This week at World Bank EduTech
week of June 20, 2022
The World Bank’s fiscal year ends at the end of June, so this is a great occasion to share some of the blogs produced by the EdTech team and colleagues over the past year, organized around five thematic areas. Enjoy!
Learning Continuity and Acceleration
Considering an Adaptive Learning System? A Roadmap for Policymakers
“Adaptive systems’ primary function is to provide remedial education and help students improve curricular mastery. They can complement instruction when schools are open and can be used by students independently when schools are closed. For instance, in Ecuador, adaptive systems have helped prevent student dropout during school closures. However, adaptive systems are not a “silver bullet”. In order to work, there are several enabling conditions that must be established.”
Read the full blog here.
Teachers
How to Enhance Teacher Professional Development Through Technology: Takeaways from Innovations Across the Globe
“Over 400 TPD programs from 80 countries were reviewed as part of the Teachers for a Changing World: Transforming Teacher Professional Development campaign. This initiative, led by the World Bank, in partnership with HundrED and with support from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), identified (following a rigorous selection process) 10 programs that effectively utilize low- or high-tech solutions to engage, motivate, and support teachers. The 10 finalists, selected based on their impact and potential to scale, show how technology can be used to support teachers across the education life-cycle — providing tech-based TPD to achieve better quality in one or more educational levels.”
Read the full blog here.
Skills Development
Investing in Human Capital in El Salvador: the Knowledge Currency of the Digital Economy
“Digital technologies are transforming how people, businesses, and governments interact, transact, work, and learn. To increase the adoption of digital technologies, countries need to foster citizens’ acquisition of digital skills through education and training, both formal and informal. After having interviewed policymakers, principals of TVET institutions, EdTech specialists, and entrepreneurs, this blog summarizes the current state of digital human capital in El Salvador and the lessons learned to foster citizens’ acquisition of digital skills across the region.”
Read the full blog here.
Learner-Centered Technology
The Kids are Not Alright: Three Ways EdTech Can Support Students’ Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond
“While the global education community often empathizes the need for resilience (i.e. the ability to withstand, manage, and overcome cumulative stresses and shocks) across education systems, it is also important to think about the socioemotional resilience that students need during these times. A review on the use of EdTech in developing countries found that technology-enabled behavioral interventions are highly cost-effective and that implementation and take-up play a crucial role in their potential success. Literature from FCV and refugee studies also shows that EdTech programs focused on providing psychosocial well-being support help students to feel more connected and part of a learning community.”
Read the full blog here.
System Level Support
Five Lessons from Remote Learning during COVID-19
“What have the past months taught policymakers and practitioners about the delivery, take-up and effectiveness of remote learning? How can these lessons guide plans for the months and years ahead? The report [presented in this blog] offers answers to these questions. The report proposes a conceptual framework that remote learning requires three complementary elements: effective teachers, suitable technology, and engaged learners. These three elements must be well-aligned if remote learning is to be taken-up and be effective.”
Read the full blog here.
Digital Infrastructure
Education Meets the Metaverse in Eastern Caribbean National Colleges
“In 2021, when most school systems and national colleges in the Eastern Caribbean suspended face-to-face learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic, one quick solution was to transition the classroom online and continue learning remotely. While this kept national colleges open, remote learning is limiting and not a proper substitute to face-to-face learning due to the lack of real human social interaction […]. The metaverse is described as the next chapter of the internet evolution where interactions occur in immersive 3D spaces emulating physical interactions in virtual settings. Users in the metaverse can move throughout this virtual environment with avatars that are their digital representation.”
Read the full blog here.
