Mobilizing global evidence in EdTech and building local capacities to support informed policy decisions

 

Technologies applied to the school environment have long held promise for educational improvement in low-income countries. However, knowledge, capacity and policy gaps form barriers to the adoption and scaling of proven educational technologies (EdTech) to address the education crisis in low-income contexts and advance the Sustainable Development Goal for education.

In addition to the challenges of identifying suitable EdTech that focuses on learning outcomes and not on digital inputs, educators’ capacities to use these technologies need to be strengthened, and policy environments need to be ripe for these technologies to succeed within national education systems. Particular attention is needed to ensure that EdTech benefits those most vulnerable and enhances gender equality throughout its design, implementation and scaling.

This project is a three-year global initiative to strengthen the capacities of key educational stakeholders, particularly technical teams within ministries of education, to improve learning outcomes and expand access for vulnerable students in low- and middle-income countries (LMICS), by adequately assessing, adopting and scaling proven educational technology innovations and fostering the development of policies that enable Edtech to thrive and deliver on its promise in LMICs.

The project will assess needs in a range of environments, including those affected by conflict and crisis. It will conduct a foresight exercise to map out future scenarios related to education and technology to identify what capacities are needed and provide guidelines on how they can be strengthened. This will be followed by primary and secondary research on specific sub-thematic issues that emerged from the foresight and consultation process. The learnings will be synthesized and shared with regional and international stakeholders.