Critical Review and Survey of ICT in Education in the Caribbean

What are the lessons learned from the past decade’s investment and activities, successes and failures, related to ICT use in education in the Caribbean?

Activity #	1273
Partners	Natoma Group
infoDev Lead	Timothy John Charles Kelly

Summary

infoDev is helping to help coordinate a short critical review and survey of ICT use in education in the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Caribbean, and is interested in collaborating with partner organizations who may wish to be involved in this work. Work on this quick survey began in mid-2006.

Project status (January 2009): Results from this work are currently being prepared for publication.

infoDev is also leading a Survey of ICT in Education in Africa.

Background / Terms of Reference

Key questions:

How are ICTs currently being used in the education sector in the Caribbean, and what are the strategies and policies related to this use?
What are the common challenges and constraints faced by Caribbean countries and territories in this area?
What are the lessons learned from the past decade’s investment and activities, successes and failures, related to ICT use in education, and how can these lessons inform policy dialogues and project preparation going forward?

ICTs are widely believed to be important potential levers to introduce and sustain education reform efforts. Despite evidence of increasingly widespread use of ICTs in education initiatives around the world, however, there is little guidance available for policy makers and donor staff specifically targeted at countries contemplating the use of ICTs to help countries meet the education related Millennium Development Goals.

Despite donor and government interest in this area, there is no consolidated documentation of what has actually happened -- and is happening -- in the Caribbean related to the use of ICTs in education. Given the particular circumstances of SIDS, many of which are found in the Caribbean, it is thought that ICTs may be a useful tool in helping to improve access and, especially, quality, in the education sector. That said, it is worth noting that the Caribbean has been the site of a number of high-profile "failures" of ICT use in education. Much is to be learned from such projects that could help to inform the planning and roll out of similar projects in the region in years ahead.

Conversations with colleagues at a number of organizations -- donors, governments, civil society, universities, and the private sector -- interested in ICT & education issues in Caribbean suggest that many are interested in data collection efforts in this area. infoDev is seeking to identify interested groups to help coordinate some of the data collection activities (where feasible) and share the resulting data as widely as possible. While different organizations have different objectives in collecting such data to serve various consituencies, it may make sense to coordinate efforts in certain areas, and infoDev is willing to help lead such coordination efforts. At a minimum, this should help prevent duplication of efforts, as well as "survey fatigue" on the part of potential information sources "on-the-ground."

This work will complement similar work that infoDev is sponsoring with UNESCO related to SIDS in the Pacific, and infoDev's current survey of ICT and education in Africa.

European Union This project is proudly supported and funded by the European Commission.