Access to Education

Millions of children in remote and/or low-income communities around the world do not have access to quality education. According to Humanium.org, 72 million children are not enrolled in school and 759 million adults are illiterate or lack the awareness to improve the lives of themselves and their children. In low income or remote communities, the greatest barriers are often the ability of the community to provide educational tools in a suitable learning environment or the ability of teachers to receive sufficient training.

Technology is being utilized through several different approaches to improve education for low income and remote communities. The most common and traditional method is to use technology as a tool to reach donors who will contribute in funding expenses associated with the improvement of education environments.

I have identified two organizations that approach fundraising in different ways. Humanium.org takes a traditional approach by outlining the difficult situations surrounding these communities and encouraging people to make donations, sponsor students, and volunteer. Humanium.org places an emphasis on the communities around the world who are struggling the most. The site is very informative, allowing users to research general issues that reduce access to education as well as information on the situation in specific countries. Humanium does an excellent job of educating possible donors.

DonorsChoose.org is another web-based service that helps drive donations for under-privileged education environments. DonorsChoose.org acts as a crowdfunding site for education. Potential donors can view an extensive list of education projects that need funding. This is a unique way to allow donors to explore the issues as well as decide what they would like their donation to support. The greatest downfall of DonorsChoose.org is that they are unsuccessful in reaching the communities that need the most help. DonorsChoose is only a powerful resource to those with internet access as well as a knowledge of online crowdfunding.

Apart from using technology to fund education resources, some are exploring new ways of using technology as an education resource. Education Development Center Inc. (EDC) is utilizing technologies that are more accessible than internet to aid in classroom environments. EDC offers Interactive Audio Instruction to remote communities via CDs, MP3s, and radio broadcasts. Interactive Audio Instruction is particularly useful to communities that lack the resources to form well-trained teachers.

A similar approach to EDC’s Interactive Audio Instruction is the Amazonas Media Center’s Interactive Educational Television. This project broadcasts satellite television programs to classrooms in rural Amazonian areas that lack trained teachers. In this case, a tutor is available to the class while curriculum is fed to them remotely.

Technology can be used in several ways to improve education in low income or remote communities. As seen from Humanium and DonorsChoose, web-based services can act as a tool for educating and connecting donors with efforts to improve education environments. Additionally, Education Development Center and Amazonas Media Center display that existing and accessible communication technologies can act as tools for classrooms within these communities.

Works Cited:

Trucano, Michael. “Promising Uses of Technology in Education in Poor, Rural and Isolated Communities around the World.” Edutech, The World Bank, 22 July 2014, blogs.worldbank.org/edutech/education-technology-poor-rural.