Challenges of digital interventions and practical solutions for teachers and classrooms in resource constrained communities

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The rapid pace at which technology is advancing, with daily developments in industrial robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, is changing the way in which we live. However, as the appetite for the new technological frontier grows so does the global digital divide. Differences in connectivity and access to resources across the global education landscape are creating further inequalities. Therefore, envisaging education in a digital society needs to be context specific, with innovations designed to use technology to improve learning outcomes and not to simply thrust learners into a digital world. Much like access to quality education, access to mobile broadband networks is dictated by location. 5% of the global population, around 400 million people, live in a broadband coverage gap, most commonly in deeply rural areas in low-income countries. While there is around 90% 4G coverage globally, and 32% 5G, a vast majority of operators still maintain 2G and 3G networks with most of the users of these networks in LMICs and LICs. According to the 2023 GEM Report, 73% of people ages 10 and above own a mobile phone globally, however in LICs that number drops to 49%. Coverage is one aspect of the digital divide, however usage due to access to devices is the critical component of evolving education to respond to a digital society. In the least developed countries 25% of the population use mobile internet, whereas in lower-middle income countries overall that number doubles and in high-income countries it jumps to 85%. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest coverage and usage gaps, which means it has the greatest need for EdTech solutions that work in low to no-connectivity settings.

When it comes to envisaging education in a digital society the question of equity needs to be front of mind, particularly in already marginalized communities. The 2023 GEM Report stated that people in the bottom quintile globally would need to spend more than 65% of their average monthly income for an entry-level internet-enabled handset, and in Sub-Saharan Africa the number exceeds 100%. If socio-economic positioning dictates data connectivity and hardware access, then the role of education in breaking intergenerational poverty needs to extend to digital poverty. To break barriers to access there is a need to equip learners in resource constrained communities with interventions that are designed for their context, this will enable them to enter a digital society from a more equitable position. This relies on connectivity in schools, alongside interventions that work within low to no-connectivity settings and for students without consistent access to the internet/devices at home. Around only 50% of lower secondary schools globally were connected to the internet for pedagogical purposes in 2022, so if the world’s future depends on universal access to quality education it is also dependent on access to meaningful connectivity. Yet, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, only 40% of primary, 50% of lower secondary, and 65% of upper secondary schools are connected to the internet. This is not good news for the already burgeoning education finance gap, which is burdened by population growth, particularly in Africa. The 2023 GEM Report highlighted that “the cost of moving to basic digital learning in low-income countries and connecting all schools to the internet in lower-middle-income countries would add 50% to their current financing gap for achieving national SDG 4 targets.” So, as we find ourselves six years out from sustainable development goal 4, to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ we need to consider how that inclusivity and equitable quality translates in a digital society and is delivered across all education, for all children, now.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest learning poverty (around 89% according to World Bank), and therefore the greatest need for interventions to accelerate learning, which ed-tech innovators can play a critical role in developing and delivering, However, according to UNESCO, in 2021 there were over 1,600 EdTech solutions designed for low- and middle-income countries, but most of these interventions were concentrated in middle-income countries. Despite regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa having the greatest potential for growth in EdTech they also face the largest gaps in access, which can result in EdTech solutions failing to work for those who need them the most. Only about 12% of schools in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to the internet, making digital education a challenge (UNICEF, 2020).

In this panel we will discuss the landscape of connectivity, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the impact of this on digitally enhanced learning in resource constrained communities, as well as deep drive into success and challenges of digital education and technological interventions within Kenya and Ghana. We will showcase digital infrastructure interventions in public schools in Kenya that work in low to no-connectivity settings to bridge the digital divide. We will also look at the complexities of the education ecosystem in low-income countries where many learners are educated in non-state settings and therefore digital interventions and IT supported learning relies on the school’s financial capacity and teacher resources. In addition, we will examine how using technology to empower teachers to better manage their classrooms can contribute to improved learning outcomes and draw on the evidence of Tools of Foundational Learning Improvement (TFLI) in Ghana. We will also showcase how technological interventions designed to remediate learning gaps are key to improving learning outcomes and explore why in some cases when teachers have access to computer labs, the technology is often left unused.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Chair

• Corina Gardner, IDP Foundation, Inc

Individual Presentations

• Digital innovations to combat learning gaps - Eugene Pelteret, Reflective Learning

• Scalable approaches to improving learning by integrating technology into teacher support program management - Simon Graffy, Inspiring Teachers

• Leveraging EdTech to improve teaching practices and student outcomes in developing countries - Paul Flowerman, Educational Initiatives

• Leveraging digital infrastructure to achieve meaningful impact at scale - Bernd Roggendorf, EIDU GmbH

Discussants

• Eugene Pelteret, Reflective Learning

• Simon Graffy, Inspiring Teachers

• Paul Flowerman, Educational Initiatives

• Bernd Roggendorf, EIDU GmbH