by Zoe Fox, Mashable
What differentiates iSchool from other education tablets created for use in the developing world, such as the Aakash 2, One Laptop Per Child XO tablet and the Intel Studybook, is the company’s focus was on creating a solid curriculum first and a technology product second. Like most other education systems in Africa (and western education of the 16th century), most learning in Zambia is conducted by rote: A teacher makes a statement and students repeat it. Not surprisingly, functional literacy rates are staggeringly low: somewhere between 10 and 20% of the population is able to read. In addition to the challenge of overfilled classrooms, iSchool’s curriculum addresses other major systemic roadblocks: the country lacks educated teachers and students have to travel long distances to get to school. Half of the country’s population is under 15, meaning the government struggles to fill the growing demand for school teachers. According to iSchool, 85% of teachers in community schools are untrained.
http://mashable.com/2013/08/07/ischool/
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