Period of Performance: |
October 2003 - September 2005 |
Themes:
Basic Education, Education Partnerships, Participant Training
Project Goal:
Connect-ED Phase II aims to build on the infrastructure established in
Phase I with a central focus on sustainability and a long-term information
and communication technologies (ICT) strategy for KyU and the colleges.
Overview:
Phase I of the Connect-ED activity, originally established in 1998 by USAID under the LearnLink Initiative, set up computer centers at Kyambogo University (KyU) and eight Primary Teacher's Colleges (PTC) throughout the country. The program has also created an online teacher training curriculum and a digital resource library based on the Ugandan core curriculum. Connect-ED Phase II aims to build on the infrastructure established in Phase I with a central focus on sustainability and a long-term information and communication technologies (ICT) strategy for KyU and the primary teacher colleges (PTCs). Working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Kyambogo University, activities include developing business plans and policy reform to financially sustain the PTC labs, using ICT to increase teachers' capacity to incorporate student-centered teaching practices in the classroom, developing a Web presence for KyU and each PTC, continuing to provide computer training, and completing the digitization of the online curriculum.
Update 1 (as of June 2004):
A sustainability and Phase II kick-off workshop was held in April 2004 in
Jinja. It brought together key stakeholders from the primary teacher colleges
(PTCs), the MOES, Kyambogo University (KyU), and other entities that are
crucial to the sustainability of the project. An outcome of the meeting
was the development of Operational Guidelines for the Connect-ED labs, guidelines
that feed into a larger ICT policy. To date five of eight PTCs hav developed
draft business plans to help sustain their college computer labs. Medium-term
sustainability has also been enhanced by the award of a grant to cover Internet
connectivity for one year made by the Uganda Communication Commission’s
Rural Development Fund.
Other policy support assisted the project’s lead counterpart organization,
KyU, in developing its ICT policy and master plan, which was recently finalized
and approved by the faculty senate.
In terms of teacher training, currently 36 teacher educators and project
staff are participating in an online course with the Harvard Graduate School
of Education. This course, "Teaching to Standards with New Technologies,"
is intended to assist participants in better understanding progressive pedagogy
as well as how to better integrate technology to enhance teaching and learning.
Finally, the project is continuing to build capacity in the PTCs to create
useful educational resources and it has successfully enhanced over 30 percent
of the units in the online curriculum.
Update 2 (July-Sept. 2004):
In Uganda, the project’s business planning consultant has helped each
of the eight collaborating primary teachers colleges produce at least one
draft business plan. Similarly, the project’s policy consultant has
completed an ICT policy and master plan for Kyambogo University. In terms
of training activities, 35 tutors and project staff began work on the online
Harvard Course “Teaching to Standards with New Technology”.
As 15 educators are taking the same course in Namibia, Harvard opened up
an online “technology café” where they have encouraged
the educators from Uganda and Namibia to discuss issues surrounding the
introduction of technology into their respective countries’ education
systems. Recently the project has been asked by USAID and the Ministry of
Education to provide assistance in developing a nationwide ICT for Education
policy. Perhaps the best news the project has received recently is that
the Ministry is close to approving a policy that will allow the colleges
to charge user fees to help sustain the labs and connectivity after the
project ends at the end of fiscal year 2005.
List of Partners:
- Education Development Center
- Academy for Educational Development
For more information about this project, please contact:
- EDC Project Director, William Wright, wwright@edc.org
- AED Instructional Designer, Margie Joyce, mjoyce@aed.org
- AED Project Coordinator, Frederick Wamala, fwamala@aed.org
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