“Everyrecessionisanengineforchange”

Maryline Baumard

And thewindowpanes returnto sand/The ink returns towater/The desks return totrees (…)”: pictured as aschoolboy’s daydream byFrenchpoet JacquesPrévert

inPageofWriting, in1945,thisprocessofphy-sical breakdown is now becoming a reality.Thedisintegrationofwhat seemed to be thevery heart of the school –the classroom – isunderway.Assaultedfromall sides, itswallsare collapsing.

The attacks take the form sometimes oftechnology, sometimes lack of funding,sometimes the urgent need for individualattention. In days past, the classroom wasfourwalls anda teacheraddressingagroup.Knowledge confined in an enclosed spaceand authoritatively delivered. But themodel that once seemed eternal is nowbeing shaken to its foundations.

In the OECD countries, individualizedlearning has become the catch-cry. And, asemphasized in Unesco’s 2012 Education forAllGlobalMonitoringReport,thereisapres-sing need for it if we are to do somethingabout the 14% of young people who go nofurther than lower secondary education–andveryoftenhave tunedoutbefore theyget that far. Urging pupils to stay in schoolhas become a fixation for political authori-ties inEuropeandAmerica,on therightandontheleftalike. Insocietieswherethecultu-ral gap is widening – because school is nolongertheonlyplaceoflearning–theavera-ge student, the one the teacher uses as abasis for his teaching, no longer exists. Thegood student is bored, the poorer student

drops out. Andmany are those who fall bythe wayside, abandoned by the school sys-tem with no training or diploma: the out-casts of the knowledge-drivensociety.

In the less developed countries, too, theclassroom is already obsolete: outdatedwithout even having existed! It hasmissedthebusandnow,withpublicmoneyinsuchshort supply, there are no means of buil-ding those walls, putting teachers insidethem and motivating young people whohave towork to support their families.

Here too, the oldway of doing things hastostop. In 123 lowandmiddle-incomecoun-tries, 200million young people in the15-24agebrackethavenot finishedprimaryschooland, forthefirst timesince2000,thenumber is not declining. If the educationmachine is not cranked up again, 47 out ofevery 100 children currently not receivingan educationwill never set foot in a school.And47%of 61million is toomuch!

Disregarding the practice of past centu-ries,Africa, LatinAmericaandmanyMiddle-

Easterncountriesarebypassingschoolswithclassroomsandleapingdirectlyintothedigi-tal age. They are making knowledge availa-ble via smartphones and computers, thoseincreasinglyaccessible formsof technology.

Let’s remember that the classroom, too,was invented as a stopgap, when it provedimpossible to provide each pupil with hisownteacher.InthemedievalWesternworld,school was children grouped together inenormous shared rooms and called up oneby one toworkwith the teacher at his desk.This was before the Renaissance brought insimultaneous teaching, a solution thoughtup by ecclesiastics in search of greater effi-ciency. In the 19th century, the “lesson”,which quickly became identified with the“classroom”,finallytookovertheWest’sedu-cational systems.

But with the classroom came leveling,and the invention of the “average student”.Tofit in,achildmustbeclosetoasetageandnotstraytoofarfromalevelbasedonavera-ge marks over a range of subjects. Theclassroom imprisons children withouttakingaccountof their individualityor lear-ning tempo.

Today,apageisbeingturned,withinnova-tionupsettingwhatwasbelievedtobeasemi-nalconcept.Andthisisagreatthingifwereal-lydowanttobeabletoprovideuniversaledu-cationup tomid-secondary school by 2030,as 164 countries committed themselves todoing in 2000: a goal that will change notonly individual destinies, but the future ofour planet as well. A dollar spent on educa-tionis tento fifteendollarsofgrowth.So, themore efficient a system, themore growth itwill generate. This is why the moribundclassroommustquicklybreathe its last.p

TheendoftheclassroomNewwaysoflearningaresupplantingthetraditionalclassroom.Theywillbediscussedatthe

4theditionofWISE–WorldInnovationSummitforEducation–heldinQataronNovember13-15

P rofessor StephenHeppell holds thechair onNewMedia Environmentsat BournemouthUniversity (United

Kingdom).He analyzes current changes tothe traditional classroom.

Does the classroomhave to go if there’sto be a real return to learning in the 21stcentury?

A lot of aspectsof the 20th-centuryclassroomwerematters of conveniencerather than reflectionsof someeducatio-nal ideal: a single groupwith a single tea-cher, for example, or having 20, 30, or40children sitting together because theyhappened to bebornbetween twodates.Moredynamic schools cameupwithothermodels: team teachingof big “superclas-ses”, immersiondays, threepointsoffocus, playfulness, shoes-off, and so on.The curious thing is that these new ingre-dientsmake educationmore effective,more engaging, quicker, and substantiallycheaper.

Sowhy arewe still organizing schoolsand students into “classes” and schoolbuildings into classrooms?

Tobeunkind, themyth that this indus-trial learningmodel is the onlyway to doeducation is a formof cultural imperia-lism. Expensive schools andexpensiveuni-versities lock two thirds of theworldout oflearning-for-all; but technologyhasunloc-ked thedoor, and suddenly the latecomersto learning-for-all are finding that they canleapfrogexpensive traditionalmodels anddo it better.

Has the time come for someother kindof organization? In a hurry?Andwhynow?

It’s been the same for every recessionI’ve lived through. In the depths of reces-sion people think, “We can’t do it like thisagain, theremust be a better way”, andthey turn to learning to leadwith these“betterways”. Every recession has beenan engine for educational change. Likenow.

Are there new architectural approacheson theway?

Arule of three for thirdmillenniumspa-ces is: nomore than threewalls, no fewerthan threepointsof focus, always able toaccommodateat least three teachers andthree classes. Curiously, other buildingscanoffer thismore effectively thanoldschools – for example, sometimes it canbeeasy to convert empty retail space into lear-ning space.

Is this true for all teaching levels, fromprimary to university?

Theuniversity sectorhas been theslowest to respond. It amazesme that somanyof our facultiesof educationworldwi-dewill teach about “newpedagogy”, butdosousing traditional lectures, seminars andessays. Personally, I think that anyuniversi-tyoffering educationdegrees should at thevery least run the verybest school in theneighborhood– a lab school if you like –demonstrating just howwell current theo-ry andpracticework. If they can’t demons-trate it, they shouldnot be allowedanywhe-renear trainee teachers.

Does thismean changewithin the tea-chingprofession?Howwould you defi-ne the professionof tomorrow?

Tomorrow’s teachers aremoreprofes-sional,more reflective,more engaging,more aware of complexdata,moreplayful,more collaborative,more colle-gial,more respected, and alsomuchmorewantedby industry as companies set outto become learningorganizations and tryto recruit them. Fortunately, tomorrow’steacherswill also include the children, astheybecomemuchmore active in educa-tion, helping their peers, supportingmixed-age teaching, providingbackup forothers.p

InterviewbyM.B.

In the less developedcountries, too, the

classroom is alreadyobsolete: outdated

without evenhaving existed!

Founderof the BangladeshRural AdvancementCommittee (BRAC), Sir FazleHasanAbedwas awarded the firstWise Prize for education in 2011.Abandoning traditional educational approaches, hehas brought knowledge tomillionsof children, as in this shantytown inDhaka.

REZA

Maryline Baumard

Behind it lies a discovery. In2004,scienceteachersJonathanBergmannandAaronSamsstar-ted working at Woodland ParkHigh School, in Colorado, whe-re they very quickly found

themselves distraught by the absentee rate intheir classes. “In these rural areas, studentsspent an inordinate amount of time travelingtoandfromschool; theymissedourclassesandstruggled to stay caught up.” Annoying forboth teachers.

One day, Sams stumbled on software thatcouldrecordaPowerPointslideshow,comple-te with voice-over and annotations, and turnthe result into a video file. “When we did this,YouTube was just getting started and we said

to ourselves, there’s the solution to our absen-teeism problem.” When they launched thenew method, though, the two teachers werenot aware of the small revolution they wereleading.Thefact thatstudentswatchtherecor-ded lessonfirst, andget an introductionto thetheory, freestheclassupfor interchange,witha teacherpresent to lend ahand. As timewentby, their classes changedbecause real teacher-pupil interaction sprang up. But there waspupil-pupil interaction as well, as a small,authentic learning community took shape.

Jonathan Bergmann explains: “From tea-chers, we’ve turned into learning coaches. Wedon’t lecture a crowdof students anymore; ins-tead, we take a close interest in each student’sindividualneeds.” Intheflippedclassroom,theteacherhelpsdirectlywithknowledgeacquisi-tion, but that’s not all: the students’ frame of

mind changes, and instead of just coming toclass to take notes andmess around, they arelooking for explanations of what they did notassimilateworkingon their own.

In the spring of 2007, the flipped classroombecame standard practice at Woodland ParkHigh School. And little by little, the two apost-les are converting colleagues elsewhere. Ano-ther advantage of themethod is that it bringsin the Internet without the teachers having tobecome technicians – the Net side of thingshappensoutsideof the classroom.

Goingwith the flow,GregGreen,principal ofClintondale High School, near Detroit, Michi-gan, flipped all his own classes in 2010. On theschool website, he points out that “testing of140students after one term showed a 33% dropin the failure rate in English, 31% in mathema-tics, 22% in science, and 19% in humanities. We

veryquickly flippedthewhole school, because inadditiontotheresults,wewerealsoabletointro-duce informationandcommunications techno-logy and compensate for teacher and studentabsences.”

For Bergmann and Sams, though, the realchange lies in the fact that “this develops aculture of learning among the students. Youdon’t come to class to copyout a lessonyoucanfind somewhere else, but to get better at han-dlingnewknowledge”.

Gradually, the flipped classroom is movingin. And gradually too, we are seeing that it isnotamiraclesolution.IntheNorwegianeduca-tionalmagazineBedre Skole, teacher ElisabethEngum, a great believer in the method,

remindsus that a studentwho does not do hishomework at home will not want to listen inclass either. In class, he will not benefit fromteacher availability becausehe has to begin bywatching the lesson. In his classes at Chima-cum Middle School in Washington, AlfonsoGonzalez makes his course available to thosewho want to watch it in advance, but alsoallows theothers towatch it in class.

Is this kindof encouragementgoing to crea-te a virtuous circle? If the trend in his school isthe same as on the Internet, there are realgrounds for hope. In 2007, 15%of Internetusers had already watched an educationalvideo – a TED lecture or a KhanAcademycour-se – and three years later, the percentage haddoubled.p

Everyoneateacher,everyoneastudent

Withthe“flippedclassroom”,schoolingkeepsitsfeetontheground

Pupilswatchrecordedlessonsathome,thendotheirhomeworkwiththeteacheratschool.Behindthe“flippedclassroom”liesawholenewteachingstrategy

T woyears ago and just backfromaLas Vegaspoker tour-namentwherehe hadbeen

counseledby topprofessionals,MichaelKarnjanaprakornwas sud-denlydelugedwithmessages fromfriendswanting tips onhow towinat theworld’smost renownedcardgame.

Astonishedandunsureof how toreact, the youngNewYorker realizedthatmost of ushave a skill, a special-ty, that couldbe of interest to lots ofotherpeople. All that is lacking is aplace to get themessageacross. AndsoSkillsharewas born.

On this Internet site, anyone canoffer a courseon the subject of theirchoice – layingdown times, locationand rates – or find a course on some-thing they are interested in. This

meansyou can turnyour livingroom into a classroomfor peoplewhohavepaid around$20each–15%ofwhichgoes to Skillshare –and share yourpassion for, say,flower arrangementwith them.

The choice is nowenormous,withclasses in knitting, computerpro-gramming,photography, etc. – andeven “How to live rent-free inNewYork”,whichhas alreadydrawnover500pupils.

Rogueeducators“Oneof themainproblemswith

conventional studying,” saysMichaelKarnjanaprakorn,who seescities as the best campuses and eve-ry address as a learning space, “isthat the learningelementhas beenlost (…). Whenyou’re studying,

someone tells youwhat to do, butwhat you’re really into is learning.”In twoyears, the startuphas raisedover 3.6milliondollars for develop-ment andhas alreadybegun tospread, notably to San Francisco.

These rogue educatorsnowhaveanequivalent in Paris,whereCupofTeach,working fromthe sameprin-ciple as Skillshare,was launched lastsummer.

According toMarc-ArthurGauthey, one of the founders, theorganizationnow includes 450 tea-chers and 5,000 students, andhasalreadyprovided some3,000hoursof classes, lasting onaverage twohours and costing 30euros. “What’sworkingbest right now,” saysMarc-Arthur, “is classes thatmeet a needrather than just an inclination. Espe-

cially in thebusiness and technologyfields.”

To cite oneexample, AdrienChal-tiel is a trained lawyerwhohas so farrun four classes for a groupof tenpeople at LaMutinerie, a coworkingspace in Pariswherehehired aroom.

Subjects includehow todrawupashareholders’ agreement, terms andconditions for runningan Internetsite, and –most recently – taxationfor entrepreneurs, so that compa-nies can “stay in Francewithoutbeing fleeced.” “Demand isn’t run-ninghigh enoughyet,”he says, “butI’d be happy to give a class everyweek. In addition to being enjoyable,it could bring in a little extramoney.”p

SébastienDumoulin

ForBergmannandSams,the real change lies in the fact

that “this developsa culture of learningamong the students”

PhotographerRezahas beencommissioned towork on

the 2012 “WISE Book”(publishedbyBloosmbury).He has travelled theworldin search of innovativeeducational projects.

kAnelectrical engineeringproject developpedby theSolar Engineering and

Energy Saving Lab, at theinternational institute 2iE,inOuagadougou, Burkina

Faso.

K InMorocco, the Al JisrSchool-Business

PartnershipsOrganizationis developping a new

pedagogyofmotivation.Teachers and students arecelebrating success.

KJStudents taking a breakat La Bastilla Technical Agri-cultural school, Jinotega,

Nicaragua.

KKJA student testingvegetable oils in the 2iE’s

Biomass Energy andbiofuels Lab.

REZA

0123Wednesday, November 14, 2012II Wo r l d I n n o v a t i o n S u m m i t

f o r E d u c a t i o n WISE| |

The“smartclass”isonthephoneInChileandSouthAfrica,pupilsstudyEnglishandmathontheircellphones.Aneconomicalalternative

Julia Zimmerlich

Doing your homework orlearningEnglishonyourcell phone? This is alrea-dy a reality for 1.2mil-lion secondary schoolstudents in Chile. In

2006, the government and FundacionChile jointly launchedanonlineeducationportal tohelpsecondaryteachersandtheirstudentsprepare thePSU (PruebadeSelec-cion Universitaria), the university entran-ce exam.Via their cell phones or a compu-ter,studentscanhookintoaprogramtailor-madeto suit their level.

AnaMaria Raad, director at the Educar-Chile program, a 2012 Wise Prize finalist,says: “Chile’s geographical oddities havemade it a highly centralized country. Interms of access to education, this meansmarked inequality between students inthe provinces, often from disadvantagedbackgrounds, and those in the big cities.By bypassing the geographical obstacles,EducarChile aims to provide them withthe same tools and the same chance ofgoing to university.” The results so farare encouraging: 62%of those using theprogram live in the provinces, and in2011, twenty of them were among thetop scorers in the national exam.

The idea of using cell phones as a tea-ching tool has been getting attention ininternational research centers for tenyears now. “The cell phone is the mostwidespread technological tool around,including in the poorest countries”, com-mentsDavidAtchoarena,directorofUnes-co’s division for planning and develop-ment of education systems. “As costs fall,the cell phone penetration rate rises expo-nentially. This is a great opportunity formobile learning.”

At the end of 2011, there were 6billioncell phones in theworld,with80%ofnewaccounts being opened in the developingcountries and the advent of tablets likelyto boost the trend. Thailand recentlyannouncedthat all pupils startingprima-ry and secondary school – 1.7million chil-dren – will be provided with a tablet.Meanwhile, India is embarking on pro-duction of low-cost tablets aimed at itsstudents. The smartclass is just aroundthe corner.

In practical terms, however, learningon a cell phone is not enough on its own.David Atchoarena continues: “We’re notthinking about replacing schools and tea-chers.Theideais tomakethe learningenvi-ronment more efficient.”One interestingexample is SouthAfrica’sYozaCellphoneStoriesapplication,aimedatgivingteena-

gers more of a chance to read outsideschoolhours. 51%ofSouthAfricanhomesdonothavea singlebook, butherewe seenovelsandevenShakespearebeingadap-ted to the cell phone format.

Andmore ishappening in SouthAfrica.In 2009, the government, in partnershipwith phonemaker Nokia, launchedMoMaths, a cell phone application forsecondary students. With access to over10,000 mostly question/answer exerci-ses, students do their homework on thephone and take part in online competi-tions. 2010 saw a 14% improvement in

users’results, and by late 2011, the pro-gramwas reaching 25,000 students, withbackupfrom500teachersand172schools.Onthestrengthof this success, theprojectis to be extended to three other Africancountries.

One of the major issues in the expan-sion of mobile learning is adaptingcontent to different publics and cultu-res. Matthew Kam, in charge of Millee(Mobileand ImmersiveLearningforLite-racy in Emerging Economies) at Carne-gie Mellon University, is currently wor-king on this. As part of the project thatmadehimaWISE finalist in 2009,hecar-ried out research in the rural North ofUttar Pradesh, in India. In these farmingareas,43%ofchildrendonotattendscho-ol regularly, as they are often called onto work in the fields or at home. The cellphone offers them the opportunity tostudywhere andwhen they wish.

The team that designed Millee tooktraditional village games as the inspira-tion for their English literacy throughgames program. Matthew Kamexplains: “The games give them basicvocabulary, grammar and spelling skills,so they can communicate. If theywant togo further, they have to have a teacher,but for schools with very limited means,this is already a big step forward.”

There are research projects going oneverywhere, but more far-reaching ini-tiatives remain the exception. DavidAtchoera says: “We’re still a long wayfrom really understanding what directbenefits can be got from the new techno-

logies. Their impact is heavily dependenton the circumstances of their use and thequality of the input from teachers.”

According to Paul Kim, chief techno-logyofficer at StanfordUniversity Scho-ol of Education, “what limits the develo-pment of innovative projects is morethe perception of the new technologiesin general”. His own research group isworking on the pocketschool concept:aiming at improving the interconnec-tion between the traditional classroomand the new technologies, the Stanfordteamhas notably comeupwith the Smi-le (Stanford Mobile Inquiry-based Lear-ning Environment) platform, a kind ofopen-source box that encourages stu-dents to ask questions via their cell pho-ne or tablet.

For example, they canuse their phoneto photograph an image in a book, or adrawing, or a bug in the schoolyard, andhitch it to a question relating to the les-son of the day. The questions are colla-ted by the Smile management systemand redistributed to students foranswers and evaluation.

PaulKimconcludes: “It’s going to taketime before we see real changes inclassrooms, but kids who are growing upwith ICT will find it perfectly natural touse it for making educational tools.”p

SébastienDumoulin

CouldthenextEinsteinbe inSouthSudan?In Haiti? In Bangladesh?” There was atouchofmischief in theopeningspeechShai Reshef delivered to an audience ofhundredsattheTEDxconferenceinKan-sas City, Missouri, on August28th. Shai

Reshefhasanswerstohisquestions,too.Heispresidentof the online, completely free University of the People,founded in 2009, where already more than 1,500stu-dents from 132 countries have studied managementandcomputer science,with thebest of themtakingoutscholarships toNewYorkUniversity.

“Howmany Einstein, Marie Curie and Stephen Haw-king are waiting to be discovered in other developingcountries? (…)Theonlywaytofindoutisbygivingeveryo-ne the chance to be the next Einstein. If you educate oneperson, you can change a life; but if you educatemany,you can change theworld.” Shai Reshef’s goal couldnotbeclearer:bymakingadvancedstudiesavailabletoeve-rybody, we can revolutionize the centuries-old institu-tion that is the university and open thedoor to a betterworld, where the best education will no longer be theprerogativeof the very rich.

Andhemaywellberight,giventhatUniversityof thePeople is only one of many current projects based onthesameprinciple:since2011,Stanford,Harvard,Berke-

ley,PrincetonandotherprestigiousAmericanuniversi-ties have beenmaking the running with a selection oftheir courseson the Internet.

The online university, of course, is not exactly a newidea. In theearly2000s, filmed lectureswerebecomingmore andmorewidely available via ventures like Fran-ce’s Canal-U, thedigital video library for advanced edu-cation;butwhat stopped themreally takingoffwas thelackof interactivity.

Things changed in the fall of 2011, when SebastianThrun,professorof computerscienceatStanford, laun-ched the first “massive open online course”(MOOC), afree interactivestudyprogramonartificial intelligencethat camecompletewithgrades. Its successwas stagge-ring:160,000sign-upsfrom190countries,withtransla-tions into 44 languages provided by volunteers. The23,000whosawthecoursethroughtotheendcameoutwith a final grade and a certificate of completion. Andnone of the 248 graduateswith the highest scorewas aStanford student.

Knocked out by the experience, last January, Thrunset up Udacity, a private platform comprising14MOOCsandcurrentlyclaiming220,000activeusers.At the same time, two Stanford academics werelaunchingCoursera, an initiativewhose 33partneruni-versities includePrinceton, EdinburghandMelbourne.Then,May 2012 saw the arrival of a thirdmajor actor inthe form of the 60million dollar initiative edX, kick-

startedbyMassachusetts InstituteofTechnology (MIT)andHarvard,withBerkeleyandtheUniversityofTexassoon joining in, andothers to come. JohannesHeinlein,edX’s director of strategic partnerships and collabora-tions, says: “Since we opened, 140 universities aroundtheworld, includinganumberinEurope,haveexpressedinterest inworkingwithus.”

For the moment, EPFL (Lausanne Federal Polytech-nic) is the only European institution offering aMOOC,via theCourseraplatform.Devoted toScala, aprogram-ming languagedesignedas a “better Java”, the course is

taught in person by Scala’s designer Martin Odersky.“An extraordinary initial success,”comments ProfessorPierreDillenbourg, in chargeof theLausanneprogram:“45,000 enrollees, when the EPFL campus itself only has8,000students.”

Two otherMOOCs are in preparation and should beon offer for the next academic year. PierreDillenbourgsays: “It’s an enormous task. We have to produce thevideos and, especially, be sure that the questions to bedealt with are clearly phrased. If 40,000 people send inrequests for explanations,we’re dead.”

Dillenbourg’s enthusiasm, however, is tempered bythe knowledge that “the big issue for MOOCs remainscertification”.Howdoyouavoidcheating?Andwilluni-versities be ready to award degrees to online students,at the risk of total devaluation of on-campusprograms? The University of Colorado is alreadyallowing students to follow Udacity courses and havetheircreditsvalidatedviaan$89examinationinoneofthe country’s 450 Pearson test centers. At present, edXiswonderingwhether to keep its certificates freeor askfor a small fee.

Likethepressandthefilmandmusicindustriesbefo-re it, the university is now seeing its standard modelseriously challenged by the Internet. The president ofMITmade no secret of the fact at the edX launch a fewmonths ago, when he told his audience, “Tighten yourseatbelts!”. p

Universitiesallovertheworldarejustaclickaway

StanfordandMITopenedtheway,UniversityofthePeopleandLausannePolytechnicfollowed.MoreandmoremajorestablishmentsarenowofferingfreecoursesontheInternet

G ivingsomeoneabadge toconfirmtheacquisitionofa skill is an ideaasold

as theboyscouts. Ever since thedaysofBadenPowell, happy littlecampershavebeensewingnewbadgesonto their shirtsas theycarryoffassignments in subjectsrangingfromcookingonawoodfire toaccountancyfor thepack.

Andnow, in the age of theInternet, this slightlyold-worldpractice is back in forcewith “di-gital badges”, launched twoyears agoby theMozilla Founda-tion,well known for its browserFirefox. The ideawas to give eve-ryonea chance tohave theirskills validatedby the issuingofvariousdigital badges – certifica-

tes that include informationonthe issuingorganization, theskills concerned,with linksauthenticating the attribution.

Amore complete storyTheconcept caughton and,

last September,Mozilla launcheditsOpenBadges infrastructure:allwould-be issuers can registertheir badges,while internautscan create digital backpacks forstoring their awards.

Thebadgescanprovidevalida-tion for skills acquired inor outof school andgive their earnersthechance to spotlightabilitiesinstitutionaleducationrarelytakes intoconsideration: thecapa-city toworkaspart of a team, for

example.Most importantly, thebadgescanaccompanyearnersthroughout their lives, allowingthemtooffer amorecompletestoryabout themselves to auni-versityor a jobagency.

Mozilla FoundationexecutivedirectorMark Surman says: “Webelievedigital badges have thepower to unlock the full educatio-nal potential of theWeb.”He isnot alone in this: lastMarch, theMacArthur Foundation’sBadgesfor Lifelong LearningCompeti-tion rewarded thirty projectswith grants of $25,000to$175,000.Among thewinningbadging systemswereproposalsfromDisney-Pixar andNASA. p

S. Du.

Mobile learningrequires to adapt

content to differentpublics and cultures

In the fall of 2011,160,000people

from190 countries enrolledinStanfordUniversity’s first“massive openonline course”

onartificial intelligence

Showcaseyourskillswithdigitalbadges

0123Wednesday, November 14, 2012| IIIWISE Wo r l d I n n o v a t i o n S u m m i t

f o r E d u c a t i o n ||

Morethan500,000children in4,000centers

Julien Bouissou

FromMumbai, India

Madhav Chavan was 35when a chance remarksuddenly revealed hisvocation to him. In 1989,theyoungchemistrypro-fessor at the University

ofMumbai, known for his commitment to thetrade union movement, was rebuked during aconversationwith Anil Bordia, secretary of Sta-te for education: “It’s all very well talking aboutsocial revolutionand social justice, andprintingposters and pamphlets, but you don’t give adamn that the people you’re talking to can’teven read andwrite.”

The realization that in a country like Indiasocial revolutionhinged asmuchon literacy asonMarxandbigpublicmeetingscameasareve-lation. “I told all my activist friends, nothing’spossible if people can’t read and write, and Ibegan giving classes for adults in the shanty-townsnearwhere Iwas living.”A fewyears later,Chavan set up Pratham, an NGO that has sincetaught tens of millions of Indian children toread, without ever creating a single school orrecruitinga single teacher.

His office, in a small house in a residentialpart of Mumbai, is a modest affair given thesize of his organization, with its 80,000-somevolunteers. But Chavan himself is rarely theremore than a fewdays at a stretch, preferring tospend his time traveling through India inquest of fresh ideas: “As for the best lea-ders,”Pratham’s founder remarks, amusedlyquotingChinesephilosopherLaoTzu, “thepeo-ple do not notice their existence. When the bestleader’s work is done, the people say, ‘We did itourselves!’”

Madhav Chavan was born into politics. Thefamily apartment was home to the leninist“red flag party” created by his father, but hevery soon learnt tomistrust dogma and ready-made ideas. Composing revolutionaryanthems, for example, never stopped himfrom enjoying ultra-reactionary Bollywoodsongs;andhefoundhimselfregularlydemons-trating against American imperialism outsidethe United States consulate inMumbai, beforesetting off to study chemistry in the enemycamp: “I said to myself, Marx thought up hisrevolutionary program in London, in the heartof thecapitalist system,sowhynotgostudyche-mistry in the United States.”

ReadingLeninhelpedhimreshapehisuniver-

sity thesis, and he went on to apply the samemethod to rethinking the education issue andthe scourge of illiteracy: you’re better off refor-mulating the concepts involved than wastingyourtimetryingtosolveabadlystatedproblem.This led him to the discovery that the literacyprobleminIndiahadlesstodowithschoolatten-dance rates thanwith teaching quality. In India,almost 97% of children attend school, but onlyhalfofthoseaged10canreadorwriteabasicsen-tence. And since many parents are illiteratethemselves, they never realize that their chil-drenare learningnothingat school.

So wherever they go, Pratham volunteersbeginwith tests of children’s educational level.After that, it’s the simplest thing in the worldfor theNGO’s founder: “All you have to do is setupschool supportcenters –yourecruitandtrain

volunteers in each community and find a placetogive classes.”

Madhav Chavan’s long years working forthe socialist causehave taughthima lot aboutmobilizing communities, and it is even easierto get parents involved in education for theirchildren than in socialism. Pratham’s trainedvolunteers give their classes under trees, inthe street, and on village squares: “We shouldstop worshipping school and education andteachers. When your child is learning nothingat school, you have the choice between protes-ting against the government or doing some-thing about it yourself. We just lend a handwith that.”

Prathambelongstothecommunitiesthatsetup their own literacy programs: as SampurnaMurti, a friend of Madhav Chavan since child-

hood says, “He’s not out to control the differentorganizations. He’s always wanting to takethings further andget involved innewprojects.”The support centers never replace the schools.Theycomplementthem.Somechildrenareluc-kyenoughtohaveparentswhohelpthemwiththeir homework in the evening; amongst themost underprivileged, this is the part playedby Pratham. Another advantage of this modelisthat itcaneasily,quicklyandcheaplyberepli-cated by the use of volunteer teachers.

According to Esther Duflo, professor ofpoverty alleviation and development econo-mics atMassachusetts Institute of Technologyand associate director of the Poverty ActionLab, “Madhav Chavan has revolutionized theapproach to education. His great strength liesin breaking new ideas down into a series ofconcrete stages that really increase the chancesof success”.

Chavan believes in a neat balance betweenorder and chaos as a source of impetus for hisorganization: “Outof chaos come ideas, andoutof order the meticulous application of thoseideas.” It is this balance that hasmade Prathaman outreach body whose impact has nowspread to Africa and elsewhere. Its founder isaccomplishing the literacy revolution little bylittle; he is convinced that this can take itmuchfurther thananygreat leap forward. p

Thechallenge:athousand

millionreaders

MadhavChavanwith childrenat Prathameducation center, inMumbai. ASHESH SHAH

MadhavChavanbringsliteracytoruralIndia

ThewinnerofthesecondWisePrize–a“Nobel”foreducation–hastaughttensofmillionsof Indianchildrentoread,withoutcreatingasingleschoolorrecruitingasinglequalifiedteacher.Portrait

Special issueConception/coordination:MarylineBaumardTranslation: JohnTittensor, FlorenceBoulin

“Weshould stopworshippingschool and

education and teachers”MadhavChavanPratham’s founder

The WISE Prize. No Nobel Prize foreducation? The Qatar Foundationhas created the $500,000WISE Prizeto reward “an individual – or a teamof up to six individuals – for an outs-tanding, world-class contribution toany level or area of education, in anypart of theworld.”

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I n the AnandParbat neighborhood inNorthDelhi, volunteer teachers have setup chairs and desks beside a dusty road

where the gusts frompassing delivery tricy-cles and trucks sometimes sendmultiplica-tion tables flying off through the air. Thevolunteers are there to spend the day testinglocal pupils’ levels inmath, English andHin-di. The English test involves reading a fewsentences, as parentswatch anxiously; and,according to the results, the pupil in ques-tionwill leavewith a home tuition kit cos-ting 25 cents or an enrolment at the Prathameducation center.

Agedbetween6 and 14, enrolleeswill spendat least threehoursper day at the center afterschool: “Wehelp themunderstandwhat theylearn frombooks,” explains thewomandirec-tor, “with special emphasis onproper assimila-tion.”The Prathameducation center is tuckedaway in a first-floor apartment in a smallhouse: the kitchen is a textbook storeroom,while the living room is for English lessonsand thebedroomformath.

In India, public education is an assembly-

line affair, withover-large classeswhosepupils often simply lose interest. As a result,parents are turning to private schools costinga fewdollars amonth. Teacher absenteeism isless flagrant in these schools, but teachingmethodsare extremelyhaphazard. “I’d bewil-ling to die to ensure an education formy son,”says a desperately thinwoman frombehindher veil, “butwhere doyou findagoodschool?”She is at the standmannedbyPra-thamvolunteers.

StudentvolunteersPratham’sapproach, though, is tohelp com-

munitiesorganize their owneducationalbac-kupby training local people. Currently, some10,000suchvolunteers are giving classes tomore than500,000children in4,000centersin India. There isno shortageof volunteers:“Ispent years learningnothingat school,” saysyoungMBAstudentKapilKhandelwal. “I hadto learn everything formyself. Now that I’vegotwhat Iwasaimingat, Iwant to helpothers.Imightbe less educated than the teachers, butat least I handon the little I knowasbest I can.”

Everyyear sees thirty applicants for the sixposts available at theAnandParbat center; thesuccessful ones receive a fewdays trainingandaround$38amonth for theirwork.

Prathamis also out to improve teachingvia thenew technologies. The Internet isalready part of its center in the Civil Linesneighborhood.Workingwith awireless key-board, thewoman teacher has a big screen forshowingher pupils the videos shehas down-loadedand the learningmodules for each sub-ject. Nasreen Shah, director of the center,says: “The children aremore attentive andunderstandmuch betterwith the help of dia-gramsand videos.”

Even thoughattendanceat the center costsonly $2 amonth, the volunteershave ahardtime convincingparents to send their chil-drenalong. Someof these children face awalkof anhour eachway, and somedisappearafter only a fewmonths,when theparentsmove to otherneighborhoodsor cities insearchofwork.p

J. Bo. (correspondent for“LeMonde” inNewDelhi)

I n2009, the IndianParliamentpassed legislationmaking schoolmandatory for children in the

6-14 age bracket.Althoughprimary school atten-

dance is hovering around97%, theproportionof 10-year-olds capableof reading a basic text declinedfrom53.7% in 2010 to 48.2% in 2011,according to a studyby the Pratham-facilitatedbodyASER (meaning “im-pact”inHindi).

India nowhas to face the challen-ge of raising its teaching standards.Primary education is indeed amajor issue for the country: withthe largest number of children intheworld, India needs to take fulladvantage of its youthful demogra-phics.

The number of Indians agedbetween 20 and 49 is going toincrease by 130million in the fif-teen years to come; and, accordingto International Monetary Fundcalculations, education of this addi-tion to the population could boostnational growth by 2% over thenext two decades.p

J. Bo.

0123Wednesday, November 14, 2012IV Wo r l d I n n o v a t i o n S u m m i t

f o r E d u c a t i o n WISE| |