Sustaining and scaling community solutions: leveraging ecosystem-appropriate ICTs to enhance social inclusion and achieve learning outcomes

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Access to quality education matters. It is a fundamental prerequisite to creating societies with citizens who can think strategically and critically, who can make informed decisions, and contribute to their communities in productive ways. despite progress in improving education access and quality, however, the global community still struggles with ensuring that all children develop the basic skills needed successfully engage in increasingly complex and rapidly changing environments. Over 200 million children in low- and middle-income countries enter school unprepared, and fall behind their peers by the age of five. Later in life, this lag results in increased dropout rates among youth, particularly those from marginalized communities. In many developing countries, teacher shortages, as well as limited professional development opportunities for in-service teachers, has limied the impact of various reform efforts on students’ progress in schools. Research has also shown that community involvement in education - often overlooked in stressed education systems - correlates with higher academic performance and school improvement (Belfield and Levin, 2007). When schools, parents, families and communities work together to support learning, students tend to hear higher grades, attend school more regularly, stay in school longer, and enroll in higher level programs. Leveraging ICT in education has demonstrated considerable potential to address these key areas of need in improving learning outcomes and brightening social, academic, and employment opportunities for all - education access and quality, teacher learning and quality, and community mobilization for education improvement.

This panel will explore how each organization is leveraging technology to remove educational barriers and support improved learning outcomes of children and youth in a variety of distinct contexts. Using Principles for Digital Development as an organizing framework for the panel, each presenter will share a context-specific case study of ICT-leveraging interventions aimed at improving education quality and outcomes. Presenters will describe program goals, how the intervention aligned with digital development principles, share obstacles faced during implementation, and explore solutions developed in collaboration with communities. Presenters will also share assessment of the current state of the ICT-leveraging interventions and provide tech-enabled learning solutions that support communities’ resilience and sustainability in achieving education goals.

Paper 1 will discuss Rumie’s user-centred design of different forms of technology (Tablet and App) in two specific non-traditional classroom settings. These include college application prep courses in the Kiziba Refugee Camp in Rwanda and providing access to education, specifically to women and girls, in remote regions of Afghanistan. Paper 2 will discuss how mobile tech solutions increased parental engagement in learning and reading in the home in conflict impacted communities in Jordan. Paper 3 will explore how a madrassas teacher professional development program leveraged online blended learning and mobile technology to galvanize peer hubs and improved classroom practice in India. Paper 4 will discuss how local-language apps, coupled with sustainable policies and practices for home schooling, expanded access to education for girls and women, and contributed to shrinking the gender divide in Northern Nigeria.

At the end of the panel presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to grapple with questions such as:
How do we best leverage community assets to advance access and quality education?
How can behaviors best be influenced/changed to democratize access to lifelong educational opportunities?
How cost-effective, scalable and sustainable are technology-enabled solutions outside of traditional systems?

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Individual Presentations

• Global case studies: effective learning outside the classroom - Matt Capobianco, The Rumie Initiative

• Leveraging mobile technology to promote parental engagement in learning among refugees and host communities in Jordan - Rachel Heavner, Worldreader

• Adaptive ICT solutions for teacher professional development and coaching program in India’s madrassas schools - Radmila Popovic, World Learning, Inc.

• Apps for Home School that Bridge the Gender Gap in Northern Nigeria - Jennifer Agbaji, The Basileia Vulnerable Persons Rights Initiative

Discussant

• Gabriel Verkade, Global Scaled Sales Solutions for YouTube & Google Video