RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
REPUBLIC SMART
OF RWANDA EDUCATION
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PLAN
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RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
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RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
Table of Contents
List of Figures 7
List of Acronyms 8
Forward By Minister of Education
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 10
1.1 Introduction 10
1.2 Why a Master Plan for ICT is needed 10
1.3 The emerging context for ICT Integration in Education 11
1.4 The key pillars of the Master Plan 11
1.5 What is new in the Master Plan? 12
1.6 What is a Smart Classroom? 13
1.7 Strategy for rolling out Smart Classrooms 14
1.8 Support for students with disabilities 14
1.9 What is required to make Master Plan successful 15
1.10 “Smart Education Program” Phases 15
2. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 17
2.1 Purpose and objectives of the Master Plan 18
2.2 The Context of Rwanda 18
2.3 The Promise of Technology 20
2.4 Progress with ICT-in-Education to-date in Rwanda 20
2.5 Challenges with ICT integration to-date 22
2.6 Key Success Factors, Considerations and Plan Dependencies 23
3. RWANDA SMART EDUCATION FRAMEWORK 24
3.1 Education Transformation 24
3.2 Solution Framework 25
3.3 Education Usage Models 27
4. ICT-IN-EDUCATION VISION AND POLICY 28
4.1 Alignment with Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) 28
4.2 Alignment with Smart Rwanda Master Plan 28
4.3 ICT-in-Education Vision 29
4.4 ICT-in-Education Objectives 30
4.5 Promoting the Knowledge Economy 31
4.6 Local Manufacturing and Jobs Creation 31
4.7 Youth Employability and Building Futures 31
4.8 Collaboration with the private sector 32
4.9 Education Management 32
4.10 Promoting Inclusive Education 32
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5. TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (TPD) AND PEDAGOGY 33
5.1 TPD Policy 34
5.2 Train-the-Trainer (TTT) Strategy 34
5.3 Teacher Professional Development 5-Year Plan 34
5.4 Training on new Curriculum 35
5.5 Teacher Online Community 35
5.6 Accreditation and Certification 35
5.7 School Leadership Development 36
5.8 Mentoring 36
5.9 Evaluation 36
5.10 Pre-Service Teacher Professional Development 36
6. DIGITAL CURRICULUM CONTENT & ASSESSMENTS 37
6.1 New Competency-Based Curriculum 37
6.2 Digitization Strategies with existing curriculum 37
6.3 Digital Curriculum Content & Assessment Policy 38
6.4 Benefits of Digital Content (versus printed text books) 38
6.5 Types/ Formats of Digital Content 38
6.6 Approaches to Development & Acquisition of Digital content 39
6.7 Transition from Print to E-books 41
6.8 Content Delivery Platform 41
6.9 Assessments 42
6.10 Curriculum Innovation Center 42
6.11 Rapid Prototyping and Curriculum Innovation 43
7. ICT INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES 44
7.1 Policy 44
7.2 Smart Classrooms 44
7.2.1 Deployment approaches for Smart Classrooms 45
7.2.2 School Deployment Models 46
7.3 Teacher & Student Hardware and Software 48
7.3.1 Teacher Computers Requirements 48
7.3.2 Student Computers Requirements 48
7.3.3 Teacher & Student Software 48
7.4 Standard Device Image 49
7.5 Interactive Whiteboards and projectors 49
7.6 Collaborative Spaces: 50
7.7 School Network 50
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7.8 Internet Connectivity 50
7.8.1 Considerations for Connectivity 51
7.9 Cloud Services 51
7.10 Identity Management 51
7.11 User profiles 52
7.12 Education Management Information System (EMIS) 52
7.12.1 Student Information System (SIS) 53
7.13 Learning management system (LMS) 53
7.14 Services 53
7.14.1 Client Device Management 53
7.14.2 Theft Deterrence 54
7.14.3 Internet Filter 54
7.14.4 Learning Analytics 54
7.15 Electrical Power 55
7.16 School Assessments 55
7.17 Accessibility and Assistive Technologies 55
7.17.1 Vision Impairments 56
7.17.2 Learning Impairments 56
7.17.3 Mobility and Dexterity Impairments 56
7.17.4 Hearing Impairments and Deafness 57
8. HIGHER EDUCATION AND TVET 58
8.1 Goals 59
8.2 Leadership 59
8.3 Policies 59
8.4 ICT Infrastructure 59
8.4.1 Access Devices 60
8.4.2 Affordable access to computing devices 60
8.4.3 Computer Labs 61
8.4.4 Network Infrastructure 61
8.4.5 Cloud-Based Services and Applications 61
8.4.6 High Performance Computing 61
8.4.7 Security 61
8.5 Digital Content and Online Learning 62
8.6 Professional Development of Tutors and Lecturers 62
8.7 Competency Assessment 63
8.8 Sustainable funding, monitoring and evaluation 63
8.9 Innovation Center of Excellence 63
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9. MONITORING, EVALUATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT 64
9.1 Evaluation Process 64
9.1.1 Types of Research & Evaluation 64
9.1.2 Framework for Program Evaluation 64
9.2 Indicators/Metrics and Measures 64
9.3 Change Management 65
10. MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT 67
10.1 School Onsite Support 67
10.2 District and Sector Support 67
10.3 National Level Support 67
10.4 Support Process 68
10.5 Support Roles & Responsibilities 68
10.6 Spares 68
11. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT 69
11.1 Setting up an SPIU 69
11.2 SPIU structure 69
11.3 Communications and PR Plan 71
11.4 Budgeting and Financing 71
12. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 72
13. APPENDIX 73
13.1 Appendix A Reference Documents 73
13.2 Appendix B: Key Stakeholders and Roles & Responsibilities 74
13.3 Appendix C: Elements of Press Relations (PR) and Communications Plan 75
13.4 Appendix D: Teacher Professional Development Plan 76
13.5 Appendix E: ICT and Infrastructure 78
13.5.1 Identity Management Example using Microsoft Windows 78
13.5.2 Types of Schools Networks 78
13.5.3 Capacity Requirements for Different Education Institutions 81
13.6 Appendix F: Monitor & Evaluation 82
13.7 Metrics and Surveys 83
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List of Figures
Figure 1 Top-level physical/geographical architecture 18
Figure 2 Education Transformation Model depicting key elements 25
Figure 3 Holistic solution framework for the Smart Education program 27
Figure 4 Detailed holistic solution framework of key elements for the Smart Education program 28
Figure 5 UNESCO Maturity Model 38
Figure 6 Teacher Professional Development train-the-trainer strategy 39
Figure 7 New Curriculum Implementation Schedule 43
Figure 8 Transition from Print to E-books 48
Figure 9 The Smart Classroom 53
Figure 10 School solution model “A” and with grid electric power 54
Figure 11 School solution model “B” with solar or generator power 55
Figure 12 Framework for integration of ICTs at post-secondary level 69
Figure 13 Loan Fund Process Flow 72
Figure 14 Framework for Evaluation 78
Figure 15 Support levels 81
Figure 16 SPIU proposed roles 85
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List of Acronyms
Acronym Meaning
EFA Education For All
EMIS Education Management Information System
ESSP Education Sector Strategic Plan
GDP Gross Domestic Product
HEC Higher Education Council
HLI Higher Learning Institutions
ICT Information and Communication Technology
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IPRC Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center
LMS Learning Management System
LTE Long Term Evolution
M & E Monitor and Evaluation
MINEDUC Ministry of Education
MT Master Trainer
NREN National Education and Research Network
ODeL Open and Distance Learning
OLPC One Laptop Per Child
REB Rwanda Education Board
SIDA Swedish International Development Agency
SPIU Special Project Implementation Unit
TPD Teacher Professional Development
TTT Trainer of Trainers
UNESCO United National Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization
WAP Wireless Access Point
WDA Workforce Development Authority
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1. Executive Summary
This document describes the Ministry of Education’s teachers, up-skill existing unqualified teachers and increase
(MINEDUC) national Master Plan for Information and access to tertiary education.
Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education for the
Republic of Rwanda, and will be implemented in phases While more children are enrolled in basic education, the
starting in 2015 through 2020. This plan has been developed key challenge that remains is the quality of education they
by MINEDUC in consultation with stakeholders in the are getting. Here technology can be used to improve the
education sector. The purpose of this Master Plan is to quality of teaching and learning materials through the
provide direction- a roadmap for coordinated prioritization, use of digital learning resources. Multimedia interactive
investment and implementation of ICT in Education to digital content can be used to motivate students, improve
achieve the goal of transformation education for Rwanda’s conceptual understanding and retention of key topics. ICT
development. can help simplify the use of regular assessments to keep
track of student performance. ICT can help with real-time
1.1 Introduction data gathering of enrolment, assessments, performance
to improve decision making and effective management of
Rwanda Vision 2020 aims at moving Rwanda from ’an the education sector leading to informed prioritization and
agriculture based economy to a knowledge-based society’and allocation of resources. ICT can also be used to strengthen
a middle-income country by 2020. Education is a key sector teacher professional development thereby contributing to the
to this social and economic transformation, tapping into improvement of quality of education.
the limitless potential of an empowered population. At
the same time, the Vision 2020 places ICT at the heart Lastly, students must be prepared for the 21st century
of the transformation across all sectors. The use of ICT and given abilities needed to succeed and thrive in today’s
in education is seen as a strategic lever for achieving this complex, technology-based global economy, and to be
transformation. active 21st century global citizens. Some of these skills
include Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Communication,
The Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) calls for 3 Collaboration and Visualization. Technology in education
strategic goals to be addressed for education to fulfill its enables the development of these important skills.
potential in the development of Rwanda.
1.2 Why a Master Plan for ICT is needed
• To expand access to education at all levels.
• To improve the quality of education and training. ICTis expensive and complex to integrate in education but
• To strengthen the relevance of education and training the payoff and benefits are transformational. To realize these
benefits, a carefully considered approach is required.
to the labor market including the insertion of 21st
century skills. The Master Plan is a blue-print or roadmap for using ICT to
transform education in Rwanda. It describes the overall plan
Technology in education can be used to achieve these for how technology will be integrated and used by schools,
goals and address the key challenges of access, quality, teachers, student, administrators and even parents to
equity, relevance and management efficiency with tangible increase access, improve the quality and prepare students for
advantages that can be seen and measured in numerous the 21st century. The Master Plan will be the guide for setting
ways. Priorities, focusing Resources, aligning all Stakeholders,
tracking performance and achievements and managing
At primary and secondary levels, gross enrolments ratios change.
are growing and more children are in school. However, the
number of trained teachers to sustain these enrolment ratios The Master Plan is not starting from scratch; rather it
is still low. At higher education levels, the levels of enrolment builds on the lessons learned over the last 8 years of
are still very low. Here technology to support Open and
Distance Learning (ODeL) can play a critical role train new
1 Ministry of Education in Rwanda (www.mineduc.gov.rwwww.mineduc.gov.rw)
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ICT integration in Education in Rwanda and takes into 1. Policies: Clear and effective policies that encourage
consideration new changes in education and the ICT
environment in Rwanda. Having a documented blue-print will and empower teachers and students to use ICT as an
lead to efficiency and effectiveness of interventions. integral part of the education process.
1.3 The emerging context for ICT Integration 2. Leadership Development: Leadership development in
in Education
the ministry and among school leaders that helps, leads,
The Master Plan is aligned to the Smart Rwanda Master Plan, supports and encourages the regular use of ICT in
the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) and the Draft ICT schools and classrooms.
in Education Policy. The timing for the development of the
Master Plan is also opportune with 3 recent developments 3. ICT Infrastructure: is the scalable ICT infrastructure,
providing a ‘perfect storm’ to take ICT to the next level:
broadband and user support required to transform our
1. The roll out of broadband across the country by 2017 schools into ‘Smart Schools’ (in line with the Smart
Rwanda vision). ICT infrastructure includes student and
will solve the connectivity problem and allow the teacher devices with appropriate education software,
adoption of emerging and revolutionary cloud based Interactive White Boards, servers, local area networks,
technologies for education as called for in the Smart cloud services, broadband connectivity and power
Rwanda Master Plan. These technologies makes it Two critical dependencies are power and broadband
possible to develop and deliver digital learning materials availability. MININFRA and MYICT will be key
to students any-time and anywhere, to deliver an stakeholders to enable the transformation of classrooms
individualized and adaptive digital learning experience into smart classrooms.
and to implement an effective education management
systems. 4. Curriculum and Content: Development and acquisition
2. The government has engaged an investor to set up an of digital content, aligned with the curriculum and that
focuses on project and activity-based learning and is fully
ICT devices assembly plant in Rwanda. This will secure integrated with the use of ICT, along with the associated
a reliable source of devices for education for the next 5 formative assessments. This will require the acquisition
years, starting in 2015. of a content distribution platform and eventual shift
from print to digital content as infrastructure is deployed
3. The new curriculum recently launched by Rwanda in schools. REB will brief publishers on the new
curriculum to develop e-textbooks in line with the new
Education Board (REB), to be implemented starting 2016, curriculum and adapt local and international content to
provides an opportunity to deeply integrate technology, complement/supplement the core e-textbooks. Digital
rethink the approach to teaching and learning and content has advantages of reducing costs of printing,
revolutionize the teaching materials by switching from distribution, replacement due to wear and tear and
print to digital learning materials. Teaching can change enriching the learning experience.
from a teacher-centered (where the teacher has all the
knowledge and transmits it to students) to a learner 5. Teacher preparation and development: Teachers remain
centered approach, where the student is at the center of
and is the focus of teaching and learning. key to the successful integration of ICT in education.
As such, the Master Plan envisions a concerted teacher
In addition, there is growing interest from development training effort to transform teaching methodology from
partners and the private sector to support Rwanda to teacher-centered method to learner-centered method.
integrate ICT in all sectors. Therefore, public-private A policy change will be made to require all teachers
partnerships can be formed to provide additional financing, to complete a minimum number of training courses
expertise and resources for the successful integration of per year on the integration of ICT. To ensure adequate
technology in education. teacher preparation and motivation, all teachers will be
provided with a laptop issued by MINEDUC (and with
1.4 The key pillars of the Master Plan connectivity), through a purchase program over 2 to 3
years. Teacher training will be rolled out using a trainer
To achieve successful education transformation, the Master the trainer model.
Plan calls for investments in a number of important pillars
described and shown in the diagram below. 6. Higher education, research and innovation: higher
education is critical to spark an innovation economy to
transform Rwanda and ICT is seen as a key ingredient
and catalyst. Investments in higher education will
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be prioritized to increase access to higher education, 1.5 What is new in the Master Plan?
improve quality and drive research and innovation. This
will require all students, lecturers and administrators The guiding philosophy for ICT integration, especially at the
to have their own computing device and investments primary level for the last 5 years, has been the concept of
in high-speed research and education networks, cloud One Laptop per Child (OLPC). While this is the most ideal
based learning management systems and setting up an approach (and remains the end goal) of ensuring education
innovation center. transformation using ICT, it is too expensive and will take a
long time to achieve.
7. Resourcing and Implementation: To implement this
Going forward, MINEDUC will focus on providing each school
Master Plan will require a budget of approximately at primary and secondary level with a number ofSmart
$300m over 5 years. These resources are expected Classrooms that enable shared 1:1 learning environments.
to come from government, the private sector, donor This approach is more feasible, less costly and ensures
agencies, NGOs and the local communities. MINEDUC equity of access in the shortest time possible. Smart
has already received expressions of interest to support Classrooms are technology enhanced classrooms that
the draft plan from the donor community and the private foster opportunities for teaching and learning by integrating
sector. learning technology, such as computers, digital content and
specialized educational software, assistive technologies,
audio-visual equipment and networking equipment.
Technology is brought into the classroom rather than
students going to a computer lab and every subject is taught
using technology.
In line with this new direction, MINEDUC will also
redistribute the existing 210,000 OLPC XO laptops from the
current 410 schools to cover over 1,000 schools with Smart
Classrooms. MINEDUC together with its partners, parents
and the community, will continue to drive towards every child
having their own computing device.
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Coupled with Smart Classrooms, MINEDUC will implement for ICT in education as part of MIEDUC which will be
a One Digital Identity per Student program that will allow responsible for driving, monitoring, coordinating and
students to use any device and access approved educational managing the Master Plan. This institute will bring together
resources anywhere, anytime through cloud provisioned and harmonize the various ICT in Education departments
services. currently scattered across several MINEDUC institutions.
Taking advantage of the new curriculum scheduled for launch 1.6 What is a Smart Classroom?
in 2016, there would be a gradual shift from print books to
e-content as ICT infrastructure in schools is strengthened. Traditionally schools were equipped with dedicated rooms
Savings made from phasing out print books will be applied to for computer labs and in Rwanda an OLPC approach was
developing additional infrastructure in the schools. followed. But this equipment was seldom networked,
seldomcontained digital content and was not used in every
A policy change will be made to require all teachers to subject.
complete a minimum number of 40 hours of training courses
per year on the integration of ICT. To ensure adequate In a Smart Classroom, technology is brought inside the
teacher preparation and motivation, all teachers will be every-day classroom with teachers using technology to teach
provided with a laptop issued by MINEDUC (and with every subject, rather than students going to a dedicated lab
connectivity), through a purchase program over 2 to 3 years. or technology being used on an ‘adhoc’ basis. The advantages
In addition, MINEDUC will appoint 2 fulltime technology of Smart Classrooms include:
integration specialists per sector to support teachers and
schools in integrating education. • Technology with multi-media digital content brings
At the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC) concepts to life, engaging students and improving
and Higher Education level, every student will be required understanding with videos, presentations and other
and facilitated to acquire their own computer through digital content.
a loan guarantee scheme. All lecturers will be provided
with a university-owned laptop and the Higher Education • Caters for all types of learners with audio-visual
Council (HEC) will deliver a mandatory e-learning course
to all lecturers. All universities and IPRC institutions will digital content.
be mandated to switch at least 2 courses to online mode.
National Education and Research Network (NREN) providing • Teachers don’t waste time drawing diagrams on
high speed connectivity for research and learning will be
operationalized and appropriate services will be deployed blackboard, instead they use digital content.
for research, communication, collaboration and innovation. A
national ICT innovation center will be developed. • Less use of chalk, less dust promoting healthy
To coordinate the large investments to be made, ensure classrooms.
efficiency, economy and focus, it is proposed to set up a
dedicated Special Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) • Quick digital assessments to determine
understanding.
The Smart Classroom is physically depicted below with key
technology elements. Student equipment will be kept in
the Staff Room or Head Master’s office and brought to any
Classroom in the school.
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1.7 Strategy for rolling out Smart Classrooms In 2015, the objective will be to provide all classes above
The strategy here is to start with a shared device model and with: Classroom laptops (2) for the teachers.
eventually move to a one laptop per student. Initially each A projector.
school will be progressively equipped with a number of ‘smart • A whiteboard (including a painted wall next to the
Classrooms’, covering Primary 1, Primary 4, Secondary 1, •
Secondary 4 & Secondary 5. •
Classrooms will be transformed into Smart Classrooms blackboard).
progressively starting with:
• 100 laptops per school.
• Primary 1 and 4 by re-distributing the existing XO (OLPC)
1.8 Support for students with disabilities
laptops
Appropriate accessible and assistive technology will be
• Secondary 1, 4 and 5 using PBGH laptops deployed to ensure equality and accessibility are addressed
for vision impairments, learning impairments, mobility and
Students’ devices will be shared and used to teach dexterity impairments, hearing impairments and deafness,
specific subjects or curriculum areas. Over the years, the and language impairments.
infrastructure in each schools would be increased until a
full 1 student:1 device ratio is achieved and every subject is Accessible technology is defined as computer technology
taught with technology. that enables individuals to adjust a computer to meet their
vision, hearing, dexterity and mobility, learning, and language
needs.
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Assistive technologies are specialty hardware and software dedicated SPIU for ICT in education as part of MINEDUC
products that accommodate an individual’s impairment, which will be responsible for driving, monitoring,
disability, or multiple disabilities. coordinating and managing the Master Plan. This institute
will bring together and harmonize the various ICT in
1.9 What is required to make Master Plan Education departments currently scattered across several
successful MINEDUC institutions.
The successful implementation of the Master Plan depends c) Communications and Public Relationship Plan
on a number of key elements. Critical among these are a) An awareness campaign will also be launched to sensitize
enabling policies b) a single implementation framework for schools, students, parents, the community, public and
the sector c) a concerted communication plan. partners on the Master Plan, with regular reviews and
reporting of progress. A change management process will
a) Policies be implemented to get the buy-in of key stakeholders,
Effective policies are required to drive systematic, large schools, teachers, parents and students.
scale transformation using ICT, from driving investments
in ICT (devices and broadband) to ensuring accountability 1.10 ‘Smart Education Program’ Phases
of programs. The summary of new policies required to be
enacted are presented in tablet below. The Rwanda ’Smart Education Program’ will be implemented
in a series of five phases through the end of 2020. Each phase
b) Dedicated ICT in Education implementation represents an increased level of capability and step close to
framework the ultimate Vision 2020.
To coordinate the large investments to be made, ensure
efficiency, economy and focus, it is proposed to set up a
Phase 1 (by end of 2017) Phase 2 (by end of 2018) Phase 3 (by end of 2020)
• Lay a solid foundation and integrate • Focus on higher-order thinking • Focus on personalized,
the use of ICT with key core skills, project-based learning, individualized, life-long learning,
curriculum subjects (English, math and global/local citizenship.
and science). entrepreneurship, and closing skills
• Roll out Smart Classrooms to all gap.
primary and secondary schools to • Doubling of Higher Education intake
achieve 1:5 student to computer
ratio and all post-secondary through ODeL courses.
students have their own device.
• At least 50% of all post-secondary
courses available online.
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Proposed new ICT Policies for Education Transformation
Teacher professional Curriculum and Content Infrastructure Higher Education
Development
1. Switch from printed 1. Provide adequate 1. All universities and
1. All teachers to complete IPRC institutions will be
learning materials to digital ICT infrastructure for mandated to switch at
a minimum of 120 hours least 2 courses to online
of Teacher Professional learning materials as teachers, schools and mode.
Development (TPD) every
3 years. infrastructure is deployed in students to deliver core 2. All IPRC and Higher
Learning Institutions
2. Each teacher to have schools. curriculum subject students will be facilitated
to acquire a laptop through
five-year plan to complete 2. Align curriculum materials matter. a loan guarantee scheme.
40 hours of approved
professional development with 21st century skills 2. All teachers, inspectors 3. All lecturers will be
each year. provided with a university-
development and new should have access to owned laptop.
3. Require the use of
competency based their own computer. 4. Operationalize National
electronic communication Education and Research
(such as email) for all curriculum. 3. Equip schools with Network NREN) providing
personnel involved in high speed connectivity for
education system and 3. Define book acquisition adequate ICT research and learning.
process
policy to enforce switching infrastructure with 5. Cloud services
deployed for research,
to e-books. minimum 1 computer per communication,
collaboration and
4. Switch to electronic 5 students. innovation
assessment techniques 4. Promote parents to
as infrastructure and acquire computing
connectivity is deployed in devices for their children.
schools. 5. Develop education
services to make
broadband and power
affordable to schools
working with MYICT.
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2. Introduction and Overview
Education development is essential for social, cultural and leads, supports and encourages the regular use of ICT in
economic development in the modern, open and globalized
economy. It is essential to drive the improvement and schools and classrooms.
transformation of education to quickly meet the challenges
of the 21st century and make the best use of the talents of • Teacher Professional Development – Ongoing teacher
Rwanda’s large youth population.
professional development and an active teacher online
The approach that Rwanda is undertaking to transform
education is revolutionary rather than evolutionary, and social community that helps make teachers confident
requires the support and participation of many organizations
and stakeholders. and competent in using and integrating ICT as part
of core curriculum delivery. Enable teachers to share
experiences and best practices, as well as content and
lesson plans.
• Digital Curriculum Content – Digital national curriculum
content that focuses on project and activity-based
learning and is fully integrated with the use of ICT,
The backbone of the revolutionary approach is the use of along with the associated formative and summative
technology as a transformative tool, in much the same way
that technology has completely transformed the businesses assessments.
world of the last few decades leading to ‘Smart Education’.
The focus of the Smart Education program is not on learning • ICT Infrastructure – Scalable ICT infrastructure,
how to use technology per se, but rather on using technology
to empower teachers and students to reach their individual broadband and IT user support. Considerations need
potentials.
to be made for areas that may have poor connectivity
In summary this plan calls-out the following key elements:
issues. Cloud infrastructure and services are used to
• Policies – Clear and effective policies that empower
help make teaching and learning resources easily and
teachers and students to use ICT as an integral part of
the education process. quickly available, as well as help lower the cost of
• Leadership Development – Leadership development scaling infrastructure.
in the ministry and among school leaders that helps • Monitoring & Evaluation – Monitoring & evaluation of
results based on the authentic leading outcomes.
• Ultimately, Rwanda would establish itself as a showcase
for the region to provide a model for education
transformation and 21st century skills development
using state-of-the art technology.
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Figure 1 - Top-level physical/geographical architecture and students) are coordinated and are all working toward
common goals and objectives. It should avoid duplication
2.1 Purpose and objectives of the Master Plan and wastage of resources. Continuous monitoring of this
master plan will be important to ensure coordinated actions.
Primary Goal: Prepare all students for the 21st century Stakeholders who want to contribute and invest will be
The primary purpose of this document is to describe the required to follow this Master Plan.
overall plan for how technology will be integrated and
used primarily by teachers and students to best prepare Tracking performance and achievements
and empower all students of Rwanda with the life-long This Master Plan will form the basis for tracking
skills necessary to succeed and thrive in today’s complex, performance, monitoring activities and measuring
technology-based global economy, and to be active 21st achievements. This Master Plan will be distilled down into a
century global citizens. set of performance indicators. Each year, a review of progress
will be conducted and presented to all stakeholders. Gaps
Education Transformation: Student-Centered Learning will be identified and resources focused to address them.
The overall plan aims to catalyze a shift from the traditional
teacher-centered learning environment to a student-centered Change Management Framework
environment focused on the needs, learning styles, interests In order to ensure the long-term success of the overall
and abilities of the individual student; and the role of the program, a Change Management Framework (CMF) to
teacher focuses on facilitating, mentoring and coaching. monitor and guide execution of all vectors and facilitate
course correction at all levels based on measured outcomes,
Setting priorities and focusing resources is also considered.
This Master Plan provides a blue print for the deployment and
integration of ICT across the entire education sector for the 2.2 The Context of Rwanda
next 5 years (2015-2019). It lays out the priorities for ICT
integration and the necessary resources required to achieve Rwanda is a low income country (GDP per capita US$ 540
the vision of ICT integration for education transformation. 2014) with a vision to become a middle income country (GDP
It forms the basis for investments going forward in a per capita US$ 1,240 ) by 2020. Between 2000 and 2010,
coordinated manner. Rwanda had one of the fastest GDP growth rates in the world
at an average of 8.3% with a target to achieve an average
Aligning stakeholders growth rate of 11.5% between 2010 and 2020 in order to
As the single guiding document for ICT integration for achieve Rwanda’s vision 2020.
the next 5 years, this Master Plan is meant to ensure that
all stakeholders (government, development partners, 18
civil society, private sector, schools, teachers, parents
RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
Rwanda’s population in 2015 is estimated at about 11.3 economic transformation, tapping into the limitless potential
million people with a projected growth to 16.9 million (high of and empowering the ‘Nation’s principal asset - its people’.
scenario) people in 2020 . Rwanda is also densely populated As noted by Vision 2020, ‘the severe shortage of professional
with an estimated 445 people per square km. Rwanda has personnel constitutes an obstacle to the development of all
one of the youngest populations in the world with 62% of the sectors.’
population under 25 years old.
The Education context
Most people (83%) live in rural areas and the main economic Rwanda has made tremendous progress in increasing access
activity is Agriculture employing 73% of the labor force. to education and reducing illiteracy. The current gross
About 44.9% of the population lives under the poverty line enrolment ratio at primary school level is 127.3%. Secondary
down from 60.4% in 2000 and with a target of 20% by 2020. school gross enrolment has expanded from 7% in 2000 to
35.5% today. UNESCO recognizes Rwanda as one of the top
Against this context, as noted by Vision 2020, Rwanda must performers in reducing numbers of children out of school
transform ‘from a subsistence agriculture economy to a (UNESCO EFA 2014). And literacy rates have doubled from
knowledge-based society’to achieve the status of a middle 48% in 2000 to 83.7% today.
income country. Education is one of the keys to this social and
Level Students 2013 Staff Institutions
Male
Pre-primary Female Total 3,808 2,076
Primary 69,418 73,053 142,471 40,159 2,650
Secondary 1,183,306 1,218,858 2,402,164
268,581 566,370 25,532 1,502
Lower Secondary 167,201 297,789 361,522
Upper Secondary 101,380 194,321 204,848 1,332 13
Teacher Training Colleges 103,468 5,670 167
Technical Secondary Schools 3,599 7,375 4,878 132
Vocational Training Centers 34,909 3,776 64,866 38
Tertiary Education 10,058 29,957 15,592 782 24
Degree offering institutions 47,220 5,534 84,448 461 14
Diploma offering institutions 42,391 37,228 77,120 106
Technical institutions 34,729 215 7
Colleges of Education 4,829 2,499 7,328 2
Schools of Nursing and Midwifery 2,788 3,435 5
1,579 647 2,465
886 1,428
462 966
Table 1 Students, staff and institutions by education level in 2013 (source EMIS 2013 MINEDUC)
2 Cabinet Paper for Revised Vision 2020 Indicators and Targets
3 National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda http://www.statistics.gov.rw/
4 Calculated from Forth Population and Housing Census 2012
5 Human Development Index 2013
6 African Development Fund 2014
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Despite the impressive achievement, many challenges management efficiency with tangible advantages that can
remain: low completion rates at primary school level, 10 be seen and measured in numerous ways. Some of these
year gap between expected years of schooling (13) and mean advantages include:
years of schooling (3), slow increase in quality of teachers,
large class sizes and low gross enrolment at secondary • 21st Century Skills Development –These are the
and tertiary levels. Furthermore, there is high youth
unemployment (42% in 2011), and high skills deficit (40%). abilities that students need to develop in order to
ICT has the potential to alleviate many of these challenges. succeed and thrive in today’s complex, technology-based
global economy, to be active 21st century global citizens.
The ICT Context Some of these key skills include:
The Government of Rwanda has selected ICT as one of
the key enablers that will help achieve Rwanda’s Vision of • Critical Thinking.
economic growth and social development. The Vision and • Problem Solving.
Strategy for ICT-led transformation are elaborated in the • Communication.
Smart Rwanda Master Plan with transformation of the key • Collaboration.
pillars of; Education, Government, Health, Business and • Visualization.
Industry, Agriculture, Finance and Information Security. • Interactivity – This refers to the interactivity between
To spur ICT transformation, the government has already a student and the learning content in which the learning
invested in a world class infrastructure which is a key pre- content can act as a catalyst for discovery, exploration,
requisite. These investments include a National Backbone critical thinking and deriving conclusions. The idea is to
Network consisting 2,600km of fibre optic backbone encourage and motivate students from being passive
network connected to two East-Africa submarine optic fibre consumers and recipients of information to which the
landing points. For the Last Mile Solution the government, student may react, to being more active participants in
in collaboration with the private sector, is deploying 4G LTE deepening and creating knowledge though trial-and-
technology with a target to cover 95% of the country within 3 error and more open-end approaches.
years.
• Regular Assessments – ICT can help to simplify the
The most common modern ICT device is the mobile phone
with 63.5 subscriptions per 100 people. Household computer task of assessments as well as help increase the fidelity
ownership remains low at 2.4% (2012). Internet access and frequency of these exercises.
is predominantly mobile based, with 19.5 active mobile
broadband subscriptions per 100 people vs 0.03 active fixed • Real-Time Data Gathering – This is refers to the use of
(wired) broadband subscriptions per 100 people . Of the 2.4m
households, 64% of have a radio, 7.8% have a television and ICT to make measurements that ultimately help with
54% have a cellphone. Only 7% of households have internet assessments, as well as provide feedback to educators
access. to better understand the learning process and how to
provide feedback to teachers and students to improve
Currently 10.8% of the population or 18% of households have education outcomes.
access to electricity, up from 2% of the population in 2000.
Under vision 2020, the target is to have 75% of the population • Improving Education Management –ICT itself plays an
having access to electricity .
important role in the actual management and allocation
2.3 The Promise of Technology of educational resources and in providing data related to
the learning and teacher processes including students
Technology in education can be used to address the and teachers. The information that an Education
key challenges of access, quality, equity, relevance and Management Information System (EMIS) collects is
meant to support decision making, policy making as well
as planning, monitoring and management of all levels of
an education system.
2.4 Progress with ICT-in-Education to-date in
Rwanda
Rwanda has already made significant progress toward the
integration and use of technology in schools and classrooms.
Some of the key milestones to-date are outlined below.
7All statistics from ICT Sector Performance, Rwanda ICT Sector Profile 2013
8 The Fourth Population and Housing Census 2012
9 Cabinet Paper for Revised Vision 2020 Indicators and Targets
10 Learning and Innovation Skills” by Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework/60http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework/60
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Policy primary schools have computers, with only 6% having access
Key policies have been drafted for the use of technology to the internet and even fewer (1%) having a networked set
in schools and classrooms. This master plan is expected up.
to operationalize and implement the existing draft ICT in
Education policy. At secondary school level, almost all schools have computer
labs with desktop computers. However, many of these are old
Curriculum and Content or broken and only about 1/3 have a networked computer lab.
MINEDUC has digitized the Math, Science and English Internet access is better than at primary school with 14% of
Curriculum from primary 4 to primary 6. However, a new secondary schools having access.
curriculum has been developed that integrates the use
of technology. This new curriculum will be implemented At tertiary level, all institutions have networked labs and are
starting in 2016 in a phased approach. In addition, the connected to the internet. However, computer to student
Rwanda digital library portal and Rwanda Education Portal, ratios are poor given the target of transforming Rwanda using
(formerly Rwanda Education Commons portal) are active and ICT.
have over 33,000 e-journals available through SIDA.
Teacher access to technology is still low with computer to
ICT infrastructure teacher ratios low at all levels. At primary and secondary
Rwanda has the largest OLPC deployments and one of the school levels, a teacher purchase program has been initiated
largest ICT deployments in education in Africa. At primary through UMWALIMU SACCO in partnership with GIRA ICT
school, more than 203,000 XO laptops have been deployed and other partners. However, uptake has been low and the
in 407 schools and 200 school servers have been deployed program needs to be strengthened.
to support the XO laptops. However, only about half of all
Key indicators (source MYICT ICT Sector Profile) 2012 2013
Primary education
1:17 1:8
Computer to teacher ratio 1:4 1:15
Computer pupils ratio 39% 49%
Percentage of schools with computer infrastructure 152,768 203,763
Total number of OLPC laptops distributed 292 407
Total number of schools covered by OLPC program 6% 6%
Percentage of schools connected to the internet 1% 1%
Percentage of schools with a networked computer lab
Secondary education 1:06 1:07
Computer to teacher ratio 1:40 1:44
Computer to students ratio 18% 14%
Percentage of schools connected to the internet 25% 31%
Percentage of schools with a networked computer lab
Tertiary education 1:02 1:01
Computer to admin staff ratio 1:04 1:02
Computer to academic staff ratio 1:19 1:10
Computer to student ratio 100% 100%
Percentage of institutions connected to the internet 100% 100%
Percentage of institutions with a networked computer lab 7,959 12,532
Total number of TVET students enrolled in ICT related programs
Table 2 Status of ICT in education (source MYICT Rwanda ICT Sector Profile 2013)
11ICT in Education Policy document by MINEDUC, August 2014
12 Chttp://www.myict.gov.rw/fileadmin/Documents/ICT_Sector_Profile_2013/ICT_Sector_Profile_for_Web_copy.pdf
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Power
From the ICT Total Cost of Ownership Report of 2013,
electricity remains a challenge especially in primary schools
with less than half of all schools having a power source. At
secondary school level, 93% of schools are connected to
a power source but many are connected by generator, an
expensive option.
Primary Schools with Power Grid Solar Generator Total 45%
Secondary schools with Power 858 244 115 1,217 93%
Total schools with power 808 209 391 1,408 62%
Total schools without power 1,666 453 506 2,625 38%
1,607
Table 3 Schools with power (Source: MINEDUC ICT Total Cost of Ownership Report of 2013)
Teacher training • Extremely limited internet connectivity in primary and
REB trained 10,251 primary and secondary teachers (15.6%)
in ICT integration in the classroom. In addition to the secondary schools coupled with high connectivity costs;
training, 63 ICT clubs were established across the country.
• Limited availability of digital content to spur integration
Maintenance and support
At Primary level there is a well-developed maintenance of ICT in teaching and learning;
and repair program with 16 trained technicians in place. At
secondary school level, REB in collaboration with Tumba • Lack of teacher skills, capacity and the absence of
College of Technology has been refurbishing old/broken
computers using IPRCs and UR Colleges as refurbishment a culture around the use of ICT as well as lack of
centers and redistributing them to selected schools to be systematic road map for ICT Teachers’ Professional
re-used. Development, also prevented the widespread adoption of
ICT in education;
2.5 Challenges with ICT integration to-date
• Lack of standards for equipment, content and teacher
While Rwanda has one of the highest ICT in Education
investments in Africa, and even the World on a per capita training;
basis, this investment has not translated into systematic
transformation of the education sector yet. Key challenges • Lack of a systematic maintenance and support structure
remain and include:
for the whole education system;
• Inadequate infrastructure as highlighted above;
• Low power availability especially at primary schools and • Insufficient monitoring and evaluation of ICT in
high power costs; Education projects at school level to determine progress
and course correction;
• Lack of project management skills and expertise, poor
project coordination of initiatives and a lack of analysis of
the outcomes of partnerships across the sector.
This Master Plan aims to address these challenges and lay
the foundation for education transformation going forward.
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2.6 Key Success Factors, Considerations and
Plan Dependencies
These are some of the key considerations for the success of
the Smart Education plan:
• Broadband Connectivity – Connectivity is a key element
of the overall Smart Education program, since this will
provide the means to access curriculum content as
well as provide access to the Internet for study and
knowledge deepening. Currently, most of Rwanda
is covered by a 3G network and by the end of 2015,
a 4G network will provide 50Mbs bandwidth for all
schools across the country. Having higher bandwidth
communications will facilitate access to rich content
and information that can have greater education value,
as well as providing access to cloud services used to
manage teacher and student laptops and school servers.
Good connectivity will also provide access to national
curriculum content as required by the Smart Rwanda
Master Plan.
• Electric Grid Power – Having continuous and reliable
electrical power is a key element of the overall Smart
Education program, since this will make ICT more
accessible and available to teachers and students.
• New Competency - Based Curriculum – A new
competency-based curriculum will begin to be delivered
in 2016 continuing through 2018, and will be used to
emphasize the importance of mastering incremental,
concrete skills. The New Curriculum is critical for
transition to a student-centered education experience.
• Teacher Capacity Building – This includes having an
effective and efficient scaling mechanism to integrate
in-service and pre-service teachers into the program.
Teachers also need their own devices to develop their
skills, competencies and comfort in using education
technology. A robust teacher community is also key to
building a support system for all teachers.
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3. Rwanda Smart Education Framework
3.1 Education Transformation teaching practices, learning practices, and technology, so
theyare all working together.
Figure 2 - Education Transformation Model depicting key elements
Policies provide the direction and expectations for:
The MINEDUC education transformation framework draws • what an education technology solution needs to
from the Ministry’s own experiences running large scale
OLPC projects over the last seven years and Intel’s model implement in order to achieve a vision and a set of
for education transformation . Intel’s model for Education objectives;
Transformation is based on experiences and best practices • and what teachers, students, administrators and
from technology-in-education programs from around the potentially even parents are supposed to do with the
world; a it integrates key elements of a holistic solution education technology solution in order to achieve an
focused on student outcomes and success, as depicted in the educational vision and a set of objectives.
diagram above.
Leadership and Policy Such policies are communicated clearly and specific
Education transformation starts with effective leadership enough for teachers, and all those involved in the education
to establish a long-term vision and communicate clearly in transformation program, to understand what is being
order to make sure that necessary steps are taken to achieve expected of them in order to achieve the education objectives.
true organization transformation; as well as, inspire teachers, In the case of Rwanda, an ICT-in-education policy has
parents, community members, funding bodies and others already been developed and its linkage to the Smart
to believe in the vision and also work toward achieving it. Education program is discussed in the previous section.
Effective leadership also includes alignment of education
objectives with the larger national objectives through a Professional Development for Teachers
master plan for system-wide implementation. Professional development for teachers and teacher readiness
A policy framework identifies the specific changes needed are critical success factors for the success of an education
to align curriculum, assessment, professional development, transformation program.
This professional development helps teachers to be confident
and competent in the effective use of technology in the
classroom in order to leverage the power of technology to
go from a one-size-fits-all learning environment, to mass
customization of the learning environment that:
• Integrates the use of technology with all aspects of the
curriculum.
• Builds 21st century skills, such as self-directed learning,
critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, technology
literacy and collaboration skills through project-based
approaches.
• Uses technology to engage and motivate students to
learn.
Professional development for teachers should not only
provide training with the required tools, but also through
the ongoing support and community necessary to create a
network of educators that can share best practices as well
as ideas and solutions for use of technology in the classroom,
to help teachers transition to modern, student-centered
learning approaches. It is important to note that in order for
13 “Education Transformation: A Holistic Model for Success”
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/education/education-transformation.html
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teacher professional development to be effective, it must be Sustainable Resourcing
consistent and on-going. In order for the successful implementation of education
transformation to be sustained, it must deliver sustained
Curriculum & Assessment value and drive toward continuous improvement. This means
High quality digital curriculum content is key to the effective that the right decisions need to be made in the first stages of
integration of technology into the learning environment, and the program that lead in the direction of the ultimate vision
reciprocal technology enables digital curriculum content to and reliable and effective technology partners need to be
be immersive and interactive, as well as multisensory and selected for the long-term. Funding sources and models
personalized to meet the needs of individual students. must also be considered for the long-term and Return on
Technology also offers the opportunity for assessments to Investment (ROI) needs to factor-in total cost of ownership
measure more than just standardized academic performance, (TCO) against total value delivered from the program. Open
and opens the door to measuring how the student interacts standards to infrastructure compatibility are key factors in a
with digital curriculum content, thus providing greater long-term sustainable success and lower overall TCO.
insights into authentic learning, as well as helping to measure
skills development and provide continuous feedback to Research & Evaluation
guide teachers and drive consistent improvement in student The success of an education transformation program can
learning. be dissected onto two elements: 1) defining what success
actually means in terms of specific objectives, and 2) the
Information Communication Technology (ICT) capture and analysis of metrics in order to provide both
This is the actual technology foundation upon which near-term and longer-term feedback on the achievement of
education transformation is built. It includes software, the stated vision and objectives. These two elements help to
peripheral and support devices, Internet and networking establish a feedback loop that helps remediate in the near-
infrastructure, school servers, and the right devices for term, as well as drive continuous improvement in the long
teachers and students factoring in considerations for age term.
and usage models. ICT infrastructure also takes into
consideration security, privacy and management of devices 3.2 Solution Framework
such that education value and outcomes can be maximized
while mitigating risks, and lowering costs and time to The education transformation model in the section above can
implementation. be organized into a holistic solution framework that explains
how all the key pieces of education transformation have
to cometogether in order to represent something that can
ultimately be implemented.
Figure 3 - Holistic solution framework for the Smart Education program
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In the above diagram, there are policies that provide the Solution Framework
direction and expectation for both: Since this holistic solution framework is based on worldwide
• what an education technology solution needs to education transformation best practices and experience,
a primary goal of this solution framework is to achieve
implement in order to achieve a vision and a set of the greatest education value and outcomes possible
objectives; while mitigating risks and lowering costs and time to
• what teachers, students, administrators and potentially implementation.
even parents are supposed to do with the education
technology solution in order to achieve a vision and a set The word ‘framework’ refers to a solution that has elements
of objectives. that are identified but not specified.What this means is that
elements are identified in terms of what function the element
Metrics are collected/monitored and evaluated in order to serves and how to determine the actual item that would be
provide both near-term and longer-term feedback on the acquired or purchased for that particular element.
achievement of the stated vision and objectives.
The following diagram is the detailed solution framework and
Combining all of the elements in the diagram creates a identifies the key solution elements that need to be created,
feedback loop for remediation and continuous improvement. acquired or purchased:
Figure 4 -Detailed holistic solution framework of key elements for the Smart Education program
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3.3 Education Usage Models Administrator Usage Models:
The Education usage models described below apply to all • Monitor, roll up, and report school performance and
education institutions including primary, secondary, TVET and
Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs). These usage models will progress.
drive the type of ICT solutions required and the attendant
teacher training and curriculum integration. • Communicate with teachers, students, parents, and the
Teacher Usage Models: community at-large.
• Access to regular ongoing Professional Development • Manage school content and curricula.
• Access offline and online professional development.
(online and offline) for use of ICT in and outside of the
classroom. Parents Usage Models:
• Prepare, develop and share lesson plans. • Monitor student progress and performance.
• Anytime/anywhere ICT access and usage. • Easily communicate with teachers and school adminis-
• Manage classrooms.
• Create and share content with students via class / grade trators.
groups. • Help students stay on track with school work.
• Participate in school activities, funding drives, and do
• Manage student access to content.
• Communicate frequently – real-time and asynchronously similar activities.
- with students and parents outside of school. Education Authorities Usage Models:
• Map content to curriculum requirements. • Monitor information on resources from schools across
• Create and share content with other teachers.
• On-line & off-line access to content, files, documents, the country, visualize and manipulate data.
worksheets, notebooks, etc. • Easily communicate with teachers and school adminis-
• Online notebooks and portfolios, shared between teach- trators.
ers and students. • Track PD progression of teachers and learning outcomes
• Grade student work and report results. of students.
• Communicate – real-time and asynchronously - with
• Analytical reporting using business intelligence.
other teachers and/or experts around the world.
• Collaborative content production of documents, work-
sheets, notebooks, etc.
• Administration tasks.
Student Usage Models:
• Communicate with teachers outside of school.
• Create and share content (individually or within project/
class groups).
• Communicate with other students and/or experts around
the world.
• Access to age/grade appropriate content via class /
grade groups.
• Anytime/anywhere learning.
• On-line & off-line access to content, files, documents,
worksheets, notebooks, etc.
• Collaborative content production of documents, work-
sheets, notebooks, etc.
• Online notebooks and portfolios, shared between teach-
ers and students.
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4. ICT-in-Education Vision and Policy
This Master Plan draws from and is aligned with the Vision tremendously over the last few years, challenges remain
2020, Smart Rwanda Master Plan, MINEDUC’s Mission, at the secondary and higher education levels. The Master
the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) and the draft Plan calls for the use of ICT to increase access to higher
ICT in Education Policy. Policies are principles or rules that education using ICT to support Open and Distance Learning
drive education decision making, practice, expectations, (ODeL).
and stakeholder behavior for the efficacy of technology in
education and its measurable positive impact. Goal 2 - To improve the quality of education and training: ICT
will be used to improve the quality of teaching and learning
Vision 2020 materials through the use of digital learning resources.
Rwanda’s National Vision 2020 calls for Rwanda to grow Multimedia interactive digital content can be used to both
and transform ’from a subsistence agriculture economy motivate students and improve conceptual understanding.
to a knowledge-based society’ to achieve the status of a Collaborative use of ICT in teaching and learning will
middle income country by 2020. The Vision 2020 recognizes modernize the learning experience, thus increasing student
the critical role of Education to this social and economic understanding and retention of key concepts. ICT will also
transformation. At the same time, the Vision 2020 places ICT be used to strengthen teacher professional development
at the heart of the transformation across all sectors. The use thereby contributing to the improvement of quality of
of ICT in education is seen as a strategic lever for achieving education.
this transformation.
Goal 3 - To strengthen the relevance of education and
MINEDUC Mission training to the labor market: 21st century skills such
MINEDUC’s mission is to ‘transform the Rwandan citizen into as communication, ICT and media skills, creativity,
skilled human capital for the socio-economic development of collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking are key to
the country by ensuring equitable access to quality education participating and thriving in a global competitive environment.
focusing on combating illiteracy, promotion of science and ICT will be used to develop and deliver 21st century skills
technology, critical thinking, and positive values.’ ICT will thereby making student more relevant to the labor market.
be used to support this mission and in particular to address
issues of access, quality, relevance and efficiency. 4.2 Alignment with Smart Rwanda Master Plan
4.1 Alignment with Education Sector Strategic One of the core objectives of the Smart Rwanda Master Plan
Plan (ESSP) is to utilize ICT for Education as a tool to enhance teaching
and learning. This Master Plan is aligned with and supports
The Master Plan also aims to fulfill the key strategic goals of the achievement of this objective. Specific areas of alignment
the ESSP: are captured below.
ESSP Goal 1 - To expand access to education at all levels:
while Gross Enrolment Ratios at basic education have grown
13 “Education Sector Strategic Plan”, 2013/14 – 2017/18 by MINEDUC http://www.mineduc.gov.rw/fileadmin/user_upload/Education_Sector_
Strategic_Plan_2013_-_2018.pdfhttp://www.mineduc.gov.rw/fileadmin/user_upload/Education_Sector_Strategic_Plan_2013_-_2018.pdf
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SMART RWANDA OBJECTIVES ICT IN EDUCATION MASTER PLAN
Major direction of change and benefit
A cloud-based content distribution system together with online
• National education materials and contents Learning Management Systems (LMS) will be implemented for all
levels of the education sector.
available via online
The success of content distribution, online learning, teacher
• All learning institutions are connected to the collaboration and Education Management Information System (EMSI)
all depend on having good, reliable and affordable connectivity for
national education network with full access to all schools. MINEDUC will collaborate with MYICT to connect all
digital contents education institutions to a National Education and Research Network
(NREN)
• Increased education opportunities and
ICT will be used to increase access to education especially at
information for ordinary for citizens. post-secondary level through promoting online learning and Open
and Distance Education (ODeL). Further, MINEDUC will deploy
• Reduced education costs and improved service a communication strategy to ensure that citizens have access to
information on the education sector.
quality.
By leveraging ICT to provide online courses, especially at higher
• Enhanced students/teacher interaction through education level, education will be more widely available, more
affordable and of better quality. EMIS will improve the effectiveness of
open and distance learning. the education system. The transition from print books to e-books will
reduce costs and improve delivery of learning materials to schools and
students.
MINEDUC will work with HEC, WDA and HLIs to develop online
courses and build the capacity of the HLIs to offer ODeL courses. An
online teacher community will be created to promote peer-learning
and interaction. Importantly, this Master Plan calls for the creation of a
‘One Digital Identity per Student’ which will allow students to interact
and collaborate with their peers and with their teachers on any device.
4.3 ICT-in-Education Vision This vision is derived as a means to implement and achieve
the MINEDUC mission stated above.
In line with the national vision, goals and MINEDUC’s mission
and education sector strategy, the vision for the Smart
Education program is:
‘To harness the innovative and cost-effective potential of
world-class educational technology tools and resources,
for knowledge creation and deepening, to push out the
boundaries of education: improve quality, increase access,
enhance diversity of learning methods and materials, include
new categories of learners, foster both communication and
collaboration skills, and build capacity of all those involved in
providing education.’
16 “Local Strategies for Youth Employment Learning from Practice”, OECD/LEED 2013.
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4.4 ICT-in-Education Objectives
The following policy objective statements have been identified from the ICT in
Education Policy document for the Smart Education program:
# Objective How ICT helps meet objective
1. Develop a competent & relevant ICT ICT is the backbone of high-tech businesses today as well as a key
professional base to meet industry needs. element of most other businesses. By using technology in education,
students not only benefit in terms of education outcomes and
skills development, but they also learn in a real-world technology
environment. Ultimately, use of ICT in the everyday learning can
help to grow and cultivate a base of skilled and knowledgeable ICT
professionals who are capable ofeither starting their own high-tech
businesses, or meet the needs of the high-tech industry.
2. Increase ICT penetration and usage at all The Smart Education program specifically focuses on the integration the
educational levels. regular use of ICT for daily curriculum delivery at all levels of education.
3. Develop teachers’ capacity and capability in A key element of the Smart Education program is to build the capacity
and through ICT for preparing all in-service and pre-service teachers to be confident
and capable of using ICT in the classroom and be able to deliver core
curriculum subject matter as part of creating a student-centered
learning environment.
4. Enhance teaching, learning & research A key element of the Smart Education program is to build the capacity
through ICT integration in HLIs. for preparing all HLI teachers to be confident and capable of using
ICT in the classroom to deliver core curriculum subject matter and to
conduct research.
5. Increase access to education through open, ICT incorporates the use of communications technology in order to
distance & e-learning (ODEL). connect machine to machine as well as teacher-to-teacher, teacher-
to-student, student-to-student, as well as other combinations and
permutations for administrators, parents, etc. Even where connectivity
is poor, use of email and other asynchronous means of communications
help to improve access to education for all reaches of the country.
6. Increase access to information for Similar to ‘Objective #5’ above, ICT incorporates the use of
educational institutions and the general public communications technology in order to connect and provide better
access to information for all educational institutions and for the general
public as well.
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4.5 Promoting the Knowledge Economy industry sectors and job categories , more advanced ICT
skills can translate into even more opportunities such as in
The Smart Education program not only creates a technology- the growth of the ‘app economy’, mobile phones, social media,
enhanced environment in which life-long learning and and the game industry. Youth are becoming digital natives,
education thrives, it is also intended to foster a learning and are well positioned to harness the power of ICT in new
economy which creates opportunities for people, society and imaginative ways. But there is a mismatch between
and businesses to grow and prosper. A learning economy what industry is demanding and what and how schools are
will always support a sustained economic growth and global teaching.
competitive environment for its youth citizens. The supporting
pillars of this learning economy include: ‘Explosion of new learning opportunities that employ novel
(and often free or inexpensive) ways for people to gain the
• Skilled workforce. right skills. The same forces that have unleashed a myriad
• Local job creation. of new career options are generating new forms of learning.
• Local capacity build and access to global technology Open courseware, flipped classrooms, mobile learning, and
other innovations are redefining the realm of the possible,
resources that connect youth and business to global propelling a learning revolution that has the potential to
markets. reach a far greater proportion of the world’s youth.’
• Faster technology transfer & adoption into other The Rwanda government has launched the ‘National ICT
Literacy and Awareness Campaign,’ which is a joint initiative
economic sectors. between the Ministry of Youth and ICT, Ministry of Local
Government, the Ministry of Education, the Rwanda Education
• Technology hub for future growth. Board, Rwanda Development Board, and the Private Sector
• New prosperity and national pride. Federation. Aligning to such a campaign can help to further
• Export opportunities. increase ICT Knowledge among Rwandan citizens and
demonstrate how ICT can play a big role in local businesses,
4.6 Local Manufacturing and Job Creation motivate competition, efficiency, transparency as well as civic
participation.
Rwanda has established a local manufacturing facility to
produce laptops, tablets, smartphones and other ICT devices Opportunities for Graduates
for consumption in Rwanda as well as for export to other Once students graduate from high school or from a post-
countries in Africa. This factory will create local jobs both secondary school, the need for opportunities for these
directly (factory workers) and indirectly (e.g. distribution graduates to apply their new skills and knowledge is essential
network, maintenance and support centers, help desk and in order to fulfill the ultimate goal of making a substantial
packaging among others) through creating a supporting positive impact on the social and economic wellbeing of
eco-system. The viability of this factory is hinged on the large Rwanda as a nation.
education market which is the initial target market. This
bears close parallels to other countries around the world Local businesses can play an important role here by helping
such as Argentina, Venezuela and Bolivia, where the demand future graduates via apprenticeships and internships. Also,
for education devices and the implementation of large scale incubators can help new entrepreneurs by providing support
education technology projects has spurred the creation of and guidance.
local assembly companies.
4.7 Youth Employability and Building Futures
Youth employment plays a major role in overall economic
growth, and better preparing the youth to leverage
information and communication technologies (ICT) is now
a globally-accepted prerequisite for both employment and
entrepreneurship. Since the diffusion of ICT is across all
17 Global Employment Trends 2014, International Labour Organization.
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_233953.pdf
18 “Digital opportunities: Innovative ICT solutions for youth employment”, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), February 2014.
http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Digital-Inclusion/Youth-and-Children/Documents/YouthReport_2014.pdf
19 Ibid.
http://www.myict.gov.rw/press-room/latest-news/latest-news/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=168&cHash=e9267eca5d643a96f8e04292416ec86a
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4.8 Collaboration with the private sector information from schools, students, teachers and staff is
captured, then stored and later processed, analyzed and
This Master Plan envisions close collaboration between finally reported.
Government of Rwanda and the private sector to achieve the
education transformation goals and objectives for national 4.10 Promoting Inclusive Education
development. The private sector is a key stakeholder and can
contribute in various ways: The MINEDUC is committed to providing effective
• As direct investors in setting up schools and HLIs, education to all students irrespective of learning and
physical disabilities. This commitment is enshrined in the
developing appropriate technologies and facilitating Rwanda Constitution (Chapter 40) and the Special Needs
technology transfer, Education Policy of MINEDUC. Appropriate accessible and
• As advisors and ’co-creators’ of solutions to address the assistive technology will be deployed to ensure equality and
challenges faced by the education system. accessibility are addressed for:
• As partners for capacity building and skills development:
Both local and international private sector companies • Vision impairments.
have a variety of programs aimed building capacity and • Learning impairments.
skills creating opportunities for young people to become • Mobility and dexterity impairments.
innovators, entrepreneurs or skilled employees. • Hearing impairments and deafness.
• Language impairments.
4.9 Education Management
Accessible technology is defined as computer technology
The Smart Education program is an opportunity to take a that enables individuals to adjust a computer to meet their
comprehensive look at Rwanda’s entire education system and vision, hearing, dexterity and mobility, learning, and language
put into place an education management information system needs. Assistive technologies are specialty hardware and
(EMIS) to facilitate effective and efficient decision and policy software products that promote tactile stimulation, easy
making, monitoring and evaluation of success metrics, as well manipulation, integrates the visual, auditory and tactile
as research and overall planning. elements to accommodate individual’s impairment, disability,
or multiple disabilities.
The EMIS needs to be integrated into the actual education
environment, since that is the point at which critical
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5. Teacher Professional Development
(TPD) and Pedagogy
Effective teacher development is required in order to indicates the stages that teachers go through in this process.
establish trained trainers in each of the schools to scale and
support the change and the adoption of ICT in the classroom. Professional development is required to support teachers as
In addition, teacher professional development should they progress from:
provide a period of formal education for all teachers involved.
Teacher professional development should also include both • Emerging level: awareness of use of ICT, and use of
pre-service as well as in-service teachers.
ICT potentially for administrative tasks only.
Teacher professional development will consider the following
aspects: • Applying level: use of ICT to replicate traditional
• On-going Teacher Professional Development.
• Leadership Development. pedagogical methods (e.g. substituting PowerPoint
• Teacher Community.
• Mentoring. for use of a blackboard in from the front teaching,
• Sharing.
preparation of printed student worksheets using the
Research shows that it takes approximately 5 to 6 years
for teachers to become competent in the integration of computer).
technology into the classroom. The UNESCO Maturity Model
• Infusing level: understanding how and when to use
ICT to facilitate learning, moving into a more student-
centered pedagogical model.
• Transforming level: pedagogical fluency and
confidence in using ICT for transformative, creative
learning experiences with differentiated methods to
cater to student needs.
The TPD policy and plan needs to reflect how both individual
teachers and schools will be supported as they move along
this continuum.
21 Mueller, J., Wood, E., Willoughby, Tl, Ross, C. and Specht J. Identifying discriminating variables between teachers
who fully integrate computers and teachers with limited integration. Computers & Education 51, 1523-1537, 2008.
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5.1 TPD Policy The Year 1 ten days of training for the Master Teachers will
train them on all the required programs for the first 3 years,
The following policies are required for the teacher as well as give them collaborative time to plan for rolling out
professional development and pedagogy in order to meet the the training.
Master Plan goal to accelerate Education Transformation
in Rwanda, by using technology to drive the migration to a 5.3 Teacher Professional Development
student-centric, adaptive education environment: 5 -Year Plan
Policy Each teacher will have a five-year plan for professional devel-
1. All teachers are required to complete a minimum opment comprising of at least 40 hours of training a year on
ICT integration. The key areas of development are outlined in
of 120 hours of Teacher Professional Development the table below.
(TPD) every 3 years in order to renew their teaching
certificate. Year Curriculum requirements
2. Each teacher will have a five-year plan for required 1 Teachers: 40 hours. Focus on technology literacy
courses, suggested courses, as well as elective and the shift to a student centered environment
courses that will amount to completing 40 hours Minimum three courses (two face-to-face and one
of approved ICT integration training each of the 5 online).
years. School Leaders: 4 hours focused on technology
3. In order to improve teaching methods to ICT- integration support. One course face-to-face.
based adaptive learning methods, require the use 2 Teachers: 40 hours of intermediate ICT literacy
of electronic communication (such as email) for all and integration courses.
personnel involved in education system and process. 3 Teachers: 40 hours of advanced ICT literacy and
integration courses. Focus on advanced integra-
5.2 Train-the-Trainer (TTT) Strategy tion and 21st century skills development.
4 Teachers: 40 hours of advanced ICT integration
In order to train all teachers across Rwanda, a train-the- courses.Focus on advanced integration, 1:1 learn-
trainer (TTT) strategy will be deployed. This strategy has ing, and 21st century skills development.
been employed by many countries around the world. 5 Teachers: 40 hours of advanced ICT integration
The following diagram depicts the 2-level multiplier effect courses. Focus on advanced integration, 1:1 learn-
when you have Master Trainers (MT) who then in turn train all ing, and 21st century skills development.
the classroom teachers.
In developing specific courses for each suggested curriculum
area, the courses will be divided into required courses,
suggested courses, as well as elective courses. The courses
will be offered through a blended learning mode with both
face-to-face and online learning modes.
Wherever possible, the MINEDUC will use existing and
globally proven courses rather than reinvent the wheel. This
will reduce costs and accelerate the teacher training program
while aligning to courses and certifications widely used
around the world.
Figure 6 - Teacher Professional Development train-the-trainer strategy
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Out-of-Cycle Teachers will support the emergence of teaching and pedagogical
The training must be able to accommodate new teachers as student-centered approaches and encourage research and
they enter the TPD program, as well as existing teachers who collaborative learning. The types of supportive training and
may have missed training and need to resume. Consequently, skills to be acquired by teachers are as follows:
new teachers, no matter when they enter the system, will
start with their TPD with Year 1 courses and progress through • Plan a lesson and teach a lesson.
the five year TPD program on the same cadence as other • Engage students in learning using ICT.
teachers, of 40 hours of TPD per year. • Perform presentations, conduct internet research in
Requirements for Classroom Teacher Training class.
The following requirements are pre-requisites for teacher • Collaborate and give feedback.
professional development and for teachers to use and • Use ICT resources (EBooks ,Interactive digital
integrate technology in teaching and learning within the
school and classroom. MINEDUC will work with REB to content, Use of simulators, animations, audio, videos
ensure that these requirements are met. and specific subject software) when available.
• Inspire in students the devotion to learn anytime,
• Laptops for each teacher – These laptops should be every time and anywhere, everywhere using the
assigned to the teachers and they should be able to technologies available.
take them home and begin using them right away in • Pre-requisite skills that students are to demonstrate
order to apply the training. throughout the process are to be prepared in advance
i.e. learners who are in P2, P3, S2,S3, S5,S6 by 2016
• Internet connection – Some of the training involves will join the competence based approach by 2018 and
using the Internet. Other supporting mechanisms 2017 respectively.
such as teacher community portal also require access
to the Internet. 5.5 Teacher Online Community
• Curriculum content – Needs to be easily accessible if As part of the TPD program, the MINEDUC will develop
not loaded onto the teachers’ laptops. a teacher community portal and enroll all teachers at the
beginning of the first teacher professional development
• Electrical power – Although it is possible to use training. The teacher community portal will have the
fully charged laptops without electrical power, following functionality and features:
complications can easily arise without having access
to reliable electrical power. • Information and resources on using integrating
technology such as policies, sample lessons plans,
• Projector – Although it is possible to get-by without tips and tricks for integrating ICT effectively.
a projector, the training is much more efficient and
effective with a projector. • Communication and collaboration tools such as
discussions groups and chat functions.
• WAP (connected to the Internet) – This is necessary
for the laptops to connect to the Internet, as well as • Ability to communicate and collaborate with other
being able to connect to each other when using the teachers in Rwanda and the rest of the world.
classroom management software.
• Ability to share content.
• Classroom management – This application must • Access additional training materials.
be installed on the teacher laptops, so that it can be
demonstrated as part of the training. 5.6 Accreditation and Certification
• Printed material - Although it is possible to get-by A certificate will be given to show the completion of the
without printed material, the training is much more required training course whether it is facilitated online, face-
efficient and effective using printed material for to-face or blended learning. The certificate is issued by the
teachers who are using ICT for the first time. MINEDUC, emailed to teachers and then the teachers can
print a hardcopy for display if they like.
5.4 Training on new Curriculum The MINEDUC may also consider 3rd party certifications
from an Internationally recognized institution.
The existing teacher needs to be trained on the new
competency based curriculum including integration of ICT
as a pedagogy tool in the classroom to improve quality
of education in all subjects and at all levels. This training
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5.7 School Leadership Development 5.10 Pre-Service Teacher Professional
Development
It is important for school leaders to learn how they can
better use technology to help support teacher effectiveness The Pre-service training will use the same materials that will
and improve student achievement. The school leadership be used for in-service training. Training pre-service teachers
course should cover ICT Management and school leaders at teacher colleges using the same material that is used for
should get sensitized about the use of ICT in teaching and in-service teachers ensures that these pre-service teachers
learning to ensure the proper administration of ICT teaching/ are already equipped with the knowledge and skills to use
learning at their school. The course should also cover. ICT in the classroom.Also, reaching pre-service teachers
before they become in-service teachers can help to mitigate
• Reviewing best practices. costs and time required to train in-service teachers.
• Examining leadership behaviors.
• Developing strategies to better support their teachers. The starting point for training pre-service teachers is to
• Exploring strategies for fostering a learning train the professors at the teacher training colleges, who
either already address the use of ICT in the classroom or
environment that leverages technology to help the courses they teach are a natural point for introducing the
develop students’ 21st century skills. integration of ICT. As a start, professors and lecturers will be
supported to integrate widely used courses from recognized
• Discussing ideas and strategies with other leaders and organizations.
apply them to their own practice. Requirements and dependencies
The following are requirements and dependencies for
5.8 Mentoring successful integration of ICT training at the pre-service level:
Having a robust network of teacher mentors is a key factor in • College of Education to approval – Assimilate 5
the overall success of the Smart Education program. As such,
the same teacher trainers can be given additional courses courses into teacher preparation curriculum program.
enabling them to mentor the ICT program in their respective
sectors. • Access to technology – Professors themselves
There will need to be 2 fulltime technology integration
specialists per sector to rotate through a designated and the students must have direct access to the
number of schools and mentor classroom teachers at technology that they are expected to use in the
the schools. These technology integration specialists will classroom. Also, a minimum requirement is for each
support teachers in implementing the lesson plans that the teacher to have their own email address. Generally, it
classroom teachers created at their teacher professional is a good idea for teachers have access to ICT before
development training; as well as create new lessons that their students have access to ICT.
integrate the use of technology into the teaching of core
curriculum subject matter. • User and technical support – Professors themselves
5.9 Evaluation need to be able to get help when they encounter a
problem with using technology.
In order to ensure teachers are given the best possible
chance of success in the shift to integrating technology
as well as 1:1 teaching and creating a student-centered
learning environment, it is critical to be able to identify how
to make continuous improvements to the TPD process by
implementing the following evaluation elements:
• End-of-Training Surveys – These are formative
assessments of TPD course implementation. Based
on the survey results, these courses can be adjusted
and modified as required.
• Impact Research Study – These would be done
at end of the 5-year program and the overall TPD
program would be adjusted based on the research
results.
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6. Digital Curriculum Content & Assessments
Digital curriculum content and assessments is a key and This new curriculum will be used to emphasize the
integral element of the Smart Education program and importance of mastering incremental, concrete skills and it is
encompasses what is actually being taught and what designed to be relevant to the labor market needs of Rwanda.
students learn; and, having high quality digital curriculum This means that the specified subject content and knowledge
content is especially important for effective integration of should be delivered to students by the use of a wide range
technology into the learning environment. Technology itself of exercises and activities that simultaneously develop the
can help make digital curriculum content be more immersive specified competencies in the students, as well as imparting
and interactive, as well as integrate multisensory and content knowledge. Publishers will be required to provide
personalized content to better address the individual needs of digital teacher guides to support the planning of their lessons
students. and assessments and manage the classroom and the work of
the learners.
Technology can also help determine how students interact
with the digital curriculum content and thus provide greater 6.2 Digitization Strategies with existing
insights into the authentic learning process, as well as curriculum
help measure skills development and provide continuous
feedback to guide teachers and drive consistent improvement Students learning with the existing curriculum (considered
in student learning beyond a standardized academic as knowledge based curriculum) will not be left behind with
performance. the digitization plan, even if a lot of emphasis is on the new
competence based curriculum. All students at all levels of
6.1 New Competency-Based Curriculum education are to benefit from the advantages of the modern
pedagogy involving the use of ICT in learning and teaching
A new competency-based curriculum in Basic Education and the use of a diversity of learning methods and materials.
will begin to be delivered in 2016 continuing through 2018, Steps will be taken to ensure that students are equipped
according to the schedule shown in the figure below. appropriately during this transition.
Grade 2016 2017 2018 In order to continue the development of
Pre school (all grades) Pre-requisite skills that students are to
P1 National Examinations demonstrate throughout the process of
P2 National Examinations transition,learners who are in P2, P3, S2,S3,
P3 National Examinations S5,S6 by 2016, will join the competence based
P4 National Examinations approach by 2018 and 2017 respectively. In
P5 order to prepare the students to fit better
P6 with the 21st century skills, they will be given
S1 opportunities to learn using digital content,
S2 open educational resources and the available,
S3 integration of ICT during the education
S4 process.
S5
S6 It is important thatuse of technologyatthis
level of education is mandatory, in order to
encourag independent and active learning, and
students’ responsibility for their own learning.
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6.3 Digital Curriculum Content & Assessment Teachers:
Policy
• Content delivered in different digital formats opens
The following policies will be developed and implemented for
the digital curriculum content and assessments: up a wealth of resources to teachers to enrich the
Policy teaching and learning experience in the classroom.
1. Switch from printed learning materials to digital • Digital content by default is media rich and addresses
learning materials as infrastructure is deployed in
schools. the different learning styles in the classroom.
2. Align curriculum materials with 21st century skills • It is easy to distribute digital content developed by
development.
the teacher to students.
3. Define book acquisition policy to enforce switching
to e-books. • Enrich the learning experience in the classroom.
• Increased student engagement and motivation with
4. Switch to electronic assessment techniques.
rich multi-media and interactive content.
6.4 Benefits of Digital Content (versus printed
text books) • Can build quick assessments to check for conceptual
The Global shift toward the usage of digital content as understanding.
opposed to printed teaching and learning materials, clearly
informed the Policy. Access to electronic devices and delivery Students:
mechanisms enables an environment where the benefits of
digital content usage in teaching and learning come to life. • Students will compete in a global economy where
Benefits can be categorized as below:
all content and communication happens in a digital
Government:
Digital content and electronic delivery systems allow environment.
Government to better manage the following:
• Being exposed to digital content from an early
• Costs – digital content reduces the cost of printing
age will ensure that students are able to compete
and delivery of books to schools.
successfully.
• Updates – it is much easier to update a digital
• Searchable content enables rapid access to required
document than to make changes to an already printed
book. information.
• Wear and tear – Printed books are exposed to damage • Richer learning experience with different learning
caused by usage, which implies reprinting of books. styles.
• Analytics - This is gathered per individual during • Easy to annotate and revise annotations as needed.
• Easy to use with students with learning disabilities
the usage of digital content. This data can inform
Governments and educational authorities with regards when coupled with assistive or Accessible
to course corrections needed in the teaching and
learning process. It allows teachers to instantly technologies e.g. text to speech for blind students.
identify potential gaps in individual engagement with
the content and further inform adaptive learning. • All the books and content required in one device
• Quality of education - Learning and teaching process reduces carrying heavy bags.
using modern pedagogy through the diversity of • Enables anywhere, anytime learning.
learning methods and materials will improve the
quality of education. 6.5 Types/ Formats of Digital Content
Digital content in the Rwandan context refers to any teaching
and learning material in an electronic format.
Broadly, digital content includes:
• Digital textbooks or e-books in electronic formats
that can be viewed on computers and mobile devices.
These textbooks can be created by commercial,
public, open source or independent publishers.
E-books include information on a single topic, full
lesson or a complete text book.
• Learning objects such as pictures, videos, audio clips,
infographics, quizzes, and tests.
• Apps and games that engage students, can be highly
interactive, adaptive and provide feedback.
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• Online assessments including formative and real- • Simulators: To simulate what is not available
locally or experimentally difficult to make
time assessments that provide feedback to students concrete.
on their performance and are critical for personalized
learning. Integration of a specific digital format will be determined by
the application in a teaching and learning environment.
• Adaptive activities content created with the adaptive Digital content in the Rwandan context can also be
categorized as Core curriculum content and Supplementary
use in mind. Each student may follow a different content. The core curriculum will be informed by the
path inside the activity depending on what he did or curriculum documents generated by REB and will include
answered. Questions use plausible distractors to help e-books. Requirements will be communicated to publishers
the system better identify student misconceptions. and authors.
These types of digital content come in several formats. Supplementary digital content is already in use in Rwanda.
It refers to stand alone digital content which does not
• The basic formats of digital content in this context necessarily link directly to the core curriculum, but rather
supplements the core curriculum. It is offered to schools
are ’pdf’ and ePub. A ’pdf’ is often referred to as a first by International and local content providers, for example
level e-textbook, i.e. a digital version of a printed text interactive programs on how to learn to speak English.
book; and ePub provides for content to be ’re-flowed’
in order to optimize the display of a particular device. 6.6 Approaches to Development & Acquisition
Both ‘pdf’ and ePub can be enhanced once ingested in of Digital content
a content platform by the use of smart links.
The successful development and acquisition of digital content
• E-text books can be enhanced with other types of are dependent on the nurturing of a content eco-system
which typically consists of the following contributors:
digital content through ‘Smart Links’ that allow the
user to link certain phrases in the basic document to • Curriculum developers representing REB.
other types of digital content, such as: • Content providers(Publishers and Authors).
• Videos: These are in formats such as MP4. • Teachers.
• University professors.
Videos support the teacher to bring the real • International Digital content providers.
world into the classroom in a safe way. For
example a video which shows the eruption of The acquisition of the core curriculum in the form of
a volcano makes the learning more real than a e-textbooks and paper textbooks will follow the same existing
teacher explaining the eruption of a volcano. procurement and selection process, which implies the
• Audio: This is in formats such as MP3, and can following:
be used as podcasts to discuss complex subject
matter in more detail or to provide exam notes • Publishers will be informed during a face-to-face
for students.
• Interactive: This is content that can be provided information session about the new requirements for
in any number of formats including HTML5, content, which implies content should be available in
legacy, Flash, etc. This implies that the digital pdf format as detailed in the ‘Learning and Teaching
content that the student engages with requires Materials specification…’, a document produced by the
a response from the student to proceed, as well REB.
as provides the student with instant feedback.
Instant feedback re-enforces learning and • From there a tender will be issued, to which
therefore contributes to the overall learning
experience. Interactivity, such as smart links, publishers and authors can respond.
can be added to ’pdf’ and ePub files via content
management and delivery platforms. • Evaluation of content will be done by subject matter
• Animations: This can include ‘svg’, legacy flash
animations or MP4. It is often used to explain a experts hired by REB for the duration of the evaluation
difficult concept. For example the working of the period by using the printed books, and pre-set
heart is very hard to imagine, once shown in an evaluation forms.
animation,it becomes real and the student will
remember it for much longer. • Feedback reports will be generated and provided to
the publishers and authors.
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• Once content is approved, REB may negotiate the In summary, the following approaches are part of
acquisition of copyright with the publisher, which development and procurement of world-class, high-quality
implies hand-over of e-textbooks.
digital content resources for Rwanda:
• E-textbooks will be ingested in the content platform
• The current printed textbook procurement program
and the content will be enhanced with freely available
content mapped to the core curriculum. will be adapted to allow for the procurement of:
• The same e-textbook can be printed where students • Core curriculum in the form of e-textbooks.
do not yet have access to technology. • Supplementary content, which may include
The options available to acquire supplementary digital international content pre-approved by REB, based
content are as follows:
on the need identified.
• Acquisition of new digital content – this implies
• Develop and encourage local and user-generated
that a content developer will develop custom digital
content as per instruction of REB (e.g. simulations, content production to produce locally relevant
timelines, interactive exercises, group exercises,
additional texts) which complements the new digital eBooks, digital learning resources and shared teacher
curriculum as developed by the REB. This information
will be shared with the publishers by REB during a lesson plans to quickly produce culturally relevant
face-to-face information session.
materials.
• Adapting or repurposing existing content – this
• Utilize free supplementary resources, pre-approved by
implies the localization of International content to
align to the local curriculum. REB. This material can be preloaded on the devices,
• Creation of new digital content in country –this especially where broadband connectivity is an issue.
implies the activation of local talent referring to This material may be mapped to the curriculum as
teachers, University professors and students to
create new digital content. The Schools Technology part of the content enhancement exercise noted
Innovation Center (STIC) will play an integral role in
realizing this option. above.
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6.7 Transition from Print to E-books
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Books * E-books Paper Based Books E-Books proliferation Transition to digital only
eBooks (formats) Pdf for Pilots Pdf - enhanced Pdf – enhanced Pdf + EPUB3
For Pilots P1, P4, S1, S4 P2, P5, S2, S5 P3, P6, S3, S6
Supplementary
digital content Multiple digital formats
Pilot deployment * ICT Curricul Rapid prototyping as required to
Rapid prototyping Pilot um pilot identify specific changes
Deployment Acquisition process 3 Subject rollout (Math, Science and English deployment) Initial subject Deployment complete
Competency based P1, P4, S1, S4 P2, P5, S2, S5 P3, P6, S4, S6
curriculum rollout
Access * Device Share model Transition to Student 1: 1 model
model
Figure 8 - Transition from Print to E-books • Have offline capabilities: students and teachers should
6.8 Content Delivery Platform be able to download and access e-books offline. This
MINEDUC will acquire and implement a content delivery reduces dependency on having internet connectivity
platform for delivery and management of interactive e-books
to students. The content delivery platform will have the to use the e-books. Also important is the ability to re-
following functionality:
General functionality: download the book if it is deleted accidently from the
• Cloud based and offered through a Software as a student device.
Service (SaaS) where MINEDUC will license the • Have an industry standard Digital Rights Management
content distribution system on a subscription basis
and outsource the maintenance of the platform to (DRM) system based on open standards. The DRM
a vendor or provider. This approach will have the
following benefits: system should also allow for specific DRM rules per
• Automatically updated to harness the global publisher and other content providers.
trends in education carried out through the content • DRM is important to assure publishers that their
distribution system enhancements.
content and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) will be
• Allows gradual shift to adaptive learning while
safeguarded.
evolving available digital resources.
• Be able to work on multiple computing form factors
• Reduces investment in developing publishing tools
such as desktops, laptops and tablets and support
and focuses available resources on enhancing
available digital content. multiple operating system including Microsoft
• Ability to locally host the platform: MINEDUC should Windows, ™ Apple iOS™ and Android™. The platform
be able to host the platform in Rwanda. should not require special equipment at the school
level for operation, aside from good broadband access
and common computing platforms.
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For Government and Administration: appropriate measures can be taken to improve
learning outcomes.
• Have centralized License management –REB can
For publishers:
add publisher licenses at a central level to control
the number and length of digital content licenses. • Support upload of PDF and ePUB1.
Students can be assigned books based on available • Book Enhancer: Add interactive elements such as
licenses acquired by REB or the schools.
videos, audio, websites, and glossary to e-Books as a
• Have centralized and real-time user management: virtual layer, in minutes.
this will include ability to disable content in real- • Preview before publishing: Preview the enhancements
time in case students leave the school system, easy
operations while students move end of year to the made to eBooks in a QA environment before pushing
next grade, adding/removing users, adding/removing changes to all students.
publishers, reset passwords, manage account
privileges. • Assessment: Make end-of-chapter quizzes into
• Inter-operability: ability to integrate with EMIS, interactive, multiple-choice, questions. The
assessment system should support the addition of
SIS, as well as with a collaborative learning tool multi-media assets like YouTube or Vimeo assets and
like OneNote which enables sharing of teaching and feedback features, such as hints and remediation.
learning content, or via CSV data files that allows
distribution and expiration automatically based on 6.9 Assessments
real-time enrollment changes, such as student add/
drop, saving administrative hours between students There is enormous focus worldwide on the development of
and teachers. digital assessment solutions and personalized individualized
learning solutions that focus on subject matter competencies
For students: and skills, as well as support the following:
• Ability to have fully offline operation and ability to • Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS).
• Peer and Self-Assessment for Students.
download books and access them online. • Scoring and Interpreting Student Performance.
• Link to Teaching.
• Ability for students to annotate eBooks, add notes,
Initially, the eLearning content can support tests and
links and enhance their digital content: This drives quizzes to support formative assessment and tracking to
good study habits through different color highlights, monitor progress in the project based learning. Assessment
notes, and journals. methodologies will be discussed with the digital content
producers as part of the digital content development process.
• Multiplatform Sync: Ability for students to save and
6.10 Curriculum Innovation Center
synchronize their digital materials and work products,
such as notes and highlights, to the cloud, enabling a MINEDUC will collaborate with the private sector and other
seamless experience across multiple devices. partners to establish a Schools Technology Innovation
Center (STIC). The STIC is a center for best practice and
• Advanced Search: Students can search through their innovation in ICT deployment and utilization for Teaching and
Learning in Rwanda Schools. So far, MINEDUC has engaged
text, notes, and highlights within one book, or across with Intel and Microsoft to set up the STIC.
all of their digital content.
The objectives of the STIC will be to:
For teachers:
• Improve access and use to and of information and
• Analytics that link students’ performance to
communications technology (’ICT’) in primary and
engagement with digital content, helping educators secondary education in Rwanda, by illustrating new
identify at-risk students and personalize instruction. models for technology integration in schools.
• Display student performance in graph form to help • Support the development of relevant curriculum and
teachers visualize the data to make it easy to decipher. locally developed content that meets the needs of
learners and teachers in the 21st century.
• Data-driven approach to help educators identify
• Showcase educational technology and solutions to
students who need assistance with their studies.
This involves collecting data on student engagement improve teaching and learning in Rwanda.
through metrics that indicate how students interact
with content. Analytics then link student engagement 42
and grades and as a result, the educator can identify
low-performing, at-risk students much earlier and
RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
The STIC will allow MINEDUC to: 1. System underperformance
A part of the curriculum that is perhaps underperforming, for
• Test and pilot new paradigms such as (adaptive example:
learning). a. in specific subjects which habitually underperform
such as mathematics, or
• Test and pilot emerging technologies and solutions.
• Carry out curriculum development innovation and b. where the supply of specific teacher expertise is
lacking such as in physics.
research.
2. Pedagogical appropriateness
• Create, adapt or test dynamic and relevant content. A part of the curriculum that lends itself to the desired
• Pilot monetization of innovative concepts. change, for example:
• Test and trial emerging pedagogies.
• Participate in and take lessons from Science Fairs a. where difficult concepts can be brought to life such
as understanding how a rift valley is formed in 3
(STEMP). dimensions, or
A dedicated STIC manager will be appointed by MNEDUC b. promoting collaborative learning through discussing
to manage the STIC and coordinate with stakeholders and difficult issues such as sex education or the lessons
partners. learned from history.
6.11 Rapid Prototyping and Curriculum 3. Technological appropriateness
Innovation A part of the curriculum that is particularly suited to
technology, for example:
The purpose of a rapid prototype is to identify an intervention
that will bring about specific change at the classroom a. producing a timeline in history using presentation
level. Given the scale and complexity of using technology software, or
for transforming education in Rwanda and the concurrent
need to support the delivery of a new curriculum which will b. using a spreadsheet to simply calculations.
introduce student centered learning techniques, a prototype
or pilot will be carried out. A rapid prototype will be designed The implementation of the prototype will also mimic the
that applies technology in a specific part of the curriculum in teacher professional development process and will work
order to demonstrate how such approaches can be used to with teachers at different stages of their own professional
both improve teacher effectiveness and learner achievement. development. The prototype will provide answers on how to
replicate the intervention, how to scale the replication and
The first stage in building the rapid prototype plan will be how to sustain the change.
to make a choice about which area of the curriculum the
intervention should be applied. This would be designed to
test three ideas, each of which will be articulated through a
‘use case’ scenario that is used to check progress:
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RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
7. ICT Infrastructure and Services
ICT infrastructure is the technology foundation upon which 7.1 Policy
education transformation is built. It includes software,
peripheral and support devices, Internet and networking The following policies will be developed and implemented for
infrastructure, school servers, and providing the right devices ICT infrastructure:
for teachers and students, factoring in considerations for age
and usage models. Policy
1. Provide adequate ICT infrastructure for teachers,
ICT infrastructure also takes into consideration security,
privacy and management of devices, such that education schools and students.
value and outcomes can be maximized while mitigating risks, 2. All in-service teachers, inspectors, and all others
and lowering costs and time to implementation.
involved in teaching process should have access to
Since 2008, MINEDUC has followed a policy of One Laptop their own computer.
per Child (OLPC) at primary schools and computer labs for 3. Equip schools with adequate ICT infrastructure to
secondary schools. This policy has now been revised to a enable use of ICT to deliver core curriculum subject
’One Digital Identity Per Child’ and ‘Smart Classrooms’ in all matter.
primary and secondary schools. While a device for every child 4. Enable a 1:1 eLearning model by defining income level-
remains the end goal, MINEDUC is shifting from One Laptop based policy for parents to acquire access to devices
Per Child (OLPC) to the concept of a ’Smart Classroom’ for their children.
following changing technology, in order to reduce costs and 5. Define education services policies to make broadband
increase access and equity. and power (grid, solar or generator) affordable to
schools.
At the same time, MINEDUC is prioritizing the connectivity
of all education institutions in Rwanda leveraging the 7.2 Smart Classrooms
investments the Government of Rwanda has made in
broadband networks. Good connectivity will enable the ’One The Smart Classroom is the basis of the Smart Education
Digital Identity Per Child’ where every child can access their Program, and is a cloud-based, adaptive learning environment
work, notes, e-books and other educational content on any and describes how Rwanda will actually transform education
device. Connectivity will also enable MINEDUC to deploy and create the student-centered environment described
cloud services in line with the Smart Rwanda Master Plan. above for all students in Rwanda. The Smart Classroom
is physically depicted below with key technology elements
integrated as follows:
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RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
Figure 9 The Smart Classroom As such, any classroom can be made ’Smart’ by bringing
the technology into the classroom. Schools with existing
• Laptops – These are for teachers and students to dedicated computer labs may opt to keep the rooms and
convert them into dedicated Smart Classrooms. This makes
access and use curriculum content as well as for it more feasible to have large Interactive White Boards that
general use for everyday teaching and learning. don’t have to move from one classroom to another.
• Interactive Whiteboard – This is used to help 7.2.1 Deployment approaches for Smart Classrooms
Until a 1:1 eLearning Model is feasible to implement on a
integrate the use of technology with daily core large scale, primarily due to the financial implications of 1:1,
curriculum delivery. the following interim shared models for the Smart Classroom
will be applied as appropriate to the situation and needs of
• Collaborative Spaces - This is used to help integrate the school, and the students who will be using the computers:
the use of technology, the core curriculum and • Student Check-Out Model – In this model, laptops
concrete materials.
are stored and charged in one place and used in any
• Labware – This is used for doing science experiments classroom. A dedicated room or closet is typically
made available for this model and the room or closet
and observations. needs to be secured. When a particular class group
is assigned to use the laptops, typically the students
• School Server – This is used to cache content and are directed by their teacher to retrieve the laptops
from the storage room or closet. The disadvantages
more effectively share the broadband connection.
• Cloud – This is the infrastructure used for managing
laptops and servers within schools, as well as
providing access to national curriculum content.
The Smart Classroom will not require a dedicated computer
lab, special wiring in the classroom or special furniture thus
reducing deployment costs. These advantages are created
by the use of mobile devices (laptops) rather than desktops.
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RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
of this model is the time and disruption for the When using a COW model, the physical layout and
students to retrieve the laptops. Since a wireless accessibility must be taken into consideration. For example, if
access point (WAP) is necessary for all of the laptops the path for a COW must be smooth enough for the wheels of
to communicate, if one is not already provided in the the COW and the floor levels must be the same, i.e. no stairs.
classroom, then it would also need to be checked-out
from the storage room. 7.2.2 School Deployment Models
There are two basic Smart Classroom models for schools
• Computer on Wheels (COW) Model – In this model, that are primarily driven by the quality of power as defined
below.
laptops are kept on a cart or trolley that can be
wheeled into the classrooms that are assigned to use Model A for schools with grid electricity
the laptops for specific subjects and class periods. Schools with grid electricity (or high capacity solar and
The cart typically has the provision to charge the generator systems) will be able to have a full Smart
laptops when the COW is plugged into an electrical Classroom solutions including all the elements described
socket. This model can be less disruptive since the above. Specifically, these schools can handle IWBs or
laptops are brought into the classroom and then each projectors and electronic scientific lab equipment. They
student can take a laptop from the COW. When the can also more easily add student laptops or more Smart
cart is not in use, it is typically returned to a location Classrooms as there are no prohibitive one time power
within the school where the COW is secure and can considerations. The figure below depicts a school with grid or
be plugged into an electrical outlet for charging of large capacity alternative power source.
the laptops. Often a wireless access point (WAP) is
provided on the COW and this would especially be
necessary if there is no WAP already in the classroom.
Figure 10 – School solution model “A” and with grid electric power
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RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
Model B: schools with low capacity alternative power sources
Schools powered by solar power or generators may be unable
to power IWBs or projectors. As such, these schools will initially
have Smart Classrooms consisting of only student laptops,
teacher laptops, school servers and wireless access points. As
the power systems are upgraded (add solar panels, increase
generator capacity or connect to grid), their Smart Classrooms
will be upgraded to have IWBs and projectors. Also MINEDUC
will continuously evaluate new low power technology solutions
as the technology improves to determine suitable IWBs and
projectors for low power schools. The model B schoolexample is
shown in the figure below.
Figure 11 - School solution model “B” with solar or generator power
Model C: schools with limited access to power Model Power Quality Solution Elements
Schools with limited access to power which are A Good
unable to power IWBs or projectors and laptops • Teacher and student laptops
at once. As such, these schools will initially B Poor • IWB and projector
have painted wall, battery operated projector, • School LAN and server (esp. if many class-
wireless access point with internal storage and C No power
one teacher laptop, all to be charged at nearest rooms)
power source. Their Smart Classrooms will be
upgraded to have all the needed equipment’s • Lab equipment
upon the availability of power. • Just teacher and student laptops, no IWB,
projector, etc.
• Battery-backed WAP/ school server
• Alternative or supplemental power source
• Painted wall
• Teacher laptop
• Battery operated projector
• Battery operated wireless access point
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RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
7.3 Teacher & Student Hardware and Software • Manageability – Manage the devices centrally.
• Performance – Provide good user response for the
7.3.1 Teacher Computers Requirements
Teacher laptops should meet the follow requirements: range of different content that can run on the device in
• Usage – Support project-based learning as well as order to deliver the best possible learning experience.
regular curriculum delivery. (5 MHz Wi-Fi).
• Internet Independence –Continue teaching even • Security – Built-in, HW-level security and online
when there is no Internet connection or the Internet protection for students and schools.
connection may be poor.
• Tools for Scientific Inquiry –Take the device to the
• Content Creation –Teachers can create content to be
field to capture data with built in tools for exploration.
used by students as well as other teachers.
• Battery Life – Students are able to use through-out
• Manageability – Manage the devices centrally.
• Performance – Provide good user response for the the school day, or approximately 6 hours while using
range of different content that can run on the device in office applications and with wireless connectivity.
order to deliver the best possible learning experience.
(5 MHz Wi-Fi). • Large storage – Large Hard Disk to ensure:
• At least enough minimum storage for operating
• Security – Built-in, HW-level security and online
system, digital content and curricula and other
protection for students and schools.
productivity applications;
• Battery Life – Teachers are able to use through-out
• Storage expansion for additional content and
the school day, or approximately more than 6 hours
while using office applications and with wireless educational apps; and
connectivity.
• Enough offline storage to warranty a smooth
• Large storage – Large Hard Disk to ensure:
• At least enough minimum storage for Operating learning process in the case of absence of good
System, digital content and curricula and other internet connectivity for content access.
productivity applications;
7.3.3 Teacher & Student Software
• Storage expansion for additional content and
The following is the standard software needs required for
educational apps; and
student and teacher devices deployed in schools. MINEDUC
• Enough offline storage to warranty a smooth
will procure appropriate education software to fulfill the need
learning process in the case of absence of good
internet connectivity for content access. detailed below:
7.3.2 Student Computers Requirements • Productivity Software: Productivity software is
Student devices should meet the following considerations:
important for learning ICT skills, manipulating
• Appropriate to Age – Ethnographic research to
information, accessing the internet, organizing and
ensure the best fit of the device to the age of the
student. presenting information and playing content and
• Usage – Support project-based learning as well as multimedia files. Productivity software will include:
regular curriculum delivery. • Word processor.
• Presentation software including features
• Durability – A strong frame (or chassis), sides and
to create video- and audio-augmented
corners absorb the force of bumps and reduce
damage when dropped, and water resistant keyboard. presentations.
• Internet Independence – Continue learning even • Paint/ drawing software.
• Video and audio players.
when there is no Internet connection or the Internet • Basic video editor.
connection may be poor. • Image/picture viewer.
• Web browser W3C compliant for HTML5, CSS
• Content Creation – Students can create content
and JavaScript, RSS.
versus just consume.
• Collaborative tools (asynchronous and
synchronous communication for individuals
and groups, group workspaces, collaborative
document/worksheet/presentation tools).
• Online portfolio and notebook tools.
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RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
• Classroom management:Tools to empower teachers 7.4 Standard Device Image
to efficiently manage the classroom and keep the The devices used in schools will require configuration of the
students on track. The Classroom management Operating System, software (as defined above), services,
software will have the following capabilities: content as well as customization and personalization to suit
MINEDUC’s requirements. To scale, MINEDUC will create a
• Virtual class environment for students and ’device image’ which captures all of these configurations on
a device and is used to duplicate the configuration onto all
teacher collaboration and interaction. other devices manufactured. The initial set up of this process
will be in three stages, followed by a commissioning stage
• Teacher console to admin virtual class. required for all devices.
• Workgroup (Improving teamwork).
• Online chat, hand raising. 1. Creation of the default manufacturer’s image, using
• Admin tools to manage virtual classroom.
• Monitor, control and discipline tools. configuration and requirements from MINEDUC. This
• Online quizzes. stage is owned by the manufacturer.
• Submit and receive files.
2. Using this initial default image, MINEDUC will
• Anti-virus: Industry standard Anti-virus software with
configure additional installation, customization or
automatic web-based updates for at least 3 years. personalization on the devices to suit requirements.
The software must include the following features:
3. A new image of the device will be captured and
• Apps, SD card and Internet downloads scanning
generalized ready for duplication onto all new devices
for malware detection, virus, botnets, spyware
and PUPs. 4. All new devices will require some manual
• User privacy protection through smart apps configuration and commissioning after they have been
built by the OEM. This includes configuration such as:
scanning and analysis. a. Running through the Out of Box
• Warns and blocks risky web content and Experience(OOBE) and initial setup steps.
b. Device renaming strategy, for example using of a
dangerous email.
3 letter area code – 3 letter school code – 3 digit
• Scientific exploration and 21st century skills PC number. E.g. KIG-STJ-001, KIG-STJ-002 for
the first two devices at St Johns School in Kigali.
tools: Software for Scientific exploration to let the c. Network configuration (making sure DHCP is
students be active learners and develop their problem enabled, IPv6 configured, Wireless Network
resolution and critical thinking skills. Such tools Adapter settings).
include: d. Joining the device to the domain or directory to
enable multi-user logon.
• Image and video capture to visualize and e. Domain or directory configuration of mandatory
profiles and roaming configuration of document
analyze natural phenomena such time, speed, storage.
movements, paths. f. This device configuration stage will be project
managed to determine the location of this
• Data capture and analysis tools. configuration and the installation and testing in
• Media creation and manipulation. each of the local schools.
• Anti-theft software: Software needed to lock/ 7.5 Interactive Whiteboards and projectors
unlock machines at school, district or national Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) and projectors are display
levels according to connectivity availability, working devices that enable a teacher to present and display
in tandem with Hardware based security support information. Interactive White Boards incorporate projection
to be handled by discrete chip (e.g. TPM) outside technologies and add a layer of interactivity at the screen.
of firmware. Anti-theft solution should have the Interactive White Boards or projectors create a more
following capabilities: engaging and immersive experience in the Smart Classroom.
MINEDUC will provide Interactive White Boards and
• Remote, online administrative tool to monitor, projectors for schools. To keep costs down and taking into
track and manage the physical security of the
device.
• Means to admin the security or delegate this
responsibility to a third party.
• Security either at school, district or cloud level.
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RWANDA MINEDUC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PL AN
consideration low power environments at schools without To reduce costs associated with wiring, MINEDUC will deploy
grid power, the following requirements will have to be met wireless based network technologies using Wireless Access
with any display technology: Point (WAP) based on IEEE 802 technologies with routing
capabilities to enable access to the Internet to access cloud
• Portable: the IWB or projector must be light enough services. Wireless Access Points should meet the following
requirements:
to be easily carried from class-to-class.
• Be portable to allow movement between classroom
• Rugged design: The display device should be rugged • Provide WiFi connections with IEEE 802 based
enough to withstand frequent movement in the technologies allowing up to 50 simultaneous
school. connections
• Have a battery backup of at least 2 hours to allow use • Have a battery backup of up to 5 hours to allow use
without direct connection to power source. without direct connection to power source
• Audio-video: have speakers and ability to show video. • Enable DHCP allocation of IP addresses to student
• Able to project to a flat white surface: One wall of the
devices
classroom will be painted white and should become
interactive when displayed upon. • Connect to the internet with wired (Ethernet) or
• Wireless: have in-built Wifi for connections to the wireless (3G and 4G) connections
internet and Blue Tooth for connection to other • Have in-built firewall and support security and
devices.
industry standard encryption applications
• Brightness: be able to operate in classroom during
• Have on-board storage and able to act as a small
with sunlight.
server for content
• Long lasting lamp: have a lamp that doesn’t require
• Have a USB port to easily load content in absence of
frequent replacement with at least 5,000 hours of
operation. internet connection
• Able to work with productivity applications and access • Have an easy to configure interface
the internet. 7.8 Internet Connectivity
7.6 Collaborative Spaces: Uninterrupted access to the Internet is an important goal for
a globally competitive education system. Within an education
A collaborative space is a technology that combines the system, the main objectives are to leverage ICT to accelerate
visual, auditory and tactile elements integrating digital and learning and enable greater efficiencies that lead to cost
concrete materials through experimentation in a collaborative savings, as clearly articulated by the Smart Rwanda Master
and interactive environment. Plan.
The experimentation and social interaction effectively expand As costs have fallen and new technologies such as 3G and
cognitive, motor skills as well as cultural and social aspects 4G have increased coverage in many countries, internet
through music, videos and rhythmic activities targeted to connectivity for all schools is now an achievable goal.
primary and secondary schools. Each collaborative space In developed countries, over 90% of all schools are now
requires a PC device for connecting hardware, software and connected to the internet, with developing countries rapidly
multimedia interactive activities. catching up .
7.7 School Network The Government of Rwanda has already deployed a world-
class national fiber network as well as 4G access network
At present, very few schools have a school network or for the last mile expected to cover the entire country within
networked lab with only 1% of primary schools and 31% 3 years. MINEDUC will collaborate with MYICT to deploy
of secondary schools having a networked lab. The school broadband internet connectivity to all schools. The target is
network is important to enable student and teacher 50 Mbps per school with higher education institutions having
collaboration within the school even in the absence of internet much higher capacity connections for research. Connections
access. It enables the teacher to manage the student devices for schools will be wired (fiber) where this is possible, or
in a classroom setting thus boosting effectiveness and wireless (3G or 4G).
efficiency. The school network is also important to share the
Internet connection and other resources such as printers.
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