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The Open Learning Initiative (OLI) is an open educational resources project at Carnegie Mellon University that began in 2002 with a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. OLI creates web-based courses that are designed so that students can learn effectively without an instructor. In addition, the courses are often used by instructors to support and complement face-to-face classroom instruction. Our evaluation efforts have investigated OLI courses’ effectiveness in both of...

This paper explores the factors that influence the implementation of m-learning and proposes a model for implementing m-learning in Tanzania. The study was conducted in ten secondary schools in the Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to determine students majoring in science subjects. Findings indicate that majority of students own mobile phones and have access to the Internet connectivity. However, m-learning platforms that are currently...

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project aims to make low-cost computers accessible to the “world’s poorest children,” presuming that the gadgets will support their empowerment via education. The project’s success globally, however, has been mixed at best, with many countries terminating their purchases due to cost, inadequate infrastructure, and negative side effects. In October 2010, Ghana suspended the country’s 3-year participation. This study examines the complex history and failure of...

Introduction Child marriage is a fundamental development challenge for women and girls, with significant negative health and social outcomes. Sudan has a high rate of child marriage, with 34% of women aged 20–24 married before their 18th birthday. Since limited preventive interventions exist, we aimed to inform the evidence base to strengthen strategic action, using mixed qualitative methods to enhance study credibility. This study is the first to conduct a rigorous qualitative examination...

In recent times, computers and internet have penetrated secondary schools in Africa but with greater attention to students’ computer literacy than teachers. At the same time, previous studies on digital literacy of teachers are unsustainable and mainly skewed on pre-service teachers than in-service teachers. These realities point to the need to investigate and implement effective and sustainable initiatives for improving digital literacy and online life-long learning for in-service teachers...

In recent times, computers and internet have penetrated secondary schools in Africa but with greater attention to students’ computer literacy than teachers. At the same time, previous studies on digital literacy of teachers are unsustainable and mainly skewed on pre-service teachers than in-service teachers. These realities point to the need to investigate and implement effective and sustainable initiatives for improving digital literacy and online life-long learning for in-service teachers...

Factors Related to Teacher Absenteeism in Sierra Leone: Literature review

Vijil, A., McBurnie, C., Bellinger, A., … Haßler, B. - 2023 - EdTech Hub

This report is one of several on the research project on the Impact of GIS-Supported Teacher Allocation in Sierra Leone (Hub-Led Research Programme 3). The education workforce is the most important school-level determinant of student learning. In Sierra Leone, the pupil-to-qualified-teacher ratio rises from 44:1 for schools in urban centres to 76:1 for schools in rural areas. Meanwhile, an average of a quarter of the workforce is absent from school on any given day. This informal...

The #CostingEquity research project investigated the benefits of financing disability-inclusive education, the current state of education financing with regard to inclusion, and what needs to change in order for education financing to effectively support the realisation of SDG 4. The #CostingEquity research report addresses three broad questions: • How do international donors and domestic governments currently fund disability-inclusive education? • What are the gaps and challenges in...

This study offers insights into the processes that play a role in realising curriculum flexibility. Curriculum flexibility is conceptualised in terms of adaptability and accessibility of the curriculum to students’ needs and capabilities. To realise curriculum flexibility, the teacher education institution in this study designed a blended curriculum with face-to-face and online components. This flexible curriculum aimed at increasing student enrolment and allowing for variety in students’...

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...

This study was designed to investigate the student teachers perceptions about and benefits and challenges of using Facebook as an online peer assessment tool for the student teachers' works. The study group included 24 student teachers in science education department of a state university located in the southeast region of Turkey. A case study approach of the qualitative method was employed in the research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data. The interviews were...

Behaviour change key principles for EdTech | MASTER framework [Working Paper]

Rahman, A., Carter, A., Wambûi Kuria, C., … Kably, N. - 2022 - EdTech Hub

An EdTech Hub sandbox fast-tracks promising EdTech interventions by providing funding, tools, and access to evidence. It provides a space for partners to test and grow ideas in conditions of uncertainty. Since 2020, EdTech Hub has worked with partners in eight countries, to test and grow EdTech based on our sandbox methodology. When testing and growing EdTech, this tool aims to help you get started with ways to design for innovation behaviours or mindsets and make them stick. Keywords:...

Academic databases are a fundamental source for identifying relevant literature in a field of study. Scopus contains more than 90 million records and indexes around 12,000 documents per day. However, this context and the cumulative nature of science itself make it difficult to selectively identify information. In addition, academic database search tools are not very intuitive, and require an iterative and relatively slow process of searching and evaluation. In response to these...

The discussion about women’s access to and use of digital Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in developing countries has been inconclusive so far. Some claim that women are rather technophobic and that men are much better users of digital tools, while others argue that women enthusiastically embrace digital communication. This article puts this question to an empirical test. We analyze data sets from 12 Latin American and 13 African countries from 2005-08. This is believed to...

Delivering Remote Learning Using a Low-Tech Solution: Evidence from an RCT during the Covid-19 Pandemic (Working Paper No. 43)

Islam, A., Wang, L. C., & Hassan, H. - 2022 - EdTech Hub

During the prolonged school closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many children in rural Bangladesh were missing out on formal education. What is more these children had limited access to distance learning modalities such as the internet, television, and radio. To counteract this poor access, this study used the widely accessible modality of mobile phones to deliver a set of audio lessons to primary school students using Interactive Voice Response (IVR). These lessons were developed using...

Using Technology to Improve Education for Marginalised Girls: Lessons in implementation from the Girls’ Education Challenge [Preprint]

Anonymised for Peer Review Purposes - 2023 - EdTech Hub

This article presents the findings of an in-depth study on the implementation of six EdTech-supported projects within the UK Government Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)’s Girls’ Education Challenge portfolio, which aims to improve education for the world’s most marginalised girls. Using primary key informant interviews and secondary data from sampled projects, the study identifies the core components related to the implementation of EdTech within the sampled projects:...

School-to-School Mobility Patterns and Retention Rates of Payroll Teachers in Sierra Leone (Working Paper No. 48)

Espinoza-Revollo, P., Ali, Y., Garrod, O., … Haßler, B. - 2023 - EdTech Hub

This report is one of several on the research project on the Impact of GIS-Supported Teacher Allocation in Sierra Leone. Recent studies from this series have shown that being put on the government payroll can incentivise teachers to relocate to remote areas of the country. There is a concern, however, that being put on the payroll does not necessarily ensure the retention of teachers in these areas and that teachers will soon move to locations they consider more favourable. As there is no...