1. 1 World Bank Group E-LEARNING STRATEGIES Samia Melhem, Learntec 2002, Karlsruhe Germany, Feb 8, 2002

2. Our Vision … to become a Knowledge Bank that spurs the knowledge revolution in developing countries and acts as a catalyst for creating, sharing, and applying cutting edge knowledge necessary for poverty reduction and economic development

3. Why focus on Knowledge? The knowledge revolution offers an opportunity to redraw the global economy by:  enhancing competitiveness  offering new opportunities for economic growth and jobs  better access to basic services  increasing returns on investments in education and health: Focus on eLearning and eHealth  empowerment of local communities and poor people

4. The Four Pillars I. Supporting an enabling environment II. Expanding access III. Building human capacity IV. Supporting research, networking and communities of practice

5. How These Programs Fit Together Supporting an enabling environment Expanding Access  Global ICT Department  InfoDev  World Bank and IFC lending for ICT infrastructure

6. How These Programs Fit Together (cont.) Building Capacity Tool: eLearning World Bank Institute (our institutional university) Supporting research, networking and communities of practice  Education portfolio  African Virtual University  Global Development Learning Network  World Links for Development  Development Gateway  Global Development Network  Knowledge Sharing

7. ICT and Development  Is ICT relevant to poverty alleviation?  Access offers major economic opportunities and potential for empowerment  ICT enhances the quality, efficiency, transparency of public service provision  Exclusion an economic and social burden Growth of ICT impressive in LDCs but “digital divide” has emerged, building on existing societal disparities

8. ICT and Development  Is there a role for the Public Sector?  Privatization, strong regulation, competitive markets could double No. lines in poorer markets in Africa  Reforms require passing (and enforcing) enabling legislation, and innovating in business landscape  Regulatory agencies need competence and credibility  The market, unassisted, will not provide a sufficient level of access today.

9. Past Performance and New Challenges  IT lending in over 80% of projects (average $1.5B a year) but need best practices, awareness of opportunities.  About 10 Global Special initiatives: infoDev, World Links for Development, Global Knowledge Partnership, etc.  Bridging Digital Divide: DOT Force (G8 Digital Opportunity Task Force) Transportation 16% 12% 11% 8% 42% Public Sector Mgmt. Agriculture Education Popultn, Hlth & Nutn Others WB Sectors with ICT Components

10. Jan. 1995 Share of low and lower- middle income countries (LMICs) Telephone main lines Mobile subscribers Estimated Internet Users Jan. 2000 Source: ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database 18%28% 5% 1.1% 14% 7.6% Defining the Digital Divide

11. Internet Divergence 30 47 83 51 3 7 13 25 180 232 77 124 28% 21% 15% 9% 6% 4% 1.6% 1.0% 0.5% 0.3% 0.1% 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 199519961997199819992000 Pene- tration Number of Internet users, millions Source: ITU. Developed Developing

12. International Internet Bandwidth Asia / Pacific Latin America USA / Canada Europe Africa 56Gbps 0.1Gbps 0.5 Gbps Note:Gbps= Gigabits (1’000 Mb) per second. Source: ITU adapted fromTeleGeography. 18 Gbps 0.4Gbps 3 0.2 Gbps

13. 1985198819911994199720002003 Missing Link (Maitland Report) Global Information Infrastructure Digital Divide Infrastructure Regulatory aspects Applications Content Knowledge Empowerment Shedding different lights at a complex set of issues

14. Bridging Divides  Access  Know-how  Content

15. Strategic Directions  Broadening and Deepening Sector and Institutional Reforms  Developing Information Infrastructure  Supporting ICT Applications  Building ICT skills and Capacity

16. Broadening Sector Reform  Broadening focus across all ICT Components including new areas (Internet applications such as E- government, Ecommerce, ELearning), convergence and previously overlooked sectors (postal, creative industries)  Creating and enabling environment for e-commerce and e-government  Strengthening Regulatory institutions to ensure capacity and credibility to implement sector reform  Completing sector reform in countries that have not undergone basic market restructuring with new approached based on technological convergence

17. Developing Information Infrastructure  Extending Access beyond the market with WB support for innovative solutions such as public/private co-financing, universal access Funds; community centered development (Telecenters); innovative solutions  Exploiting synergies with other rural infrastructure projects across sectors.  Investment branch (IFC) will focus on new entrants rather than incumbent operators and will increase investments in content and applications, including Internet  infoDev “e-readiness” assessments of 40 countries

18. Supporting ICT Applications  Sectoral applications of ICT in areas such as eLearning, health, education, public sector management and social services  Strategic info. systems for finance, tax, education, health with a move towards use of the Internet  WB lending projects have, on average an ICT component of $8 Millions.  Focus on Change management, training and retooling client’s counterparts.

19. Building ICT skills and Capacity  New trend triggered by global shortage of technicians and IT specialists  Identifying needs for building ICT human capacity  Advising governments and entrepreneurs on developing new information industries such as software exports, Application development and hosting, remote network management, call centers.  Lending to Education in ICT in higher education projects: DL, eLearning, Infrastructure & Content  Investing in private ICT training institutes from developing nations: Content and Tools  Supporting public-private partnerships for technical skills education and skills transfer

20. Partnerships as shortcuts Partnerships as shortcuts How much time left to... Ÿbuild infrastructure ? Ÿtrain people ? Ÿestablish trust ? Ÿprovide a proper legal & regulatory environment?

21. Framework  Building Capacity through the Education Portfolio:  Building the Knowledge Economy  Higher Education in the New Economy  Continuous and Lifelong Learning

22. Potential Benefits of Incorporating ICTs in Education  Increased access to learning opportunities  Improved quality of education  Strengthened education management systems  Shared knowledge

23. Skilled Labor Force that can Create and Use Knowledge  Knowledge creates increasing returns, economic growth  Technological revolution puts a premium on skilled workers  Continuous learning becoming a necessity

24. Objectives and Applications  Access to technology  Access to education  Improve system  Quality  Computers in classrooms, curriculum, networking skills (Turkey)  Distance learning, virtual schools (Brazil, Romania, Ghana)  MIS (Lebanon)  Classroom processes, teachers, curriculum revisions (India)

25. Remaining Challenge Technology to transform education

26. World Bank Education Work  Education portfolio (lending and analytical) supports building of human capital  76% of new education projects include technology component (=40% of new dollar lending)  Distance education greatest proportion: 57%

27. Technology in Education Lending 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 FY97 $644 FY99 $835 $millions

28. Technology in Education Projects (selected examples) Turkey:Computers and connectivity Brazil:Virtual teacher certification Romania:Distance learning for continuing education Ghana:Radio broadcasting Jordan:IT infrastructure for higher education

29. IFC Invests in On-line Education  egurucool.com  Escola@24horas.com

30. Messages  Knowledge Economy  Distance Education  Partnership  Next…  Enabling the Environment with Special Initiatives

31. African Virtual University To bridge the digital divide and knowledge gap between Africa and the rest of the world by dramatically increasing access to global educational resources in Africa.

32. Students Local Learner Support AVU Site Content Providers Worldwide AVU Academic Model Student interaction via phone and/or email Lectures via satellite (live or taped)

33.  Encourage research and use of ICT in African institutions  Strengthen university libraries through AVU’s digital library  Foster shared use by students of AVU web-based resources  Facilitate communication and linkages among academics and students in various parts of Africa and globally AVU Capacity Building Activities

34. Results of the Pilot Phase: 1997-1999  Over 14,000 students have taken full semester courses in the sciences  3,500 seminar participants  Web site now receives over 80,000 hits a day  10,000 AVU e-mail accounts are active  Digital library with 1,100 journals

35. AVU Transition  AVU legally established in Nairobi with elected Board  Financial backing from Dfid (U.K.), CIDA (Canada), Carnegie Foundation, World Bank

36. Linking the World Through Learning To improve the development process by using Distance Learning to connect development decision makers to a global knowledge exchange. Global Development Learning Network

37. Global Dialogues Computer-based Courses Videoconference Seminars Courses Videoconference sessions complemented by electronic learning and online collaboration via Distance Learning Centers (DLCs) …

38. The Technologies  Satellite Communications  Videoconferencing  Broadcast TV  Broadband Internet  E-Mail  Video  CD-ROM  Face-to-Face  Print  Telephone/Fax Global Development Learning Network

39. Distance Learning Centers Global Network of Distance Learning Centers (DLCs) 8 Latin America 9 Africa 5 Asia 6 Europe 1 North America

40. Target Audiences Decision makers in:  Government – local, regional, national  Para-government Agencies  NGOs  Academia  Civil Society – civic associations, teachers, journalists, others  Private Sector Global Development Learning Network

41. Reach wider audiences Offer content from a wide range of sources Reach a critical mass of participants to effect change Extend the reach of existing knowledge and learning institutions Network of networks GDLN Strategic Approach

42.  Distance Learning Centers  32 + today  50 + by mid 2003  Program Partners -- 60 +  Project Partners – expanding the network  Learners -- from 40,000 to 150,000 by mid 2002 (330,000 participant days) All connected via telecommunications networks GDLN Today

43. GDLN Impacts So Far  Increased knowledge sharing and improved decision-making through interactive learning (HIV/AIDS, education, ICT training…)  Enhanced country-to-country exchanges among experts, peers, and practitioners  More cost-effective course delivery But we have a lot to learn about distance learning for development professionals. Global Development Learning Network

44. Provide programs that draw on development knowledge and experience Support DLCs in their own program development Set up distance learning centers Support GDLN Central Operations Network of networks = tremendous outreach potential Opportunities for Partnership Global Development Learning Network

45. GDLN at Work World Links for Development plus Development Education Program  “Integrating Sustainable Development and Technology into Your Classroom” An 8-week multimedia distance learning course

48. Knowledge Sharing Networks

49. knowledge communities, essentially networks of people with similar interests culture shift from individualistic to team orientated and based on knowledge sharing knowledge management system, to capture, organize, and disseminate knowledge relevant to the Bank’s business, using new technologies Main Dimensions

50. Business survival requires sharing knowledge - speed: faster cycle times - quality: better quality service - innovation: new approaches to poverty reduction Lending cannot achieve the mission of poverty reduction - knowledge sharing brings new actors - access to development know-how could change the equation Business Case

51. -collections of good practice, know-how, statistics … - dissemination to staff, partners, clients - seminar, workshops, clinic, advice to Task Teams (Technology enables sharing :E-Mail, Activity Rooms, Intranet, Web, Video Conferences, Distance Learning) Communities of practices

52. Annual personnel evaluation - Awards for team work - Expos/Fairs, Innovation Marketplace - Stories underlying desired behavior - Open to new ideas and continuous learning; - Shares own knowledge, learns from others, and applies knowledge in daily work; - Builds partnerships for learning and knowledge sharing. Informal reward recognition Changing the culture

53. Community of practice KS On-line Help Desk Directory of Expertise Development Statistics Engagement Information Dialogue Space External Access Six Regions - country information - macro data Six Networks - 16 sectors - 100+ thematic groups K Knowledge Networks in the Bank Enabling Technology

54. Tax policy and administration thematic group Public expenditure review Mission Madagascar Indonesia field office MNA Region ECA Region DEC Retired University of Toronto Knowledge Networks in the Bank KS Practice

55. - Solve development problems by sharing high-quality information from local, national and global sources, tailored to users’ needs by topic and community, quickly and easily. - A platform to facilitate the establishment of common standards for the exchange of information among the development community - Expanded opportunities for building and sharing knowledge and experience in and among developing countries

56. - core of the Gateway business model - public and private sector organizations, and civil society collaborators - partner organizations are a key element in content development and quality assurance - partners provide technology support (SAP) Financial support Partnerships

57.  Thank You!