauge the effectiveness of such information dissemination
(and information dissemination mechanisms) in helping to combat corruption and leakage in the
education sector, which is generally thought to be quite high. It is worth noting that, as
responsibilities in the education sector are decentralized, so are oversight responsibilities.

 Research question 46:


What are the best practices from implementing education management information
systems (EMIS)?

Forty World Bank education projects over the last four years have had EMIS components, but little is
known about best practices and lessons learned from such investments. Case studies on EMIS
planning and deployment, as well as best practices and lessons learned, would be useful planning
tools for donor staff and educational policymakers.

 Research question 47:


What regulatory issues exist related to connectivity and information access issues as
they relate to the education sector, and what guidelines and best practices have
emerged?

Comments

Existing toolkits have received very limited use and exposure by policymakers in developing
countries – a series of workshops utilizing these materials with a select group of target countries and
donor staff interested in ICT and education issues could be easily conducted with existing materials,
once they have been supplemented with EFA-specific material. Demand for such services from
countries appears to be high; while demand from donor staff does not appear to be very great, such
lack of interest may stem as much from lack of knowledge about and exposure to the subject.

Given the great challenges facing countries at greatest risk of not meeting EFA goals by 2015, there
is a real question of the appropriateness of even seeking to investigate the potential cost effectiveness
(let alone implement and afford) of ICTs to meet EFA objectives in such circumstances. It may be
that the most cost-effective use of ICTs to benefit education in countries where they have not yet
been introduced on a wide scale is not to use them for instructional purposes at all, but rather to use
them to disseminate information about the education system itself. For example, the rapid
broadcasting (via existing radio networks) and publishing (via e-mail and the Internet) of information
about what funds have been allocated by government for use by schools could provide greater
transparency and accountability on how (and if) such funds are used at the school level. Such
information could be directed at local community leaders and groups, as well as local media, and
accessible in community telecentres (where they exist). (Recent work in Uganda in this regard using
newspapers could be a model for this activity.)

Such activities could complement existing initiatives in other sectors (HIV/AIDS and other health-
related topics, community development, civics, agriculture) and piggy-back off their existing
information distribution mechanisms.

Theme: Planning
Topic: School-level issues

Research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

 Research question 48:


What are successful examples of how ICTs have been introduced and maintained in
schools?

In addition, individual case studies of particularly challenging issues related to the roll-out and
maintenance of ICTs in education in LDCs at the school level could be developed to highlight where
best practice in LDC environments may differ from OECD experience.

 Research question 49:


What types of information must be provided to schools to aid in the introduction and
maintenance of ICT-related equipment and to promote ICT-related instruction?

A set of fact sheets on a variety of topics related to ICT use based on OECD and LDC experience but
tailored for LDC environments could be produced as models for adaptation and dissemination in ICT
in education initiatives in LDCs.

Comments
The greatest need related to this topic is for existing knowledge and information to be delivered to
the relevant people in charge of ICT in education initiatives in LDCs, as well as those (in donor
agencies, NGOs and the private sector) who advise or contribute to such initiatives. Short workshops
could be delivered to target countries preparing to scale up ICT in education initiatives to transmit
such lessons learned.

Additional research topics and areas of activity meriting further investigation

HIV-AIDS is one of the most critical factors affecting (and inhibiting) the ability of countries to meet
education-related MDG targets. A large number of programs are underway to distribute information
related to HIV-AIDS utilizing various media. It is acknowledged that HIV-AIDS is one of the most
important issues impacting education today, and, while infoDev is engaged in other activities related
to uses of ICTs to combat HIV-AIDS, it is important here to re-emphasize the critical link between
HIV-AIDS and the education sector.

 Research question 50:


What models exist for how can existing information distribution mechanisms being
utilized in education also carry information about HIV-AIDS, and what best practices
have evolved?

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