Developing educational software for non-formal education
Make IT matter
This software development project is coordinated by UNESCO APPEAL.
Although technology awareness in the Asia-Pacific region is gaining ground, many countries are not yet sufficiently benefiting from the possibilities. To respond to the literacy needs of the region, APPEAL is working with software developers to create a prototype programme me that can be used in the training of functional literacy and post-literacy education that also involves applying local knowledge.
Partners for the pilot development of literacy software include the National Literacy Mission, India; the Institute for Rural Advancement, Malaysia; and SEAMEO/INNOTECH, Philippines.
This software development project makes use of the Asia-Pacific region's growing technology awareness to explore using ICT mediums to produce, arrange, share, and exchange information and knowledge locally and globally. It targets neo-literates, ie young people and adults who have completed basic literacy training and who need to strengthen their functional literacy skills through post-literacy training programmes. Ultimately, the software package can be adapted for use in all countries in the region.
Responding to expanding definitions of literacy is one of the challenges that may use the potential of computers. Several countries in the Asia-Pacific region are currently shifting from a focus on basic literacy to a focus on functional literacy. This means providing community members with skills that go beyond basic reading, writing, and numeracy and that are applicable immediately.
To achieve these goals, the use of computers and training in computer skills will become part of the post-literacy programme.
The use of computers in post-literacy education and in life-learning environments is crucial. The turning key to the effectiveness of computers as a literacy tool is the software. According to advocates, user-friendly software can teach anyone at any literacy level how to get started on a computer.
Computers can take adult students on an innovative path of learning. Just as children find computer games immensely engaging, adults can use the computer in an interactive way to gain literacy skills. Computers are able to give feedback to the student through text, pictures, and sound which makes the learning process more fun and varied than traditional methods from textbooks, writing pads, and pencils. Furthermore, computer software is easy and inexpensive to mass produce.
Studies have been conducted in countries with well developed non-formal education systems such as India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, to assess which software is already being used in the areas of literacy and what learning needs are not being addressed yet.
A working group involving representatives from the four surveyed countries, software developers, and UNESCO representatives are working to produce a draft version of software that can be pilot tested in this region.