Summary

Background / Terms of Reference

infoDev publishes and maintains informal 'quick guides' and 'knowledge maps' to various topics and issues related to the use of information and technologies in the education sector.  These short briefing sheets are meant to help people quickly get 'up to speed' on various topics.  They are not meant to be an exhaustive catalog of everything that is known (or has been debated) about the use of ICTs in education in a particular topic; rather, taken together they are an attempt to summarize and give shape to a very large body of knowledge and to highlight certain issues and resources in a format quickly accessible to busy policymakers.

Knowledge Maps: ICTs in Education
infoDev's Knowledge Maps serve as quick snapshots of what the research literature reveals in a number of key areas related to ICT use in education, including:

• Impact of ICTs on learning and achievement
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Equity issues
• Costs
• Current projects and practices
• Specific ICT tools
• Teachers, teaching and ICTs
• Content & curriculum
• School-level issues
• Policy issues

Miscellaneous topics
Quick guides to ...

• ICTs and the education MDGS
• Favorite recommended resources related to ICTs & Education
• Resources on the monitoring and evaluation of ICT in education initiatives
• Resources on Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) 
• Resources on ICTs in Teacher Professional Development
• Open educational resources  

Regional
Quick guides to ...

• Internet connectivity issues in African universities
• Regional ICT in education initiatives in Africa 
• ICT and Education in the Pacific 

Research and initiative sponsored by international donor agencies
Quick guides to ICT and education at:

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• The Development Gateway
• DFID
• The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
• The OECD
• The UN
• UNESCO
• USAID
• The World Bank

An overview of infoDev's work in this area can be found the Quick guides to resources and work on ICTs and education in international institutions and donor agencies. 

infoDev's Quick guide to ICT4D in International Development Agencies: Policies, Strategies and Key Documents provides pointers to many key documents that place donor support for ICT use in education within larger developmental contexts.

Low-cost ICT devices and the education sector
Quick guides to:

• Low-cost computing devices and initiatives for the developing world
  infoDev's most popular 'quick guide'
• Government-sponsored "Cheap PC" Programs
• Alternative models to provide connectivity in low- and no-bandwidth environments
• Prominent initiatives promoting the development of low-cost computing devices for developing countries

Other quick guides

A consolidated list of all infoDev Quick guides can be found here.