There has been much talk about international comparisons and how we should look to South Korea and Finland to inspire our education system, but are we really looking in the right places? Dr Allan Sigston explains how Africa could have a profound impact on secondary education.

Out of Africa

As Britain looks anxiously over its shoulder at education in other countries, where should we look to seek inspiration to reinvigorate and drive our system? Comparisons on standards point to South Korea and Finland, however my contention is that these countries are masters of the 20th century school, one characterised by stratification by age and delivered in cellular classrooms. Where will we see the emergence of highly effective 21st century secondary education? My money is on Africa, where all the conditions are ripe for transformational change. The US academic Clayton

Christiansen coined the phrase 'disruptive technologies' in 1995 and we have all seen the impact of innovations spawned by them. Disruptive innovation results from the introduction of a technology that completely displaces a previous product or service. As often as not it sweeps away the companies that dominated the market place beforehand.

Think back over the last decade and consider the demise of chemical-based photography, CDs, videotapes and now DVDs, all displaced by digital media along with their once mighty champions. High street video and games stores have appeared, boomed and busted within 15 years. Schools are at a similar crossroads and may face the same fate as the Zavvi stores.

Crucible for change

So why is Africa likely to be the crucible for this change? At its simplest, it is the least hidebound by current educational orthodoxies and has a vast and growing appetite for education. Crucially, compared to other aspects of infrastructure, mobile technologies are relatively well developed.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) data suggests that about 40 per cent of 110 million 10 to 14 year olds in Sub-Saharan Africa are enrolled in school now; by 2030 it is estimated that there will be 150 million. That means the education system would need to cater for around 100 million more young people in this age group alone. The appetite for education is demonstrated by the growth of Bridge International Academies, which operate primary 'schools in a box' in Kenya. They are set up in local communities and delivered through centrally prepared resources and local instructors for less than $4 a month and many children walk miles to take up the opportunity.

In contrast, mobile phones are common place. According to a Gallup poll, 57 per cent of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa own one. Although they are probably not the smart devices we are used to, even these have challenged one bastion of the establishment. In Kenya, Safaricom introduced a system to transfer money via short message service (SMS). The system, M-Pesa, has revolutionised money management for millions and led to a mobile banking innovator dubbing Africa as “the Silicon Valley of banking” (reported by Killian Fox, Observer, 24 July 2011). In Africa, as in the rest of the world, as mobile operators reach saturation point for the consumption of voice and SMS services they see their future in selling data-related services that are linked in with internet-enabled hand-held devices – a perfect medium for online learning.

Meanwhile in the old 'new world' of the USA there has been an enormous growth in online learning, including numerous virtual high schools offering full-time education with content that can be accessed at any time. EdisonLearning operates three such schools in South Carolina, Georgia and Colorado, catering for around 2,000 14 to 20 year olds and covering all the subjects and levelled courses needed for high school graduation and college entrance.

Inbuilt assessment navigates the student through the learning resources. It is not a solitary experience: students can interact in virtual spaces; they undertake collaborative interdisciplinary projects; and they can contact a teacher at any time for online support. Students have their own learning coaches with a remit around academic progress and personal needs, who checks in with the family at least once a week by email, and verbally at least every other week – more than tutors in most schools.

Sophisticated mobile technology

Put together the African elements of huge demand, mobile technology that is accelerating in sophistication while reducing in cost, and burgeoning alternative models of curriculum delivery, and there are all the ingredients to grow a transformed model of secondary schooling – one in which, say, a highly interactive and self-managed academic curriculum could be assembled and matched to both the needs of each individual, wherever they live, and the demands of any national accreditation system. At a reasonable level of scale, something that Africa can certainly offer, the cost of this could be as low as $500 a year.

What a boon for Africa this would be. However, alongside this, an inevitable question will arise for schools in the developed world, just as it did for the high-street computer games stores. Do you still need all of these people and this infrastructure to serve the students and families? Schools will need to argue and demonstrate the added value of having a physical location that brings together young people and adults on the basis of the quality of learning.

Online opportunities alone will individualise and extend the breadth of learning, so the dividend must lie in a far stronger and prime focus on improving the quality and connectedness of learning experiences – deepening understanding and building personal, social, communication, enquiry and problem-solving skills that are the springboards to success in adulthood. This is relatively new territory for many mainstream schools, but there are some encouraging examples in the field of alternative provision.

In the USA, Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academies support students who have dropped out of school to achieve their high school graduation diploma. The centres are based in the middle of cities and typically serve around 100 16 to 21 year olds, almost all living in poor households. Often the students are dealing with a range of very significant social obstacles to school-based learning. Online courses provide the formal route to accreditation within a flexible time schedule alongside social and life skills development, job readiness and placement support – with all the elements bound together through the support of a learning coach. Online learning both allows 'curriculum' teaching to be better tuned and targeted and allows for a refinement and refocusing of roles to enable students to be more effective learners and to put their learning to use in the outside world.

As these developments unfold over the next decade, the most successful schools will be those that address the issue of how they can add value through the blending of online and 'live' learning experiences. To do this they will need to shift their perspective from thinking about the ways online learning can enhance what is currently done, thinking instead about what they can do to enhance what online learning will (inevitably) offer and look towards what is happening in Africa.

• Dr Allan Sigston is executive director of research for EdisonLearning which works with partners in the UK, USA, Middle East and China, applying a research-based approach to school improvement and transformation.

Preparing for the online revolution:

• Research online teaching and assessment resources that allow students to self-manage their progress through curriculum content (and that create opportunities for teachers to group learners fluidly).
• Consider spaces in the school where the grip of cellular classrooms can be eased to create more flexible learning spaces.
• Pilot some team teaching to larger groups that is underpinned by online course resources.
• Conduct a visioning exercise with your leadership team that describes how time, space and roles would be used differently.
• Ask your 'digital native' pupils where and how they learn best.
• Research or develop frameworks and systems that support assessment and teaching of core learning skills that underpin success in later life.

Find out more:

• The Provost Academy is an online school in Colorado, USA operated by EdisonLearning www.provostacademy.com
• Information about the Magic Johnson Bridgescape Academies in the USA can be found at www.magicjohnsonbridgescape.com

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