Mobile learning for Afghan parents

Abstract The movement of “Design for the other 90%” denotes the reality that of around 7 billion people of the world 90% of them has little or no access to most of the high technology products and services that the remaining 10% exploit and take for granted. To achieve the goal of “Design for the other 90%”, different needs, problems and challenges have been and are being identified and tackled around the world to find appropriate and practical solutions. There is no or very little access to fixed land lines in Afghanistan and the use of mobile phones is increasingly revolutionizing Afghans’ lives. It is estimated that more than 50% of the population of Afghanistan are mobile phone owners. Afghanistan has signed up to the “Dakar conference” Agreement and is a member of the GPE (Global Partnership for Education) countries. Under this Agreement, Afghanistan is to achieve Education for All (EFA) by 2015. Since 2011, UNICEF and NGOs have provided the Ministry of Education (MoE) of Afghanistan with increasing assistance to battle illiteracy. With Early Education being one of the priorities among the six main goals of the Dakar Agreement, lack of adequate resources especially children’s books is a major obstacle faced by the MoE. To achieve the set goal, “Mobile learning for Afghan parents” was created as an applied project. Combining post-literacy skills and early education led to the design of a literacy course through mobile phones, called ”The Blue Kite”. TBK is particularly aimed at mothers, early education for children especially girls. The toolkit for The Blue Kite contains 7 methods and a selection of tools to facilitate the use of the methods. Each method is clearly explained and is customized to TBK and Afghans’ (Farsi speakers) culture. This toolkit can be used in the delivery of all kinds of mobile learning in Afghanistan having regard to their limitations in terms of access to facilities and devices. The methods only require low-end mobile phones and can be easily implemented to benefit all distance learners in all socio-economic levels with a view to overcoming barriers and eradicating illiteracy in Afghanistan.