Steve Cisler wrote:
> I recently assembled a short guide on Internet connectivity, aimed at
> non-technical school directors in developing countries. Schools Online,
> <www.schoolsonline.org> the foundation that hired me, has now asked me
> to now do a guide on that elusive word "sustainability."
>
> ... perhaps you will be willing to send me your thoughts and perhaps
> be willing to talk or correspond with me in more depth.
World Links, a program dedicated to promoting the sustainable use of ICT
in Education in developing countries, would be happy to provide insight
into its own experiences in the establishment of school-based
telecenters for your research.
For example, we've just completed an exciting workshop with twenty
Ugandan schools on Developing School-Based Telecenters. A central theme
of the week-long set of training material is building in sustainability
for the use of the dual-use school-based Internet Resource Centers. We
spent quite a bit of time in the workshop exploring links between the
community and schools, identifying clients, potential services,
developing business plans, etc. -- and also hearing from a number of
school representatives (heads and IT resource teachers) who have been in
the program longer and already have their own experiences in this
regard.
This sustainability model is particularly important for a number of the
Ugandan schools in rural and peri-urban areas which will be using VSAT
satellite dishes to send and receive Internet. The bandwith costs for
this high speed connection will be shared among the 15 schools
participating in the pilot project supported by World Links, its
national partner, SchoolNet-Uganda, Schools Online and the Gates
Foundation.
The first workshop on Developing School-Based Telecenters was offered in
Zimbabwe last February where there are currently 40 + or so school-based
telecenters in operation serving the community and surrounding cluster
of schools. I also know that some of the Latin American schools
participating in World Links have their own experiences as well.
Tony Bloome
Anglophone Africa Coordinator
World Links for Development
www.worldbank.org/worldlinks
www.world-links.org
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