Media Lab Africa is dedicated to education and to students around the world. Our primary focus is connecting students in small villages in Africa with students in America through technology, art, storytelling and ultimately through face-to-face cultural exchange.
All of the funds from the sale of our films go directly to support our continuing work in Africa through media literacy, art and storytelling. Please help us continue this valuable work by purchasing one of our films.
All of the funds from the sale of our films go directly to support our continuing work in Africa through media literacy, art and storytelling. Please help us continue this valuable work by purchasing one of our films.
MEDIA LITERACY AROUND THE WORLD
The Namballa Keita School in the small village of Nana Kenieba, in Mali stands as an African marvel. The vision and hard work of one man, Nambala Keita has impacted the lives of thousands of school children, an isolated community, and the country as a whole, through education. With his own money and hard work Nambala Keita gave his home village the gift of education by building the first school in that part of Mali. More than 50 years later countless students have gone on to careers, college, and government positions, options which simply would not have been there if not for The Nambala Keita School.
Nambala’s vision lives on through the next generation, his eldest son, Cherif Keita. Cherif, a professor of Francophone Studies at Carleton College wants to bring media literacy to Nana Kenieba by creating a media center for the school. Working with Dominic Fucci and based on his design of The Media Lab the Nambala Keita School media center would consist of 10 new and used Mac laptop computers, 10 digital video cameras, 10 digital still picture cameras, 10 external hard drives transforming each MacBook into a high-end digital media workstation. Cherif and Dominic along with a small group of Dominic’s highly skilled high school students would spend up to 6 weeks at the village school teaching a core group of Nana Kenieba students the essential skills of the new technology as well as the beginnings of media literacy. This in itself would be a remarkable event; an international student-to-student exchange of information, knowledge, culture and most importantly friendships. Once the group of students in Nana Kenieba have learned all that they can from their American mentors the exchange continues. This group of Nambala Keita School students will then become responsible for passing on this new knowledge to other students in the village school.
Once the American students leave Mali an electronic link will be established between the American mentors and the Nambala Keita School students. Communication with the remote village is sometimes difficult, however a communication can be conducted through a series of connections. For example cell phones are ubiquitous in West Africa. Inexpensive calling cards are readily available here in the US. In a worse case scenario contact can be made via phone. It would be ideal if a video Skype connection can be made but that would require some Nana Kenieba students to travel to Bamako. Again, those trips to town could be special quarterly fieldtrips for some students in the village. Any of these links will provide support and continuing training until another group of American students can return the following year.
A project like the media center for The Nambala Keita School will not only transform students across oceans but also will transform communities and even entire nations. This, in what is hoped to be the first in a series of African “media labs” will have a tremendous impact for very little cost. The entire initial setup, including equipment and transportation has a budget of less than $45,000.
The Importance of Media Literacy
Not too long ago reading, a little writing and being able to do some arithmetic were what was considered necessary to be literate. Those skills are still necessary today but at an entry level of literacy. In the 21st century we acquire knowledge, get information and form the basis of our thinking from a wide array of sources. Today’s student needs to be “media literate” in order to learn, communicate, and function in what is becoming a global society. Books, newspapers, magazines, radio and television have been the primary sources of information but that has change dramatically over the past 15 years. We have been consumers of informational content. With today’s modern media we are not only consuming huge amounts of information but as individuals many of us have become content providers. The Internet, social media websites, digital video, home recording studios, desktop publishing have given each of us the opportunity to become journalists, authors, filmmakers and artists whose work can appear on the world stage. Even if we create nothing the skills needed to process all the information around us for exceed anything we have seen to date. Media literacy is an absolute necessity for an individual to be competitive on the world scene.
When it comes to Western style education Africa has suffered and continues to suffer a huge education gap. Competent teachers, access to basic materials and even the lack of school buildings have contributed to the slow progress many African communities are experiencing when it comes to obtaining knowledge and information the rest of us here in the West take for granted. It is not uncommon to have unqualified teachers training those who will become the next generation of teachers. Some governments award teaching positions not based on qualifications but as political favors. This creates a cycle of substandard education that will take many generations to overcome. Technology cuts through that generational gap. Technology empowers students by giving them access to an immense storehouse of information either contained on a local computer or ideally connected to the Internet. Most importantly this technology gives students as well as teachers the chance to communicate with their counterparts all over the world as well as provide an unparalleled access to information, knowledge, support and friendship.
Nambala’s vision lives on through the next generation, his eldest son, Cherif Keita. Cherif, a professor of Francophone Studies at Carleton College wants to bring media literacy to Nana Kenieba by creating a media center for the school. Working with Dominic Fucci and based on his design of The Media Lab the Nambala Keita School media center would consist of 10 new and used Mac laptop computers, 10 digital video cameras, 10 digital still picture cameras, 10 external hard drives transforming each MacBook into a high-end digital media workstation. Cherif and Dominic along with a small group of Dominic’s highly skilled high school students would spend up to 6 weeks at the village school teaching a core group of Nana Kenieba students the essential skills of the new technology as well as the beginnings of media literacy. This in itself would be a remarkable event; an international student-to-student exchange of information, knowledge, culture and most importantly friendships. Once the group of students in Nana Kenieba have learned all that they can from their American mentors the exchange continues. This group of Nambala Keita School students will then become responsible for passing on this new knowledge to other students in the village school.
Once the American students leave Mali an electronic link will be established between the American mentors and the Nambala Keita School students. Communication with the remote village is sometimes difficult, however a communication can be conducted through a series of connections. For example cell phones are ubiquitous in West Africa. Inexpensive calling cards are readily available here in the US. In a worse case scenario contact can be made via phone. It would be ideal if a video Skype connection can be made but that would require some Nana Kenieba students to travel to Bamako. Again, those trips to town could be special quarterly fieldtrips for some students in the village. Any of these links will provide support and continuing training until another group of American students can return the following year.
A project like the media center for The Nambala Keita School will not only transform students across oceans but also will transform communities and even entire nations. This, in what is hoped to be the first in a series of African “media labs” will have a tremendous impact for very little cost. The entire initial setup, including equipment and transportation has a budget of less than $45,000.
The Importance of Media Literacy
Not too long ago reading, a little writing and being able to do some arithmetic were what was considered necessary to be literate. Those skills are still necessary today but at an entry level of literacy. In the 21st century we acquire knowledge, get information and form the basis of our thinking from a wide array of sources. Today’s student needs to be “media literate” in order to learn, communicate, and function in what is becoming a global society. Books, newspapers, magazines, radio and television have been the primary sources of information but that has change dramatically over the past 15 years. We have been consumers of informational content. With today’s modern media we are not only consuming huge amounts of information but as individuals many of us have become content providers. The Internet, social media websites, digital video, home recording studios, desktop publishing have given each of us the opportunity to become journalists, authors, filmmakers and artists whose work can appear on the world stage. Even if we create nothing the skills needed to process all the information around us for exceed anything we have seen to date. Media literacy is an absolute necessity for an individual to be competitive on the world scene.
When it comes to Western style education Africa has suffered and continues to suffer a huge education gap. Competent teachers, access to basic materials and even the lack of school buildings have contributed to the slow progress many African communities are experiencing when it comes to obtaining knowledge and information the rest of us here in the West take for granted. It is not uncommon to have unqualified teachers training those who will become the next generation of teachers. Some governments award teaching positions not based on qualifications but as political favors. This creates a cycle of substandard education that will take many generations to overcome. Technology cuts through that generational gap. Technology empowers students by giving them access to an immense storehouse of information either contained on a local computer or ideally connected to the Internet. Most importantly this technology gives students as well as teachers the chance to communicate with their counterparts all over the world as well as provide an unparalleled access to information, knowledge, support and friendship.