Global Networks bring Locally Relevant Higher Education to Poor Countries L YNN I LON A PRIL 2012

New Growth Theory Assumes that ideas are driving force of societys progress Knowledge is built through networks of people Is cheaply duplicated Can be used by everyone at same time

Birth of new theory Knowledge economics Countries grow from ideas World is linked through networks Learning is different than education Knowledge can be built from collective intelligence Expertise is shared Professors are learning organizers

Birth of new theory Investments in learning (personal, national, global) Infrastructure – access to learning systems Equality – part of backbone of national & global systems Networks – learn how to build and maintain Learning to learn – major new skill Lifelong learning – continuously refresh knowledge

Internet Cables into Africa Source:

New opportunities give Africa a chance to make use of knowledge revolution African internet usage growing at 2000% compared to a global average of 480%

Problems with human capital theory

The Challenge Bring high quality higher education to poor countries Quality content means making education relevant to the society and lives of the people Use knowledge economics to reduce costs of higher education Use collective adaptive system to build curriculum Use local strengths to build local content and increase development prospects

Old development model DonorRecipient Country (resource rich)(needy) Project management Training needs Skills Material needs Knowledge/ Ideas Money/ material goods Expertise

New networked model GKI Zambia Project management Ideas/knowledge Material goods/money needs ReDI (Korean NGO) Expertise Skills Training needs (personnel) Project management training needs Korean Research Foundation/ Korean Government Money/material goods Seoul National University Project Management Expertise Ideas/knowledge Training needs (student)

About 86% of the lecturers surveyed indicated that they rarely found materials relevant to their information needs. Only 3% of the lecturers said they found the materials needed for their work in the library, whilst 3% indicated they never found anything in the library. Muyoueta Simui and Christine Kanyengo, (2001), Financing Of University Libraries In Zambia, Lusaka, Association Of African Universities. Resources for building curriculum locally and for quality curriculum delivery are a fundamental constraint to expanding local higher education access in Africa

even the well-read Africanist or sociologist is struck by how little has changed in the field of educational development in Africa since the turn of the twentieth century. Countries throughout Africa are still struggling to find a balance between curricula that are culturally relevant and that prepare students to participate in larger, global settings. And all over (or under) this problematic issue is the colonial legacy. Bob White, (1996) Talk about School: Education and the Colonial Project in French and British Africa, ( ). Comparative Education, 32(1):9-25. African higher education has never been relevant to the local situation and was never designed to be relevant

Student analysis becomes new content Community Data Local documents & data Local Expert Lectures Local GKI Environment Disorganized, high quality global content on the web Collective/Adaptive System for Building Curriculum The proposed collective adaptive system will organize both local and global content into high quality curriculum for delivery in poor countries

Internet module delivery to GKI

L YNN I LON M ARCH 2012