Possibility of Open Education for Lifelong Learning

Possibility of Open Education for Lifelong Learning Ichiro Miyazawa Programme Specialist UNESCO Bangkok Vietnam Forum on Lifelong Learning: Building A Learning Society Hanoi, 6-8 December 2010

Contents Literacy through Mobile Phones (Pakistan) Open Education for Lifelong Learning

A. Literacy through Mobile Phones • Why mobile phone for Literacy in Pakistan? • How was the project implemented? • Results ? • Costs? • Challenges • Lesson learnt

Why mobile phones for literacy in Pakistan Literacy • 60 million illiterates • Wider gender gap (M 63% F 36%) • Low efficiency of traditional literacy approaches • Relapse into illiteracy Mobile phone and SMS • 100 million mobile phone subscribers • Communication is fun and habitual • Anytime and Anywhere, possible to learn

2. How was the project implemented? Refresh basic literacy course (1st M) Learning how to use mobile phones and Starting to receive and send SMS (2nd M) Receiving and sending SMS, read and practice on the working book (2nd – 5th M) Reporting to literacy centers and having Weekly/Monthly Examination (2nd – 5th M)

3. Results C: 0-50 B: 51-69 A: 70-100 n=100

3. Results C: 0-50 B: 51-69 A: 70-100 n=125

3. Results C: 0-50 B: 51-69 A: 70-100 n=25

4. Costs ( main items for a learner) • Mobile Phone $ 33 • SIM card $ 3 • 600 messages sent (4 months) $ 7.2 • Sending messages (4 months) $ 4.8 • Hiring a teacher (5 months per head) $ 7.2 Total $ 55.2

5. Challenges • Cultural and traditional barriers • Limitation of messages in SMS (160 scripts) • Difficulty in typing Urdu • Security situations in Pakistan • Calls from unknown men

6. Lesson learnt • Habit of communication on written messages • Strong confidence of getting literate and being connected among them • Sharing learning with family members (sisters, mothers) • Enhanced Security of youth and women • The devise is supplemental

B. Open Education for Lifelong Learning

1. Open source/contents with voluntarism2. Quicker, Wider, Cheaper: ICT infrastructure 3. Implications to promote open education for Lifelong Learning

1. Open Source (1)

1. Open Source Books

Other contents Newspapers Magazines

2. Quicker, Wider, Cheaper ICT Internet users Cell phone subscriptions Source: World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report 2010, ITU.

2. Quicker, Wider, Cheaper ICT Infrastructure Edge ? 3G ? WiMAX Wi-Fi ? LTE 4G

2. Quicker, Wider, Cheaper ICT Costs of communication, transportation, hardware Source: UNDP (1999), Human Development Report 1999, p. 30.

2. Quicker, Wider, Cheaper ICT Devises

3. Implications to Promote LLL

3. Implications to Promote LLL • Create a global open source/ site of LLL • Effective usages of ICT devises • Global / regional networks to be established and strengthened • Continuous awareness raising on LLL

Possibility of Open Education for Lifelong Learning