Connected Papers | Find and explore academic papers
A unique, visual tool to help researchers and applied scientists find and explore papers relevant to their field of work.

Consensus: AI Search Engine for Research (Consensus: AI Search Engine for Research)
ChatGPT for Research. Consensus is an AI-powered search engine that finds and summarizes scientific research papers. Just ask a question!
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Consensus & GPTs for Academic Research Like Consensus (2024)

Covidence - Better systematic review management

Creating Localizable Learning Apps

Discover Scholarcy Features - Try it now! (Scholarcy | The long-form article summariser)
Discover the innovative features of our cutting-edge tool designed to revolutionize the way students researcher study and summarize articles.

DistillerSR | Systematic Review Software | Literature Review Software (DistillerSR)
DistillerSR is the leading systematic review software that automates every stage of your review to produce evidence-based research faster and more accurately.
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

dmetar - Companion R Package for the Guide Doing Meta-Analysis in R
Serves as the companion R package for the open-source guide Doing Meta Analysis in R. Aimed at beginners, the package contains complementary functions to facilitate performing meta-analysis using the meta, metafor, netmeta and gemtc packages.
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Elicit: Find scientific research papers
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

EPPI-Reviewer: systematic review software
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Future Tools - Find The Exact AI Tool For Your Needs
FutureTools Collects & Organizes All The Best AI Tools So YOU Too Can Become Superhuman!

Grantable
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

How to Use ChatGPT for Academic Purposes (Academic Insight Lab)
Exploring the ethical concerns and legitimate uses of ChatGPT in academic settings, including knowledge curation, data analysis, and generating new data points. Best practices for using ChatGPT are also discussed. Join today for free and begin using our AI tools, which are built using the most advan

Iris.ai - Your Researcher Workspace – Leading AI for your research challenge (Iris.ai - Your Researcher Workspace)
AI for scientific text understanding - literature reviews, research data extraction, post-market surveillance, and other tedious tasks.
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Lateral.io: Enhancing Literature Review Speed
Lateral.io is a tool that helps researchers save time and improve efficiency by organizing and analyzing research papers, allowing for faster information retrieval and collaboration.
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

litbaskets
LITBASKETS — Supporting literature searches for Information Systems researchers.
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

LitSonar
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Meeting the Data Challenge in Education

NVivo (Lumivero)
NVivo qualitative data analysis software helps to discover richer insights from your qualitative & mixed methods research. Organize, store, and analyze data today!

OpenAI API Pricing 2024: Understanding GPT-3 Pricing In-Depth
Discover what determines the GPT-3 pricing and how to calculate the approximate cost for your project.

Parsifal - Perform Systematic Literature Reviews (Parsifal)
Parsifal is a tool to support researchers to perform systematic literature reviews. Performing a systematic literature review is a labor-intensive task that requires a huge amount of work from the researcher. Parsifal will help you planning, conducting and reporting the review.

Perplexity

[Record not in use]
Keywords: _EdTechHub_Output; _MELA_seen; _cover:analysis:nopdf

Research Rabbit
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Research Solutions Announces Acquisition of scite
Research Solutions announces their acquisition of scite, a search and discovery platform leveraging AI to increase the discoverability and evaluation of research.

RevMan
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

RobotReviewer (RobotReviewer)
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Scanlitt
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Scholarcy Summarizer Review: Pricing, Features, & More
Ultimate Scholarcy summarizer review. 1. Working process 2. Pricing and plan 3. Technical details 4. Features and functionalities 5. Security and customer support 6. Pros and cons.

SciPub+ | Revolutionize Your Academic Writing
Empowering Researchers with AI-Driven Writing Tools

Scite.ai (AI for Research) (scite.ai)
Ask a question, get an answer backed by real research. Scite is trusted by leading universities, publishers, and corporations across the world.

Semantic Scholar | AI-Powered Research Tool
Semantic Scholar uses groundbreaking AI and engineering to understand the semantics of scientific literature to help Scholars discover relevant research.
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

SESRA

srdb.pro
SRDB.PRO is the first enterprise level literature review and data analysis platform designed specifically for the Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare consultancies. A truly comprehensive literature review solution, supports all aspects of the review process, from searches through to report generation. And all from a single software platform. SRDB.PRO enhances productivity, increases accuracy and drives greater profitability by reducing the amount of time needed to manage and produce accurate reviews and secondary evidence. Visit us at www.srdb.pro

SWIFT-Active Screener (Sciome)
SWIFT-Active Screener is a web-based, collaborative systematic review software application. Active Screener was designed to be easy-to-use, incorporating a simple, but powerful, graphical user interface with rich project status updates. What makes Active Screener special, however, is its behind-the-scenes application of state-of-the-art statistical models designed to save screeners time and effort by automatically prioritizing articles […]

Typeset (AI Chat for scientific PDFs | SciSpace)
Chat with PDF and conduct your literature review faster using SciSpace. Discover 200M+ papers or upload your own PDF, highlight text or ask questions, and extract explanations and summaries.
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

[unavailable]
Keywords: _DOILIVE; _EdTechHub_Output; _zenodoETH

[unavailable]
Keywords: _DOILIVE; _EdTechHub_Output; _MELA_seen; _cover:v2; _zenodoETH

WebPlotDigitizer - Extract data from plots, images, and maps

What is the AppMap - Google Docs

Aliim – Smartphone Schools Program - Aliim.org

EduApp4Syria Prize - All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development - All Children Reading

Statistical Data/Dadus Estatistiku - Ars (Ministério da Educação)
EMIS system in Timor-Leste is updating not only the current year’s data, but also the previous years’ data as soon as the errors are found, in order...
Keywords: ⛔ No INSPIRE recid found

ATLAS.ti AI Lab | Accelerating Innovation for Data Analysis - ATLAS.ti (ATLAS.ti)
Powered by OpenAI, ATLAS.ti revolutionizes qualitative data analysis — bringing you light-speed insights.

Siyakha Girls Economic Empowerment Initiative - Bantwana World Education Initiative
Bantwana’s Siyakha Girls model is designed to strengthen the economic resilience of vulnerable adolescent girls and young women (AGYW).

Siyakha Girls Pilot - Bantwana - Bantwana World Education Initiative

The centrality of peer interaction in technology-supported personalized learning - Bapna, Akanksha

Acceptable Usage Policy - Bishops Diosecan College (Bishops Diosecan College)

Safeguarding Girls and Boys: When Chatbots answer their private questions - Brown, Isabelle Amazon; Binder, Gerda (UNICEF)

Learning, Marginalization, and Improving the Quality of Education in Low-Income Countries - Castillo, Nathan; Adam, Taskeen; Haßler, Björn
Keywords: _EdTechHub_Output; _MELA_seen; _cover:analysis:nopdf; dode_eth-src-eth; dode_eth-trf2-dode

Malawi GDP - Gross Domestic Product 2021 - countryeconomy.com (countryeconomy.com)

Crisis response can and should include education — Curious Learning - Curious Learning

Curious Learning - Curious Learning

Curious Learning, Global Digital Library and Chimple Apps - Languages with IDs - Spec Sheet - Google Sheets - Curious Learning

Literacy League — Curious Learning - Curious Learning

Timeline - Curious Learning

Tools for your toolbox: Collecting data for cost-effectiveness with the Brookings Childhood Cost Calculator - D'Rozario, Jonny; Mitchell, Joel

Integrating digital personalised learning into pre-primary classroom practice: a teacher-researcher multiple-case study partnership in Kenya - Daltry, Rebecca; Major, Louis; Otieno, Mary; Otieno, Kevin; Jordan, Katy; Moustafa, Nariman
Keywords: ⛔ No DOI found

Educate! | Preparing youth in Africa with the skills to succeed in today’s economy. - Educate! (Educate! | Preparing youth in Africa with the skills to succeed in today’s economy.)
Educate! prepares youth in Africa with the skills to succeed in today’s economy. We tackle youth unemployment by partnering with schools and governments to reform what schools teach and how they teach it, so that students in Africa have the skills to start businesses, get jobs, and drive development

Impact Evaluation Results - Educate!

Impact Evaluation Results - Educate!

Monitoring & Evaluation Approach — Educate! | Preparing youth in Africa with the skills to succeed in today’s economy. - Educate!

Out-of-School Youth Solutions — Educate! | Preparing youth in Africa with the skills to succeed in today’s economy. - Educate!

Acceptable Use Policies for the Internet - Education World

Launch of Scopus AI to Help Researchers Navigate the World of Research - Elsevier (www.elsevier.com)
Developed and tested with the research community, Scopus AI combines the world’s largest database of curated scientific literature with responsible AI

Scopus AI: Trusted content. Powered by responsible AI. - Elsevier Products (www.elsevier.com)
Scopus AI combines generative artificial intelligence with Scopus’ trusted content and data to help researchers accelerate their research.

Enuma - Enuma
The Best Learning Solution for Children Around the World

Feynman AI - Feynman AI
Feynman - An AI assistant to make reading, writing and understanding academic literature easier.

Digital Youth in Timor-Leste - Frankie, Love; Wilson, Mike; Sloman, Annie; Fernandes, Zevonia Vieira
Keywords: ⛔ No DOI found; ⛔ No INSPIRE recid found

Home - Global Digital Library - - Global Digital Library

Global education monitoring report, 2023: technology in education: a tool on whose terms? - Global Education Monitoring Report Team
UNESCO Digital Library

Agile delivery - Service Manual - GOV.UK - GOV.UK (GOV.UK)
How to work in an agile way: principles, tools and governance.

National Numeracy Programme | Malawi - Government of Malawi

Political System - Government of Timor-Leste

Program of the IX Constitutional Government - Government of Timor-Leste

Developing collaborations and technology for evidence synthesis - Haddaway, Martin Westgate & Neal (Evidence Synthesis Hackathon)
An event series to develop open software for evidence synthesis
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

RobotAnalyst (National Centre for Text Mining — NaCTEM) - Heatley, Louise M.
META-NET Project.

Responsible Use Policy: A Guide for Schools - HiddenApp

Every Adolescent Girl Empowered and Resilient (EAGER) - International Rescue Committee (IRC)
A project designed to create accessible and empowering learning opportunities for out-of-school adolescent girls in Sierra Leone, strengthening their knowledge, skills, and agency to shape their lives.

Digital Development - International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Exercise B: How to do random assignment using MS Excel - J-PAL (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab)

JABSOM Library: Colandr for Systematic Reviews: Introducing Colandr - Kahili-Heede, Melissa
Using the systematic review tool for title and abstract screening, full-text article screening, and data extraction

Scholarcy (Online Summarizing Tool | Flashcard Generator & Summarizer) - kssNvYB7y66y (Scholarcy | The long-form article summariser)
Scholarcy™ is an online summarizing tool that generates and converts long articles into summary flashcards. Sign up free & start summarizing

Malawi - LNGB Consortium

Can Nudge Messaging Positively Influence School Attendance? - Longley, Sophie (EdTech Hub)
In Northern Ghana, Wunni Sabo's decision to prioritise his daughter's education, inspired by nudge messaging, is helping to spark a movement for learning. Click to read this story of change.

A dialogic design-based research partnership approach: developing close-to-practice educational technology theory in Kenya (Forthcomming) - Major, Louis; Daltry, Rebecca; Rahman, Asad; Plaut, Daniel; Otieno, Mary; Otieno, Kevin (Global Perspectives on Teaching with Technology: Theories, Case Studies and Integration Strategies)
Design-based research (DBR) has promise for investigating educational technology in low- and middle-income contexts. However, DBR is implemented infrequently in such settings, highlighting a need for guidance on implementation. This chapter critically reflects on innovative DBR involving Kenyan teachers and research partners over two years. This focused on the iterative evaluation of a ‘digital personalised learning’ tool to improve its integration into classroom practice. This DBR promoted teacher-researcher engagement through adopting a dialogue-informed 'intermediate theory building' framework, bridging the theory-practice gap. Additionally, it enhanced inclusivity by broadening the concept of partnership through an ‘integrated’ approach. Lessons learned and practical implications are highlighted. Outcomes establish a novel foundation for applying DBR to enhance educational technology for marginalised learners.

Learning continuity in response to Pakistan’s 2022 floods: Policy brief - Mazari, Haani; Baloch, Imdad; Thinley, Sangay; Radford, Kate; Perry, Freya; Kaye, Tom (EdTech Hub)
An output of the EdTech Hub, https://edtechhub.org
Keywords: _r:AddedByZotZen

Let’s Chat: Chatbot Nudging for Improved Course Performance - Meyer, Katharine; Page, Lindsay C.; Smith, Eric; Walsh, B. Tyler; Fifield, C. Lindsey; Evans, Michael
Despite documented benefits to college completion, more than a third of students who initially enroll in college do not ultimately earn a credential. Completing college requires students to navigate both institutional administrative tasks (e.g., registering for classes) and academic tasks within courses (e.g., completing homework). In postsecondary education, several promising interventions have shown that text-based outreach and communication can be a low-cost, easy to implement, and effective strategy for supporting administrative task navigation. In this paper, we report on two randomized controlled trials testing the effect of a text-based chatbot with artificial intelligence (AI) capability on students' academic task navigation in introductory courses (political science and economics). We find the academic chatbot significantly shifted students’ final grades, increasing the likelihood students received a course grade of B or higher by 5-6 percentage points and reduced the likelihood students dropped the course.

Education in Emergencies: A Rapid Evidence Review - Mitchell, Joel; Ashlee, Amy; Clericetti, Giulia; Gladwell, Jessica; Torrance, Rebecca (EdTech Hub, 2020)
Keywords: _DOILIVE; _EdTechHub_Output; _MELA_seen; _cover:v3; _zenodoETH

Cost-Effective EdTech Paper 3 - Mitchell, Joel; D'Rozario, Jonny (EdTech Hub)
An output of the EdTech Hub, https://edtechhub.org
Keywords: _comingsoon; _r:AddedByZotZen

Great buy or just low cost? Lessons on cost-effectiveness from messaging interventions in West Africa - Mitchell, Joel; Mukankusi, Aimée; D'Rozario, Jonny (EdTech Hub)
An output of the EdTech Hub, https://edtechhub.org/
Keywords: Coming soon; _r:AddedByMyEducationEvidence

nawiripro | Karibu - Nawiripro

Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE) Results - NECTA

OpenAlex: The open catalog to the global research system - OpenAlex
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Innovative Research Methodologies: Participatory Ethnographic Evaluation Research (PEER). - Oyinloye, Bukola
This podcast is the third in a series commissioned by the Research Methodology in Education Special Interest Group to showcase the variety of methodologies and methods being undertaken by...

Empowering emerging tech leaders - Re:Coded

Technology Acceptable Use Agreement - Ridgewood Public Schools (Ridgewood Public Schools)

Rising Academies - Rising Academies

TVET Platform for SEA - SEA-VET

Storybooks Timor-Leste: Languages - Storybooks Timor-Leste

Sierra Leone TCPD Sandbox Report - Tanweer, Rabia; Plaut, Daniel; McBurnie, Chris (EdTech Hub)
An output of the EdTech Hub, https://edtechhub.org
Keywords: _r:AddedByZotZen

Toolkits Platform - Ubongo

2019-2021 ICT Project Final Report - UNDP

JP Malawi Girls' Education | MPTF Office - UNDP

Education Budget Brief 2020 - UNICEF; Government of Tanzania (2020)
Keywords: ⛔ No DOI found

DREAMS: Partnership To Reduce Hiv/Aids In Adolescent Girls And Young Women | Global Health | U.S. Agency for International Development - USAID

Technology for Data Collection Processing and Communication for EiE - USAID

Using technology to deliver high quality education | VSO - VSO

War Child Care System - Can't Wait to Learn | War Child - War Child Holland

We believe no child should be part of war. Ever. | War Child - War Child Holland

Development Projects : Skills for A Vibrant Economy Project - P172627 - World Bank (World Bank)
Development Projects : Skills for A Vibrant Economy Project - P172627

Glossary | DataBank - World Bank

Procurement Details - World Bank (World Bank)

The World by Income and Region - World Bank

World Bank Open Data - World Bank (World Bank Open Data)
Free and open access to global development data

World Bank Open Data: Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) - Malawi - World Bank (World Bank)
Free and open access to global development data

Cambodia Digital Education Inventory - World Education
A collection of digital tools and interventions that promote learning and teaching in Cambodia

Research Guides: AI-Based Literature Review Tools: Home - Xiao, Daniel
Research Guides: AI-Based Literature Review Tools: Home
Keywords: _Added-ailr-2024

Nudge Messaging and School Attendance in Ghana: Determining the Impact of Tailored Message Characteristics - Zhao, Annette; D'Rozario, Jonny; Kably, Nathan; Jayasinghe, Neema; Mukankusi, Aimée
An output of the EdTech Hub, https://edtechhub.org/
Keywords: Coming soon; _r:AddedByMyEducationEvidence

Designing for Social Justice: A Decolonial Exploration of How to Develop EdTech for Refugees - Barnes, Katrina; Emerusenge, Aime Parfait; Rabi, Asma; Ullah, Noor; Mazari, Haani; Moustafa, Nariman; Thakrar, Jayshree; Zhao, Annette; Koomar, Saalim (Education Sciences, 2024)
This paper reflects on the lived experiences of young refugees located in Pakistan and Rwanda when interacting with education technology (EdTech) during and following displacement. We offer a broad decolonial commentary on issues related to the design and development of EdTech initiatives for refugees, noting some of the historical trends prevalent in the education and emergencies sector. We are guided by questions such as: Why EdTech to start with? Who designs the products? Where are they designed? How are they designed? And, which power dynamics are at play during the design process? From this, we draw on qualitative data generated through three focus groups, where we explore young refugees’ experiences of EdTech. The focus group included a creative element inviting participants to imagine what a liberatory EdTech practice would look like. We aim to illustrate the practical implications of design choices taken by EdTech developers and, from this, recommend a set of justice-centred design principles for developers of EdTech in refugee contexts. These insights relate specifically to the experiences of refugees in Rwanda and Pakistan, though we also discuss the implications of these learnings for other contexts.

Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in the Context of the National Numeracy Programme in Malawi: Findings from a rapid in-depth qualitative study - Correa de Oliveira, André; Kanyoza, Charity; Smart, Theresa; Lurvink, Anne-Fleur; Boilo, Violet; Kadzamira, Esme; Haßler, Björn (EdTech Hub, 2024)
To inform the development of Malawi's National Numeracy Programme (NNP), EdTech Hub worked with the Directorate of Quality Assurance Services (Malawi), Cambridge Education, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to examine the NNP’s components during its extended pilot phase during the 2022–2023 school year, and explore how these might be refined to improve teaching and learning of mathematics in Malawi. In-depth qualitative research in four schools was undertaken to obtain feedback on the programme’s components from teachers, head teachers, and Primary Education Advisors. The study’s methodology incorporated semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, lesson observations, learning circle observations, training observations, and ethnographic methods. Additionally, a mathematics specialist conducted an independent, in-depth, desk-based review of the NNP teaching and learning resources to refine the study’s analysis. This report summarises the principal findings from the study. Keywords: Malawi, mathematics, numeracy, teacher continuous professional development, teacher learning circles An output of the EdTech Hub, https://edtechhub.org
Keywords: _r:AddedByZotZen

Designing Teacher Learning Circles for Improved Foundational Numeracy Outcomes: Findings from the National Numeracy Programme in Malawi - Correa de Oliveira, André; Plaut, Daniel; Kanyoza, Charity; Boilo, Violet; Chidothi, Emmanuel; Kadzamira, Esme; Mpoola, Dorothy; McBurnie, Chris; Phiri, Magret; Haßler, Björn (EdTech Hub, 2024)
The Malawi National Numeracy Programme (NNP) was designed in 2020 in partnership with the Malawi Ministry of Education and Cambridge Education (Mott McDonald), funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Building on findings from a prior qualitative review of the NNP's programme components, EdTech Hub proposed a new phase of design-based implementation research (DBIR) to be undertaken in Term 2 of the 2022–2023 school year to refine the school-based teacher continuous professional development (TCPD) model of the NNP. As part of the research, EdTech Hub developed a new TLC guide to be tested in schools. Through observations, focus group discussions, and interviews, the Hub gathered teacher feedback and used it to co-design and iterate on this guide alongside teachers. This report summarises the principal findings from the study. It also outlines the research background, methodology, findings, and recommendations for the programme moving forward. Keywords: teacher continuous professional development, teacher learning circles, National Numeracy Programme (NNP), Malawi, design-based implementation research An output of the EdTech Hub, https://edtechhub.org
Keywords: _r:AddedByZotZen

Lebanon: Needs at a Glance – 2024 - UNHCR (2024)

Minoritised Languages, Education, and Technology: Current practices and future directions in low- and middle-income countries - Zhao, Annette; Mitchell, Joel; Gasanabandi, Gentille; Ullah, Noor; Barnes, Katrina; Koomar, Saalim (EdTech Hub, 2024)
This article explores the current status and future directions of mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MTB MLE) and the use of technology in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), focusing on the use of minoritised mother tongues. An initial literature review of available academic sources in multiple languages reveals a lack of evidence on the use of technology in MTB MLE across different countries, especially multilingual contexts with greater linguistic diversity. To understand the issue in greater detail and to offer recommendations informed by current practice, interviews and a collaborative workshop with four organisations with relevant educational technology (EdTech) initiatives were conducted. The analysis covers facilitating and limiting factors these organisations have encountered, and the potential positive impact on learners and society generally. We conclude by identifying practical, policy, and research priorities for multilingual education and educational technology in general.
Keywords: _r:AddedByZotZen

Learners and caregivers barriers and attitudes to SMS-based mobile learning in Kenya - Jordan, Katy; Damani, Kalifa; Myers, Christina; Mumbi, Albina; Khagame, Phoebe; Njuguna, Lydia (African Educational Research Journal, 2023)
The use of mobile phones has been identified as a potential way to bring the benefits of educational technology to a wider audience, including in low-connectivity settings. This is a topic that has received renewed interest recently as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures. While a number of recent studies have demonstrated good potential for mobile phones and SMS to be used to support learning, there are also questions about how equitable this medium is in practice. We conducted a telephone survey with learners (n = 122) and their caregivers (n = 124) who use M-Shule, an SMS-based educational platform in Kenya, in order to understand their attitudes towards mobile learning, and the benefits and constraints. In particular, we consider whether there are differences in responses according to gender and/or location, to shed light on whether use is equitable. We find that girls and boys face similar barriers to use, and the technology is perceived to be equally beneficial. We identify some areas for potential further support for all learners through mobile learning.

Deployment of Offline Learning Management Systems: Comparing the Performance of Selected Micro-servers in Tanzania - Maro, Salome; Kondoro, Aron; Haßler, Björn; Mtebe, Joel; Proctor, Jamie (Journal of Learning for Development, 2023)
Low-powered mobile devices such as Raspberry Pis and tablets can be used as micro-servers to implement offline Learning Management Systems (LMS). Despite their potential, especially for low-income countries, such as Tanzania, no research is available detailing the affordances of these devices for supporting LMS features. This study investigated the suitability of various low-cost micro-servers for deploying LMSs. It compared the performance of the Raspberry Pi, Android tablet, and Chromebook in terms of LMS benchmarking, response time, and resource utilisation. Results showed all devices had sufficient hardware resources to support the LMS, however, software stacks, I/O performance, and platform optimisations affected the micro-servers' performance. The Chromebook had the best performance in terms of response time, followed by the Raspberry Pi and tablets. In terms of cost, the Raspberry PI was the cheapest option.  The installation process for tablets was more cumbersome than the other devices, meaning the devices with better tooling and a more conventional software stack were a better option for deploying offline micro-servers.

Education in times of restriction: an examination of refugee girls’ and young women’s access to learning during COVID-19 school closures in Pakistan - Barnes, Katrina; Ashlee, Amy; Mukankusi, Aimee; Pacitto, Julia; Rabi, Asma; Thomas, Matt; Ullah, Noor; Zazai, Rozina; Zhao, Annette (Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 2023)
This paper examines the extent to which refugee girls and young women were able to access learning during COVID-19 education closures in Pakistan, and the role that EdTech played in their learning access. It is based on findings from a survey with 403 Afghan refugee students, along with in-depth interviews with six young female refugees. The research shows that, while the majority of female refugee students were able to continue accessing education in some form during school closures, learning access was nevertheless limited, and a sizable minority were not engaged in any learning during this time. Teacher and institutional support was either absent or inadequate for many students, and infrastructure and devices that serve to support remote learning were not always reliable or accessible. Although male respondents were less likely than females to engage in independent study during the closures, refugee girls and young women were significantly less likely than their male counterparts to own the devices they needed for learning. The findings demonstrate how targeted investment in specific types of EdTech and teacher professional development, as well as supporting educational institutions in the establishment of remote learning opportunities, could help sustain learning during future periods of educational restriction.
Keywords: COVID-19; Distance education; Educational technology; Gender; Pakistan; Refugee education

Towards Improving the Accessibility and Usability of a Mobile-based Learning Management System for Blind Primary School Teachers - Kondoro, Aron; Maro, Salome; Mtebe, Joel; Proctor, Jamie; Komba, Aneth; Haßler, Björn (2023 IST-Africa Conference (IST-Africa), 2023)

Developing dialogic classroom practices through supporting professional agency: Teachers’ experiences of using the T-SEDA practitioner-led inquiry approach - Calcagni, Elisa; Ahmed, Farah; Trigo-Clapés, Ana Laura; Kershner, Ruth; Hennessy, Sara (Teaching and Teacher Education, 2023)
Classroom dialogue is considered productive for learning but rarely observed, and practitioner professional development is needed. This study investigated how 67 teachers across educational phases in six countries contextualised the T-SEDA inquiry toolkit to conduct classroom inquiries and develop new practices. Surveys and inquiry reports yielded insights into how practitioner agency was further developed, with implications for sustainability. Change was evident in self-reported enhanced awareness and understanding of dialogue and use of dialogic strategies. Increases in students’ dialogic participation and plans for dissemination to colleagues were reported.
Keywords: Classroom dialogue; Dialogic teaching; Professional development; Professional learning; Reflective inquiry; Teacher agency

Where do teachers go, and where do they stay? - Lurvink, Anne-Fleur; Espinoza-Revollo, Patricia; Ali, Yusuf; Garrod, Oliver; Atherton, Paul; Mackintosh, Alasdair; Ramirez, Ana; Beoku-Betts, Iman; Haßler, Björn; Godwin, Katie; Godwin, Anne-Fleur Lurvink, Patricia Espinoza-Revollo, Yusuf Ali, Oliver Garrod, Paul Atherton, Alasdair Mackintosh, Ana Ramirez, Iman Beoku-Betts, Björn Haßler and Katie (EdTech Hub, 2023)
In Sierra Leone, a government payroll position is tied to the teacher, not the school, meaning teachers can change schools once they go on the payroll. This leads to certain schools being chronically understaffed. It also suggests that deploying teachers to rural and understaffed schools (or putting teachers already there on payroll) might not tackle high pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratios in the longer term. Investigating the school-to-school movement of payroll teachers can help us understand where teachers go after they go on the payroll and how long they stay in a given school. We also looked at overall movement nationally to identify areas of the country that are outliers in terms of high and low retention of teachers.

Pakistan Education Sector Working Group flood response performance monitoring dashboard (as of 28 February 2023) - Pakistan | ReliefWeb - Education Sector Working Group (2023)
Infographic in English on Pakistan about Contributions, Coordination, Flash Flood, Flood and more; published on 9 Mar 2023 by Education Cluster, Save the Children and 2count other organizations

KEY FIGURES: 5th Rwanda Population and Housing Census (PHC) - National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda. (National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda., 2023)
The fifth Population and Housing Census in Rwanda, was conducted in August 2022. The Census operation was coordinated by the National Census Commission. Various census technical and administrative structures have been put in place to ensure a successful census operation.

The RISE Education Systems Diagnostic: A Tool for Identifying Strategic Priorities for Education System Reform - RISE (RISE Programme, 2023)

Nigerian schools: Flogged for speaking my mother tongue - Cecilia Macaulay (BBC News, 2023)
Nigeria wants local languages to replace English in primary education, but some say it's not practical.

Guidance note on using implementation research in education - Allison, C (Building Evidence in Education (BE2), 2023)

V-Dem Dataset v13 - Coppedge, M. et al. (Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project, 2023)

Results – Rapid Scans – The EdTech Hub - EdTech Hub (2023)

Education Sector Budget Proposal Report 2023/24 - Government of Kenya (Government of Kenya, 2023)

Report of the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform: ​​Transforming education, training and research for sustainable development in Kenya - Government of Kenya (2023)

Fiscal Transfers: View Consolidated formulae - Government of Uganda (OTIMS, 2023)

How can messaging apps, WhatsApp and SMS be used to support learning? A scoping review - Jordan, Katy (Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 2023)
In response to disruption to education during the Covid-19 pandemic, mobile phone-based messaging has emerged in some instances as an accessible, low-connectivity way of promoting interactivity. However, no recent reviews have been undertaken in relation to how social media and messaging apps can be used to effectively support education in low- and middle-income countries. In this scoping review, 43 documents were identified for inclusion and three main thematic areas emerged: supporting student learning (including interacting with peers and other students, peer tutoring and collaborative learning; and interacting with teachers, through content delivery, teaching and assessment); teacher professional development (including structured support and prompts, and informal communities of practice); and supporting refugee education. The discussion and findings are both of practical use, to inform responses to the current pandemic and designing initiatives in the future, and will also be useful for advancing research in this expanding field.

Toward a holistic approach to EdTech effectiveness: Lessons from Covid-19 research in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone - Nicolai, Susan; Jordan, Katy; Adam, Taskeen; Kaye, Tom; Myers, Christina (International Journal of Educational Development, 2023)

Towards a Resilient Education Recovery from Pakistan's Floods: Rapid Response Research - Sarwar, Moizza Binat (Malala Fund & Pakistan Coalition for Education, 2023)

Nearly half a million children in Malawi unable to attend school due to Cyclone Freddy - Save the Children (2023)

What Is Data Governance and Why Does It Matter? - Stedman, Craig (Data Management, 2023)
Learn what data governance is, why it's important, its benefits, who's responsible for it, data governance best practices and more in this in-depth guide.

SDG 4 September 2023 - UNESCO (2023)

UNICEF Data Warehouse - UNICEF (2023)

Gateways to Public Digital Learning - United Nations (United Nations, 2023)

South Africa Public Expenditure and Institutional Review for Early Childhood Development - World Bank (2023)
South Africa Public Expenditure and Institutional Review for Early Childhood Development (ECD PEIR) (English)

The Sandbox Model: A Novel Approach to Iterating while Implementing an Emergency Education Program in Lebanon during the COVID-19 Pandemic - Boujikian, Michèle; Carter, Alice; Jordan, Katy (2022)
Jusoor’s Refugee Education Program helps Syrian refugee children living in Lebanon integrate back into formal schooling. When schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the refugee program adapted to distance learning by developing Azima, a novel program that used WhatsApp to enable children to keep learning. Azima had to respond immediately to the emergency context while maintaining high education standards, and it also needed to find an effective way to test and refine its content quickly. To do this, the Azima program adopted an innovative experimental approach called a sandbox. A sandbox model operates in rapid iterative cycles and uses multiple methods to quickly test a program’s assumptions about how it will meet its goals. In this field note, we use Azima as a case study to report on our experience of applying the sandbox model. We reflect on the benefits and limitations of this novel approach in supporting the use of education technology in a crisis situation.

Drought situation in the Kenya ASAL areas now at crisis level - Kenya | ReliefWeb - ASAL Humanitarian Network (2022)
News and Press Release in English on Kenya about Agriculture, Climate Change and Environment, Drought and more; published on 5 Oct 2022 by ASAL Humanitarian Network

Digital Divide or Digital Provide? Technology, Time Use, and Learning Loss during COVID-19 - Asadullah, M. Niaz; Bhattacharjee, Anindita (The Journal of Development Studies, 2022)
COVID-19 school closure has caused a worldwide shift towards technology-aided home schooling. Given widespread poverty in developing countries, this has raised concerns over new forms of learning inequalities. Using nationwide data on primary and secondary school children in slum and rural households in Bangladesh, we examine how learning time at home during the early months of school closure varies by access to technology at home. Data confirms a significant socio-economic and gender divide in access to TV, smartphone, computer, and internet among rural households. However, the analysis of daily time use data shows only a modest return to a technology in terms of boosting learning time at home. The learning-grade gradient is shallow and insensitive to TV, smartphone, and computer access at home. We also find no evidence that technology access per se helps learning by boosting time spent in online schooling and private supplementary coaching/tutoring. While technology access matters in households where parents act as home tutors, the magnitude of such a complementary effect are not large. The results imply a loss of out-of-school learning time during school closure even in households with technology access. We consider additional hypotheses relating to institutional and socio-economic barriers to home-based learning in developing countries.
Keywords: COVID-19; D10; I21; J22; Q50; home-based education; learning crisis; school closure

Education system management / EMIS / education data – EdTechTools - EdTech Hub (2022)

Combining school-catchment area models with geostatistical models for analysing school survey data from low-resource settings: Inferential benefits and limitations - Macharia, Peter M.; Ray, Nicolas; Gitonga, Caroline W.; Snow, Robert W.; Giorgi, Emanuele (Spatial Statistics, 2022)
School-based sampling has been used to inform targeted responses for malaria and neglected tropical diseases. Standard geostatistical methods for mapping disease prevalence use the school location to model spatial correlation, which is questionable since exposure to the disease is more likely to occur in the residential location. In this paper, we propose to overcome the limitations of standard geostatistical methods by introducing a modelling framework that accounts for the uncertainty in the location of the residence of the students. By using cost distance and cost allocation models to define spatial accessibility and in absence of any information on the travel mode of students to school, we consider three school catchment area models that assume walking only, walking and bicycling and, walking and motorized transport. We illustrate the use of this approach using two case studies of malaria in Kenya and compare it with the standard approach that uses the school locations to build geostatistical models. We argue that the proposed modelling framework presents several inferential benefits, such as the ability to combine data from multiple surveys some of which may also record the residence location, and to deal with ecological bias when estimating the effects of malaria risk factors. However, our results show that invalid assumptions on the modes of travel to school can worsen the predictive performance of geostatistical models. Future research in this area should focus on collecting information on the modes of transportation to school which can then be used to better parametrize the catchment area models.
Keywords: Catchment area models; Disease mapping; Missing locations; Model-based geostatistics; Prevalence; School survey

What is Capitation Grant for Basic Schools in Ghana? - Marfo, Nathlaine Matilda (Coverghana.com.gh, 2022)
Capitation grant for basic schools is the amount of money or funds allocated for public basic schools in Ghana operating under the Ghana Education Service to... What is Capitation Grant for Basic Schools in Ghana?

Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2022 | 1GB Cost in 233 Countries - Cable (Cable.co.uk, 2022)
A global league table of mobile data costs. The average cost of one gigabyte (1GB) was then calculated and compared from over 5,000 mobile data plans in 233 countries.

Inflation and price indices - Office for National Statistics - Office for National Statistics (2022)

UIS Data - UNESCO (2022)

World Development Indicators | DataBank - World Bank (2022)

$3 Million ADB Grant to Support Pakistan’s Flood Response - Asian Development Bank (Asian Development Bank, 2022)
ADB approved a $3 million grant to support the Government of Pakistan’s emergency relief efforts amid widespread floods across the country.

Elimu | Offline Intranet Resource Centre In Garissa - Elimu Resource Centre (2022)

Alarm over teen pregnancies as Kenya ranked third worldwide | Nation - Maichuhie, Kamau (2022)

Radical inclusion means teaching children in a language they understand - Bah, Chernor (Brookings, 2022)
Chenor Bah examines how Sierra Leone is trying to incorporate radical inclusion within the national education system by ensuring children are taught their mother-tongue for the first three to five years of schooling.

Teachers need training and support, not just an internet connection, to deliver quality distance education - Conover, Anna C (Teacher Task Force, 2022)
This blog is based on the findings of Distance learning and teacher training strategies. Lessons from the Caribbean, a recently published report by the Teacher Task Force. It was written by Anna C. Conover, Consultant Distance teaching and learning have expanded rapidly around the world since COVID-19 school closures first began in 2020. The transition exposed a wide digital divide in many countries, where lack of access to devices, online content and internet connectivity hindered universal access. Equally crucial, the shift shone a light on the need for more and better teacher training in digital and relevant pedagogical skills. However, in spite of this urgent need, ministries of education in many countries are only now integrating ICT competencies and standards into teacher policy frameworks. Moreover, traditional teacher training programmes do not necessarily adequately cover digital and related pedagogical skills in initial teacher training and continuing professional education. Teacher training can help improve learners’ and teachers’ experience of distance learning In response to the demand for training in distance learning and technology integration in small island developing states (SIDS) in the Caribbean, the Distance Learning and Teacher Training Strategies in the Caribbean SIDS teacher training programme was created to enhance the capacity of national education systems. The Teacher Task Force, UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition, Blackboard, the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning (CCEP), UNICEF Jamaica, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development collaborated to develop, implement and monitor the programme. Building on the 2020 pilot project, Professional Development for Teachers for Blended Learning and Online Strategies, the programme was designed to strengthen teachers’ digital and related pedagogical skills. It took a holistic and context-sensitive approach to strengthening teachers’ capacity to guarantee that the most vulnerable students were not left behind during the crisis. The project aimed to confront challenges such as: how to maintain engagement and interaction for learning; how to convert content into appropriate online learning formats; how to handle school management issues, such as the need to respect normal school hours; and how to work with students with diverse needs. Providing support in these areas also helped to address teachers’ psychosocial well-being, since the abrupt transition to online teaching led to significant disruption of teachers’ professional and personal lives, causing uncertainty and other emotional challenges. Careful course design, adaptable materials and supportive communities of practice are essential for successful distance learning A key lesson from the programme was the importance of high standards for course design, content, and capacity for collaboration and delivery. Online platforms or learning management systems must be intuitive and user-friendly; courses must include different forms of interaction and student-teacher feedback loops; and time and space must be allotted for collaboration, reflection and experimentation. Since parental involvement is important for successful distance learning, course design should also include guidance for parents and reliable channels for them to communicate with teachers. Preparing and adapting materials for online learning is one of the most challenging and time-consuming tasks for teachers in transitioning to distance learning. So, teacher training should include guidance on tools to facilitate this work, such as “live worksheets”, which are interactive and support assessment at a distance. And programmes should use open-source materials where possible, or explicitly state copyright conditions when needed, to increase scalability and enable teachers to re-use materials. Teachers who participated in the teacher training programme particularly appreciated being part of a community of practice, enabling them to make new connections with distance education experts and other teachers in similar situations across their country and region. This feeling of belonging to a supportive network, as well as their newly acquired skills, boosted their personal and professional confidence in applying digital technologies and the required skills in their classrooms. Teacher training for distance education should prepare teachers to create inclusive online learning environments Ensuring inclusive education should be a priority in distance learning. Even though this form of schooling can limit teachers’ interactions with students (e.g., by reducing opportunities for spontaneous communication and gestural cues), it can also provide opportunities to promote inclusion. Designing courses with accessibility in mind is essential to create inclusive learning environments. For instance, to accommodate the needs of learners with disabilities, participants should be given a range of ways to access materials and participate in courses. This may include offering asynchronous* and synchronous** options for discussion, multimodal (visual, aural, textual, etc.) delivery of content, and downloadable as well as livestreamed content. In multilingual contexts, adapting to teachers’ language needs is also essential. In the SIDS programme, course content was often only available in French or English. However, to allow participants to conduct discussions in the language with which they were most comfortable, course facilitators allowed participants to form online breakout groups using other languages. Flexibility is a key feature in planning for teacher training Training teachers for distance education must be flexible, since teachers have competing and sometimes unforeseen demands on their time. Course content, pacing and assignments should be adjusted throughout the course according to participants’ changing needs. This is particularly important during emergency situations. For accreditation transparency and to maintain teacher motivation, courses can adapt to teachers’ time constraints by offering different levels of certification and micro-credentials for specific ICT skills. Careful planning that considers school calendars and teachers’ accessibility needs, as well as good communication campaigns, are essential to ensure successful enrolment and sustained attendance in teacher training. Registration should be easy and obstacle-free, and directly available online. In general, teacher training should not be scheduled at the beginning or at the end of the school year when teachers are busiest, or during long summer vacations when many teachers are not available. Partnerships are important for developing teacher training programmes for distance education Partnerships are particularly important in delivering distance education, since it requires considerable expertise and resources, including costly devices, uninterrupted connectivity, education software, open educational resources, and pedagogical and organizational expertise. Given that connectivity and device availability are often a barrier in online education, governments and stakeholders should develop partnerships with technology companies and internet providers to identify solutions, while ensuring that data security and participant privacy are respected. Educational technologies have proven to be useful to ensure continuity of education in emergency situations. Increasingly true to all societies, they are also among the basic tools needed to fully participate in our contemporary world. However, investing in these technologies will not achieve the desired results unless we also invest in teachers’ digital and related pedagogical skills. Initial and in-service teacher education must therefore be re-imagined including these skills and technologies. With their first-hand experience of the challenges and opportunities of remote teaching, teachers must be involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of distance learning and technology integration. In such a way, they must effectively be placed at the heart of wider education transformation. Glossary  *Asynchronous online learning:  Education and learning that occur online at a different time compared to when the teacher is instructing. **Synchronous online learning: Education and learning that occur online at the same time, but not in the same place with teachers and/or other learners. Photo credit: Abir Roy Barman/Shutterstock.com

Parenting in the digital age: Attitudes, controls and limitations regarding children's use of ICT - Gür, Duygu; Türel, Yalın Kılıç (Computers & Education, 2022)
Today, with the development of technology, many possibilities are offered to users; however, these possibilities bring along some risks and threats. It is very important to ensure that users, especially teenagers, can benefit from the possibilities of technology at the highest level by minimizing the existing risks. At this point, the roles, attitudes and behaviors of parents have an important effect. The purpose of this study is to reveal the attitudes, behaviors, controls and limitations of middle school students' parents towards their children's use of information technologies. For this purpose, data were collected from parents through survey and interviews. The participants of the study consisted of 354 parents of 6th and 7th grade students from seven public schools and four private schools. The parents filled out a questionnaire. Also, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 volunteer parents. According to the results, parents ‘attitudes towards their children's ICT use were positive and they especially supported their use of ICT for educational purposes. However, it was revealed that parents were concerned about the possible risks and security threats that their children may encounter in virtual environments, and therefore they take precaution in order to prevent their children from possible risks by informing, controlling and limiting their children. Based on the results, while children benefit from digital opportunities, they need to prevent themselves from digital risks as well through precautions and interventions with the support of school-parent cooperation.
Keywords: Digital parenting; Information and communication technologies (ICT); Limitations; Online risks; Parental control

Schools Are Looking for Evidence From Their Edtech. Are Companies Ready to Provide It? - EdSurge News - Tate, Emily (EdSurge, 2022)
Schools are awash in technology in a way never before seen, thanks to the mad dash toward digital that was prompted by the pandemic a little more than ...

Using virtual reality to help teachers better support refugee students - Chinen, Marjorie; Oviedo, Ana María (2022)
Virtual reality (VR) offers teachers and school administrators opportunities to foster empathy and cohesion with refugee students, as is already happening through a World Bank-supported project in Türkiye.

COVID-19 – a boundary crossing event for teacher educators.pdf - Donitsa-Schmidt, Smadar; Ramot, Rony (Journal of Education for Teaching, 2022)

Implementation of Kobo Collect in drought-affected Provinces - UNFPA Angola (2022)
Implementation of Kobo Collect in drought-affected Provinces

Effective Assessment and Progress Monitoring in an Online Environment: A Study in Six Countries - T4 Education; EdTech Hub (EdTech Hub, 2022)
The study was undertaken in six countries – Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, and South Africa. The data collection involved focus group discussions with two held in each country..

Edtech Should Be More Evidence-Driven - EdSurge News - Segura, Fabio; Sommer, Simon (EdSurge, 2022)
The $300 billion global edtech industry is full of promise – but its non-empirical approach has prevented true success

Teachers’ virtual communities of practice: A strong response in times of crisis or just another Fad? - Ghamrawi, Norma (Education and Information Technologies, 2022)
The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived effectiveness of a virtual community of practice (vCoP) designed to support knowledge and expertise sharing between K-12 teachers during Covid-19 pandemic. Besides, it aimed at exploring the potential of such vCoPs in delivering effective professional development, in general, and during crisis in particular. The vCoP was developed by the researcher herself as part of a consultancy to the UNESCO. The sample included 696 participants who were members of the vCoP. The research methodology adopted was mixed methods. Quantitative data was collected through surveying; and qualitative data was collected through 8 focus group interviews each involving 6 participants. Statistical analysis was used to analyze survey data, while interviews data was analyzed using theme-based analysis. Findings showed that participants viewed vCoPs as effective tools for e-professional development in general and during crisis in particular. Facilitators and blockers confronting vCoP nourishment are presented and discussed. Discussions and conclusions are offered at the end of the study.
Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic; Crisis education; Professional development; Remote education; Social networking; Virtual communities of practice

EdTech and Girls Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Which Intervention Types Have the Greatest Impact on Learning Outcomes for Girls? - Jordan, Katy; Myers, Christina (Association for Computing Machinery, 2022)
Gender-based inequality in access to education is an issue of global concern. The use of educational technology is often cited as a potential way to help close educational gaps and promote girls' education. However, the existing evidence base in relation to girls' learning outcomes when using educational technology in low-income countries is limited. The evidence base was recently boosted by a study in which findings from classic educational development studies were revisited and disaggregated by gender. In this paper, we present a secondary analysis of this dataset, focusing specifically on the educational technology-focused interventions, and sourcing additional data. The analysis comprises 35 interventions, reported across 15 publications, published between 2003 and 2019. We discuss the relative efficacy of different types of educational technology interventions by comparing effect sizes of learning outcomes for girls. The findings suggest that interventions which focus on distributing hardware alone have mixed - and sometimes negative - effects on learning outcomes for girls. The impact of software-focused interventions is more positive, particularly personalised learning applications. Furthermore, we consider characteristics of the studies included in the analysis, and identify gaps in the literature which will help shape research in this field in the future.
Keywords: educational technology; equity; gender; girls education; international development; low- and middle-income countries

Is the Movies and Mobiles intervention a smart investment? - Orozco-Olvera, Victor; Rascón-Ramírez, Ericka G. (2022)

Decolonisation of curriculum: the case of language education policy in Nepal - Poudel, Prem Prasad; Jackson, Liz; Choi, Tae-Hee (London Review of Education, 2022)
While decolonisation is usually discussed in relation to countries that were formally colonised, countries that have not been formally colonised have also faced challenges related to colonialism. In this case, it is worth considering whether decolonial theory has more widespread applicability to respond to global challenges faced in the postcolonial era. This article documents the historical trajectories of colonisation and decolonisation of the school curriculum in Nepal. Although Nepal was never formally colonised, the introduction of modern schooling in Nepal was informed by the British colonisation of India, where local languages were replaced by English in the curriculum, diminishing the value of local languages and knowledges. Against this backdrop, the Nepal government issued a series of policies supporting Nepali supremacy, but the expansion of English was not significantly challenged. Rather, the policies resulted in a double colonisation of ethnic/Indigenous languages: external colonisation by English, and internal colonisation by the Nepali language. However, significant decolonisation efforts have recently made space for minoritised languages in the curriculum. This article illustrates these colonisation and decolonisation waves, shaped by the government, local communities and other actors. Drawing on Nepal’s legislative and educational policies, the article relates language policy decisions and actions as decolonial efforts to support ethnic/Indigenous languages and explores the implications for understanding tensions around decolonisation of curriculum.

The State of Global Learning Poverty: 2022 Update - Azevedo, Joao Pedro; Rogers, Halsey; Ahlgren, Ellinore; Akmal, Maryam; Cloutier, Marie-Helene; Ding, Elaine; Raza, Ahmed; Ning Wong, Yi; Montoya, Silvia; Chakroun, Borhene; Chang, Gwang-Chol; Guerriero, Sonia; et al. (The World Bank, 2022)

EdTech and Girls Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Which Intervention Types Have the Greatest Impact on Learning Outcomes for Girls? - Jordan, Katy; Myers, Christina (2022)
Gender-based inequality in access to education is an issue of global concern. The use of educational technology is often cited as a potential way to help close educational gaps and promote girls’ education. However, the existing evidence base in relation to girls’ learning outcomes when using educational technology in low-income countries is limited. The evidence base was recently boosted by a study in which findings from classic educational development studies were revisited and disaggregated by gender [7]. In this paper, we present a secondary analysis of this dataset, focusing specifically on the educational technology-focused interventions, and sourcing additional data. The analysis comprises 35 interventions, reported across 15 publications, published between 2003 and 2019.We discuss the relative efficacy of different types of educational technology interventions by comparing effect sizes of learning outcomes for girls. The findings suggest that interventions which focus on distributing hardware alone have mixed - and sometimes negative - effects on learning outcomes for girls. The impact of software-focused interventions is more positive, particularly personalised learning applications. Furthermore, we consider characteristics of the studies included in the analysis, and identify gaps in the literature which will help shape research in this field in the future.

Lessons from Kenya’s Education Reforms - World Bank (2022)

Teachers’ experiences of ICT training in Nepal: how teachers in rural primary schools learn and make progress in their ability to use ICT in classrooms - Rana, Karna; Greenwood, Janinka; Henderson, Robyn (Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 2022)
This article reports on teachers’ experiences of ICT training in rural areas of Nepal. It discusses aspects of policy documents to help understand the Nepali educational context, before highlighting the challenges of establishing and maintaining infrastructure and professional learning opportunities across a country with challenging terrain and extreme environmental conditions. It then examines teachers’ perceptions in five rural primary schools about their experiences of training to use modern educational technologies in instructional activities. The findings indicate that none of the teachers received training in the use of ICT in their initial teacher education and that the Government has allowed non-governmental organisations to provide ICT infrastructure and training for rural schools and teachers. Although this is a small study, it offers insights into the gap between policy and practice and highlights the contextual challenges of Nepal’s attempts to operate on a global educational level as well as the challenges for teachers.
Keywords: ICT training; Nepal education; TPACK; rural education; teacher professional development

The impacts of remote learning in secondary education during the pandemic in Brazil - Lichand, Guilherme; Doria, Carlos Alberto; Leal-Neto, Onicio; Fernandes, João Paulo Cossi (Nature Human Behaviour, 2022)
The transition to remote learning in the context of COVID-19 might have led to dramatic setbacks in education. Taking advantage of the fact that São Paulo State featured in-person classes for most of the ﬁrst school quarter of 2020, but not thereafter, we estimate the eﬀects of remote learning in secondary education using a diﬀerences-in-diﬀerences strategy that contrasts variation in students’ outcomes across diﬀerent school quarters, before and during the pandemic. We also estimate intention-to-treat (ITT) eﬀects of reopening schools in the pandemic through a triplediﬀerences strategy, contrasting changes in educational outcomes across municipalities and grades that resumed in-person classes or not over 2020’s last school quarter. We ﬁnd that, under remote learning, dropout risk increased by 365% and test scores decreased by 0.32 s.d., as if students had only learned 27.5% of the in-person equivalent. Partially resuming in-person classes increased test scores by 20% relative to the control group.

“How Dare They Peep into My Private Life?” - Han, Hye Jung (Human Rights Watch, 2022)
The 99-page report, “’How Dare They Peep into My Private Life?’: Children’s Rights Violations by Governments that Endorsed Online Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic,” is grounded in technical and policy analysis conducted by Human Rights Watch on 165 education technology (EdTech) products endorsed by 49 countries. It includes an examination of 294 companies found to have collected, processed, or received children’s data since March 2021, and calls on governments to adopt modern child data protection laws to protect children online.
Keywords: ⛔ No DOI found

Governments Harm Children’s Rights in Online Learning - Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2022)
Governments of 49 of the world’s most populous countries harmed children’s rights by endorsing online learning products during Covid-19 school closures without adequately protecting children’s privacy.

Home Schooling during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Assessment of Malaysia’s PdPR Program - Asadullah, Niaz (Asian Development Bank, 2022)
The majority of homeschoolers in Malaysia prefer to return to on-site education once schools reopen.

Telementoring and homeschooling during school closures: A randomized experiment in rural Bangladesh - Hassan, Hashibul; Islam, Asad; Siddique, Abu; Wang, Liang Choon (SocArXiv, 2022)
Using a randomized controlled experiment in 200 Bangladeshi villages, we evaluate the impact of over-the-phone mentoring and homeschooling support delivered by volunteers on the learning outcomes of primary school children during school closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The telementoring program improved the learning outcomes of treated children by 0.75 SD and increased homeschooling involvement of treated mothers by 0.64 SD. The impacts on learning are driven primarily by the direct mentoring of children and to some extent also by the increased homeschooling involvement of mothers. Academically weaker children and households from lower socioeconomic backgrounds benefitted the most from telementoring.

Telementoring and homeschooling during school closures: A randomized experiment in rural Bangladesh - Hassan, Hashibul; Islam, Asad; Siddique, Abu; Wang, Liang Choon (SocArXiv, 2022)
Using a randomized controlled experiment in 200 Bangladeshi villages, we evaluate the impact of over-the-phone mentoring and homeschooling support delivered by volunteers on the learning outcomes of primary school children during school closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The telementoring program improved the learning outcomes of treated children by 0.75 SD and increased homeschooling involvement of treated mothers by 0.64 SD. The impacts on learning are driven primarily by the direct mentoring of children and to some extent also by the increased homeschooling involvement of mothers. Academically weaker children and households from lower socioeconomic backgrounds benefitted the most from telementoring.

Telementoring and homeschooling during school closures: A randomized experiment in rural Bangladesh - Hassan, Hashibul; Islam, Asad; Siddique, Abu; Wang, Liang Choon (SocArXiv, 2022)
Using a randomized controlled experiment in 200 Bangladeshi villages, we evaluate the impact of over-the-phone mentoring and homeschooling support delivered by volunteers on the learning outcomes of primary school children during school closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The telementoring program improved the learning outcomes of treated children by 0.75 SD and increased homeschooling involvement of treated mothers by 0.64 SD. The impacts on learning are driven primarily by the direct mentoring of children and to some extent also by the increased homeschooling involvement of mothers. Academically weaker children and households from lower socioeconomic backgrounds benefitted the most from telementoring.

Learning and working in the digital age: Advancing opportunities and identifying the risks - Goger, Annelies; Parco, Allyson; Vegas, Emiliana (Brookings, 2022)
Annelies Goger, Allyson Parco, and Emiliana Vegas provide a high-level map of the landscape of education and labor market innovations in formal and informal education.

When teachers are asked to deploy other teachers, we learn a lot about teacher preferences - McBurnie, Chris; Godwin, Katie; Bernard-Jones, Lydia; Haßler, Björn (EdTech Hub, 2022)
In Sierra Leone, the availability of facilities such as electricity and water strongly influences the preferences of some teachers. Here, we found that several teachers wanted to relocate to areas where they could access better working conditions, more transportation options, and a wider range of things to do in their free time.

An Analysis of COVID-19 Student Learning Loss - Patrinos, Harry Anthony; Vegas, Emiliana; Carter-Rau, Rohan (World Bank, 2022)
COVID-19 caused significant disruption to the global education system. Early reviews of the first wave of lockdowns and school closures suggested significant learning loss in a few countries. A more recent and thorough analysis of recorded learning loss evidence documented since the beginning of the school closures between March 2020 and March 2022 finds even more evidence of learning loss. Most studies observed increases in inequality where certain demographics of students experienced more significant learning losses than others. But there are also outliers, countries that managed to limit the amount of loss. This review aims to consolidate all the available evidence and documents the empirical findings. Thirty-six robust studies were identified, the majority of which find learning losses on average amounting to 0.17 of a standard deviation, equivalent to roughly a one-half year’s worth of learning. These findings confirm that learning loss is real and significant, even compared to the first year of the pandemic. Further work is needed to increase the quantity of studies produced, and to ascertain the reasons for learning loss and in a few cases mitigation of loss.
Keywords: Coronavirus Impact on Learning; Covid-19 Student Learning Loss; Education; Education Disruption; Educational Inequality; Human Capital Accumulation; Learning Inequality; Pandemic Education Impact; Remote Learning Quality; School Lockdowns; Systematic Education Review

Do Behavioral Nudges Work Under Remote Learning? Evidence from Brazil During the Pandemic - Lichand, Guilherme; Christen, Julien; van Egeraat, Eppie (Social Science Research Network, 2022)
Behavioral nudges have been shown to increase student attendance and grades across a variety of settings. In low- and middle-income countries, these effects are often mediated by parents showing up in school to a greater extent, ultimately monitoring teachers more closely. As such, could nudges improve educational outcomes even under remote learning? In particular, could they prevent at least part of the dramatic learning losses in the context of COVID-19, which left billions of children around the world without in-person classes? We study this question using a cluster-randomized control trial with 18, 256 students across 87 high schools in the State of Goiás, Brazil. We find that motivational nudges sent through text messages to students or their caregivers under remote learning significantly increased standardized test scores relative to the control group, preventing 7.5% of learning losses in math and 24% in Portuguese. Additional experiments that varied the content of nudges at the student level illustrate the opportunities and challenges of using behavioral insights to motivate students in the context of remote learning.
Keywords: COVID-19; Learning Losses; Nudges; Remote Learning

The More You Know, the Less You Stress: Menstrual Health Literacy in Schools Reduces Menstruation-Related Stress and Increases Self-Efficacy for Very Young Adolescent Girls in Mexico - Long, Jeanne L.; Haver, Jacquelyn; Mendoza, Pamela; Vargas Kotasek, Selvia M. (Frontiers in Global Women's Health, 2022)
Improving the menstrual health literacy of girls and boys is a key strategy within a holistic framework of Save the Children's school health and comprehensive sexuality education programming. As menstrual health is an emerging area of study and programming, Save the Children continues to learn and adjust its interventions using program evaluations and rigorous monitoring. This paper will examine program-monitoring data from three cohorts, representing 47 public schools in Mexico City, Puebla, and Mérida, Mexico. The study focuses on female students in 5th and 6th grade who participated in We See Equal, a school-based program centered on gender equality and puberty education, between September 2018 and December 2019. This study used a cross-sectional quantitative cohort approach to document changes in girls' experiences and perceptions around managing menstruation in school. The analysis compares girls' knowledge and experiences before and after participation in We See Equal to understand how knowledge changes over the program and how those changes may contribute to menstruation-related school engagement, stress, and self-efficacy (MENSES) outcomes. Multivariate regression models explored relationships between MENSES outcomes, knowledge and socioeconomic status (SES). Overall, results show that the more knowledge girls acquired, the higher their self-efficacy score and the lower their stress score, however, certain MHH knowledge was more predictive of MENSES outcomes and varied by SES. Among girls from lower SES, we observed significant relationships between knowing what their period was prior to menarche and the three MENSES outcomes. Decreases in menstruation-related stress were driven by items related to the practical knowledge of how to dispose of sanitary pads and reduced feelings of nervousness on days they had their period at school. Increases in self-efficacy were primarily driven by girls' confidence in their ability to track their period from month to month, feelings that they could still do well on an exam if they had their period at school, and security that they could ask a friend to lend them a pad if they needed one. Implications for future menstrual health literacy programming and targeting populations for menstrual health education, as well as priorities for future research will be discussed.

Evidence needs to be at the heart of $300 billion global edtech industry - Jacobs Foundation (Jacobs Foundation, 2022)
The Jacobs Foundation calls for a “culture shift”. This follows the launch of a global CHF 40 million initiative for greater collaboration between investors, edtech companies, and premier research institutions to help bridge the gap between research and edtech.

OU part of £5.5m research portfolio to improve education tech in low and middle income countries - Grimette, Hannah (OU News, 2022)
The Open University (OU) has launched a study with global research partner, Edtech Hub, to investigate the impact of technology on teaching in Bangladesh. Part of EdTech's first research portfolio, the OU's 3Mpower is one of 13 projects, which represents the largest investment in primary research on EdTech's use in low- and middle-income countries.

Educational technology for learners with disabilities in primary school settings in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic literature review - Lynch, Paul; Singal, Nidhi; Francis, Gill Althia (Educational Review, 2022)
Educational Technology (EdTech) plays a significant role in enabling learners with disabilities to access learning at school and reduce educational and social exclusion. It also enables them to enjoy the benefits of a full school curriculum and to participate in activities in different educational arrangements. The purpose of this review was to address the existing evidence of how EdTech is being used to support learners with disabilities in order to inform future research and policymaking. It sought to contribute to an evidence base of ways to reduce barriers to learning drawing on a systematic methodology to gather evidence pertaining to access to EdTech for primary school learners with disabilities aged 6–12 years. After a thorough examination of the literature, the final sample comprised 51 published articles (43 peer-review and 8 conference papers). The review revealed examples of positive outcomes of EdTech interventions being used, particularly in special schools; however, the evidence of their efficacy is weak. The use of EdTech for learners with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries requires further, robust and long-term research that considers the involvement of learners, pedagogy and curriculum design in order to understand its impact on improving educational experiences of children with disabilities.
Keywords: Educational technology; assistive technology; disability; inclusive education; low- and middle-income countries; primary education

Remote Learning During COVID-19: Lessons from Today, Principles for Tomorrow - Munoz-Najar, Alberto; Gilberto, Alison; Hasan, Amer; Pedro Azevedo, João; Akmal, Maryam (World Bank Group, 2022)
School closures during COVID-19 (coronavirus) led to an unprecedented global experiment in the delivery of remote learning. This report seeks to assess what lessons can be drawn from experiences of remote learning during COVID-19 in K-12 education, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. It focuses on the period from March 2020 to October 2021 and addresses the following key questions: 1. Was remote learning during COVID-19 taken up and if so, was it effective? That is, did children learn as much as they did during pre-pandemic, in-person learning? 2. What lessons can governments derive from this wide-spread experience? 3. How might policymakers use these lessons to reimagine learning as schools begin to reopen? This report is part of a larger effort led by the World Bank to provide guidance and technical assistance to optimize country effectiveness in the design and execution of remote learning strategies. It has been developed in conjunction with Remote Learning During the Global School Lockdown: Multi-Country Lessons, a qualitative study conducted between May and November 2020 to understand the perceived effectiveness of remote and remedial learning solutions implemented across 17 countries.

A spatial database of public primary day schools in western Kenya - Macharia, Peter M.; Moturi, Angela; Mumo, Eda; Snow, Robert W. (Harvard Dataverse, 2022)
Understanding the location of primary schools relative to population is important to contextualize the time, or distance, that students must travel...
Keywords: Other

Medium‐term expenditure frameworks: Credible instrument or mirage? - Raudla, Ringa; Douglas, James W.; MacCarthaigh, Muiris (Public Budgeting & Finance, 2022)
Medium‐term expenditure frameworks (MTEFs) are typically viewed as instruments to expand budget horizons beyond one year and to limit spending growth over the medium term (usually three to ﬁve years). In response to the ﬁscal crisis and EU requirements, many countries in Europe have adopted MTEFs over the past decade. We use elite interviews to examine whether the formal enactment of such frameworks has led to changes in actual budget practices in Finland, Austria, Portugal, and Ireland. Our analysis shows that the newly adopted MTEFs have not acted as binding constraints on ﬁscal policy.

Time for a safe back to school in Latin America and the Caribbean - Gabriela Alvarado, Maria (Save the Children International, 2022)
The COVID-19 pandemic has put the dreams of more than 159 million children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean [1] on a long pause, all of whom have been affected by excessive periods without classes. In this region an average of 168 school days have been lost since schools closed...

Time for a safe back to school in Latin America and the Caribbean - Gabriela Alvarado, Maria (Save the Children International, 2022)
The COVID-19 pandemic has put the dreams of more than 159 million children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean [1] on a long pause, all of whom have been affected by excessive periods without classes. In this region an average of 168 school days have been lost since schools closed...

'Let's learn together': co-creating mental health solutions with adolescents in Tanzania and Viet Nam - Myers, Christina; Samuels, Fiona; Kyungu, Esther; Mbowe, Dayani; Dang, Hoang-Minh; Vu, Van; Le, Ha; Leon-Himmelstine, Carmen; Pellini, Arnaldo (ODI: Think change, 2022)
Co-creation is when participants and key stakeholders themselves are central to the process of designing solutions. This approach challenges the idea that interventions should be designed for individuals, and instead focuses on contextualising interventions through designing solutions by the very individuals who will be using them.This ODI Case study explores the experiences and reflections that emerged from designing and implementing a co-creation process. The project, funded by Fondation Botnar, was aiming to respond to mental health and well-being challenges facing adolescents in Tanzania and Viet Nam by co-creating digital and non-digital solutions. In the context of Covid-19, it also presents insights that can be used to inform what a co-design process should consider in practice, as well as a few lessons learnt and suggestions on how to do things differently in future.