GEM Report on Technology in Education: Global, Gender and Youth Report findings, methodologies and impacts

• In Event: Is the tone changing on uses of technology in education? The 2023 GEM report one year on

Proposal

The annual Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM Report) is the world’s foremost publication on education. Since 2016, it has been monitoring the new post-2015 education goal and targets, which are part of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda. The Report delivers on the mandate based on three principles: it is universal, inter-sectoral, and equity oriented. Informed by the latest evidence and research on education, the GEM Report is a global public good that fulfils the need for an independent monitoring function, uncommon at the United Nations, which assesses progress towards the international education commitments of Agenda 2030.



The 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report examines the education challenges to which appropriate use of technology can offer solutions, while recognizing that many of the solutions proposed may also be detrimental. The report will examine issues of access, equity, and inclusion in education, looking at ways through technology can help reach disadvantaged learners but also ensure more knowledge reaches more learners in more engaging and cheaper formats. It will focus on how quality can be improved, both in teaching and learning basic skills, engaging, and motivating learners, and for relevance, ensuring the development of the digital skills needed in daily life. It will also address the challenge of technology development, noting the critical and complementary role of technical, vocational, and higher education institutions in national strategies for fostering technological development, employment, and economic growth. Finally, it will recognize the role of technology in system management with special reference to assessment and other education management data that can be widely used for planning. The report will also explore three system-wide conditions that need to be met for any technology in education to reach its full potential: ensuring that all learners have access to technology resources, protecting learners from the risks of technology through appropriate governance and regulation and supporting all teachers to teach, use and deal with technology effectively.


The 2023 GEM Report analyses the use of technology in education around the world under the lenses of equity, affordability, scalability and sustainability. The report argues that education systems should always ensure that learner’s interests are placed at the center and that digital technologies are used to support an education based on human interaction rather than aiming at substituting it.  


This presentation will begin with provide an overview of the approach, findings and key messages and recommendations of the global, gender and youth reports. It will additionally highlight the methodological approach taken by the GEM report for all reports, and especially the consultative approach taken to develop the youth report. Finally, it will present a GEM Report assessment of some of the policy and discourse impacts one year after the Report was published.

Author

• Priyadarshani Joshi, UNESCO