I approached Activity #2 (alternative marketplace offered by international development opportunities) as a cube analysis again…hopefully I interpreted that correctly.
I chose to focus on a companies’ long term investment into a project that will bring them returns later in the future…
Technology giants such as Cisco Systems, Intel, and Microsoft are setting their sights beyond the United States and are investing heavily in global education reform initiatives. These efforts are benefitting developing nations such as India, Jordan, and Kenya.
Intel is working with governments and educators to help integrate technology into teaching and learning, investing $100 million a year.
See an introductory video here:
www.intel.com/education/video.htm?xmlFilePath=education_intiative.xml
FACE 1: Market Focus
According to Intel, the goal of the Intel® Teach program is to help 13 million teachers in more than 40 countries develop new skills to incorporate technology into their curriculum by 2011.
Intel introduces the ®Teach program in communities that are chosen based on the strength of their commitment to the program.
A three-year evaluation of the Intel® Teach Program finds that a large majority of teachers increased the use of technology in the classroom after taking an Intel Teach course.
FACE 2: Types of Offerings
The Intel® Teach Program helps teachers to be more effective educators. They provide professional development which focuses on how to integrate technology into their lessons. This program promotes problem solving, critical thinking and collaboration skills among the students. “With more than 6 million teachers trained in over 50 countries, Intel® Teach is the largest, most successful program of its kind”.
The company works with an initial group of teachers to help them learn 21st-century teaching methods, and these teachers then train other educators in these methods.
The program consists of 24-40 hours of face-to-face, interactive instruction delivered through up to 11 curricular modules through the use of online tools.
The goal is for teachers to leave the course with a standards-based unit plan, support materials, and implementation strategies to improve and assess students’ higher-order thinking with the use of free online tools.
FACE 3: Who is the Buyer
Intel Foundation
Founded in 1989, the Intel Foundation is a philanthropic organization focused on programs that advance education and improve communities worldwide.
As mentioned in my introductory paragraph, Intel is working with governments and educators to help integrate technology into teaching and learning, investing $100 million a year.
By providing funding for national and localized grants, the foundation helps fuel innovation in classrooms. The goals of the Intel Foundation are to increase interest in math and science education, and to help develop a future workforce that represents the diversity around the world. In this way they can produce their next generation of employees and customers!
FACE 4: Global Markets
Intel Corp., a company with four decades of educational reform initiatives—including the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network, the Learn Program, and the Model School program—has incorporated its Teach program throughout many parts of India.
The focus of Intel and the other major technology giants such as Cisco Systems, and Microsoft, is on developing nations with poor technology resources.
FACE 5: Development of the Market
The current market that Intel is targeting (developing nations such as India, Jordan, and Kenya) does not support learning technologies.
For reasons of poverty, marginal languages, and poor or restricted Internet infrastructure or geographic isolation, the target market cannot support learning technology ventures of any type that will be viable businesses.
Funding is provided by grants. The Intel Foundation provides the money (up to $100 million) in national and localized grants.
FACE 6: Learning Technology competing with other forms of learning
This learning technology substitutes for other types of learning – enhancing the traditional teacher delivery model that is currently the most cost effective in these developing, yet poor economy countries.
By policy decision, learning technology is displacing other forms of learning. The existing learning solutions are not working (e.g. rural public schools in less developed nations – they do not have the funds to incorporate technology on their own). As learning technology is not the “best” solution in all cases, gaps in learning performance may persist. However Intel is not just providing the technology, but is supporting the training of the educators that will implement the technology into their classrooms.
