November 15, 2022
World Children’s Day is November 20, and UNICEF is calling on partners and supporters to share a positive message of equality and inclusion for every child.
Equality and inclusion are at the heart of what we do. Since 2011, All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD) has been advancing EdTech innovation and research to improve reading outcomes for marginalized children in low-resource contexts–including learners with disabilities, those in remote populations, migrant and refugee children and girls. We have sourced more than 1,200 innovative proposals and funded and tested 60+ promising applications of EdTech to support language and literacy for children like these.
Through on the ground testing and assessment, ACR GCD and our awardees learned what works and does not work to improve access, equity and inclusion for the more than 584 million children globally waiting to learn to read. This includes thinking beyond the EdTech solution itself, to include the appropriate training, needs assessment, screening, infrastructure, device, coaching and monitoring support, advocacy and ecosystem necessary to ensure effective use at scale.
Recently, our awardees and collaborators participated in a consultation hosted by ACR GCD and the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, where they provided key insights into increasing access to learning and content for disadvantaged groups. In a report released in September, ACR GCD and its awardees share examples or practices, supported by evidence, that strengthen access, equity and inclusion for disadvantaged groups (with a focus on education for hard to reach learners including for disadvantaged groups, children with disabilities, remote populations, education in emergencies and girls) and access to content.
Below is key evidence and lessons from the report in three areas where EdTech innovations and methods work to increase access to education and literacy for hard to reach and disadvantaged learners.
1. Increasing access and equity for children with disabilities
Since 2011, ACR GCD has compiled a range of research showing that EdTech with high-quality content, when applied appropriately, enables access to learning for marginalized populations, significantly lowers the cost of providing reading content and exponentially improves reading outcomes.
For children who are blind or have low vision or print disabilities, ebooks with audio, video and ebraille—and technology features such as customizable speed, adjustable font size, and highlighted text—help learners with print disabilities overcome barriers to reading.
For children who are blind or have low vision or print disabilities, ebooks with audio, video and ebraille—and technology features such as customizable speed, adjustable font size, and highlighted text—help learners with print disabilities overcome barriers to reading.
For example, in Benetech’s ACR GCD-funded Bookshare India project, students who were blind or had low vision were provided with appropriate reading materials in their mother tongue language, Marathi. A Story Uncle or Story Auntie hosted weekly reading sessions. Students were given independent reading time at school each day to read large-print or braille materials and listen to audio stories using Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) audio players. Students who were low vision or blind reported high levels of comfort with the technology and high levels of engagement in the project. On average, students improved their scores on all Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) subtasks, and results at the endline were statistically higher than at baseline.
For children who are deaf, more than 80% do not have access to any type of formal education and less than 2% receive education in a sign language they understand. Sign language is imperative for both children who are deaf and their parents and teachers so that they are able to communicate. When learners have access to language and communication, it can open up more opportunities. Innovations like the multilingual Deaf World Around You (WAY) and Bloom platforms–which includes free sign language book creation software and online libraries of sign language storybooks available to authors, educators and children around the world–help open up these opportunities and empower deaf learners in acquiring language, literacy and accessing academic content.
Organic uptake of solutions to support children with disabilities is unlikely and requires targeted promotion and distribution strategies. This was particularly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when learners with disabilities had increased challenges accessing learning materials. ACR GCD innovators pivoted and developed various approaches to leverage EdTech innovations to increase access to learning and content creation during the pandemic. For example:
- In Kenya, eKitabu broadcasted a half hour Digital Story Time in Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) on Kenya’s EDU Channel TV, YouTube and ekitabu.com, reaching more than four million households.
- In Malawi, more than 100 teachers accessed materials in Malawian Sign Language shared by eKitabu through WhatsApp, that were developed through ACR GCD’s Begin With Books Challenge.
- In Western Kenya, in collaboration with the EdTechHub and Leonard Cheshire, eKitabu used WhatsApp groups to support teachers’ continued learning in braille during COVID-related school closures.
- Civil society deaf organizations in Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala used Bloom to create digital sign language story books with important public health and COVID-19 prevention information for deaf people in their respective countries. Because they were comfortable using Bloom, they authored their own materials rather than adapting existing books created for spoken/ written languages.
A holistic approach to using EdTech to support learners with disabilities is foundationally important.
A holistic approach to using EdTech to support learners with disabilities is foundationally important. Many of our technology based literacy projects not only effectively disseminated new or existing learning materials to underserved populations in languages they use and understand, but also enabled equitable access to and representation in teaching and learning materials for children with disabilities.
For example, the Indonesian Sign Language Center, Pusat Bahasa Isyarat Indonesia (PUSBISINDO), a local organizations of persons with disabilities (OPD) that has partnered with an awardee of ACR GCD’s Begin With Books Challenge, encourages Deaf Indonesians to participate in the preparation of children’s books in sign language, which so far have not existed in this country. In addition, stories from various countries with the main character being a deaf person are expected to make the world understand more about deafness so that the environment becomes inclusive and everyone is connected to each other.
Inclusive assessments are also essential to ensure learning assessments appropriately measure their learning outcomes more validly and reliably. ACR GCD has seen thousands of children with disabilities in the Philippines, India, Lesotho and Nepal demonstrate their true aptitude or achievement level when using inclusive assessments. For example, children who used braille materials in the ACR GCD-funded Reading Beyond Sight project in the Philippines had significantly higher gains on all five subtasks than comparison group peers on both the Filipino and English EGRAs.
2. Increasing access and equity for children in remote populations or emergency contexts
For remote populations or children in emergency contexts, technology can be a connector or a bridge to the formal school system, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and refugee and migration crises globally. We’ve seen technology support children in remote and low-resource contexts and refugee children using free and open source books and gaming apps, digital libraries, and innovative approaches in schools where refugee children attend.
For remote populations or children in emergency contexts, technology can be a connector or a bridge to the formal school system, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and refugee and migration crises globally.
Feed the Monster, a literacy learning app available in more than 50 languages, including Ukrainian.
Innovators like Curious Learning are shifting perspectives on using devices like smartphones from communication tools to learning tools, especially for hard-to-reach learners. The organization leveraged the code posted on GitHub for Feed the Monster–a literacy gaming app created through the Norad and ACR GCD EduApp4Syria competition–and contextualized the game to make it available in more than 50 languages, achieving more than 600,000 downloads globally, to date. Through social media platforms and other promotional initiatives, Curious Learning reaches parents on the move and in remote locations–including those recently affected by the war in Ukraine.
Curious Learning’s approach is supported by a recent World Bank study in 3,000 homes in Northern Nigeria, which detailed how devices preloaded with Feed the Monster and Global Digital libraries improved reading outcomes for children in as little as five days. Through this method, content does not need to be delivered by a trained facilitator and can be used alone, in groups or in schools or community centers. The approach resulted in significant increases in literacy skills and the outcomes were second only to an intensive, in person tutoring program.
We have also seen EdTech approaches and innovations increase access to learning and literacy for refugee children in school in host countries or in refugee camps. For example:
- Little Thinking Minds (LTM) and INTEGRATED implemented Qysas (Stories): An Arabic Leveled Digital Library for Every Classroom in public schools in Jordan. Tablets with access to digital storybooks in the library were distributed and rotated through classrooms. Students who participated in the project achieved statistically significant greater gains than the comparison group on three EGRA subtasks: syllable identification, oral reading fluency (ORF), and reading comprehension.
- To overcome challenges around delivering and supporting EdTech solutions in remote locations for children with disabilities, eKitabu collaborated with other organizations to train caregivers and teachers in two refugee camps in Kenya on innovative homeschool approaches and distributed eKitabu content, software and programs, including early grade reading materials with Kenyan Sign Language.
Children’s literacy skills and socio-emotional learning (SEL), especially important in emergency contexts, can be supported and nurtured through books that help children learn they are not alone in the struggles they are facing, develop coping skills, feel empowered, and develop empathy. ACR GCD innovators have created many digital books that incorporate SEL themes and can be adapted to complement education in emergencies programs.
3. Increasing access and equity for girls
ACR GCD also found that EdTech can support access to literacy for girls who are frequently marginalized in education. For example, ACR GCD and World Bank studies on the impact of smartphone literacy apps like Feed the Monster and Antura and the Letters found statistically significant relationships between the use of the innovation and increases in literacy for girls in out of school settings.
Beginning with the content development phase, female protagonists must be included in books, as they serve as powerful role models for children.
Grace in Space, one of 100 digital STEM books created by Asafeer Education Technologies
Beginning with the content development phase, female protagonists must be included in books, as they serve as powerful role models for children. Students are more interested in reading when they identify with characters in the storybooks—where they see children and people that look, talk and live similarly to them. An excellent example of creative inclusion and use of female protagonists can be found in the collection of 100 open source, digital STEM books in English and Arabic created by ACR GCD awardee Asafeer Education Technologies through the No Lost Generation Summit Tech Prize. These books present STEM related content and feature a great diversity of characters, including girls and children with disabilities. The books—available on a number of digital libraries–were published under Creative Commons Attribution licensing, which allows others to use, translate and adapt them for free, with appropriate accreditation.
Overall lessons in increasing access to content in more attractive and cheaper formats
Key to cost-effective and scalable EdTech solutions is content created under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, resharing, adaptation and redistribution by anyone with no or limited restrictions. Also important for scaling free and open content, as well as reducing costs, is training authors and publishers to incorporate these key concepts.
Producing born accessible books from the onset is the most cost-effective way to produce high-quality accessible books.
First and foremost, digital does not necessarily mean accessible. Producing born accessible books from the onset is the most cost-effective way to produce high-quality accessible books. Born accessible refers to creating accessible books right from the beginning, and building the process into current ebook production workflows, instead of taking apart and updating books post-production to make them accessible. ACR GCD awardee created content can be easily accessed, adapted or downloaded on multiple platforms, including the Global Digital Library, Bloom Library, World Around You and Asafeer Library.
Free and open digital content clearly supports the Principles for Digital Development to “Design for Scale” and “Reuse and improve.” To “Build for Sustainability,” eKitabu also recommends engaging and compensating local publishing firms, authors, illustrators and organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) to develop content for their communities and countries. In fact, developing, licensing and adapting accessible digital content can be a catalyst to enable local content developers to go digital and grow their business. The Global Digital Library has thousands of high-quality early learning resources, available in more than 90 languages including sign languages, that are ready to be adapted, translated and contextualized for anyone to use.
Engaging ecosystem stakeholders is crucial to increase the reach and impact of digital content accessed via EdTech solutions. Particular attention must be paid to distribution strategies, device availability and training for users—including teachers and parents— on how to use digital books and content, both in the classroom and at home. Several examples of successful distribution strategies that have increased uptake and use of digital content include:
- Leveraging existing technology, through mapping existing solutions and providing training for users on how to use the solutions to support learning, helps ensure uptake and usage of digital content. World Education’s ACR GCD-funded LEARN project created an EdTech Matrix and related training to help teachers and parents in Nepal understand more than 80 EdTech resources available to support reading for children with disabilities.
- Leveraging social media platforms. Using Facebook, ACR GCD awardee The Asia Foundation (TAF) promotes 437 books it created in six languages which are available on the Global Digital Library and the Let’s Read Asia digital platform. They’ve tracked more than 117,000 views of the books and counting, which is 80% higher than awardees that have not promoted their books.
- Leveraging existing libraries. Benetech’s Bookshare Philippines team partnered with the Philippines Department of Education-Regional Library Division to expand access to learning materials for blind and low-vision Filipinos— even in the most remote communities with weak internet connectivity. Bookshare Corners were developed in 33 division libraries and school libraries on off-grid islands.
Be part of the solution
Evidence-based EdTech solutions can improve reading outcomes for marginalized populations at lower costs and in less time as compared to traditional approaches. ACR GCD awardees who participated in the consultation and follow-up interviews showcased many useful examples of ways that technology can help address challenges related to access, equity, inclusion and others, as well as ways technology can contribute to digital divides. Learn more about these examples, strategies and lessons in the full report.
Be part of the solution for the more than 584 million children globally waiting for the opportunity to learn to read. Explore our solutions and tools to help you increase literacy opportunities in local languages for marginalized children in your work and programming or partner with us to pilot or scale a solution or innovation in your community or region. Together, we can transform and enrich literacy learning spaces to build resilience and ensure quality, equitable and inclusive education for all.
ACR GCD is a partnership between USAID, World Vision and the Australian Government.
