Community involvement
'The community too have been using the laptop and printer/copier to their benefit. They have produced posters, invites, etc by using the laptop and printing out, and then copying them. The community as a whole has benefited'.
A key lesson learned from DEEP is that ICT innovations should be looked at holistically, not just in relation to teachers and their classrooms, but also to the needs of institutions and communities more broadly. Such approaches can help ensure a range of additional benefits, such as strong learner support networks, multi-use of costly equipment, consistency in approach to childhood and adult literacy and cross cutting delivery across the range of Millennium Development Goals to address the cycle of poverty. There are many ways in which local communities are involved in DEEP activity:
Case Study: Solving security issues
DEEP's first school-based Classroom Task 'Why ICT for ourselves, our learners, our community' is designed to encourage reflection on community involvement by inviting DEEP schools and their local communities to develop joint strategies to secure project equipment. In practice different security solutions evolve depending on context. At Iqhude School, for instance, equipment is stored at the school principal's house each evening. Ingqanga School uses a market bag to carry equipment to and from village homes at the end of each school day (pairs of students work a rota for collecting and returning the equipment). One school principal commented
'There is a lot of vandalism generally- we have used the new computers to argue the case for good security, which we need regardless of the laptop. Communities need to take this issue seriously.' This approach has meant that joint ownership of security issues.
Case Study: Community activity
The portability of the laptop means it can be used in the evenings and weekends - for professional development, personal learning, but also for community activity. The degree to which members of school and the local community are sharing and use the laptops has been unexpected - and far greater than teachers' personal use. Community activities have included:
- A computer literacy class for parents, and involvement in decision making about ICT use: 'We had a parents' evening- there was a proposal from the parents that we use it with Grade 7, as they are going to leave school soon, as a resource for their learning'.
- A local hospital making use of the computer in exchange for powering up the battery: 'We have no electricity so we walk together to the neighbouring hospital down the road to charge the battery. The hospital staff are very interested in the computer and some have used it'
- Evening classes for teenage students who had been involved in the first year of the project.
- A formal application to the provincial department for a sheep shearing shed for the community Woolgrowers' Association
- Drawing up the constitution of a local sewing project
- Legal enquiry on an unpaid death claim.
Several schools invite parents, grandparents and governors to support children in the project and in turn to decide how they might themselves benefit from the project. In the video below you can view a meeting of parents and grandparents discussing the project and looking at the outcomes of their own children's work. This practice in turn supports adult literacy.
