The eLearning Foundation

The e-Learning Foundation aims to reduce the effect of this “Digital Divide” by working with schools, parents and other stakeholders to ensure that all children have access to the learning resources that technology can make available, when and where they need them, both at home and at school.

Policy Context

Supports IUK Government's Inclusion Through Innovation, Tackling Social Exclusion Through New Technologies and Harnessing Technology: Transforming learning and children's services (DfES, 2005).

Description of target users and groups

School children

Description of the way to implement the initiative

The e-Learning Foundation performs three main tasks: - Provides a free advisory and support service to help schools develop the most appropriate strategy to achieve high levels of home ICT access; - Acts as a fundraiser and grant provider to help schools develop their own sustainable sources of income; - Actively campaigns at government level to keep the Digital Divide at the forefront of public consciousness.

Technology solution

The Foundation mainly operates as a 'bridging' channel. It organised donations and other funding streams to enable schools to update their ICT systems

Main results, benefits and impacts

Since 2001, the e-Learning Foundation has helped over 220 schools in the UK give over 38,000 of their most deprived students and families home access to IT The main innovation of eLearning Foudnation is not technological, It is institutional. It has developed and applied a new partnership approach that leverages funding to schools, students and parents in some of the most deprived areas of the UK. This in turn reflects a 'bottm up' approach to delivering key government policies on e-inclusion and e-learning

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Track record of sharing

Many of the participarting schools have moved forward to develop their own ICT development programmes by building on the initial collaboration with eLearning Foundation.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 -Develop a bottom up approach to eInclusion. Lesson 2 - Enlist the support of key stakeholders, including business, parents and schools. Lesson 3 - Build in sustainability by developing funding mechanisms that create leverage. Scope: National