A new, extensive report by UNESCO focuses on technology in education – can technology solve the most important challenges in education? What do we know so far? What should those developing the technology focus on to ensure the best learning outcomes?
This report gives us the opportunity to tell you more about what TSF is doing related to technology in education, from Ukraine to Madagascar.
Why it is important
COVID-19 showed how important distance-learning tools could be – but almost a third of pupils did not have effective access to distance learning worldwide. In an increasingly connected world, we need to learn about what impact technology has on education, and how it should look like in the future – especially with the arrival of AI.
5 things you need to know
- Impartial evidence on the impact of education technology is in short supply: technology evolves faster than we can evaluate it.
- Technology opens new opportunities for learners with disabilities, but it failed to reach half a billion people during COVID-19 (72% of the poorest students worldwide).
- Only 50% of lower secondary schools are connected to the internet globally.
- Digital technologies have greatly increased the access to teaching and learning resources. But open online courses mainly benefit those from richer countries.
- Education technology should focus on digital outcomes – and it needn't be advanced to be effective: in the US, analysis of more than 2 million students found that learning gaps widened when education was only remote. In China, something as simple as lesson recordings, delivered to 100 million rural students, improved student outcomes by 32% and reduced urban-rural earning gaps by 38%.
“To help improve learning, digital technology should be not a substitute for but a complement to face-to-face interaction with teachers.”
What is TSF doing to help?
With connectivity, children and teenagers forced to flee their homes have the opportunity to access educational resources and attend distance-learning courses. People might struggle to afford online data when in a humanitarian crisis – TSF provides free Internet access, for example in Ukraine, which makes it possible for many to access education.
“[The free Wi-Fi zone] is very important for us because me and my husband – we work online. And this is one of the main needs for us, because there is not enough money for 4G Internet. I don't know what we would do without such support. It is also necessary for children studying online, now there are no problems for them in terms of education.”
Kate, a Ukrainian Internally Displaced Person in a collective center, Vinnytsia, Ukraine.
In Madagascar, through the IT Cup center (a center which uses ICTs to create social links), children and teenagers can participate in digital inclusion activities, from introduction to computers to robotics club. It opens new possibilities, and the free access of several computers allows many students to use online resources for school.
