Nomadic Schools Soon Available to Senegalese Students
What if mobile phones were to become genuine teaching tools for young people? Could there be life after downloading ringtones? That is the credo of Philippe Steger, the creator of WapEduc. A teacher prior to setting up his own business, he is convinced that mobile phones can become personal assistants for students. “I can learn where and when I want to” is the leitmotif of WapEduc. Philippe Steger talks to us about WapEduc and its upcoming development in Senegal.
 eLA: What is WapEduc?
Philippe Steger: From the end of primary school to two years after the baccalaureat, students can access lessons, revision, careers guidance, cultural and medical information on their mobile phone. It is a means of connecting students and teachers. 1,100 lessons and questionnaires prepared by teachers are already online.
Already available in France, these solutions will soon be tested in Senegal.
eLA: How will the system roll out?
Philippe Steger: Next March, we are going to provide 100 students, i.e. 3 final year high school students from a school in Dakar, with high performance mobile phones with which they may use WapEduc resources for a few months. After this test period, the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) – via its IREDU (Educational Research Institute) entity - will conduct a poll on these students to quantify their satisfaction. If it is positive, we intend to extend the text by involving some 1,000 to 2,000 students in schools in Dakar.
eLA: How are you going to adapt content to the Senegalese curriculum?
Philippe Steger: The government is backing this project. We are working with the middle and secondary education director representing the Ministry of Education. His teams will validate and adapt content when necessary. A large share of the French curriculum is similar to the Senegal educational programme, but everything concerning career guidance after school, for example, we are developing special pages.
eLA: How much does this service cost?
Philippe Steger: WapEduc is free, accessible through all operators and types of phones. It is the cost of the downloading time that needs to be calculated.
eLA: And how long does that take on average?
Philippe Steger: A few seconds are needed to download our files. This represents a very low cost on a conventional subscription, but is preferable to have an unlimited connection to consult the sites we recommend.
eLA: For example?
Philippe Steger: Students can download correct answers to baccalaureat philosophy questions on WapEduc, but they can also visit specialised websites to improve their knowledge.
eLA: What do you think are the checks and balances to make this project succeed in Senegal?
Philippe Steger: Our results with French students, and their parents, are very positive. Parents in particular are very happy to see their children use their mobile phone to study and not just to play. Students love this type of nomadic school, it is in tune with their lifestyle. We believe that young Senegalese people will be particularly attracted as few have computers and landlines but many have mobile phones. In Senegal, for the time being, telephones are mainly used with prepaid cards rather than unlimited WAP access plans, this is a real curb and we are fighting to reduce prices.
eLA: Do you have partners for this project?
Philippe Steger: Besides the Ministry of Education, we are also supported by Orange France and Microsoft Senegal.
eLA: Thank you for your time.
Links
A partir d’un PC : www.wapeduc.net,
Sur un téléphone portable : wapeduc.mobi
 Newsportal: Mobile Learning
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