The Economics of Interactive Instruction: The Case of South Africa. LearnTech Case Study Series, No. 7.

"English in Action," (EIA) an interactive audio instructional system using instructional cassette or radio, when available, was implemented in first and second grade classrooms in South Africa, in 1993 and 1994, respectively. This case study looks at the economics of alternative ways to implement and expand the "English in Action" system, both with respect to the content and delivery mechanisms of the program and with respect to its organization. It identifies several audiocassette and radio broadcast alternatives, together with three different models of teacher development and support. Class sizes vary considerably in South Africa, as do the costs of reaching urban and rural schools, so the study provides costs of the various strategies for a variety of class sizes and geographic locations. Many design choices vary in cost according to how much support is provided to teachers, so materials costs for classroom materials and for teacher development are estimated separately. Costs vary from around R3.50 (approximately US$1) to R30 (approximately US$8.50) per pupil per year for materials acquisition and airtime costs. The cost of teacher development and support varies from R140 (US$40) per year to R640 (US$180) per teacher for the first, more intensive year, and from R83 (US$25) to R214 (US$60) per teacher in subsequent years for continuing teacher support and development. The utility of the study for other countries is not that it demonstrates that EIA costs a certain amount per pupil in South Africa, but that it demonstrates the cost elements that should be considered when looking at the use of multichannel approaches to learning, and how an economist deals with the economic and political uncertainty when predicting the costs of taking an innovation to scale. Five tables and three figures illustrate data. (MAS)