After-school use of mobile technologies in Sierra Leone makes learning fun
Mobile learning labs give children access to troves of educational material to strengthen classroom learning, even in places with no connectivity
May 11, 2017 by Tanya Guyatt, 60 million girls
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9 minutes read
Children using tablets during roll out of 60 million girls program in November 2016. Credit: 60 milling girls/Wanda Bedard
Children using tablets during the roll out of the 60 Million Girls Mobile Learning Lab program in November 2016.
Credit: 60 Million Girls/Wanda Bedard

We know that a quality education is crucial to economic development. It also has a lifelong impact on individuals’ health, women’s empowerment, the environment and peace building. In short, investments in quality education reap massive dividends.

On a personal level, families want to know that the investments they are making in their children’s education are worth the sacrifices. They want to know that their children are learning and that they will be able to get ahead in life.

Quality education requires many more teachers

But the impediments to getting a quality education are significant. On the one hand, large class sizes and lagging teacher training in many countries mean that, while more children than ever are in school, they are not necessarily getting the attention they need.

In Sierra Leone, for example, while almost all primary-school aged boys and girls enroll in primary school, the gross enrollment ratio for secondary school is just 43%. Given the dearth of qualified teachers, it will be difficult to meet the demand for more and better schooling.

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates that, globally, schools will need another 69 million teachers by 2030 to make up for attrition and higher school enrollment.

Using mobile technology to give children more learning tools

For the 60 million girls Foundation, technology is the way forward, not to replace the local curriculum or compete with local teachers, but to supplement their efforts.  

The after-school Mobile Learning Lab is designed to do just that.

The Mobile Learning Lab is based on self-directed learning, which personalizes education and mimics the way learning occurs outside of the classroom in the real world, and throughout life.

This method not only makes sense, it is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals’ education objective to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

The children who need a little extra help will have the tools at their disposal. Those who want to advance their learning on a particular topic will be able to do so as well.

Easy access to technology is key

The technology used in the Mobile Learning Lab is simple, inexpensive, easily transportable and does not require the Internet, a crucial feature in remote villages where online connectivity is not always readily available.

Our project, based in Sierra Leone’s Koinadugu district, offers students in grades 4, 5 and 6, in five different communities, hours of learning per year at an annual operating cost of less than $0.08/student hour (including a solar charging system).

RACHEL-Plus device

The RACHEL-Plus,allows children to access pre-downloaded educational software, story books, and much more.

Photo Credit: World Possible

A RACHEL-Plus (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning), a small device that can fit in the palm of your hand, can store up to a maximum of 500 GB of content and acts as a Wi-Fi server to connect up to 50 tablets simultaneously. This enables the children to access pre-downloaded educational software, such as math and science tutorials on KA Lite (the offline version of Khan Academy), interactive literacy software Fantastic Phonics, story books, and much more.

Tailoring content to context

More generally, the content is totally customizable based on local needs, and can be updated by bringing the device to a location where Internet connectivity is available. As the RACHEL-Plus is a “plug and play” device and the components are all open source software, there is no need for IT specialists.

When setting up the Mobile Learning Lab, we paid significant attention to the quality of the content available to the children – it had to be interesting, fun, relatable and available offline.

To this end, we worked with a Montreal-based technology company to translate Fantastic Phonics into an offline format so it could be downloaded on the RACHEL-Plus. We also found reference materials with content of local interest and electronic books written by local authors – as we all know, the power of reading stories comes from the lessons we can take away from them.

Ensuring the community is involved

Local community involvement is crucial to the success of the program. Our partner in Koinadugu works closely with the communities and families to ensure parental support so that the children can stay after school to participate in the Mobile Learning Lab learning activities.

The local community is also a key component in the security and functionality of the Mobile Learning Lab: a coordinator has to hook up the tablets to the solar power charging stations in the evenings and store them away in their secure box when not in use, to maintain their usability and to prevent theft and damage.

It is our hope that the program will not only improve learning outcomes but will also work with children’s natural intrinsic motivation to learn. Results from an early pilot project suggest it will.

One of the main takeaways is that the children enjoy the new learning tools: 86% of them kept returning to our initial learning center and math scores improved (though it should be noted that children in the initial pilot project only had access to KA Lite).

Additional measurement in the children’s math, literacy and non-cognitive skills will take place at the end of the current cycle to further evaluate the impact of the program on learning outcomes. 

Supplementing classroom learning even in crisis situations

We know that the barriers to education for children in poor, rural communities are very high, yet we feel that this self-directed, after-school concept can supplement traditional classroom learning, particularly where textbooks and fully trained teachers are in short supply.

And in times of crisis, the Mobile Learning Lab can go to the children. When Ebola hit Sierra Leone in the middle of our small pilot project and children were no longer able to go to school or gather in large groups, our partner was able to take the Lab to the children.

Ultimately, the Mobile Learning Lab is designed to improve the quality of education to achieve higher learning outcomes and to foster children’s intrinsic motivation for learning.  

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nous sommes une associations d'aide et de protection des personnes vulnérables et disposons d'une école pour les enfants en situation difficile comment pouvions nous avoir Le RACHEL-Plus et a quel prix si du moins nous pouvons en payer 5 pour chaque classe et pour au moins 12 classes et dans la mesures du possible pour 15 enseignants.
Nous pouvons dire que nous avons besoin de 72 pièces.

Nous vous serions aussi reconnaissant si vous pouviez mettre a notre disposition le module de formation pour nous faciliter la formation des enfants en commençant par votre expérience.

franche collaboration

kalubi muneme

This is very unique and innovative idea for easy and advance learning. It saves time of teachers and quickly understandable by their students because now a days childrens can learn technologies first.

In reply to by kalubi Muneme

Cher Monsieur Muneme,

Nous vous remercions de votre intérêt au sujet de notre Laboratoire d'apprentissage mobile que nous avons mis en place au Sierra Leone.

Tout d'abord, le LAM est composé de 3 items:

1) Le serveur sans fil Rachel Plus sur lequel on retrouve 500GB de contenu académique (en anglais, en français ou en espagnol).
2) Un ordinateur ou une tablette ou un téléphone intelligent pour accéder au contenu situé sur le Rachel Plus
3) Une source pour alimenter le Rachel Plus et les ordinateurs/tablettes ou téléphones intelligents. Nous utilisons un système de chargeur solaire appelé BBOXX.

Le Rachel Plus peut envoyer des signaux WIFI jusqu'à environ 10-12 mètres en rayon autour. De 30 à 50 ordinateurs/tablettes ou téléphones intelligents peuvent être connecté par wifi au Rachel Plus en même temps. Donc, dans une classe d'étudiants, une unité Rachel Plus desservira toute la classe et possiblement aussi une classe à côté dépendant de la grandeur des deux classes - et ce pour jusqu'à 30-50 étudiants à la fois qui auraient chacun un ordinateur/tablette ou téléphone intelligent.

Le Rachel Plus fonctionne pendant 8 heures avec sa pile rechargeable.

Vous pouvez vous procurez le Rachel Plus en allant au site www.worldpossible.org. World Possible est situé en Californie aux États-Unis. C'est une organisation sans but lucratif qui vend les Rachel Plus avec le contenu dans la langue que vous choisissez (anglais, français, espagnol). Le coût présentement est de $499US (à confirmer sur leur site).

Vous pouvez vous procurez n'importe quelle marque d'ordinateur/tablette/téléphone intelligent pourvu que l'équipement a une capacité wifi (ce qui est le cas pour presque tout ce qui se vend sur le marché présentement).

Pour le système de chargeur solaire, vous pouvez aller sur le site BBOXX ou autre fournisseur de panneaux solaires.

Si vous avez d'autres questions, il nous fera grand plaisir de vous aider! Bon succès avec votre projet.

Bien à vous,

Wanda Bedard
Présidente
La fondation 60 millions de filles

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