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Harnessing ICTs for greater access to education for girls and
womenGWI Conference, 24 August 2016Steve Vosloo
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Agenda01The ask and opportunity
02Project Literacy: Read to Kids
03Every Child Learning
04Challenges and recommendations
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Image by Sudipto DasImage by Sudipto Das
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The ask
757m people are illiterate, 520m women
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The opportunity
Digital revolution has brought many private benefitsSOURCE: WDR
2016 team; http://www.internetlivestats.com/one-second/ (As
compiled on May 29, 2015)A typical day in the life of the
internet
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Number of small & medium enterprises on Taobao (Alibaba):5
MILLION & COUNTINGSOURCE:
http://www.alizila.com/chinas-online-cowboy-rounds-buyersDIGITAL
MARKETPLACEDigital technologies are transforming BUSINESS
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DIGITAL PAYMENTS Number of mobile money accounts worldwide: 300
MILLION & COUNTING(end of 2014)SOURCE: John Owens, Alliance for
Financial Inclusion, June 2013.
Digital technologies are transforming PEOPLES LIVESWhere mobile
money accounts outnumber bank accounts
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DIGITAL IDENTITYIndians with digital identity: 950 MILLION &
COUNTINGSOURCE:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Trafficking-Victims-see-New-life-in-Aadhaar/2015/03/30/article2737396.ece.
GSMA, The Mobile Economy Africa 2016
Digital technologies are transforming GOVERNMENT
IN AFRICAOperators are tackling this issue in Senegal, Tanzania
and Uganda (400 million people unregistered)
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The mobile revolution in AfricaAt the end of 2015
46% subscribed to mobile services, equivalent to more than half
a billion people
300 million mobile internet subscribers
The tech start-up ecosystem is growing: approximately 310 active
techhubs across the region, including 180 accelerators or
incubators
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10SOURCE: GSMA, The Mobile Economy Africa 2016
Many mobile services benefiting society. I will focus on
literacy
Literacy
Project LiteracyPearson has convened Project Literacy, a
diverse, coalition-led campaign to close literacy gap
Our goal is that by 2030, all peopleregardless of their
geography, language, race, class or genderare able to fulfil their
potential through the power of words
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Partners13
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Key activitiesRaising awareness and mobilizing action> More
than 1bn people reached
Advancing best practice> Supporting programmes that are
proven and conducting research
Innovating for new solutions> Project Literacy Lab> Read
to Kids
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Raising awareness and mobilizing actionOver the course of 2015,
we reached 969 million people through online campaigns and media
outreach.
Advancing best practiceProject Literacy is partnering with
organizations implementing proven literacy interventions and
helping them grow. Why? Because there are some things that we
already know work to improve literacy, and we need more of
them.
Innovating for new solutionsPearson and the Unreasonable Group
launched worlds first accelerator programme, the Project Literacy
Lab, helping growth-stage, for-profit entrepreneurs who are
dedicated to closing the global literacy gap.
Read to Kids.14
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SOURCE: Mark West/UNESCO, Reading in the Mobile Era, 2014
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16SOURCE: Mark West/UNESCO, Reading in the Mobile Era, 2014
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17SOURCE: Mark West/UNESCO, Reading in the Mobile Era, 2014
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18SOURCE: Mark West/UNESCO, Reading in the Mobile Era, 2014
Recommendations from report: - Teach women and girls how to use
a mobile phone for reading.- Target outreach to men and offer more
content targeted to men.18
19SOURCE: Mark West/UNESCO, Reading in the Mobile Era, 2014
1 in 3 mobile readers already uses his or her mobile phone to
read to children and an additional 1 in 3 would do so if more
content was available.
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SOURCE: Mark West/UNESCO, Reading in the Mobile Era, 2014
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www.readtokids.com
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Read to Kids overviewPilot project in Delhi to promote
pre-literacy skills by encouraging parents and caregivers to read
to and with their young children (age 0-6) via mobile
Timeframe: May 2015 May 2017
KPIs: 20 000 frequent users200 000 unique users
Goal: learn how to create behavior change >> learning
pilot
SOURCE: Annya Crane, Worldreader
WR50+ countries400K readers every month37,336 Titles70 Genres43
Languages331 Publishers
According to the most recent Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER), only 52% of children in Grade 5 are able to read a second
grade level text.22
Research questionsParental Behavior Change Research conducted
Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED) in
Delhi.
How has R2K changed parents' attitudes about reading to young
children?How has R2K changed parents' understanding of the value of
reading to young children?How has R2K changed parents' behaviors
related to reading to children (frequency, duration, and quality of
interaction)?
SOURCE: Annya Crane, Worldreader
Programmatic questions that will be answered via the Learning
Lab data:What are the most effective activation modalities for
driving frequent use of mobile reading among our target audience
(one-on-one, community meetings, home visits, word of mouth,
etc.)?What activator messaging tends to be most effective in
driving frequent use of mobile reading among our target
audience?What activator characteristics, skills, and behaviors are
most effective at driving frequent use of mobile reading among our
target audience?What type of content is most effective at driving
frequent use of mobile reading among our target audience?What are
the characteristics of frequent users (age, gender, relationship to
children)?How effective is the wide-reaching media campaign at
driving frequent use of mobile reading among our target
audience?
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Webapp Hindi, Bilingual and English storiesMessaging the
benefitBest practice tips for parentsCulturally relevant,
appropriate content in Hindi and English
SOURCE: Annya Crane, Worldreader
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Lessons learnt so farTheres no reading to children culture in
India (both in our target audience and above)Access to smartphones
is high >> native android app in the futureWillingness to use
the data plan for reading is an issue Parents lack confidence to
readParents might need more than books to get them to use their
phone to read to children (Audio, interactive app)A broad-based
approach is needed: app, content, activation points (Reading
Champions host reading corners in clinics), media campaign
SOURCE: Annya Crane, Worldreader
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Every Child Learning
Every Child LearningThree-year partnership with Save the
Children, worth over 1.5 million
Goal: increase educational opportunities for Syrian refugees and
host communities in Jordan, and innovate new solutions to help
improve the delivery of education in emergency and
conflict-affected settings
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Every Child LearningTo research and develop new solutions we
are:
> Gaining a deep contextual understanding of the unique needs
of Syrian refugee children
> Combining ethnographers and local researchers with our
curriculum experts, learning and UX designers
Site visits, journey mapping of Nour, etc.
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Challenges
SOURCE: WDR 2016 team based on Research ICT Africa and ITU
data
1. A significant digital divide remains6 BILLION without
BROADBAND
4 BILLION without INTERNET
2 BILLION without MOBILE PHONES
0.4 BILLION without A DIGITAL SIGNAL
Divides persist between and within countriesin access and
capability
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Digital technologies have spread rapidlySOURCE: World Bank. Data
at http://bit.do/WDR2016-MapO_1. The world, based on internet
population (2014)
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By 2020 60% of the [African] population will still be
unconnected. Significant barriers to adoption remain, particularly
for underserved groups such as women, rural communities and young
people.GSMA, The Mobile Economy Africa 201633Presentation Title
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In Africa, subscriber growth rates are now beginning to slow as
affordability challenges become a key barrier.
Over the next five years, an additional 168 million people will
be connected by mobile services across Africa, reaching 725 million
unique subscribers by 2020. Mobile internet penetration2015:
25%2020: 41%
SOURCE: WDR 2016 team, based on Research ICT Africa surveys
(various years) for 10 African countries. between and within
countriesin access and capability
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The largest barriers are not in technology. We need to address
cultural, societal, religious, political, economical, attitudinal,
and geographic or security constraints.
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RecommendationsBe gender sensitive, not only gender specific
ICT is not a panacea address the non-technology issues
Community sensitization and mobilization as well as political
support are key
Making the technology more affordable and coverage wider
Content must be relevant
Embed ICT and literacy improvement within life skills
development for empowerment and voice
Use ICT appropriately, design with the user
36SOURCE: Mark West/UNESCO, Reading in the Mobile Era, 2014;
Carolina Belalcazar/UNESCO, Mobile Phones & Literacy:
Empowerment in Womens Hands, 2015
Affordability: WC citizens currently spend 20.1% of income on
communications. Globally this is 5%. SOURCE: Western Cape Digital
Readiness Assessment 2015
Linksstevevosloo.com
Project Literacy / Project Literacy Lab / @rewritinglives
Report: Reading in the Mobile Era, 2014 (UNESCO)
Report: Mobile Phones & Literacy: Empowerment in Womens
Hands, 2015 (UNESCO)
UNESCO Mobile Learning Week 2015: Leveraging Technology to
Empower Women and Girls
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