The role of RI-SOL is to
support the educational
mission of each school
through its expertise in
technology and
education. Recognising
the fact that schools
and communities are
intrinsically
interdependent RI-SOL
Bangaladesh project, at
present encompasses
thirty telecentres,
involves eighty schools
and reaches almost one
hundred thousand
students and
community members.
Recognizing that schools and
their communities are
intrinsically interdependent,
RI-SOL, a US-based international
NGO, began launching schoolcommunity
dual use telecenters in
Bangladesh in 2003. Over the last two
and half years, we have found this
approach to be viable in terms of
educational, societal and
sustainability goals. As the pilot
phase now winds down, the project
encompasses thirty telecenters,
involves eighty schools and reaches
almost one hundred thousand
students and community members.
This project represents the third
generation of RI-SOL’s educational
telecenter concept, the Internet
Learning Center (ILC). Not long after
the introduction of the worldwide
web, its value as an educational tool
was recognized by industry leaders in
Silicon Valley; in 1996, they created a
not-for-profit organization: Schools
Online (SOL, www.schoolsonline.org).
SOL promoted the use of computers
in classrooms and the integration of
technology into all aspects of
teaching and learning. The concept
spread quickly, buoyed by the
rampant optimism of the time for any
project involving technology and the
Internet. The dot com crash was a
harsh blow to these and similar
projects, and forced SOL to reevaluate
its strategy.
 In 2000, Schools Online merged with
Relief International (www.ri.org), an
international NGO known for both its
emergency relief operations (most
recently, its responses to the Boxing
Day Tsunami and the Kashmir
Earthquake) and efforts directed
towards rehabilitation and
development. The merger reflected a
growing commitment by Relief
International to the education sector,
while enabling Schools Online to
make its programs global in scope.
Thousands of existing ILCs in
western countries began to interact
with the next generation of ILCs being
established in developing countries.
This second generation effort added
an intercultural dimension to the
educational objectives.
Building on ten years experience, we
have introduced three evolutionary
changes during the rollout of ILCs in
Bangladesh: increased reliance on the
host schools, increased emphasis on
sustainability through community
involvement, and greater willingness
to customize ILC structure and
operation according to the needs and
capacity of the schools and their
communities. Organization of ILCs
into local clusters has also proven
valuable.
We think of the ILCs as a multi-use
classroom rather than a telecenter that
is used for classes – the distinction is
important. The primary use of the room, both for the school and its
community, is learning. The ILC
belongs to the school and is run by
the school, it is not an autonomous
enterprise appended to the school.
The expertise and authority for
running the center lies in the school
itself rather than hired specialists.
An ILC is:
- a dedicated classroom equipped
with computer equipment and
some means of connecting to the
Internet;
- a resource for both its school and
its community;
- not just the equipment, but staff
and content;
- an integral
part of the
school,
community
and society in
which it
exists;
- a continuing
commitment
for its school
and
community;
- always
evolving;
An ILC is not:
- a cyber café;
- a drain on the
school, but an
asset for the
school;
- a one-shot
project;
The role of RI-SOL is to support the
educational mission of each school
through our expertise in technology
and education. We solicit schools
competitively in areas where we think
we can make the biggest educational
impact. Typically, this excludes elite
institutions and focuses on schools
that have minimal or no access to
computer technology.
 Establishment of an ILC takes place
after a detailed consultative process
involving both the school and its
community. During this process, the
school must demonstrate its
commitment and ability to network
with other schools, communities and
civil society organizations to enable
the ILC to serve as a hub of activity.
Schools also form community
committees at this point, a group that
meets monthly to develop and update
a customized sustainability plan for
each center. Members of this group
include school and community
stakeholders: parents, teachers, local
business owners, members of civil
society and representatives from
neighboring schools.
Typically, the ILC is time-shared
during school hours by the host
school and two to four neighboring
schools. After school, usage of the
facility is divided between
extracurricular student activities and
community organizations.
The ILC project’s overarching goal is
to use computer technology and the
Internet to advance education in the
broad sense: education of students,
but also of teachers and community
members. Administratively, the
project is divided down the middle,
with about half the effort invested in
establishing and developing ILCs and
half spent on developing teacher
capacity and educational content.
Teacher education occurs first in
breadth and then depth. Immediately
after equipment installation, every
administrator and teacher in host and
partner schools participates in a oneday
computer fundamentals course
designed deflate anxiety about the
technology. By the end of the day,
every staff member has a sense of
achievement and mastery, having
learned to turn the computer on, write
text in a word processor, save the text,
print it, and turn the computer off. By
putting every teacher in the drivers’
seat, this simple lesson has proven
effective in
mobilizing teacher
support for the
ILCs from the first
day of operation.
 Each school is then
asked to nominate
a teacher as a
“technical lead
teacher”, or TLT.
The TLT becomes
the caretaker of the
ILC, taking on both
a management and
operational role.
Since IT is part of
the Class 9 and 10
curricula in
Bangladesh, many
schools already
have computer
science teachers –
even if the school does not have
computers. Although these teachers
already receive a salary for their
teaching assignments, it is common
practice in Bangladesh to supplement
official income through private
tutoring. Since the TLT takes on
responsibilities that require a full-time
commitment, we supplement the
teacher’s salary with a small stipend
for a limited period to offset this loss
in tutorial income. The school, RISOL
and the teacher sign a three-way
agreement, committing the school to
continue this stipend after a certain
date. The timing of this switchover
depends on a customized sustainability plan created by the
school and RI-SOL. Schools must
factor this stipend into the
sustainability plan, offsetting it
through income generating activities.
We have found that the majority of
computer teachers in Bangladesh lack
practical experience with computers
and require training to perform the
technical aspects of the position.
Consequently, we have developed a
localized technical instruction
curriculum for these teachers to
improve their technical proficiency.
Of course, there is a side benefit as
well: they become better computer
teachers.
The focus of our program is not,
however, on IT – we consider
computer technology to be a tool
rather than an end. A major thrust
of our educational effort is to
enable teachers to integrate
technology into their own subjects:
math, spelling, geography, etc.
So, in addition to the technical lead
teacher, we work with the school to
select three to five educational lead
teachers (ELTs) per institution.
Again, by mutual agreement of the
teachers, the school and our
organization, these teachers attend an
intensive one week teacher
professional development training
program conducted in an ILC.
During this training, they are
introduced to the program’s
educational goals and methods by
example. They sit where their
students will sit, and the training itself
employs group-based and
participatory methodologies promoted
by our project. The predominant
teaching modality in Bangladesh is
didactic and authoritative, relying
heavily on rote memorization and
pattern replication. We supplement
that strategy with methods designed
to encourage creativity and analytic
thought. During the week of training,
teachers also receive instruction on
preparation of lesson plans and how
to build projects around available
computer resources.
At training, the ELTs are presumed to
know nothing about computers; in
fact, this might be a plus in that they
can approach the topic from the same
point of view as the students. During
both teacher training and student
lessons, computer applications and
program features are introduced on an
as-needed basis, while the users are
encouraged to explore further on their
own. We have found that this
approach is how people actually learn
to use and understand computers.
Reading a book about a word
processor is not as helpful as just
using one, and experimenting is
preferable to memorizing a series of
keystrokes to perform a task.
 In recognition of this intensive
training, ELTs receive a certificate.
They do not receive an ongoing
stipend, as their participation in the
ILC is expected to occur during their
normal class time, for which they are already being paid by the school.
ELTs are, however, eligible to
participate in a number of professional
career development opportunities in
conjunction with the program such
conferences and international
exchanges.
Single training sessions, even very
intensive ones like this one, will have
limited long term impact unless some
reinforcement is available. Likewise, a
couple days of technical training are
not enough to cover all the
operational and technical aspects of
running a telecenter. Our answer to
both problems is monthly meetings.
ILCs are set up in geographic clusters,
with five to ten schools in each
cluster. These clusters are managed
by local implementing NGOs or
national NGOs with local offices,
further promoting the schoolcommunity
bond. Once per month,
the technical lead teachers gather to
provide mutual support, exchange
media, and on a rotational basis,
conduct workshops for other
members of the group. The
educational lead teachers also have a
meeting once per month, where
participants develop, test and
exchange lesson plans. Both
meetings are designed to promote
local expertise and foster a sense of
extended community between the
participating schools.
Beyond the
lessons
developed by
the teachers,
RI-SOL
facilitates
collaborative
lessons each
month on local,
regional and
international
scales. These
lessons involve
other Internetequipped
schools within
or outside RISOL’s
own ILC network. The local
and regional lessons are developed in
our education specialists in the
Bangladesh County Office. Most of
these are developed in Bangla, while
English is the language of wider
communication for international
projects. Some international projects
are within RI-SOL, others employ
lessons developed by online
resources such as iEARN and Global
SchoolNet.
 The Global Connections and
Exchange Program (GCEP) is a major
component of ILC programming in
Bangladesh. Children from around
the world collaborating on GCEP
projects learn about each others
cultures through direct interaction
over the Internet. Along the way,
stereotypes
are
discarded
and
students
gain an
appreciation
for the
diversity of
cultures
connected
by the
Internet.
This
program is
sponsored
by the
United
States
Department of State, Bureau of
Educational and Cultural Affairs,
and its Bangladesh website is located
at: http://www.connectbangladesh.
org.
Implementing these programs requires
a substantial investment of time,
effort, funds, and faith, so we are
strongly committed to the concept of
sustainability – that an ILC which is
set up today will still be functional
one, five, ten or more years from now.
Our challenge has been to set up ILCs
in such a way that schools can keep
the equipment up to date and
propagate the technical and
educational knowledge required to
use the centers.
Unlike a free-standing telecenter, the
ILC is an integrated part of the
school, a classroom. Investments in
the ILC are a direct investment in the
school’s infrastructure. Training
teachers not only produces better
teachers, but a cadre of professionals
who can keep the center operational.
By clustering the centers themselves,
the schools are empowered to help
each other.
During the next five years, RI-SOL
and its affiliated organizations
will scale up to two hundred
telecenters in Bangladesh. The model
developed in Bangladesh may also
find application in other developing
countries.
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