Bringing learning online - a guide to activating technology in schools

Posted by Ego Obi, Global Lead of Access for Education in Emerging Markets

Whether you’re an IT administrator at a school with connectivity issues, or a teacher helping your school get online for the first time, you know that activating technology involves careful planning and decision making. What tools do your students and teachers need the most? How do you get the Internet access you need to support your academic programs when your school isn’t already connected and online? How will you train everyone to make the most of this new technology?

We’ve learned from schools who’ve gone through the process and compiled a guide to bringing learning online based on their ideas. Their experiences can help your school decide how technology will bring resources from all over the web – and around the globe – into your classrooms. You’ll see a framework for:

• Defining your goals 
• Investing in Internet access 
• Building your team 
• Offering web tools 
• Managing the change 

The guide is available in 10 languages and includes stories from schools around the world that have embraced online learning. For example, Nigeria’s Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) has seen its student body jump from 6,000 to 30,000 in the past few years, prompting investment in its Internet infrastructure and improving access to web-based technologies.

“Through using Google Apps for Education to enable quick responses to queries over Gmail and access to course information via Sites, we’ve started to break down communication barriers between lecturers and students,” says Adebanjo-Paul Adebowale, Network Administrator, LAUTECH. “Now we see more communication and collaboration of all kinds across the campus, which is having a positive impact on the culture and the smooth running of the institution.”

In Morocco, the Université Cadi Ayyad now supports its online learning curriculum using Google Sites and Google Apps scripts. Students can easily access course material, request transcripts, receive their grades, and log onto the university’s eLearning platform.

Schools like LAUTECH and the Université Cadi Ayyad inspire us, and we’re looking forward to hearing more transformation stories. Join us. Share your school’s technology challenges and the steps you’ve taken to activate technology on your campus.

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