Africa

Sustainable 21st Century Learning Initiative

Our goal: A sustainable, scalable grassroots initiative

Cybersmart! works to make 21st century learning scalable and sustainable—capable of being replicated en masse while being maintained and enriched over a long period of time. The challenges of scale and sustainability lie at the core of what is essential to successfully narrow the digital divide and prepare students to benefit economically, socially and politically from living in a connected world.

Our goal is to provide a solution to these challenges through the CyberSmart! Sustainable 21st Century Learning Initiative, adding value to the work and significant investment of all organizations committed to building an information society.

Watch a video filmed about the vision propelling us forward.

An elearning ecosystem with grassroots

An elearning ecosystem operates as a learning community where all the parts work harmoniously to create knowledge, achievement, and positive growth in a way similar to that of a healthy biological ecosystem. Using a 21st century skills instructional and professional training model that is easy to implement, reproduce and scale—the CyberSmart! approach enriches and extends the Senegalese elementary and middle school curricula while breaking down the barriers that separate school from real-world authentic learning. Teacher professional development supports collaboration and the creation and sharing of learning materials at the grassroots level.

By design, with the grassroots content creation, teachers participate hands-on in the same kind of 21st century learning they are expected to encourage in the classroom. The entire process is fueled by the increasing 21st century skills of both the teachers and the students. Each component of the elearning ecosystem supports growth of the other, giving the overall initiative structure and the ability to scale.

Objectives

to implement a cost-effective and flexible solution enabling the maximum number of Senegalese elementary and middle school students to benefit from living in a connected world
to have a measurable positive impact on student academic achievement, student drop out rate, and school attendance of girls
to extend and enrich textbook curricula for elementary and middle schools (pilots) by using an easily replicated instructional model that encourages 21st century skills—inquiry, collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking—and enables authentic, relevant learning experiences
to have learning processes drive technology use by integrating appropriate technologies to support social studies, math, science and reading achievement
to implement a grassroots collaborative professional development model using online networks, mobile learning, SMS messaging, and face-to-face support wherein value increases as more educators participate
to have a measurable improvement on teacher attendance, decreased transfer and attrition rates, and an observable increased used of 21st century skills evidenced through a variety of instruction methods

Digital storytelling project

We use digital storytelling to empower students to use 21st century tools in a learning process that requires critical and creative thinking, collaboration, and problem solving—hallmarks of 21st century learning. Our immediate goal is to engage and inspire students in hands-on, less abstract learning. Our ultimate goal is preparing students for work and life in a changing economy that demands participants who are creative and innovative thinkers in addition to being skilled digital-age workers. Read more