EdTech as supplemental learning in two Tanzania trials

• In Event: What works to support continuous learning when schools close through personalized learning?

Proposal

A growing body of research has demonstrated effectiveness of EdTech interventions in developing contexts (McEwan 2015; Glewwe & Muralidharan 2016; Conn 2017; Rodriguez-Segura 2021). Rigorous research conducted in Africa has specifically shown positive effects of onebillion’s onecourse, an award-winning tablet-based curriculum, on children’s foundational learning in both in-school and out-of-school settings (Pitchford, 2015; Pitchford et al., 2017; King et al., 2019; Levesque et al., 2020; Levesque et al., 2022). A 15-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted for the Global Learning XPrize with out-of-school children in Tanzania produced effect sizes for onecourse of 0.60-0.84 in literacy skills and 0.36-1.27 in numeracy skills (Author analyses of XPrize data). Two RCTs in government primary schools in Malawi produced onecourse effect sizes of 0.34 and 0.37 in literacy and 0.29 and 0.54 in numeracy after 8 months and 13 months, respectively (Levesque et al., 2020; Levesque et al., 2022). While a review of EdTech interventions in emergency settings (Stannard and Tauson 2018) highlighted a “glaring gap” in impact studies in crisis-affected settings, a 5-month RCT of onebillion’s math software in an informal school in a refugee camp in Malawi produced effect sizes of 0.36-0.40 in early math skills and suggested spillover effects in literacy (Levesque et al., 2021).
The research presented here sought to understand the impact on literacy and numeracy outcomes of using EdTech (onecourse) as supplemental instruction in an emergency setting and a neighboring host community in Tanzania. Originally, the two RCTs were planned to run independently and simultaneously. Due to permit delays in the refugee camp and differing school calendars for the camp and host community schools, the camp intervention was run during the break between school years, while the host intervention was run as an afterschool program during the school year. The camp RCT helps to fill the gap in knowledge about how EdTech may avoid learning loss between school years, specifically in refugee settings, while the host community RCT provides replication evidence in a government primary school in a new country and language.
The RCTs focused on children enrolled in grades 1-3 in one camp school and one host community school. Instruction in both schools was delivered in Kiswahili, so the tablet program was also delivered in Kiswahili. Following baseline assessment in both sites, we used a stratified individual random assignment design to assign 300 eligible children to treatment and control groups. Treatment groups used the tablet-based literacy and numeracy curriculum for 40 minutes per weekday: for eight weeks during the school break in the camp and for five months after school in the host community. Endline assessment occurred at the end of each intervention. The control groups continued with normal school break activities and normal school instruction. The study produced positive and significant (Intent-to-Treat) impacts in literacy (effect sizes of 0.20+ and 0.34**) and numeracy (0.44*** and 0.26*) in the camp and host sites, respectively. The presentation will discuss insights from the two independent RCTs.

Authors

• Karen Levesque, Imagine Worldwide

• Abraham Bahlibi, Imagine Worldwide

• Silvia Diazgranados, International Rescue Committee