Myvoip Communications CEO, Mohammed Badat, was one of the participants at the Annual E-Learning Africa Conference, held at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre, Lusaka, Zambia.
E-Learning Africa is a conference that focuses on information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development, education and training in Africa. Serving as a pan-African platform, E-Learning Africa links a network of decision-makers from governments and administrations with universities, schools, governmental and private training providers and industry.
This year's E-Learning Debate focused on whether Africa could afford to invest in ICTs for education against the backdrop of a global financial crisis, what systems were most appropriate and cost-effective.
Among others, what became quite discernible in this debate was whether Africa could learn by mobile phones as opposed to PCs. It was observed that the African continent's stunning leapfrog into advanced stages of telecommunication development has ensured that a third of all African citizens are now mobile phone subscribers. The 1 500 delegates from 80 different countries questioned whether education could be more effectively disseminated through this prevalent technology rather than laptops or desktops installed in schools.
TheSchoolDiary won the heart of most delegates, demonstrating how in Africa a piece of technology could be effectively used to get communication channels opened with all stakeholders in the education circle, get parental and learner involvement in education and how easy it would be to use. Using the WAP enabled, Java-complaint cellphone, the educator, parent and learner are able to use TheSchoolDiary even in the most rural African areas to communicate to each other, hand out tasks, ensure compliance with due dates, assist with challenging issues in education or challenging learners, get involvement in extramural activities and display results of any academic piece of work.
The question: “Will Africa learn by Mobile Phones or Computers”, was answered quite simply by Badat, demonstrating TheSchoolDiary. There is no doubt that ICT needs to be incorporated into the education processes and structure. In a continent where resources like computers are few and very expensive, and connectivity becomes an issue, the question arises why not use existing technology to teach and learn. TheSchoolDiary by its very design makes issues of resources and connectivity redundant. The system is available on the PC needing Internet access. However, as Badat realised, where people have subscribed to mobile technology, his sentiment was: “Let's make the mobile phone Africa's PC!” The system is therefore also available on the cellphone, allowing instantaneous and on-the-move access to information being sent and received.
The product won favour with many delegates from various sectors. Stakeholders in the education fraternity were able to see the benefits of TheSchoolDiary. What made the system more appealing was its user-friendliness and ability to cut down on the amount of administrative workload on the educators' shoulders.
The ICT Minister of Namibia, Honorable Stanley M Simataa, was one of the delegates that gave the “thumbs up” on the product, realising its benefits in what is still very largely rural areas within Africa. He has also extended an open invitation to have TheSchoolDiary presented not only to his ministry, but also the Ministry of Education. He has acknowledged that this is one way of bridging gaps and affording one the chance to get involved in a child's education.
Bringing the product home to South Africa, which shares the issues of connectivity, resources and infrastructure, is made easier since Myvoip Communications, the parent company behind this brainchild, is none other than a South African company and initiative.
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