Mobile Videos for Early Childhood Care and Development Project

According to Plan International, across Eastern and Southern Africa, "studies indicate that most children aged under 8 are not achieving their full potential due to poverty, poor health and nutrition, as well as lack of stimulation and learning opportunities." Plan's ECCD programme is working to address these issues in a number of ways and includes the training of caregivers and facilitators - which form part of Plan Uganda's Community Led Action For Children (CLAC) approach.

The mobile video tools are being used to help support this work by capturing examples of good practices, which are then used to communicate, support training, and monitor changes. The videos are designed to improve education by bringing training materials to life, showing visual examples of good practices and building the confidence of parents and caregivers to try new practices learned. For example, "trainers can show footage of positive discipline methods - which work better than physical punishment - to set boundaries for children. They can share a demonstration on how to make toys from easily sourced items around the house, or show examples of games that improve learning for small children." The videos also stimulate discussion and enable people to share experiences without having to travel to other areas.

The Nokia Education Delivery technology is being used to capture, manage, and screen the videos. The Ugandan package includes N8 mobile phones, which offer: the ability to download material via an internet connection; a large screen coupled with a battery-powered projector; and a portable loudspeaker to allow videos to be screened for large audiences. The videos are played on the mobile phone, which is then connected to the large screen for the audience to see.

The project was piloted for 9 months in the districts of Kampala, Tororo, Kamuli, Lira, and Luwero, with the goal of "testing the relevance, usefulness, and impacts of using videos in supporting ECCD goals." The technology and videos continue to be used as part of ECCD programmes. The first set of video content was produced in Uganda by a professional film group, but Plan Uganda staff members have received training to use mobile phones to record and edit instructional videos that will be complementing the existing video materials.

Click here to watch some of the videos.

Children, Early Education

According to Plan International, the overall goal of their ECCD programmes "is to enable all children between 3-6 years to participate in quality early childhood care and development programs. These programs promote the cognitive, social, emotional and psychomotor development of children."