What is missing from this narrative is the relative poverty of Sub Saharan Africa or other less developed nations, the roads ware so bad in many areas that an articulated lorry would not be mobile for very long and the scarcity of mobile devices is not really the confounding feature as there are no telephone masts to carry mobile signals never mind internet access wired or wireless.
This has been termed a Digital divide and can be demonstrated in the graphs below.
Given that over 960 million is the population of Africa, if the technology were able to be made available that is a huge potential market, but one that is extremely poor as a whole and one with off-putting geographical considerations. That being said there are over 260 million customers with mobile phone contracts.
There are deprived areas of many western countries where a computer at home will not be an affordable option and neither will the smartphone. Yes some learners will be able to use civic amenities such as libraries to do research but these are not a convenient nor affordable option when required tp pay a not inconsiderable fee per page printed.
There are however barriers to the effective use of technology that have nothing to do with money or geography.
Many educators are from generations where the ICT available today was not even dreamt of and are nervous and unskilled in the new technologies and their reticence is one barrier top the effective use of same. Rightly or wrongly even given adequate training, the first response will not be to go for the new or innovative method but to rely on tried and tested traditional teaching. some of these teachers will even fear the, as they see it, onslaught of technology as a way of destroying the values and ideas they hold dear in a profession they love. This situation can be improved by extensive training, professional development and a supportive management, however with the need to maintain or improve standards and constant curriculum development these solutions are often in short supply.
Many technologies exist to give the disabled student the same learning opportunities as their peers.
Students with physical disabilities are however often at a disadvantage when using mobile technology that requires fine motor skills and very good eyesight, there are of course adaptations and work arounds but the experience is always a little compromised in comparison to the able bodied experience. The training and support needed for both the user and the teacher in the case of students with disabilities is greater than that of the average user. The Princeton paper referenced below argues that teacher training in respect of the technology is one of the strongest barriers to the disabled learning experience.
However cost, as always is a huge barrier.
"The cost of the technology needed to help students with disabilities participate in regular classroom settings, especially the computer systems needed for students with more severe disabilities, is also a serious consideration for all schools. Such systems often must be tailor-made for each student and can be quite expensive, costing tens of thousands of dollars. Funding for technology can be obtained from a variety of sources, but these sources are not always adequate."Hasselbring and Williams Glaser 2000
These are some of the barriers that need to be broken down before all learners can effectively benefit from technology in their education.
References
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8568681.stm
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/features/ict_africa.html
Use of Computer Technology to Help Students with Special Needs
Ted S. Hasselbring Candyce H. Williams Glaser
http://tinyurl.com/q5qmxxn
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