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Connect To Learn

Education is essential to ending poverty and ensuring a productive life for people all over the world. With today’s technology, all young people in the world can have the opportunity to learn. Mobile broadband technology offers the opportunity to connect even the most remote village classrooms so that they can benefit from a 21st century education.

Connect To Learn is a collaborative effort between Ericsson, the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Millennium Promise that leverages the power of ICT to bring a high quality education to students everywhere. The initiative is based on the use of connectivity to:

  • Implement low-cost and user-friendly ICT for schools through mobile broadband and cloud computing
  • Enable access for students and teachers to world-class information and educational resources
  • Connect schools to other schools around the world to foster collaborative learning, cross-cultural understanding, and global awareness

Educating girls brings big benefits

Educating girls brings big benefits Connect To Learn puts particular emphasis on improving access to quality secondary education for girls. About 70% of African girls in some sub-Saharan countries don’t get a secondary education, according to the World Bank. Girls often are unable financially to stay in school after age 12, and drop out even after passing the high-school entrance exams. They are also much less likely to complete primary schooling when secondary school opportunities are not available. The consequences of these shortfalls are not limited to children’s education. They also directly impact health outcomes, fertility patterns, employment opportunities, and women’s empowerment.

Connect To Learn Focus

Connect To Learn invites a range of private, public and non-profit partners to advance secondary school education in three key ways:

  • Raise funds to provide complete secondary school scholarships
  • Implement mobile broadband and cloud solutions in the schools so students have access to Internet resources
  • Support establishment of a Global Fund for Education to raise awareness about the important secondary education not only for students but to the benefit of their families and their nation’s economies.

Cloud-based ICT solution for schools

Connect To Learn uses a cloud-based ICT solution for schools developed by Ericsson, and other ICT partners, as well as the on-the-ground experience of NGO partners. The solution is provided as a service, and is designed for users who have little or no technical competence. It removes the complexities of virus protection, software updates, application installation and maintenance to the cloud, thereby reducing costs and improving accessibility.

Millennium Cities

Connect To Learn is also being used in the Millennium Cities initiative, which helps selected sub-Saharan cities to meet the MDGs. Ericsson is providing the connectivity and fixed wireless terminal devices for schools in Kumasi, Ghana. Mobile operator Airtel is providing the 3G SIM cards. The aim is to strengthen teachers’ and students’ skills in science, math, technology and reading.

School2School

School2School is a flagship program of Connect To Learn. This program promotes cross-cultural learning and communication by connecting students, teachers, and classrooms from the Millennium Villages and Millennium Cities in Africa to classrooms in the United States. A syllabus based on the Millennium Development Goals has been developed and eight African schools are connected with American schools for interactive, collaborative learning on aspects of the MDGs. Building on these successes in these schools, Connect To Learn will expand the program to connect other secondary school students and teachers in additional parts of the world.

This film shows how remote areas are connected, providing young people with a broader outlook and greater opportunities. Or visit http://www.connecttolearn.org/

Impact

In addition to the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Millennium Promise, Ericsson’s partners in Connect To Learn include operators Bharti Airtel in Africa, Entel in Chile and other global operators.

In Chile, Connect To Learn is being introduced to four schools in the community of Ninhue in the Biobío region. It is possible to offer Connect To Learn in this rural part of Chile due to the government of Chile’s project, Todo Chile Communicado (All Chile Communcating).

In 2011 the first Connect to Learn implementations were started at secondary schools in the Millennium Villages in four African countries:

  • Ghana
  • Tanzania
  • Kenya
  • Uganda

Working with the Millennium Cities Initiative 18 schools were connected in Kumasi, Ghana in 2011.

After the first year, Connect to Learn in the Millennium Villages and Millennium Cities is reaching a total of 5,000 students, and more than USD 1 million in new commitments has been raised by Millennium Promise for scholarships for secondary school students in Africa.

Related education solutions

Connect To Learn Earth Institute Millenium promise
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NEST - The Networked Society Forum

NEST

Ericsson shared our experience with education at the Networked Society Forum (NEST) in November 2011, which focused on ICT’s role to improve the quality and ways of learning, and to extend learning opportunities to individuals around the world. Discussion leaders at NEST spanned a wide range of backgrounds, from Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, to Harry Kroto, winner of the 1996 Noble Prize in Chemistry and co-founder of the Vega Science Trust to Chris Huges, co-founder of Facebook and former US President Bill Clinton, director of the Clinton Global Initiative.

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