The Impact of an Educational Media Intervention to Support Children’s Early Learning in Rwanda

Resource type
Journal Article
Authors/contributors
Title
The Impact of an Educational Media Intervention to Support Children’s Early Learning in Rwanda
Abstract
Children in developing countries often lack sufficient support for early learning skills prior to beginning school. This research evaluates an educational media intervention using an animated cartoon program, Akili and Me. The program was originally created in Tanzania to teach early learning skills. This program was adapted in content and language use in this study in Rwanda. The two-week intervention involved primary school students (mean age = 7.1 years) who were randomized into two groups (intervention and comparison group). The intervention group viewed one Ankit and Me episode a day for five days. This viewing was repeated the following week. Similarly, the comparison watched the same amount of television but the content consisted of local popular programs. Baseline and follow-up assessments evaluated 10 areas of early learning, using an adaptation of the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA), and also children’s media receptivity. At follow-up, children in the intervention program, Akili and Me, had significantly higher scores for counting, number recognition, shape knowledge, letter identification, color identification, body part recognition, health knowledge, and vocabulary. The analyses provide promising evidence that locally produced educational media interventions can impact early learning skills, even among children living in resource-poor communities.
Publication
International Journal of Early Childhood
Volume
51
Issue
1
Pages
109-126
Date
March 13, 2019
Journal Abbr
International Journal of Early Childhood
Language
en
ISSN
1878-4658
Extra
shortDOI: 10/gf84g7
Citation
Borzekowski, D., Lando, A. L., Olsen, S., & Giffen, L. (2019). The Impact of an Educational Media Intervention to Support Children’s Early Learning in Rwanda. International Journal of Early Childhood, 51(1), 109–126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-019-00237-4