Learning system in a suitcase used in prisons in Kenya

Professor Gunnar Stefánsson, and Anna Helga Jónsdóttir, Adjunct Lecturer at the Faculty of Physical Sciences took Tutor-web, an open learning system to Kenya this summer.  They took the educational software to four places, including the Naivasha Maximum Security Prison.  There are 2,700 prisoners in Naivasha, thereof 1,500 engaged in some form of study, from the first grade in elementary school, to senior classes in upper secondary schools. A number of students also learn various crafts.

Gunnar and Helga travelled with what they call Education in a Suitcase. The software and material has been developed at the University of Iceland funded by miscellaneous grants and thus free of charge. Crowdfunding was used to raise money for hardware. This method was used to finance the schools' network servers and each student receives a marked tablet to keep.  

The places they visited did not have wireless internet, internet access is rare and electricity is unstable. The learning system is designed for such circumstances. Education in a Suitcase contains inexpensive tablets and servers that hold the course materials. In addition to the teaching material developed by Gunnar and Anna Helga, the system comes with the whole of Wikipedia and videos on mathematics from Khan Academy.

Naivasha prison

The first stop was the prison in Naivasha. Gunnar and Anna Helga met with almost 30 students and taught them how to use the system to learn mathematics. 

The teaching staff at the prison is on the one hand guards, and on the other prisoners.  There is no internet connection in the prison the network server are thus very useful. Most of the prisoners had never seen a tablet before and no one had ever been exposed to equipment of this type. It was noteworthy how quick their were in adapting the new technology. 

Takawiri-island

After the visit to the prison the Icelandic delegation was headed to the small island Takawiri in lake Victoria. There are no cars on the island, no internet and no electricity in people's homes. The oldest students in the primary school were chosen to take part in the project, in total 31 students. There are solar cells on the roof of the school making it possible to charge laptops and plug in the server.  

The electricity in the school is very unstable, made clear when the power went out when the students returned for the second period in the evening. The students were not discouraged. The young people simply continued reading the questions of the screen, solving the probles on paper using the screen as lighting.

The first reviews from Takaviri are very positive: „My students are using the tutor web daily. I have seen a remarkable improvement in their performance in mathematics“ (Benta Ouma, teacher at the primary school in Takawiri).

The University in Maseno and the upper secondary school in Banjika

Gunnar and Anna Helga have collaborated for several years with teaching staff in Maseno university in Kenya on the development of this learning system, and have travelled several times to Kenya to test it and use it in teaching. 

To conclude

The learning system, Tutor-web, has also been used with good results in large courses in mathematical analysis and statistics at the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences and in preparation for new students at the school. Gunnar and Anna Helga follow up the use of the system with research and analysis with an eye to its future improvement.  

The project is on Facebook.