A SOUTH African education company has figured out a way to allow children to access electronic books (e-books) even when they do not have access to desktop computers.
In SA, the government is still unable to ensure that the 12- million-odd pupils in public schools get all the textbooks they need. Only 14,8% of households, and only 33% of schools, have computers that are used for teaching and learning.
However, a University of SA survey of Gauteng high school pupils showing 75,4% access the internet via cellphones, suggests the ability to open a textbook using a device many pupils have opens up great possibilities.
Star Schools, which provides extra tuition to 37000 children nationally, and 22000 by distance tuition, is to launch this technology nationally through its technology division, My Star, next month . The system will also allow children to pay only for the parts of the e-books they need .
Incubator programmes for grades 10 to 12 have already been conducted and had a 100% pass rate over the past seven years.
It all started a few years ago when My Star CEO Atul Patel was tussling with the conundrum of reaching such a large number of pupils studying via correspondence when so few had access to computers at school or at home. “We found … that one reason (correspondence education) doesn’t really work is that there is no (immediate) support structure. They can’t ask for help and immediately get feedback.… But the reality is there is a lack of access to technology,” he says.
Instead of throwing in the towel, Mr Patel pulled together the experience he gained as chief technology officer for Technikon SA and the University of SA, and took advantage of the happy circumstance of cellphones’ new ability to read two-dimensional barcodes to make e-books the company was already using.
Before barcode scanners were so ubiquitous, Mr Patel had developed an e-book that used flip-page format and allowed access to external resources by the click of a mouse, and to tools such as scientific calculators. The external resources are available to those without internet access through the use of local caches where the information is stored . The company also developed a pocket-sized pamphlet containing as much of the textbook information as possible.
Now, using barcodes, rural children will be able to download the e-books and the tools, resources and “avatar” explanations — video clips of teachers explaining salient points — using open-source software and an internet-enabled cellphone.
University of Cape Town education technologist Tony Carr says there are practical issues that need to be addressed for the system to work consistently for a diverse target group . Even if Mr Patel is able to negotiate subsidised data charges with the service providers, the project will still need to contend with the wide range of different kinds and vintages of cellphones used by young people.
If the technologies used can start to address the wide variety of cellphones, this will be a significant breakthrough.
Maths teacher Guy Hees, who moderated Star Schools’ maths e-book, says while the new technology has not yet been widely used, or stood the test of a matric exam, he expects it to be “hugely effective”. Children like modern technology that is “accessible 24/7” , he says. “They can hugely benefit from this … at this stage, there are universities in the US, but not schools, that are using this type of technology,” says Prof Hees, who taught in a Los Angeles district five years ago.
English teacher Karen Ehlers, who has used the Grade 11 English First Additional Language e-book , says her pupils have welcomed it . “They love it. They are excited and they want to come to class…. It’s not chalk and talk any more, they want interactivity.”
blaines@bdfm.co.za