IDRC-supported edtech innovation in Peru wins math award
The gamification platform has been found to result in large learning gains in math by promoting motivation and student engagement. One of the key reasons for this outcome is the localized approach it takes; the educational games are tailored to the specific needs of teachers and students.
By 2023, it was being used by 7,000 teachers and more than 112,000 students across Peru, including about 11,000 in rural areas.
The educational technology, or edtech, platform takes a gender and equity approach to making math fun. For example, to challenge gender norms, many of the math activities put women in leadership and business roles and depict men doing housework with the intention of impressing upon girls that they should imagine a future in math.
That is important in a country like Peru, where the share of women among new entrants in bachelor degree programs in the fields of mathematics, statistics and the natural sciences is one of the smallest among partner countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The platform was first developed by Latin American researchers at the Center for Advanced Research in Education at the University of Chile, in collaboration with IDRC. Since then, Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE) joined in as an implementing partner, in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank and Peru’s Ministry of Education with the support of the Old Dart Foundation.
IDRC is continuing to fund efforts to scale the program to more students in Peru and other Latin American countries.
The mEducation Alliance awarded Conecta Ideas Peru with the 2024 Math Power Prize. The alliance is a non-profit organization started by the United States Agency for International Development in 2010. It focuses on the evidence-driven and sustainable role of technology in education. The prize includes a USD10,000 (CAD14,117) monetary award.
IDRC has been partnering with leading organizations to develop digital learning tools for international development since the early 2000s. IDRC-supported research has shown that edtech, when well-designed and properly implemented, can increase access to quality education, personalize learning and improve learning outcomes.