Digital Transformers: How Technology is Reshaping Higher Education in Malawi, Cambodia, and Peru

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Digital technologies are transforming education for learners and educators worldwide and higher education is no exception. USAID’s Higher Education Program Framework (2021) identifies the three core functions of a higher education system as 1) providing quality and relevant education and training, 2) advancing knowledge and research, and 3) engaging and strengthening networks and communities. Emerging digital technologies won’t change these core functions, but they will present opportunities to reshape how higher education institutions (HEIs) perform them.

In many of the countries where USAID works HEIs are the best positioned part of the education continuum to adopt, adapt, and deploy such technologies. This may be due to physical resources such as infrastructure or access to electricity and connectivity. It may also be due to the human resources of their skilled faculty, technical experts, and researchers who are often the very ones innovating digital solutions, tracking impacts on society, and monitoring unanticipated risks related to new technology.

According to the USAID Digital Policy 2024-2034, “USAID envisions a world where open, inclusive, secure, and rights-respecting digital ecosystems enable people everywhere to thrive” (USAID, 2024). This panel explores what that means across contexts by bringing together perspectives from USAID Missions working in three different regions. Presenters will share their experience with USAID-funded higher education programming in Malawi, Cambodia, and Peru, emphasizing both the challenges and opportunities digital technologies present in their contexts.

The panel will start in Malawi with the innovative Solar Powered Offline Teaching (SunSPOT) technology developed by Arizona State University through the USAID-funded SHEAMA activity. Malawi’s gross enrollment rate for tertiary education is 3%, compared to 9% for the Sub-Saharan Africa region (UNESCO, 2024). University enrolment is less than 1% of qualified secondary school graduates each year, primarily due to inadequate teaching and learning space (World Bank, 2022). Shifting into Online Distance, and e-Learning (ODeL) has increased access to higher education for these learners but connectivity presents an additional challenge as only 24% of Malawians were using the internet in 2021, compared to 36% for the Sub-Saharan Africa region and 63% of the global population (ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database). Even among those who have access to the internet, the high cost of data in Malawi can make it prohibitive for students to study online (Banda, 2022). SunSPOT, which was deployed at two public universities in Malawi, is designed to remove this financial barrier. It is powered by an offline BeeKee WiFi device that is equipped with a learning management system. Students can access digital educational content without internet connectivity - for free - by connecting to the SunSPOT. SHEAMA also trained the university partners to assemble and repair their devices, including using 3-D printers to make their own units and replacement parts. After adopting this new technology the universities developed offline digital libraries, increasing both the quantity and availability resources for students.

From Malawi, the panel will shift east to Cambodia where the USAID-funded Digital Workforce Development (DWD) activity focuses on upskilling, reskilling, and future-skilling the workforce with digital skills. Cambodia ranks among the top 15 fastest-growing economies worldwide and as it continues to grow it needs to shift its workforce from labor-intensive industries to digital skills. Not surprisingly, technology asserted itself more prominently in Cambodian life during COVID-19. Digital society was reshaped as students, professionals, and businesses took an increased interest in digital skills and integrated technology into their routines. USAID/Cambodia recognized the critical role higher education institutions could play in equipping students with the new digital skills required by employers and designed DWD to fill the gap. Working with their implementing partner the University of California at Berkeley, they strengthened the capacity of faculty, established university-based career centers, and provided scholarships to students pursuing ICT-related degrees. To increase the pipeline of interested students entering higher education, DWD supported a youth-led community-based “KHoding Hero” volunteer program where third and fourth year university students spend a month teaching rural secondary students coding and basic ICT skills. Between 2022 and 2023 they reached nearly 11,000 students at more than 30 secondary schools. DWD also established partnerships with industry leaders such as Amazon Web Services and Meta so that faculty can upgrade their own digital skills and a total of 26 local and international businesses have contributed both money and staff time to support the activity. DWD received one of USAID’s 2023 Digital Development Awards in recognition of its robust digital ecosystem in Cambodia, which empowers youth with ICT skills and resources and creates new employment opportunities through partnerships with local higher education institutions and the private sector.

The panel will end by traveling across the Pacific ocean to the Amazon basin of San Martin where USAID supports youth-inclusive research, and bolstering digital skills through the Peruvian Extension and Research Utilization Hub (PERU-Hub). Higher education in Peru is meeting the moment as the National Agrarian University La Molina (UNALM) prepares cohorts with the digital data analysis skills required to address salient development challenges in the region. UNALM students, together with students from the University of San Martin and technical team, are developing an agricultural technology transfer system—producing rich digital research results for the Amazon region. The goal of the research and innovation center is to explore viable crops for farmers by providing data to inform their crop management and planning. Further, partnering with Oklahoma University, PERU-Hub has leveraged tools to offer students and citizens necessary climate data. Through broad engagement with students, researchers, and communities the PERU-Hub USAID is using technology to strengthen all three of the core functions of a higher education system outlined in the USAID Higher Education Program Framework.

At the close of the panel USAID will reflect on the three activities and ground them in USAID’s Digital Policy, USAID’s Higher Education Program Framework, and other key Agency frameworks. Participants in this session will walk away with concrete examples of technology as a tool to strengthen higher education in different contexts and resources they can draw on in their future work.

Sub Unit

• Higher Education SIG

Chair

• Siena Fleischer, USAID (2010-2025)

Individual Presentations

• Taking Online Education Offline: Using Technology to Bridge Higher Education Gaps in Malawi - Mary Chitsulo, United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Joseph Chikaphonya Phiri, Malawi University of Business and Applied Science; Justice Stanley Peter Mlatho, University of Malawi; Tasokwa Vida Musa Kakota

• Upskilling, Reskilling, and Future-skilling Cambodia’s Workforce: Building Successful Partnerships Between Universities, Local Governments, and the Private Sector - Dany Khieu, USAID/Cambodia

• Bridging the Research Gap in the Amazon: Reflections from Peru - Siena Fleischer, USAID (2010-2025)

Discussant

• semra seifu, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Egypt