Below are the main programs I co-created with Butterfly Works and NairoBits between 2000 and 2012. The programs create transformational educational possibilities for young people using a combination of new technologies and design thinking.
Great Idea, Afghanistan,
2011-2012
Three decades of war, repressive governments and severe poverty have destroyed most of Afghanistan’s formal education system. Great Idea is a distance learning project that improves the quality and accessibility of secondary education in Parwan province, with a particular focus on female students.
Great Idea utilizes satellite telecasts and mobile phone services in order to extend the reach of qualified teachers into remote, rural areas. Using the Ministry of Education’s national framework, core subjects in maths and science are taught via telecast. A consultation line allows students to phone in their questions, and a competitive quiz keeps them engaged from lesson to lesson.
Project Website – http://afghanlearning.wordpress.com/
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Learning about Living, Nigeria, Senegal, Mali,
2007 – 2012
Learning about Living is an e-learning version of the Nigerian national curriculum on HIV/AIDS prevention and life skills. Using fun, interactive lessons, Learning about Living addresses areas such as relationships, goal-setting and sexual health, along with wider aspects of society including art, law and media.The Learning about Living classroom program is accompanied by a free SMS hotline that allows young people to call or text with questions and receive advice from counsellors. The first independent evaluation in 2008 demonstrated that the program was significantly more effective than more traditional methods. Learning about Living has been adapted and improved for Senegal and Mali, with plans for Egypt and Bangladesh afoot.
- Project Website – http://www.learningaboutliving.org. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
- NairoBits, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, 2000 – 2012
- Nairobits trains young people from Nairobi`s slums as web designers and cultural entrepreneurs. Founded in 2000 as a one-year digital design school, Nairobits now boasts 6,000 alumni and multiple courses in media, life skills and entrepreneurship. With a 100% success rate in placing graduates in jobs, the school is often a life-changing opportunity for less-privileged youth.The NairoBits model has been successfully expanded to Ethiopia, Zanzibar and Uganda. Mamabits, “the mother of all Bits”, is a franchise-holder and support centre in Nairobi that co-ordinates training and assistance to all the Bits projects.
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- Mark Kamau, former student, then trainer, now UX designer at iHUB
Project Website : www.nairobits.com
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Unsung Peace Heroes, Kenya, 2008
- Putting the spotlight on peace makers
This online and sms competition called on the Kenyan public to vote for local peace heroes. Those who had helped others during the post-election violence or promoted peace in whatever small way.
The 10 winning heroes received prize money and their photo and story in the national newspaper. It really gave a positive vibe after all the horror people experienced and put the spotlight on those who put themselves at risk to help their fellow man or woman.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Building Bridges, Kenya, 2010
- Building Bridges across communities
This was the follow up campaign to ‘Unsung Peace Heroes’ a similar concept only this time it rewarded peace initiatives that build bridges across communities in an effort to create lasting social cohesion. Launched April 2010 It made use of 10 different media platforms in order to really reach out to as wide an audience as possible, with the motto “Peace pays’ it used, web, sms, mobile web, radio, TV, flyers, live meetings, facebook, U name it.
Web: www.buildingbridges.co.ke
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I Live Here and You? Kenya, Morocco, Netherlands
Co-Created children books
A series of children’s books co-created about their lifestyles drawn by children for other children. Making the books was once of the best experiences, working with the children, even though we didn’t speak a shared language, drawing day in day out. The books have been sold in bookshops throughout the Netherlands with the profit going back to the children’s communities.
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The World starts with Me, Uganda, 2003
E-learning in Uganda
A comprehensive sexual and reproductive health course for teenagers, originally co-designed with and for Ugandan youth in 2003, it has since been adapted for Vietnam, Cambodia, Kenya, Indonesia and Thailand.
Recently named as a best practice in sexual health education by UNESCO and forms the basis for the guidelines for the development of new curriculums on this topic world-wide.
Program: www.theworldstarts.org (Ugandan version only)
Emer Beamer 