ProFuturo: an evidence-based intervention of a digital education programme in vulnerable environments

• In Event: Digital tools in education: opportunities, gaps, and policies shaping learning in classrooms

Proposal

ProFuturo is a digital education program created in 2016 by Telefónica Foundation and ¨la Caixa¨ Foundation with the mission to narrow the education gap worldwide, by providing quality digital education to children in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia.
The program targets a very specific school population: primary school level students from vulnerable contexts in developing countries. ProFuturo responds with innovative learning and digital innovation to the widening gap in education. It also focuses on personalization of some of the teaching-learning processes.
ProFuturo is a large and complex global program that has a comprehensive intervention in more than 5.000 schools in 39 countries, having accumulated (by 2023) 4,77 million children with activity, and 1,68 million teachers trained.
Since its inception, ProFuturo has sought to evaluate the program activities and strategies, compiling, and monitoring metrics and facilitating learning processes among key actors.
The program has worked in developing a culture of monitoring, evaluation and learning, which has materialized in a robust digital monitoring system build upon its Theory of Change. The Monitoring System combines quantitative and qualitative information that is gathered by and Analytic System that handles an average of 250 million records per day and produces 3 reports per year with analysis from all levels of participants.
ProFuturo will present and in-depth analysis of its key monitoring, evaluation and learning resources such as: the ProFuturo Analytics System (PAS), the School Assessment and Transformation Tool (SAT), the Self-Assessment Tool for teachers’ digital competencies, and a synthesis of the evaluations and case studies carried out and developed by external consultants.
It will also show how the system facilitates decision making, through monitoring progress of key variables, establishing improvement goals, adjusting the strategy, and differentiating intervention plans.
The program has also completed more than 20 studies and research, with field-based evidence, to understand what works for improving processes, identifying intermediate results and focusing its interventions. Results of this research will also be shared.

Author

• Valentina Rios, ProFuturo