BridgeIT, a mobile teaching tool deploying in Tanzania, is changing the way students and teachers interact in the classroom. The program, launched in 2007, allows teachers to download educational videos (focusing on math, science, and life skills) onto mobile phones. The phones are then connected to classroom televisions which display the videos. Students watch the videos, which usually run four to seven minutes, and then teachers use BridgeIT-designed lesson plans to build on the ideas set forth in the videos.
The short educational videos are transmitted to teachers in 150 schools in seven regions of Tanzania (Lindi, Mtwara, Pwani, Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Dodoma and Kilimanjaro). In a country in which classrooms are often overcrowded (the program originally aimed to reach 10,000 students; due to crowded classrooms and teachers teaching multiple classes through the day, BridgeIT lesson plans have so far been taught to more than 40,000 students) and the demand for books greatly exceeds the supply, lessons via video are an effective way to reach a large number of students.
But more so than just a video downloading device, the phones also serve as a link between BridgeIT and teachers. Kate Place, Program Manager of BridgeIT, explains that the focus of the program is twofold, with a focus on both students and teachers. She says, “The real basis of the program is trying to improve learning gains among students, and to try to improve teaching methodologies in the classroom.” While final results of the pilot program haven’t been compiled yet, Place says that anecdotal reports from teachers say that attendance and classroom participation in BridgeIT classrooms is higher than in non-BridgeIT classrooms.
Locally called Elimu kwa Teknologia, which means Education through Technology, BridgeIT provides on-demand access to digital video content. “People have asked, ‘why not a DVD player, or something else?’” says Place. “A lot of these schools are in rural locations, and [using mobile phones] allows for the on-going dissemination of new content. Once the new system is in place, we can be in touch with these teachers and these schools throughout the country on an on-going basis.” The continued access is a bonus, as teaching methods can be adjusted throughout the school year based on the needs of students and teachers. Another benefit of distributing videos via mobile is the ease of disseminating new content; according to Place, new educational videos are released every three months, so the content is constantly evolving. So far, more than 125 videos have been produced and more than 1500 teachers have been trained in BridgeIT classroom procedures.
According to Place, the BridgeIT program has had effects beyond an increase in school attendance and classroom participation. Designed for primary students in grades five and six, BridgeIT especially promotes the role of girls in the classroom; the videos often feature women portraying scientists, leaders, and doctors in order to give female students positive professional role models.
In addition to encouraging female students, Place added that the videos and lesson plans have also made it easier for teachers to approach more sensitive topics. Whereas teachers may once have shied away from discussing sexual or reproductive health in the classroom for cultural reasons, BridgeIT-provided videos and lesson plans give teachers a means of introducing material with which they may otherwise have been uncomfortable.
Despite BridgeIT’s large-scale reach, the program did face some challenges. Originally designed to be an expansion of the successful Philippine BridgeIT program (locally known as Text2Teach), which operates through a satellite feed, organizers quickly learned that the technology that worked in the Philippines would not be easily adapted to Tanzania. “We had gone into the Tanzania project thinking that we were going to use the model that we used in the Philippines, which was with a satellite-mobile-SMS system, as in a satellite download to a master set-top box in the classroom, but we realized pretty quickly that wasn’t going to be very feasible in the Tanzania context. So we had to shift gears, and look toward the long-term sustainability of the project,” said Place.
That look towards long-term sustainability led the BridgeIT team to mobile phones. The program cut out the satellite server and concentrated on a direct mobile-to-mobile delivery service. The majority of the $2 million invested in the project went to the purchase and installation of equipment packages (phones, cables, televisions, power strips) for each school, teacher training, video production and development, and teacher monitoring and evaluation.
While final studies have not been done on the role of Tanzania's Elimu kwa Teknolojia in the classroom, Text2Teach (the Philippine branch of BridgeIT) resulted in significant learning gains for students, especially in science and English, and increased school attendance rates.
BridgeIT was launched as part of a collaboration between the International Youth Foundation and the Tanzania Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, in partnership with Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, the Nokia Institute for Technology, the Pearson Foundation, the Vodacom Foundation, and the Forum for African Women Educationalists, with funding support from USAID.
Place says that one of the best things about the project has been the unique collaboration between both private and public sector partners, and their support for the project. BridgeIT ends its two-year pilot program at the end of this September, and will be entering into a new 15-month development plan that will see it fully enveloped into the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.
The BridgeIT videos focus on ways that math, science, and life skills can be applied to students’ everyday lives; science lectures could be on topics such as how to cut grass so as to reduce the number of malarial mosquitoes or how and why to treat water to cut down on cholera, while life skills videos might offer a frank discussion on the reality of HIV/AIDS. The videos are short, and as such are a complement to teachers’ lesson plans, not a replacement for student/teacher interaction. As Place puts it, “the idea is not that the teacher turns on the video and walks out of the room; it’s really a tool in the classroom.”
BridgeIT Locations
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| SlidesKatePlace_BridgeIT-1.ppt | 2.22 MB |
BridgeIT, a mobile teaching tool deploying in Tanzania, is changing the way students and teachers interact in the classroom. The program, launched in 2007, allows teachers to download educational videos (focusing on math, science, and life skills) onto mobile phones. The phones are then connected to classroom televisions which display the videos. Students watch the videos, which usually run four to seven minutes, and then teachers use BridgeIT-designed lesson plans to build on the ideas set forth in the videos.
The short educational videos are transmitted to teachers in 150 schools in seven regions of Tanzania (Lindi, Mtwara, Pwani, Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Dodoma and Kilimanjaro). In a country in which classrooms are often overcrowded (the program originally aimed to reach 10,000 students; due to crowded classrooms and teachers teaching multiple classes through the day, BridgeIT lesson plans have so far been taught to more than 40,000 students) and the demand for books greatly exceeds the supply, lessons via video are an effective way to reach a large number of students.
But more so than just a video downloading device, the phones also serve as a link between BridgeIT and teachers. Kate Place, Program Manager of BridgeIT, explains that the focus of the program is twofold, with a focus on both students and teachers. She says, “The real basis of the program is trying to improve learning gains among students, and to try to improve teaching methodologies in the classroom.” While final results of the pilot program haven’t been compiled yet, Place says that anecdotal reports from teachers say that attendance and classroom participation in BridgeIT classrooms is higher than in non-BridgeIT classrooms.
Locally called Elimu kwa Teknologia, which means Education through Technology, BridgeIT provides on-demand access to digital video content. “People have asked, ‘why not a DVD player, or something else?’” says Place. “A lot of these schools are in rural locations, and [using mobile phones] allows for the on-going dissemination of new content. Once the new system is in place, we can be in touch with these teachers and these schools throughout the country on an on-going basis.” The continued access is a bonus, as teaching methods can be adjusted throughout the school year based on the needs of students and teachers. Another benefit of distributing videos via mobile is the ease of disseminating new content; according to Place, new educational videos are released every three months, so the content is constantly evolving. So far, more than 125 videos have been produced and more than 1500 teachers have been trained in BridgeIT classroom procedures.
According to Place, the BridgeIT program has had effects beyond an increase in school attendance and classroom participation. Designed for primary students in grades five and six, BridgeIT especially promotes the role of girls in the classroom; the videos often feature women portraying scientists, leaders, and doctors in order to give female students positive professional role models.
In addition to encouraging female students, Place added that the videos and lesson plans have also made it easier for teachers to approach more sensitive topics. Whereas teachers may once have shied away from discussing sexual or reproductive health in the classroom for cultural reasons, BridgeIT-provided videos and lesson plans give teachers a means of introducing material with which they may otherwise have been uncomfortable.
Despite BridgeIT’s large-scale reach, the program did face some challenges. Originally designed to be an expansion of the successful Philippine BridgeIT program (locally known as Text2Teach), which operates through a satellite feed, organizers quickly learned that the technology that worked in the Philippines would not be easily adapted to Tanzania. “We had gone into the Tanzania project thinking that we were going to use the model that we used in the Philippines, which was with a satellite-mobile-SMS system, as in a satellite download to a master set-top box in the classroom, but we realized pretty quickly that wasn’t going to be very feasible in the Tanzania context. So we had to shift gears, and look toward the long-term sustainability of the project,” said Place.
That look towards long-term sustainability led the BridgeIT team to mobile phones. The program cut out the satellite server and concentrated on a direct mobile-to-mobile delivery service. The majority of the $2 million invested in the project went to the purchase and installation of equipment packages (phones, cables, televisions, power strips) for each school, teacher training, video production and development, and teacher monitoring and evaluation.
While final studies have not been done on the role of Tanzania's Elimu kwa Teknolojia in the classroom, Text2Teach (the Philippine branch of BridgeIT) resulted in significant learning gains for students, especially in science and English, and increased school attendance rates.
BridgeIT was launched as part of a collaboration between the International Youth Foundation and the Tanzania Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, in partnership with Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, the Nokia Institute for Technology, the Pearson Foundation, the Vodacom Foundation, and the Forum for African Women Educationalists, with funding support from USAID.
Place says that one of the best things about the project has been the unique collaboration between both private and public sector partners, and their support for the project. BridgeIT ends its two-year pilot program at the end of this September, and will be entering into a new 15-month development plan that will see it fully enveloped into the Tanzanian Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.
The BridgeIT videos focus on ways that math, science, and life skills can be applied to students’ everyday lives; science lectures could be on topics such as how to cut grass so as to reduce the number of malarial mosquitoes or how and why to treat water to cut down on cholera, while life skills videos might offer a frank discussion on the reality of HIV/AIDS. The videos are short, and as such are a complement to teachers’ lesson plans, not a replacement for student/teacher interaction. As Place puts it, “the idea is not that the teacher turns on the video and walks out of the room; it’s really a tool in the classroom.”
BridgeIT Locations
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| SlidesKatePlace_BridgeIT-1.ppt | 2.22 MB |
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