3D printers make creating new prosthetic limbs look easy. Smart systems enable farmers to perfectly plant, fertilize, water and harvest their fields. Innovative analytical tools allow governments, NGOs, and businesses to see trends like never before, and cloud computing technologies allow the terabytes of information created daily to be shared from partner to partner across the globe. Worldwide, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) increases output and productivity.

If utilized effectively, these technologies will build the capacity necessary to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2016-2030, lifting millions out of extreme poverty as we move toward a healthier, brighter, global future. The SDGs expand upon the foundation laid by the 2000-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by taking a more holistic approach to development issues and approaching economic, social, and environmental development as pieces of the same puzzle.

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The SDG ICT Playbook guides organizations in the development sector as they leverage the power of ICT to achieve these goals, providing the context for:

  • Governments to build new, innovative, and sustainable ways to connect their populations to technology, thus enabling improved connection with their citizens, making processes more transparent, democratic and efficient, and improving the accessibility of government services.
  • NGOs to utilize this new suite of tools to conduct better research, plan more effective initiatives, and analyze their impact.
  • Entrepreneurs to enter into emerging markets with innovative products in an efficient, cost-effective manner that supports sustainable development.

In our work toward the SDGs, all actors should support policies, within organizations and on a national and international level, that make technology more accessible to the public.

We must create cross-sector partnerships to build the infrastructure that makes ICT possible and use those partnerships to enhance the efficacy of ICT solutions. From businesses, to governments, to organizations focused on agriculture, health, education, WASH & power, disaster relief, and environmental protection, we all stand to gain from it wouthe increased use and availability of ICT.

Acknowledging that organizations within the ICT field are situated to lead the charge on technology’s accessibility, the SDG ICT Playbook was spearheaded by a partnership between NetHope, Catholic Relief Services, Intel, Microsoft, CDW, and TechChange. While we all occupy a diverse array of organizations, we believe that our institutional differences are what give us, as a group, the holistic view that technology needs to be made accessible from a variety of perspectives, in order for it to be accessed by a variety of potential users.

Check out NetHope’s press release and blog post about the playbook.


Do you use digital currency? If you use a credit card, PayPal, or use a mobile money app to sell or buy things, then the answer is yes! There is a lot of innovation happening in the digital currency field right now and it is especially important for the global development sector. While it will be easier for more advanced financial institutions to adopt digital currency, the benefits of its adopting extend far beyond that sector.

Here is why the digital currency innovation matters to global development:

Puts power back in the hands of the people

Today, many people in developing countries rely on remittances from family members abroad. But wire transfers charge a lot in transaction fees (up to 6 – 10% for $200). Digital currency can facilitate a faster and cheaper bank transfer, removing the middlemen. You can see a difference even in domestic money transfers; In 2012, when the Afghanistan national police switched to a mobile payment service, M-Paisa, the employees thought that they had received a 30% raise. When they received their salaries in cash, 30% used to be “taken off the top” so, mobile money left no room for corruption and delivered their complete salaries.
For small businesses competing in the global market, digital currencies even the playing field between currency conversion rates, commission fees, and transfer limitations that come into play with traditional monetary systems.

Makes money safer

In the developing world, monetary transactions are usually in cash, which means money is also stored in cash. Holding your savings or spending money in cash can put you at risk for robbery risking the welfare of you and your family. Digital currency can take that worry away since you are not holding the cash physically. And with a digital currency like bitcoin, a unique digital signature protects every exchange so that there is no risk of fraud, chargebacks, or identity theft.

We have already seen the benefits of using digital currencies

Digital currencies are not necessarily new. M-Pesa, a mobile money service is a huge success in Kenya, with 83% of the population currently using the service. Bitcoins made their entry in the field recently, however, some organizations are already exploring its potential for social good. Organizations like BitGive are already launching initiatives to leverage bitcoin’s technology to benefit charitable organizations around the world. MIT’s Media lab launched the Digital Currency Initiative to bring together global experts in areas ranging from cryptography, to economics, to privacy, to distributed systems, to address key issues that digital currencies like bitcoin are poised to make on people’s lives in the next decade.

There are many more examples of how digital currencies are impacting global development, so we will be discussing them with some of the organizations leading this effort in our TechTalk tomorrow. Register now and join the conversation here.

We are excited to start our fourth iteration of our most popular online course, Technology for Monitoring and Evaluation! We wanted to ask some of our alumni who have taken the course with us what they got from the course. Here is what they had to say:

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Ladislas Hibusu
Consultant at Zhpiego (Zambia)

This is the course that landed me a Monitoring and Evaluation consultancy job with Jhpiego as I approached the interview room with much tech knowledge and courage beyond my previous experiences.

Sahibzada Arshadullah
Sahibzada Arshadullah
Senior Manager M&E at Cowater International Inc (Pakistan)

This is a must course for the M&E practitioners, where they can get hand on experience using various latest tools and softwares necessary for data management, real time monitoring, and evaluation. Due to the ever increasing role of information technology in the development sector as well the beginning of the big data era, it has become important for M&E related professionals to exploit the latest technological advancement and equip themselves with the right tools and software to compete in the global market.

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Abigail Rumsey
Content Developer (Technical Solutions) at Plantwise Knowledge Bank (UK)

The community created around this course is the most valuable aspect. There are people from all around the world sharing their experiences and knowledge, and learning together.

Niamh Barry
Niamh Barry
Global Lead on Monitoring and Evaluation at Grameen Foundation (Uganda)

This course was fantastic. The platform of engagement was the best i have experienced, you feel part of a community and it is so engaging (this is coming from someone who has lost interest in a few online courses before!). The facilitators, demos and guest speakers were well chosen. Do this course if you are just starting in Tech and M&E and if you have already started it, it will show you how much more there is to learn and inspire you to try new innovations in your work.

Robert Kolbilla
Robert Kolbila
M&E Manager, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (Ghana)

Enrolling in this course has just opened a new career path for me as development practitioner. I have been exposed to modern tools and techniques that is fast changing the face of M&E in development practice globally. I was a Nutrition Coordinator at my organization when I joined the course, and now have transitioned to M&E Manger of a $20 million project. This course has been life changing for me.

Want to be our next success story? Our next Tech for M&E online course begins next week! Save your spot now!

We have equipped around 6000 alumni with similar skills around the world in many of our other courses. To help our community grow even further, we are taking a step beyond a 4-week online course, and offering a brand new diploma program in Tech for M&E. Check it out here!

 

Education is a powerful tool for diversity. From Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, which tells narratives marginalized from most American history curricula, to using teach-ins as a form of education as activism, education plays an important role in building empathy and understanding that can promote greater diversity.

Teaching is not neutral
Recognizing that teaching isn’t neutral or unbiased is key to the understanding of education as reflective of diversity. Education inherently embodies an understanding of diversity that the educator has. Whether this educator is a teacher in a formal school, a conference facilitator, or even the media, their biases can work to make their classroom (in all different forms) an inclusive space or a space of marginalization.

Everyone learns differently
Bias in teaching is commonly discussed with the different ways people learn–the three cognitive types of learners: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Auditory learners gain information most effectively through listening and speaking activities. Visual learners prefer seeing or reading information. Kinesthetic learners learn by doing. An educator selects course learning activities that embody their own understanding of how people learn; this can be inclusive with activities from the varying learners types or marginalizing and focus on only one type of learner.

Because people tend to fit into multiple learning styles, teaching has adapted to incorporate different activities for different learning styles. Techniques such as active learning are being incorporated into lectures as a way to engage different types of learners and help students be more active. So even though everyone might be able to learn from a traditional lecture, it doesn’t mean that they learn most effectively that way, or that a lecture is creating an inclusive space of learning.

Education can marginalize voices
Recognizing education as an act of diversity means more than taking different learning styles into account. The topics that are discussed or omitted are also important. Omission of marginalized and non-elite narratives in the US history curriculum has been a critique from members of marginalized groups, like the rappers Tupac or Dead Prez, or American historians, like Howard Zinn.

Teaching and education are heavily steeped in social and cultural hierarchies. Paolo Freire brought to light how education can be used as a force of oppression (whether used by the ones with power, or the ones rebelling against the power) in his 1968 publication (first published in English in 1970), Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Education can play a role in keeping marginalized groups marginalized.

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So, what can you do as an educator?
The role of an educator is not simply to overcome embedded oppressions, but to actively create an inclusive space of learning. By intentionally selecting various topics and being aware of how course design can marginalize voices is a good starting point.

It also includes structuring the course and assessments (if there are any) in a way that considers social diversity. When I was a graduate student instructor at the University of Minnesota, I had the pleasure of working with Katherine Brink who expanded my thoughts on how designing assessments can hinder students from learning, despite a desire to learn.

For example, time can be a barrier for students who are working part- or full-time and/or need to take care of family members while going to school. Requiring group work can be a burden to those without copious amounts of free time due, in part, to the difficulties of scheduling. As a conscious educator, you can structure group work and collaboration time during the class time to reduce the burden of logistics. Other factors, such as finances, family, and mental health, can all affect a learner’s performance. The course and its assessments need to take these into account as well.

The role of an educator is to create a space of radical inclusion. A space where each individual learner and their unique identities can not only be engaged, but flourish.

Education, Diversity, and the Digital
Technology has expanded the reach of education and the ‘classroom.’ Online courses bring together diverse group of learners from different cultural backgrounds and different educational systems into one learning environment.

Technology provides exciting new opportunities for collaboration and learning. But it also brings new forms of marginalization in the form of access to technology and affordable access to online data transfers. These are new hierarchies that educators in the digital age need to consider and help break down.

While I would love to offer concrete solutions and advice for digital educators, this is a new area that needs to be explored further. As we expand the reach of teaching, we need to remember that technology cannot replace a good educator.

What do you think about the role of education as a tool for diversity? Comment below or tweet at @NormanShamas or @TechChange!

This is the third post in our Digital Pedagogy series, where we will share how we are trying to make online social learning even better with new learning activities. Check out the previous posts here.

 

Should you answer a text message while talking with your supervisor? How do you resolve workplace conflicts with your colleagues? A new online version of IYF’s Passport to Success® life skills curriculum is helping prepare young hospitality staff to answer these kinds of important on-the-job questions.

Educators and employers all over the world have relied on in-person PTS training to equip young people for the world of work. Now, more youth than ever will have the chance to learn, improve, and practice their life skills through Passport to Success for Hospitality Online, the first of its kind web-based, proprietary life skills instruction.

IYF developed this interactive animated course for Hilton Worldwide and their team members. Each of the course’s five modules, summarized in the introductory video below, highlights essential skills in a simulated, fictional hotel:

  • Communication and interpersonal skills: At the Hotel Aquatic, a luxury underwater hotel, learners practice listening, asking questions, and being assertive.
  • The hospitality mindset: This module reinforces having a positive attitude and respecting diversity and personal values at the Desert Oasis, a peaceful desert retreat.
  • Responsibility and ownership: Learners practice setting goals, respecting themselves and others, and managing their time at the first-class Alpine Lodge ski resort.
  • Problem solving and critical thinking: Skills taught in the simulated rainforest Treetop Ecoresort include stress management, conflict resolution, and being a team player.
  • Business etiquette and professionalism: Set at Skyline Suites, top business hotel, this module introduces workplace protocols, the keys to being a good employee, and teamwork.

IYF collaborated with Hilton Worldwide to ensure industry and brand relevance and TechChange, a technology for development company, to build colorful and fun activities to bring the online learning experience to life. IYF has a long history of adapting PTS to meet industry and local needs; now, with life skills online, we are increasing access to this proven program. Under water, in the desert, or in a rainforest, your passport is waiting.

To learn how your company or institution can use Passport to Success to achieve business and social goals, contact Karen Phillips.

Interested to see how TechChange can support your organization’s training? Check out our enterprise page!

(This post was originally published on International Youth Foundation’s blog)