Presentation of how ICT to support teachers of Entrepreneurship in Uganda

1. Presentation of how ICT to support teachers of Entrepreneurship in Uganda Case Studies from the ELATE ProgrammeE-Learning & Teacher Education Website:www.ugandaschoolresources.org

2. Focus for the Session • Constraints facing schools & Teacher Training in Uganda • The use of ICT to support teachers • The work of the ELATE Programme • The use of local case studies in teaching Entrepreneurship

3. Pivotal Role of Teacher Training • Phasing in of Universal Primary Education (UPE) under Millennium goals– feeding through into major expansion at secondary level. • Given the dearth of learning resources in many schools the quality of teachers is paramount. • Teacher training is key to raising the quality of education.

4. Constraints facing teacher training establishments • Large classes (over 300) – school practice at the end of the course. • Few opportunities for sharing good practice with schools. • Highly centralised education system – exam focused – and limited power to influence schools. • Limited resources in schools – few books and even fewer computers – stifles innovative teaching methods.

5. Teacher Training Needs and ELATE Major challenges which ELATE seeks to address: 1. Ensure relevancy / value congruence with schools (bridge the trainer / teacher divide) by setting up a collaborative “best practice” project involving partner schools. 2. Find avenues to influence educational development by working with key stakeholders by involving stakeholders in project management and authoring of materials. 3. Provide school-appropriate professional development for trainers, teachers & stakeholdersby providing training in the development of Open Educational Resources (OERs) to support trainee and practising teachers. 4. Supporting Makerere’s efforts to create a research and publication cultureby developing a research programme on school resources and the impact of OERs.

6. Research background… International research on school performance indicates: • Weak relationship between total educational expenditure and educational standards • Returns from reducing class sizes are low • Positive returns from learning resource spending (higher than from increases in teacher inputs) • Returns from extra spending on books are high (World Bank/Elley) • Book spending more effective than ICT (5 times higher in the UK) • BUT the crucial factor in school performance is TEACHER QUALITY and this can be raised by training.(Basic premise underpinning ELATE)

7. The ICT context… Access to ICT is limited in schools, and on-line access is rare. However, teachers are increasingly able to access computers: (1) In Internet cafés and offices. (2) In those schools that have computer suites (Using CD-ROMs and memory sticks, if not on line). (3) Trainees have access in training colleges and universities (4) Many teachers already use e-mail to share materials. ELATE has chosen to use ICT to provide direct support to teachers. Focus on “e-Delivery” of Open Educational Resourcesrather than “e-Learning”!

8. MinistryofEducation UgandaNationalExamsBoard TeachingPracticeSchools MakerereTeacherTraining TheOpenUniversity NationalCurriculumDevelopmentCentre Educationand ICTNGOs ELATE strategy On the principle that: “curriculum development leads to curriculum change” ELATE has involved key stakeholders and decision makers: • Ministry of Education & Sports, • Uganda National Examinations Board, • National Curriculum Development Council, • Textbook Publishers and NGOs involved with ICT in schools • ELATE ICT Strategy: • e-Delivery of subject guidance and pedagogic support to trainees and teachers (putting e-Learning on the back burner) • Recognise school constraints: • Large classes • Narrow focus on examinations • Very large, academic syllabuses • Limited resources (beyond the chalk-board) • Encourage “active learning” and achieve “local • relevancy” within those constraints (This has assumed growing importance.)

9. Curriculum coordinator Writing team Web developer Stakeholder involvement 8 subject writing teams: teachers in partner schools, textbook authors, curriculum developers (NCDC), examiners (UNEB) and teacher trainers (Makerere) Authors’ workshop ADVISORY BOARD: Education Officers from Ministry of Education and Sports + NGOs involved in ICT Each subject has an independent editor

10. 1b. The ELATE MaterialsGradual shift of emphasis.. Towards creating interesting activities that are “easy to use” within time and resource limits: • Worksheets (with guidance) • Pictures (missing element when few books) • Data collection and analysis (Excel exercise on malaria and bed nets) • Low-cost science experiments • Ideas for group work in large classes Activities that have meaning to students in Uganda e.g. Malaria investigation, fieldwork in geography and chemistry. Topic introductions that explain to students why they are studying topics e.g. trigonometry, prime numbers.

11. 1a. The ELATE MaterialsInitial focus of writing groups.. What teachers need to deliver the syllabus… (implicit adherence to a Transmission Model of teaching.) • Syllabuses • Exam papers • Schemes of work • Lesson plans and advice • Content notes and sources But gradual awareness of conflict between need to maintain student interest through active learning and demands of large syllabuses.

12. ELATE Programme Outcomes • Large volume of locally relevant material (>600 lesson hours) • Production and supply of OERs to the Worldwide web.(had over 12,000 visits in first few weeks) • Identified a viable strategy to empower teachers (and raise quality across the school and training system). • Professional development/capacity building – feeding into NCDC curriculum guidance and Ministry training courses. • Strong desire by stakeholders to build on this work. The ELATE website has the potential to become a prime web portal for teachers in Uganda and throughout Africa.

13. Entrepreneurship example • To become compulsory through Secondary years 1 to 4. • Syllabus is highly content focused – with an emphasis on lists: • What are the 10 attributes of an entrepreneur? • What the functions of a joint stock company? • Relatively little application or evaluation – and little scope for “active learning”.

14. ELATE materials www.ugandaschoolresources.org USING CASE STUDIES 1. Ester's Air Time 2. Edrisa's Boda-Boda 3. Betty's Market Stall 4. Nice Bread Bakery 5. Broadway Confectionary 6. Quality Metalwork

17. Exercise: to be presented Thursday morning for the all. Produce a case about entrepreneurship in South Africa. Part 1: The case (like Esther’s case) Part 2: The industry (background information) Part 3: Exercises Eventually think of these TOPICS: 1. The Entrepreneur in general 2. Business in South Africa 3. Marketing in a Small Business 4. Business Planning 5. Managing a Small Business

18. Trainee teachers: views • The material is teacher friendly and relates to the teacher’s and learners’ environment. • It saves time one would spend looking for all the information. • It has very good, brief and interesting introductions. • The materials are good because they can be printed out and do not need students to have access to computers themselves. • Uses locally available materials and active learning – explains classroom managements and use of field work. • Well designed scheme of work and lesson plan.

19. Comments made by the Authoring team: • The ELATE curriculum materials will help teachers to improve their delivery and content. • The materials will level some ground between schools. • The materials can be used anywhere, any time. • The website will help people in the whole world to learn what goes on in our country.