Butgereit, L2009-06-042009-06-042008-10Butgereit, L. 2008. Using instant messaging over GPRS to help with school work. 2nd IFIP International Symposium on Wireless Communications and Information Technology in Developing Countries, Pretoria, South Africa, 6 - 7 October 2008, pp 49788461255702http://hdl.handle.net/10204/34192nd IFIP International Symposium on Wireless Communications and Information Technology in Developing Countries, Pretoria, South Africa, 6-7 October 2008Rural Africa is in need of qualified teachers in mathematics and science for primary and secondary school. Classrooms in rural Africa are often benches under a tree. The teachers themselves often have limited education in mathematics and science. As cellular telephony services pushes deeper into rural Africa, the question asked was whether various wireless access methods could be used to assist children and teenagers with their mathematics and science education. One of the leaders in low cost GPRS communication over cell phones is a South African based company, MXit Lifestyle, boasting over 7 million users using their mobile instant messaging chat client, MXit. According to MXit's demographics, 45% of their users are children and teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18. Dr Math is a project which Meraka Institute initiated in January, 2007. Dr Math linked up children and teenagers using MXit on their cell phones to university students (using internet based workstations) in Pretoria who acted as tutors. The tutors would help with mathematics and, depending on the individual tutors, chemistry and physics homework problems. Currently, over 3000 children and teenagers are using this service in Southern AfricaenInstant messagingGPRSMXitRural AfricaMathematicsDr MathWireless communications2nd IFIP International Symposium on Wireless Communications and Information Technology in Developing CountriesCellphone technologyConference PresentationButgereit, L. (2008). Using instant messaging over GPRS to help with school work. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3419Butgereit, L. "Using instant messaging over GPRS to help with school work." (2008): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3419Butgereit L, Using instant messaging over GPRS to help with school work; 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3419 .TY - Conference Presentation AU - Butgereit, L AB - Rural Africa is in need of qualified teachers in mathematics and science for primary and secondary school. Classrooms in rural Africa are often benches under a tree. The teachers themselves often have limited education in mathematics and science. As cellular telephony services pushes deeper into rural Africa, the question asked was whether various wireless access methods could be used to assist children and teenagers with their mathematics and science education. One of the leaders in low cost GPRS communication over cell phones is a South African based company, MXit Lifestyle, boasting over 7 million users using their mobile instant messaging chat client, MXit. According to MXit's demographics, 45% of their users are children and teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18. Dr Math is a project which Meraka Institute initiated in January, 2007. Dr Math linked up children and teenagers using MXit on their cell phones to university students (using internet based workstations) in Pretoria who acted as tutors. The tutors would help with mathematics and, depending on the individual tutors, chemistry and physics homework problems. Currently, over 3000 children and teenagers are using this service in Southern Africa DA - 2008-10 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Instant messaging KW - GPRS KW - MXit KW - Rural Africa KW - Mathematics KW - Dr Math KW - Wireless communications KW - 2nd IFIP International Symposium on Wireless Communications and Information Technology in Developing Countries KW - Cellphone technology LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2008 SM - 9788461255702 T1 - Using instant messaging over GPRS to help with school work TI - Using instant messaging over GPRS to help with school work UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/3419 ER -