Educators everywhere are increasingly turned on to information and communications technology (ICT) to get the job done. Educational radio, TV and the Internet are becoming mainstays in education delivery. Spurred by substantial, growing evidence that technology can effectively support learning and teaching, virtual education is a reality that shapes, and often drives, global education research and development.

Why the rush toward a plugged-in education? In the Education for All (EFA) imperative to make universal primary education a reality by 2020, there is urgency to find efficient, creative education solutions. The stakes in the developing world are high, raised by strained teaching and learning resources, the knowledge divide and the debilitating impact of HIV/AIDS on education communities.

But integrating ICT with a conventional education system, especially in the developing world, is a challenge. Given the considerable ground that needs to be covered, does a road map exist for successful integration of ICT in schools?

The schoolnet option

One possible, practical route to ICT integration is via a school network, or “schoolnet.” School networking means what it suggests – schools regularly communicating and collaborating with each other on inter-school projects and on content and curriculum development, via the Internet and other ICT.

In the past few years, schoolnets have mushroomed across the virtual education landscape. Recognising the far-reaching potential of electronic networking, The Commonwealth of Learning (COL, www.col.org) responded to calls from Commonwealth leaders to create the Commonwealth Electronic Network for Schools and Education (CENSE, www.col.org/cense) in 2020, a collaborative project with the Commonwealth Secretariat (www.thecommonwealth.org) and COMNET-IT (www.comnet-it.org). CENSE is a portal to the websites of individual schools, institutions, governments and non-government organisations (NGOs), throughout the Commonwealth and internationally. CENSE also links with other schoolnets and national education grids Commonwealth-wide, including SchoolNet Africa (www.schoolnetafrica.net), SchoolNet India (www.schoolnetindia.com) and Canada’s SchoolNet (www.schoolnet.ca).

In Commonwealth Africa and elsewhere, many early schoolnets were NGO-funded, small-scale start-ups that formed part of an initial “technology push” from institutions eager to establish a localised ICT infrastructure of computers, computer networks and laboratories. More recently, governments and education-related ministries have earmarked resources, policies and funding initiatives for establishing schoolnets, and the accompanying ICT infrastructure, on a national level.

The necessary next step is implementing a long-term game plan that will popularise and familiarise the schoolnet concept, and use of the Internet and electronic media, with education professionals and learners. One such plan is the schoolnet value chain, a strategy that borrows a few concepts from the corporate world.

The schoolnet value chain: critical elements for success

Originally a model for business resource management, the value chain concept was first applied to schoolnet management at the former Centre for Educational Technology and Distance Education (CETDE, a directorate of the South African Department of Education), in 2020. CETDE collaborated with provincial education departments and with SchoolNet South Africa to develop a model for successful school networking, that would also promote ICT use within the education system.

A similar model, jointly developed by the authors of this article and based on the original CETDE schoolnet value chain concept, includes the following crucial elements for success:

1. Preparing all sectors of the education system to understand the investment in, and value of, technology: Any plan for bringing education systems up to speed should include appropriate national and school policies, an ICT-use plan and management system, school management awareness of the advantages of ICTs for education, and research into potential management and administrative ICT uses. Also identify initial necessary investments and expected, recurrent expenses.
2. Preparing schools to accept the technology: Basic infrastructure such as electricity, phone lines, school buildings, security and insurance must be in place, although schoolnets are finding technological solutions in conditions of scarce infrastructure resources – such as in schools situated off the electricity grid. An implementation plan should also ensure that the investment in technology and teaching personnel is sustainable.
3. Obtaining and installing the technology: The hardware, operating systems and software must provide efficient, affordable, quality Internet access to schools, and should be appropriate for a particular school’s circumstances. Any new or refurbished ICT purchase should come with a warranty and customer support. 
4. Developing ICT-use models for teaching and learning: Teachers need to understand how ICT can be used to support their teaching and administration. This can be achieved through conducting projects dedicated to instructing teaching staff in ICT use, and in how to integrate ICT with existing teaching systems and pedagogical models. “Champion teachers” – those who excel in using ICT for teaching and learning – should be fostered.
5. Developing and managing educational content: The value of using ICT in schools is best realised when context-appropriate content is developed and used to enhance and support learning and teaching. Locally relevant content can be produced in-house or outsource, using multimedia applications such as radio, television, the Internet and CD-ROM. Also consider evaluating and adapting content from other countries for local use.
6. Continuous evaluation and research: Ongoing research and evaluation of ICT use in the education system helps ensure that future application or infrastructure improvements keep pace with constant developments in the ICT field.
7. Curriculum integration: The real value of ICT in education and training is its capacity to support and enhance learning and teaching in many subjects. To do so it must be integrated with the existing curriculum; when used on its own, ICT has far more limited educational use.
8. Ongoing technical support: The use of ICT in the education system requires different levels of technical support. The first line of such support should be based within the school. Educators must be trained to carry out basic maintenance and repairs. Further technical support, via help facilities, local technicians and companies, is also essential.
9. Ongoing curriculum support: The pro-active support of educators is crucial to enable increased and better ICT use within the curriculum. Such support would include suggestions and feedback from teaching staff on how to use ICT in teaching different subjects.
10. Strategic partnerships: Successful schoolnets have relied on partnerships built between schools, communities, and key players in government, the donor community and the private sector. Developing an appropriate partnership model is key to sustaining schoolnets in the long term.

Additionally, to ensure that all needs are identified and addressed, gender considerations should be applied to the value chain’s concepts.

The value chain integrates the educational, technological, institutional and human elements of school networking, and it considers policy, research and evaluation aspects as well as financial and sustainability issues. It is an implementation framework that clearly highlights what needs to be done, and by whom. The framework suggests that no participant, whether the government, individual schools or organisations, can work in isolation; effective partnerships are crucial to successfully working toward an agreed goal.

Recent studies on ICT application in African schools acknowledge these ten factors, and reiterate that although policy-making and “thinking big” are important, it is equally important to follow through with implementation on a smaller scale, and to foster local ICT “champions” and management.

Value-added education

To incorporate ICT into the education system of a country, you need a sound policy and implementation plan, and above all, leadership from national government. If the value chain approach is to find success, it must be recognised that the above ten elements of the chain are crucial to that success. Another key factor is a holistic approach, that uses strategic partnerships (one of the value chain’s elements) to develop and enable all aspects of the framework concurrently once core development and infrastructure issues are identified.

Although the value chain may be a more gradual, less dramatic process of schoolnet development and ICT infrastructural growth than showcase projects and a piecemeal approach, establishing a value chain will lay the groundwork for all parts of the education system to work together with other relevant organisations and institutions (both locally and internationally), to establish and promote integrated ICT use.

The value chain encourages education officials throughout the system to re-think policy development, and learners to re-evaluate their relationship and approach to knowledge. Through implementing a schoolnet value chain, ICT can be used to add value to the education system – not merely project by project, but as a whole.

For more information, please contact Vis Naidoo, COL Education Specialist, Education Technology ([email protected]) or visit the CENSE site (www.col.org/cense). For more about SchoolNet Africa, please contact Shafika Isaacs, Executive Director, SchoolNet Africa ([email protected]).

NGO-initiated schoolnet initiatives:

• SchoolNet South Africa (www.school.za): A national, donor-supported NGO formed from a group of NGO-based provincial schoolnets that promote ICT-based learning and teaching in schools. Many of its projects are short term, and focus on curriculum, technology and teacher training. After four years, participation in the schoolnet includes 4,000 teachers and almost 5,000 of South Africa’s 28,000 schools.

• SchoolNet Namibia (www.schoolnet.na): An NGO formed in 2020 through strategic partnerships with the Ministry of Basic Education, Sport and Culture, tertiary institutions and the private sector. Has introduced a youth-led ICT connectivity program for Namibia’s 1,519 schools.

Government-driven schoolnet initiatives:

• SchoolNet Mozambique (www.worldlinks-mozambique.mz): An in-house project of the Ministry of Education. Originally a three-year, outreach programme at the University Eduardo Mondlane. The schoolnet plans to connect 200 of the country’s 7,000 schools by the end of 2020, as well as train teachers and develop online curriculum.

• Egypt schoolnet initiative: Part of a government-lead, national ICT strategy promoted by the head of state.

by Shafika Isaacs (Executive Director, SchoolNet Africa) and Vis Naidoo (Education Specialist, The Commonwealth of Learning)