Let's lift
Kivitsisa. Distance learning in Greenland
The OAK Foundation Denmark & The Grunny Cloud
Evidence of results
Purpose related to Let's Care
Level of Education
Pillars
Brief description of the Project
Duration
Scope
Funds
Objectives
Raise the educational level of Greenland’s primary schools using technology
Methodology
By providing teachers and students with iPads and internet access, schools across the country can receive targeted support and skills development from teachers hundreds - or even thousands - of kilometres away.
For example, in the village of Napasoq, an island settlement in the municipality of Qeqqata in west-central Greenland, the school has partnered with an organisation called Granny Cloud, which connects it with qualified English teachers. Through Granny Cloud, Napasoq students receive English lessons on their iPads from a teacher living in Hong Kong.
In short, the session is structured in three phases: initial question (5 minutes of introduction to questioning, by the grandparent), research (60 minutes) and review (20 minutes to listen and facilitate a dialogue on the topic, to praise their work and think about whether it is correct)
Type of Action
Target Group and Determinants attended
Professionals involved
Networking - Actors and Institutions mobilised by the Project
Enablers
The use of digital platforms allows children access to an otherwise inaccessible education. On the other hand, the ''Grandmother Cloud'' concept is based on attachment-based learning. Students end up generating a feeling of attachment to their ''grandmothers in the cloud'', which encourages their pupils to learn English and other core subjects through motivation and enthusiasm.
Barriers
With some 10,000 school children out of a population of 56,000, Greenland has for years faced a shortage of teachers in many parts of the country, coupled with the isolation of many students. In addition, the use of digital material has come at a significant financial cost.
Grade of linkage with the Safe Education Model
The ''granny cloud'' involves ''minimally invasive teaching'', where the encouragement and encouragement of older people - whether teachers by profession or not - inspire pupils to learn for themselves. The attachment relationship that children eventually develop with their 'digital mentor' is key to the project. They develop the image of a figure who offers them an education that would otherwise be difficult to access.
Grade of linkage with the purpose of Let's Care
Although Kivitsisa does not include among its objectives the reduction of school failure and/or early school dropout, its main objective is to improve the learning process of students, working in highly vulnerable environments such as rural areas. They rely on a network of participating teachers and the provision of ICT resources to bring education where there is a shortage of human and/or material resources.
Grade of evidence about impact and political relevance
In the face of the debate on ICT in pre-school and primary education, The Grunny Cloud allows pupils in remote areas to have a mentor hundreds or thousands of kilometres away. This project was initially launched in 2009, connecting retired people in England with schools in India. Due to its success, it was implemented in other territories, such as Greenland.
The idea of the ''Granny Cloud'' was originated by Sugata Miltra. Mitra decided that children’s interest and motivation to learn in the absence of a teacher would be more likely if they were supported by what he has called a ‘granny cloud’. So he recruited hundreds of British grandmothers who are willing to voluntarily connect with the children online and answer their questions.
Grade of evidence about impact - Project deliverables
Reproducibility
The Granny Cloud has, since it’s inception in 2009, evolved and explored different ways of reaching children in disadvantaged situations, while choosing to remain a small, entirely volunteer and self-funded entity. Over the years, it has reached out to many independent centres in India and in other countries including Cambodia, Greenland, Mexico, Jamaica and the USA. Some centres close down, others are taken on as the needs change. These Granny Cloud Centres operate in many different locations – rural, semi-rural, urban and urban slums. Some centres are situated within schools; some are based in community centres and some even in private homes.
Outcomes
Attachment, ICTs, intergenerational
