In with the old

On the value of using familiar technologies to create impact. A case for the use of the mobile phone to distribute educational content in Africa.

The mobile phone — and when I say mobile phone, I’m not talking about that shiny iPhone 6 Plus, which barely fits into the palm, let alone my budget. It’s the humble (or: “basic”) mobile that can send and receive texts and calls. We’re talking about that nostalgic 90's Nokia 6210 (or similar), which continues to enable far more than simply basic communication.

It can be argued that in Africa, mobile phones have been the most powerful device to drive change, by being used to develop health, education, agriculture, employment, financial services and more.

Just take a look at what mPesa did for mobile payment in Kenya and the potential of the mobile phone begins to become apparent. The mobile is much more than a phone, it’s a facilitator that has not only improved communication, it has supported the flow of information and increased productivity, leading to strengthening the GDP and Foreign Direct Investment in Africa.

Basic GSM only mobile phones dominate the majority of the African market at 63 percent market share, out of 83 percent of the continent’s population who own a mobile phone. They’re affordable as well, costing as little as nine US dollars. And despite Africa having one of the lowest smartphone penetrations in the world, the mobile phone is driving innovation by delivering relevant and contextual content, which is both effective and profitable.

Mobile phones can engage learners and give teachers a way of quickly creating, delivering and measuring their students’ learning outcomes.

That’s the beauty of this little device. The deliverable content is fluid and easy to change. By having both text content — delivered via interactive SMS — students practice reading and writing; and with voice technologies (outbound calls and interactive voice response (IVR)), listening and speaking can be trained, bridging literacy barriers as well as giving students access to full pedagogy.

The other great thing about mobile phones to consume educational content is the achievable contextual relevance. Not only can students listen and interact with content at times that suit them, they can do it in an environment that works for them too. The mobile phone knows no prejudice either, allowing anyone with access the chance to interact with educational content no matter where they happen to be, or regardless of who they are.

What may first seem like an “outdated” approach to technology is actually empowering a new generation by encouraging equality through accessibility.

By putting students in charge of their learning process, using their own phone, which they already know how to use and are familiar with, learning outcomes can increase. The major case for the mobile phone is not teaching new concepts, rather reinforcing topics which have just been taught. This keeps things fresh in students’ memories and lets teachers quickly see how much of the knowledge has been understood and retained.

The process becomes even more exciting and meaningful when teachers are involved in the content creation and can directly see results. Teaching and learning become more collaborative because the students’ results can be seen live by teachers, which then helps teachers apply different teaching methods, iterate on course curriculum or further engage the students who are struggling.

Mobile learning becomes really effective when the process is collaborative between educators and learners, by using technologies which are familiar.

Eneza Education recently published their impact report, which found that Eneza Education recently published their impact report, which found that students using their SMS feature increased their grades by an average of 9.5 points after 7 months. It also allowed schools to improve their results and achieving better scores on standardized tests.

The case for the mobile phone as much more than a simple communication device is especially relevant to Africa, where high consumer adoption, accessibility and ease of use make it an ideal medium to distribute and exchange meaningful information. Mobile phones are providing new opportunities for education by promoting self-learning and teacher empowerment to their roles as educators. Their real potential is to be proven over the coming years. However, their impact will only be meaningful if these challenges are embraced by the teachers, parents and education decision makers who collaborate on this mobile-driven process.

Thank you to Nicolas Gomez for proof reading and for our team at Sterio.me for the inspiration and support.