|
Qedoc Africa Project
From Qedoc
| This article is currently undergoing heavy development. Useful material may already be available here, but please be patient while the gaping holes and omissions are filled in. Feel welcome to contribute if you feel able. |
|
This article describes the Qedoc Africa Project, which is currently a proposal. It explains why Qedoc's software and repository are appropriate for developing country educational contexts. It covers a potential move to support the One Laptop Per Child project.
This project is being developed together with the MERLOT Africa Network.
Contents |
Qedoc software in Africa
Learning is more than reading
Qedoc specialises in software for creating highly interactive open educational resources (OER). This is Qedoc's unique and special contribution to OER. OER's otherwise tend to be static text-and-image-only collections. Text-and-image collections, such as Wikipedia, have a great educational value, but this is ultimately as limiting as self-education from books. OER's have tended to use the computer only as a communication and storage device, not as an interactive tutoring machine which can self-structure, correct, track and motivate learning processes. The Qedoc brings educational interactivity into OER's, and therefore an entirely higher level of quality and effectiveness. Interactive learning software is widely available in developed countries - but at a price. Making this kind of software available, royalty-free, in the OER context, acts as an equalising force in digital education.
Extending the reach of the teacher in both space and time
At Qedoc we conceive of information technology in education as having the primary role of extending the reach of the teacher in both space and time. Without IT, a teacher's range is the time and space of the classroom and lesson. With the proper IT tools, the effect of a teacher's skills reaches outside the classroom, across a region, continent or the whole globe. With the proper IT tools, the effect of the teacher's skills reaches in time beyond the lesson, into homework, self-study and periods with no teacher access. We don't see interactive tools as replacing teachers, but we do see them as extending the teacher's reach. This is critical when human teaching resources are in short supply, where infrastructure is poor, where geography impedes. The job of great IT tools is to allow as many as possible of the teacher's skills to be extended in this way. The more interactive, the more pedagogical depth and the more media-friendly the tool, then the more effectively the teacher can extend their skills.
Spreading OER's in the primary and secondary sectors
Interactivity in turn favours the primary and secondary education sectors. Text-and-image collections are generally more adequate for the higher education sector, and reflect the traditional bias of OER's towards higher education (e.g. OpenCourseWare forms the bulk of currently available OER's). Schools place a greater emphasis on the learning process than on learning materials, which means that methodologically more sophisticated OER's are required at this level.
Distribution issues: bandwidth and desktop use
Qedoc was specifically planned, from the very beginning, for developing country infrastructures. Bandwidth in developing countries can be prohibitively expensive and intermittent. Universities are, to some extent, the exception. The traditional higher education OER is a server-based resource which requires a constant internet connection to access: for example, it is not possible to browse Wikipedia offline. This favours the cheap, reliable internet connections of developed countries, or universities and other very large institutions in developing countries. It does not help schools in developing countries.
Qedoc decided that in a developing country scenario, there is most likely to be occasional internet access for some teachers, but otherwise learners would have a preference for offline use. The Qedoc software is therefore available both online and with the option to redistribute and install unlimited numbers of royalty-free copies via removable media devices such as CD-ROM's and memory sticks. Further, Qedoc modules (i.e. the learning content) are designed to operate both straight off the web and on desktop computers with no internet connection. Modules are kept small and compact with a view to easy transfers, whether uploading, downloading, or copying between computers.
Distribution issues: platforms, licences and co.
Distributability issues also cover technical requirements and intellectual property rights. The online version of the Qedoc Quiz Player works with Windows, Mac and Linux-flavours. We have a commitment, where demand arises, to extending editing facilities to other platforms as well. Our learning modules can be licenced under a range of Creative Commons licences, depending on the choice of the author of each resource.
One Laptop Per Child
Links with the OLPC foundation; the vision
Qedoc has no links yet with the OLPC foundation because it has no human resources available for a cooperation project of this scale. However there is enormous in-principle potential for the XO laptop if Qedoc is used to extend the range of educational resources which can function on the laptop.
In particular, Qedoc offers a way for the laptop to become linked in to a global OER network, in which high-value educational resources are created and exchanged by millions of users, and where resources can move between platforms so that Windows users can directly create resources for the XO laptop (or even vice versa).
Licences and the OLPC foundation
There are several layers at which decisions about the software for the XO laptop are made.
- Manufacturer: the OLPC foundation initially equips the XO laptop with an operating system and other software, including some educational materials. The OLPC foundation has a commitment to open source software only, and as Qedoc is open content rather than open source, Qedoc does not qualify for a manufacturer-level implementation decision. A similar issue faces the java virtual machine, as the OLPC project has been in some uncertainty as to java's open source status and whether to implement java or not.
- Distributor: when the OLPC is distributed under large contracts with government agencies, additional decisions will be taken by further organisations about what software to deliver with the XO laptop. Further software will be added, probably ignoring the OLPC's self-imposed restrictions. It is quite possible that a java virtual machine will be added, especially if there is open content software such as Qedoc which could then be used. Theoretically Qedoc software could also be added at this stage. The conditions of distribution for Qedoc are, already, fully royalty-free - no costs accrue.
- End user: technically the end user can install their own software, like any computer user. However targeting deployment at this layer would fail to achieve any global significance in education.
The most sensible target layer for deployment is distributor layer.
Awareness raising
Qedoc envisages that giving away software at the distributor level will require very substantial awareness raising, especially among African organisations involved with the deployment of the XO laptop. A mere announcement will achieve nothing. A Qedoc representative would have to spend months, at least, building and maintaining relationships, including regular tours of Africa, to raise awareness of Qedoc's potential impact on XO laptop usage.
Qedoc is already beginning to move down this path - for example, Qedoc is building relationships with OER networks already in place in Africa. However this will not be enough.
Project proposals
Phase 1
Tentatively, grant applications would be made for a One-Laptop dedicated programme at Qedoc. A part-time position would be created for a limited period of time, initially to do a feasiblity study, subsequently to implement this. The position would be dedicated to identifying and contacting organisations distributing the XO laptop and raising awareness of Qedoc. Where interest was found, agreements would be made and Qedoc software would be supplied in whatever quantities needed at no cost. This phase could last from 6 months to 3 years.
Phase 2
Assuming the success of phase 1, we would anticipate a need, following widespread take-up of Qedoc's software, for training. This would cover the use of the Quiz Maker by teachers, not the Player by learners. Theoretically the Quiz Maker software should be self-explanatory and come with accompanying tutorials and a vibrant wiki, all to help educators get started. However we would anticipate a considerable demand for face-to-face training as well. Phase 2 would therefore look to conceive and create a formula for a training network. This might involve the identification of potential teacher-trainers in African countries, who would then attend occasional centralised training of teacher-trainers (travel and accommodation costs would presumably have to be met). Training abilities would in this way be disseminated back, so far as possible, to local training organisations.
See also
External Links
- Declaration on Digital Education
- Cape Town Declaration (open education)
- One Laptop Per Child
