I presented this at the Technology for Education (T4E) Conference in Dec. 2013. Summary: A successful computer literacy program designed for rural communities would need to work in a diverse set of conditions such as the lack of electricity, diverse student educational backgrounds, motivation levels, different levels of community engagement, community politics, and beliefs. This presentation shares our experience with running computer literacy training camps in rural Andhra Pradesh, India, and how changing elements of the program can change the outcome of a program.

1. Computer Literacy Programs in
Rural Communities
Understanding Social Motivators
Prasad Kantamneni
&
Ramanjaneyaraju Chintalapati

2. Technology Incubation Program @ Visakhapatnam
How can we use Information Technology to scale rural development?

3. Technology Incubation Program @ Visakhapatnam
• The litmus test
▫
▫
▫
▫
Does the community need what you are giving?
Does the program build necessary skills?
Is the program financially sustainable?
Can the program scale up?
• Focus is on executing the program
▫ Rapid iterations

4. Computer Literacy: 650+ students, 17 Training Camps, 8
villages, 2 courses
Ms Office
DTP
Self funded Ni-Msme Self funded Ni-Msme
Dimili
2
0
0
1
Haripuram
1
4
0
4
Gokivada
1
0
0
0
Moolajampa
1
0
0
0
PK Palli
1
0
0
0
Munchingput (Tribal)
0
1
0
1
Somalingapalem
0
0
0
0
Kothapalem
0
0
0
0
Total
6
5
0
6

5. Insights from the Villages
• Agriculture is the primary
revenue source
• Politics is polarizing
• Alcoholism is rampant
• Un/underemployment is
chronic and usually by
choice amongst youth.
• Infrastructure support is
poor

6. What would happen in…
1. Resource limited Vs. Resource rich trainings
2. Village Vs. Center based trainings
3. Instructor Led Vs. Instructor Mediated
trainings
4. Mouse based Vs. Keyboard Based trainings
5. Managing Politics

7. What does success look like?
• Students not intimidated by computers
• Student interest and engagement in the program
• Manageable costs
and most importantly
• Students who can get the job done

8. Measuring success
• Attendance
• 200 marks open book practical exam given 7
days before exam.
▫ 100 marks taught
▫ 100 marks not taught
• Demonstrated community participation
▫ Food, infrastructure, support….
• Post-training interviews

9. Experiment 1:
How do resources affect outcome?
Resource limited Vs. Resource rich

10. The differences
• 9 rich Vs. 8 limited camps
40 min. Computer time + 5 h. open lab
Vs.
40 min. computer time
100% electricity availability
Vs.
6 h. electricity.

11. Do more Resources equate to better
learning?
• No!
• Resource rich classes
▫ 40% less marks
▫ More disciplinary issues
• Resource limited classes
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
20% better attendance
Students self organize into study groups
Community pitches in with food, accommodations, etc.
Students come before time to optimize.
“When you don’t have money you have each other”

12. Experiment 2:
Village or Center based

13. Village or Center based?
• Depends…
• Center Based
▫ 36% female
▫ Average Age: 20
▫ Disciplinary issues
• Village Based
▫ 52% female students
▫ Average Age: 14.5
▫ Significant parent Involvement

14. Experiment 3:
Instructor Led Vs. Instructor mediated

15. The differences
• 4 instructor led Vs. 13 Instructor Mediated
Instructor is the center of the teaching experience
Vs.
Students learn for 40 min, and teach for 40 min.

16. Instructor Led or Mediated
• Mediated
• Instructor Mediated
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
50% more marks
Immediate escalation
Students learn from others mistakes
Increased student preparation times
Increased confidence and verbalization amongst
younger students.

17. Experiment 4:
Keyboard or Mouse based

18. The differences
• 13 Keyboard based Vs. 4 Mouse based
Use only Keyboard shortcuts
Vs.
Use the Mouse

19. Keyboard or Mouse
• Keyboard
• Keyboard Based
▫
▫
▫
▫
~50% more attendance
Point of pride… Viral Communication
Language and version Independent
Marks lost – unable to compare marks .

20. Managing Community Politics

21. Managing Politics
• 10 village camps planned.
▫ 2 terminated prematurely because of politics.
• Wrong Way:
▫ Approached sarpanch(Village Head) in a polarized
village: political football!
▫ Worked with an individual: Rumors, backroom deals,
escalating costs.
• Right Way:
▫ Approach respected groups: community support.
▫ Transparency and honesty: long term support
(Villages talk to each other)

22. Final Thoughts
• Center based programs focus on
the individual. While Village
based involve the whole village.
• Risk having Village development
metrics become short term and
not match stated goals.
• How much resources are enough
before students start losing
interest? We hypothesize that the
answer would look like a bell
curve. Where too little or too
much resources would lead to
sub-optimal results.

23. Questions?
Title: Computer Literacy Programs
in Rural Communities
Understanding Social Motivators
kprasad@roonet.org