Could micro-franchised OER learning centers
offer a sustainable model for distance education?
Micro-Education
In contrast to macro-education or a ‘one-size-fits-all’ design for rural curricula, learning structures, or pedagogies, perhaps we need to consider how "micro-education" could offer an alternative means whereby educational options may be created and packaged in a tailored manner according to the needs, experiences, and goals of individual students.
In parallel to micro-credit, which offers a small source of capital to an individual with a tailored business plan, micro-education would offer a small source of start-up learning materials to an individual with a tailored education plan.
In this vein, sustainable educational opportunities should provide an opportunity for rural learners to access information and learning tools strategically suited to their personal goals with as narrow/broad scope as desired.
Based on experiences in the Himalayas of Nepal, I am interested to investigate how micro-franchising of community learning centers might be a viable economic model whereby micro-education could facilitate access to educational information for lower-literate and illiterate peoples in remote communities worldwide.
Developing World Context
Nearly one-half the world’s population lives in acute poverty. Illiteracy is associated with extreme poverty and other dilemmas which impede well-being. Despite this, one-fifth of the world’s population is still denied the right of literacy. Worldwide, women are less literate than men with lowest literacy rates in developing countries, particularly Africa and Asia. (UNESCO, 2006) Eliminating various forms of poverty (economic, social, physical, spiritual) is directly linked to improving opportunities for education in the developing world. Effectively disseminating education in developing countries requires a holistic approach with concerted focus on sustainable and context-sensitive programming conducted by locals for locals. (Tomasevski, 2005)
ICT and Literacy
As the economic gap between rich and poor continues to widen, another gap is emerging between the elite with access to information technology and the poor without it. But, could ICTs make a difference to development through distance education? (ID21) In what ways may the potential benefits of open source and open content provide rural and disenfranchised groups with access to knowledge which is broadly available but still inaccessible to those who need it most? In what formats should this be delivered, and in what manner could individuals be primed to utilize this resource? What training and infrastructures must be provided in order for people to benefit on the ground? As Freire aptly concluded, “The fundamental question about education is, ‘What is to know?’” (1973). For most people, especially those in developing countries, ‘to know’ is ‘to do.’ Thus, education is directly linked to action.
Carving the Design
Micro-education provides a broad group of prospective learners with educational opportunities suited to their abilities; in this way, each person becomes an agent to eradicate their own personal poverty through access to information that affords them with realistic options according to their own abilities. This “involves both the processes that allow freedom of actions and decision, and the actual opportunities that people have, given their personal and social circumstances” (Sen, 1998). This allows participants to progress at different levels, according to individual needs, context, and previous preparation. As an outcrop of micro-enterprise, where small entrepreneurs start small businesses with small loans, micro-franchising offers opportunities for small entrepreneurs to build from successful business plans of other small entrepreneurs. Strategically, these rookie entrepreneurs adopt a name, a reputation, a proven model and proven strategies for initializing and maintaining their business endeavor. (BYU, 2006) This new economic development tool is a practical application of Prahalad’s theory that widespread development and poverty alleviation will only occur if “we stop thinking of the poor as victims … and start recognizing them as resilient, creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers” (2005).
Micro-Franchising and Micro-Education
Micro-Franchising of micro-education centers is a viable model for implementing the right to education by addressing several key questions of distance education: How do we replicate success to scale? How do we empower the informal sector? What initial and ongoing training is necessary and for whom do we provide it? How do we design effective tools tailored for the needs of clients? This model of micro-franchising may serve as a catalyst for the privatization and scaling up of UNESCO’s proven model for Community Learning Centers (CLC) which offer integrated distance learning opportunities in developing countries. Refining this model will prepare rural people with strategies to access open educational resources (e.g. OCW), to utilize and tailor open source software, and to develop new learning materials customized for the needs of remote communities. In this way, right to education will be achieved through enhanced knowledge, market access, and expanded freedoms.
Conclusion
In summary, expanding the right of education in developing countries may be bolstered through replication of successful micro-franchising models for distance education in rural micro-education centers. Education is hampered and poverty is exacerbated in rural developing countries because of a paucity of reading materials and limited access to information. This challenge may be addressed through the subsidizing and supporting of rural entrepreneurs to establish integrated educational facilities (e.g. a nexus of context-sensitive training, customized hardware and software, connectivity, and regular technical support) in order to initiate change, generate profits, and improve rural well-being.
References
UNESCO. (2006) Literacy for Life. EFA Global Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCO.
ID21. (2003) Missing the Connection? Using ICTs in Education. Insights Education: Development Research Quarterly. Brighton: University of Sussex.
BYU. (2006) What is MicroFranchising? Provo: Center for Economic Self-Reliance, Brigham Young University.
Curtis, L. (1990) Literacy for Social Change. New York: New Readers Press.
Fernandez, B. (2005) Literacy in Francophone Countries, Situations and Concepts. Background paper for EFA Global Monitoring Report 2006.
Fransman, J. (2005) Understanding literacy. Background paper for EFA Global Monitoring Report 2006.
Freire, P. (1973) Education for Critical Consciousness. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company.
Prahalad, C.K. (2005) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits. New Jersey: Wharton School Publishing.
Tomasevski, K. (2005) Removing Obstacles in the Way of the Right to Education. Right to Education Primers Number 1. Gothenburg, Sweden: Swedish International Development Association.
Sen, A. (1998) Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
