Page 7 - RE-EVALUATING THE ICT EQUATION: Meeting the digital divide halfway

A NEED TO ACKNOWLEGDE

Arguably, as is the case for a nation’s poorest children, our educators could find online learning a
poor substitute for face-to-face contact sessions, with a lack of reliable and affordable
connectivity adding to this (Economist, 2020). We also need to remember that in low- and
middle-income countries, such as South Africa, schools are the conduit for many other social
support offerings, such as school-based nutrition schemes (Unicef, 2020). The psychological
weight of what their learners are missing, both academically and socially, will be resting heavily
on the shoulders of our partner educators at this time. In line with current CPTD findings, we
must remember to incorporate the social and emotional support needed at this time (Allen,
2020). We also need to remain cognisant of the fact that meeting KPI deliverable criteria for our
donor’s is only one small fraction of a much larger equation. Ultimately, our scope of influence
needs to expand to reach far beyond our own organisation’s wellbeing and survival. We need to
grow our vision so that the learning ecosystems at each of our partner schools models
excellence, equating to an increasingly positive experience for each of their learners too.

IN CONCLUSION

The suggestions offered in this essay go some way toward re-imagining a remote and online
learning ecosystem for our programme participants. One where we continue to model
excellence within our WhatsApp- and Facebook-enabled PLCs while fostering increased
participation and experimenting with new ways of engaging through low-cost/zero-rated and
open education online resources. A learning ecosystem that makes content accessible just-in-
time and exciting as a result of added dimensions of choice and manageable ‘bite-size’ chunking
of information (or micro-learning). We cannot do all things for all people, but we can go a long
way toward meeting the digital divide halfway, by fully embracing the ICT tools that are at our
disposal right now. When we doubt whether this is enough, we need to remember the wise
words of anthropologist, Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and
committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

"Never doubt that a small

group of thoughtful and
committed people can
change the world. Indeed,
it is the only thing that ever
has.“

Source: photo created by
rawpixel.com - www.freepik.com - Margaret Mead