Edtech lessons from around the world – part one

In this blog we summarise two out of four takeaways from a reflection workshop held in December 2020. Teams from 10 countries collaborated with the EdTech Hub to document the education response to COVID-19 and their use of edtech. Here are their case studies

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on EdTech Hub

There were considerable differences across the 10 countries in both investment and plans to move towards edtech solutions, pre-COVID

Although all 10 countries currently have an ICT policy and plan in place, there are differences in the extent to which investments in ICT are linked to plans to expand the use of edtech. 

For some years countries such as China and India have been investing to expand the use of edtech; however, not all countries have fully implemented their plans. For example, in China, rural areas still have limited access to internet infrastructure which limits the adoption of edtech, while, in India, due to the decentralisation of education provision, some states have invested more than others in the development of digital teaching and learning.  

Before the pandemic all countries had invested in developing educational content for radio and television in an effort to reach rural areas and marginalised learners. However, the content of these programmes is now often regarded as out of date, and not useful. 

In some countries, such as Kenya and Rwanda, content was supplied by local NGOs which provided open-source material for governments, adapting learning for radio, television and the internet during the pandemic. In a few of the countries, learning content was also meant to be available for teachers in order to facilitate their transition to online/remote teaching; however, interviews showed that these platforms were not always accessible or easy to use for teachers. 

Rapid response was enabled by a range of factors

All 10 countries had context-specific factors that influenced the speed of their transition to distance education and the use of edtech in COVID-19. For example, in Nigeria, the education authorities had prior experience of delivering education during the Ebola crisis which provided valuable lessons. Countries where education authorities had, historically, invested in educational content for TV, radio and computer rooms in schools (for example, Kenya, Rwanda, and some states in India) were able to respond quickly. In countries (such as Indonesia, and some states in India) with large mobile networks and connectivity, teachers and learners have been able to communicate through mobile ‘phone apps which have helped learners who had no access to digital platforms or video conferencing software.

Historical investments in communication and digital infrastructure have made a real difference to whether countries can reach children at scale.  

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the education response to the pandemic reflected political structures. In China, for example, government agencies utilised existing partnerships with the private sector and edtech providers, whilst keeping highly centralised overall control. In India, a highly populated, federalised democracy, the educational response was delegated to the state level; this allowed for localised interventions, but involved co-ordination challenges.

In addition to political will, national attitudes towards technologies and bureaucratic skill may all have contributed to countries’ responses.