{"id":112711,"date":"2017-02-01T17:38:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T22:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/mobile-digital-meet-education\/"},"modified":"2024-12-21T05:53:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T10:53:54","slug":"mobile-digital-meet-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/strategy\/mobile-digital-meet-education\/","title":{"rendered":"When mobile and digital meet education"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think it is safe to say that most of us only panic about not having internet access when the end of the month rolls around and our data package moves close to the edge of depletion on our mobile phone. This, my friends, can without a doubt be categorized as a blatant example of a #FirstWorldProblem. When we have the luxury of internet access at the tip of our fingers every single day, it is easy to forget that only four years ago, only 15% of people on the entire African continent had access to the World Wide Web<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2016, and the African continent still only makes up 9.3% of the total number of internet users in the world. For countries that have the infrastructure in place, and where internet is easily accessible to the ordinary individual, it just remains feasible to keep up to speed with constant developments in the digital and mobile world. This privileged access to technology also extends to include education, where we\u2019ve seen many institutions adopt a more modern approach, allowing digital technologies to aid in all aspects of the learning journey, and include all stakeholders, parents, teachers and children in the process.<\/p>\n

William Mitchell<\/a> said it perfectly: \u201cIf we teach today\u2019s students as we taught yesterday\u2019s, we rob them of tomorrow\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This statement perfectly illustrates how strong the connection between education and the digital world is, and how important it is that we merge the two wherever possible. For those in the developed world, this increasing connection is not a concern, but a welcome advancement in the education journey for current and future generations.<\/p>\n

However, for Africa as a whole, while the digital age continues to move forward without reprieve in the developed world, technological growth often lags and stalls due to delays and many other factors. This has a direct impact on education, raising serious warning signs and highlighting the need for corporations with the means to help, to do so. Though access to the internet should not be considered a basic right, but rather as a luxury, access to education should absolutely and unequivocally be regarded as a basic human right. Digital technologies need to come forward to meet education and work to give children who would not otherwise have access to an education, just that.<\/p>\n

Cue the Vodafone Foundation and Vodafone Instant Schools for Africa.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2013, UNESCO research found that out of the 59 million children (aged 6-11) that were out of school, 30 million of them lived in Sub-Saharan Africa. For the first roll-out of the Instant Schools Initiative, the Vodafone Foundation and Vodafone Will worked to provide millions of children in the DRC, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa, with free access to online learning materials.<\/p>\n

This was all closely monitored to fall in line with the findings of Learning Equality<\/a>, a non-profit provider of learning technologies and follows guidelines who research what is suitable and manageable in the African environment where technology is not as advanced as the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

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