Digital Technology Evidence Library

Posted on by Tania Elena Megogo Bokamba

KEY INFORMATION

LocationUnited Kingdom
Start date01/10/2022
End date31/01/2023
Clients Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), Steve Higgins (University of Durham)

BACKGROUND

The OECS Commission has a mandate to work towards economic harmonisation and integration of the people of the OECS. Its function is guided by the 2010 Revised Treaty of Basseterre. Article 22.1 of the Treaty speaks to Member States’ commitment to harmonise and standardise curriculum and assessments across the level of the education sector of the region. The collaborative approach to education taken across Member States to address education issues provides opportunities for networking and sharing experiences to jointly tackle the mammoth challenges facing the sector. Consequently, the OECS Commission strategically designs and implements regional initiatives to achieve the collaboration and share tackling issues impacting the education sector. 

CONTRIBUTION

This review sought to respond to provide an initial overview and categorisation of rigorous evidence in 117 meta-analyses – published in the year 2000 and onwards – focused on digital technologies and learning outcomes. 

The OpenDevEd worked in collaboration with EEF to create a categorisation approach to present these meta-analyses in a meaningful way to understand the key trends and gaps in the evidence. This aimed to provide a foundation for the EEF to base future funding rounds focused on digital technology synthesis work, as well as a basis for structuring a digital technology toolkit. 

Some key areas of evidence categorisations included: outcome measures, instructional domains, groups of students, moderating variables, hardware, software, pedagogical approaches and quality of research. 

The OpenDevEd team worked to produce:

  • A presentation summarising key takeaways from the evidence review. 
  • A categorised and usable digital technology evidence library – link here. 
  • A research brief outlining the methodological approach and findings.

RESOURCES

Digital Technology Evidence Library

DECI Content development support (OECS)

Posted on by Tania Elena Megogo Bokamba

KEY INFORMATION

LocationOECS Member States
Start date01/11/2022
StatusIn progress
Clients Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

BACKGROUND

The OECS Commission has a mandate to work towards economic harmonisation and integration of the people of the OECS. Its function is guided by the 2010 Revised Treaty of Basseterre. Article 22.1 of the Treaty speaks to Member States’ commitment to harmonise and standardise curriculum and assessments across the level of the education sector of the region. The collaborative approach to education taken across Member States to address education issues provides opportunities for networking and sharing experiences to jointly tackle the mammoth challenges facing the sector. Consequently, the OECS Commission strategically designs and implement regional initiatives to achieve the collaboration and share tackling issues impacting the education sector. 

CONTEXT

COVID-19 has proven to be a major disruptor for the worlds’ education systems. Even prior to the pandemic, the education system in the OECS struggle to provide an adequate level of access to relevant training programmes. A key response to the pandemic was the OECS Education Sector Response and Recovery Strategy to COVID-19. Recently, OECS Member states have focused on developing digital content. The need for large volumes of high-quality difficult content to support learning became more apparent as many Grade K-12 teachers struggled to continue instructional activities remotely. It is also important to recognise that learning extends beyond the K-12 years. The implications of rapid technological development are that global citizens must keep upskilling and retooling to remain abreast of the changes that are affecting the workplace. OpenDevEd was subsequently  engaged by the OECS to assess the digital content situation, identify gaps, and to make recommendations and implement capacity development measures for guiding the development of digital content for the OECS.  

CONTRIBUTION

OpenDevEd staff performed the following activities:

  • Produce an in-depth analysis of existing gaps in the availability and access to digital content;
  • Design a framework for Digital Content Development, based on the finding of the above analysis, best practises and sustainability approaches for content development in the OECS;
  • Develop training materials and a module for implementation of the Instructional Content and Engagement (ICE) Framework; 
  • Train and mentor a cohort of educators to sustain the quality assurance component of the framework for Digital Content Development.

RESOURCES

Coming soon

Equal Measures 2030: Policymaker Survey

Posted on by Tania Elena Megogo Bokamba

KEY INFORMATION

LocationKenya and Burkina Faso
Start dateMarch 2021
End dateApril 2021
Clients PLAN

BACKGROUND

Equal Measures 2030, and its partners FAWE and Initiative Pananetugri pour le Bien-être de la Femme  (IPBF), were collaborating on the Global Affairs Canada-funded project “Data-Driven Advocacy for Girls  Education in Emergencies (EiE) in Africa.” The project aimed to work with both women’s rights organisations  (WROs) and decision-makers to improve the collection and use of gender data to advance education for girls and women in fragile settings within Kenya and Burkina Faso. The project was also part of the Global Affairs  Canada commitment to The Charlevoix declaration, which aimed to improve education for girls and women affected by crises, as well as lead to the collection of better sex and age disaggregated data on education in emergencies.

CONTRIBUTION

Working closely with EM2030 and its partners, OpenDevEd conducted the following tasks:  

  • Refined the scope and focus of the research, based on EM2030’s existing Policymaker Survey questionnaire (conducted in 2017), up-to-date knowledge of existing policymakers’ perspectives relating to girls’ EiE, and an understanding of the research objectives for the project. 
  • Recommended a framework of analysis capturing policy priorities to address barriers for girls in their country. 
  • Defined a sample of at least 30 key decision makers in Kenya, meeting the agreed targets/criteria for  the sample mix 
  • Consulted informally with a sub-set of key EiE policy stakeholders to confirm the study scope,  interview sample, and gather insights to inform the interview guide 
  • Drafted an interview guide for the expert interviews 
  • Conducted expert interviews, making arrangements for language interpretation as required, keeping detailed notes/transcripts and conducted an analysis of interview findings 
  • Delivered detailed report summarising key research findings (draft report and final report incorporating feedback) 
  • Presented research findings to stakeholders, providing write-up of expert interviews to aid further analysis by partners

RESOURCES

Coming soon

Teacher-student relationship as an enabler of holistic learning for SEND students

Posted on by Tania Elena Megogo Bokamba

KEY INFORMATION

LocationUganda
Start dateFebruary 2023
StatusIn progress
ClientSchools 2030
Partners Ichuli and Ekitabu

BACKGROUND

About 16% of Ugandan children have a disability; however, most of them do not access education (⇡World Bank, 2020). In 2011, there were 172,864 SEND students in primary schools in Uganda experiencing hearing, mental, visual, and physical impairment (ordered by frequency). SEND students are one of the most neglected populations, experiencing significant barriers that impede their holistic development (⇡The African Child Policy Forum, 2011).

Teacher-student relationships (TSR) in all contexts and education levels have been related to academic performance and learning outcomes (⇡Ojok & Wormnæs, 2013). Furthermore, TSRs can partially counteract the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on academic performance (⇡Liu et al., 2021).

 In the last three decades, multiple studies have concluded that strong TSRs are fundamental to students’ well-being, engagement in school, and socio-emotional and cognitive development (⇡Hughes & Cavell, 1999; ⇡Pianta, 1999), particularly for SEND students (⇡Murray & Pianta, 2007). School-based initiatives and practices that create supportive connections between instructors and SEND students can offer these children much-needed help.

Our research proposal falls into the second area of study of the Schools2030 call for proposals: ‘What impact do pedagogical approaches targeting holistic learning outcomes have on educational equity?’ We focus on understanding the effect of teacher-student relationships (TSRs) on the perception of self-efficacy of SEND students in Ugandan primary schools.

CONTRIBUTION

This study seeks to provide valuable information to ensure not only the inclusion of children with disabilities in the education system but also ensure opportunities for them to thrive, increase their self-efficacy, and develop other holistic learning domains, through a quality teacher-student relationships. After the information is analysed, it will be shared as infographics and digital blog posts to increase the reach. We are committed to open knowledge and believe that research should serve teachers and caretakers above all else.

RESOURCES

Coming soon.

Pathways towards digitalization in education

Posted on by Tania Elena Megogo Bokamba

KEY INFORMATION

LocationECA region
Start date20/10/2022
End date–
Clients The Wolrd Bank

BACKGROUND

Many countries across the globe and in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) are at a turning point. Having boosted growth and incomes during the last few years, continued progress on ending extreme poverty and improving shared prosperity will require taking stronger steps to build resilience and raise productivity. Strategic use of data and technology can have a transformative effect on learning due to its potential to rapidly scale for impact on several identifiable and seemingly intractable challenges.

This programme’s objective is to develop an ECA regional report on the delivery of Human Development (HD) services, intended to clarify strategic pathways towards digitalization in education, and that can guide Bank operations and analytics. Three think-pieces are being developed to address key questions such as: What role would digital technologies play in the delivery of HD services? or Is there a “pathway to digitalization” for service delivery in each sector? , among other questions.

CONTRIBUTION

 OpenDevEd formed part of the core research and writing team, and engaged in the following activities: 

  • Co-developing the main outline of the report
  • Contributing to research and synthesis of evidence
  • Developing case examples in close consultation with the Technical Team Lead and the task team to be relevant to Bank operations and analytics in the Bank’s client countries 
  • Conducting interviews and consultations with experts and incorporating feedback into the final deliverable report

RESOURCES

  • Coming soon.

Improving Learning Through Classroom Experience in East Africa

Posted on by Xuzel Villavicencio Peralta

KEY INFORMATION

LocationTanzania
Start dateDecember 2022
End dateMarch 2024
Funded byFCDO
CollaboratorsUniversity of Dar es Salaam (UDSM, Tanzania); Oulun yliopisto (University of Oulu, Finland), Teknillinen tiedekunta (Faculty of Technology), Rakennus- ja yhdyskuntatekniikka (Civil Engineering); Haileybury Youth Trust (Uganda); Yescon GmbH (Germany); Indoor Environment, Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (Technical University of Denmark).

BACKGROUND

Classrooms in Sub-Saharan Africa can often be uncomfortable places to be, let alone to teach and learn in. Sweltering temperatures have proven negative physiological impacts – regardless of children’s level of acclimatisation. Furthermore, poorly lit, or overly sun-exposed, classrooms make it much more difficult to read and introduce health risks (⇡Ibhadode et al., 2019). Lack of, or excess light excludes children with poor eyesight, introducing a layer of inequity

Overall, these classroom conditions, all infrastructural in nature, are fundamentally part of the learner experience.

The ‘Improving Learning Through Classroom Experience (ILCE)’ programme focuses on investigating whether modification of the built environment (temperature, light intensity, and acoustics) can positively impact the classroom experience to improve learning. The research is not expected to establish causation to learning, but instead to act as a proof of concept to build awareness and understanding of the said issue and to spur further research.

The programme is composed of two teams:

  • Team 1 will focus on at-scale learning assessment. The team will focus on the assessment of the overall environmental conditions and investigate how these can be linked to learning outcomes. Team 1 is composed of researchers from Fab Inc. and Laterite.
  • Team 2, represented in this report, will focus on practical approaches to improve Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). This includes exploring options to retrofit schools and making changes to buildings and the school environment.

CONTRIBUTION

OpenDevEd will focus its work on the identification and testing of practical changes to the physical environment and infrastructure of schools. Both teams will look to complement their respective work in order to ensure efficient use of time and resources, working to harmonised scopes of work, including work plans.

ODE staff are responsible for the following activities:

  • Explore adequate measurement approaches to current conditions (temperature, lighting, acoustics) in schools across Tanzania
  • Through desk-based research and learning from innovative school buildings experts and organisations in the African region, possible approaches will be explored and analysed based on the characteristics of the Tanzanian context
  • Validate initial approaches through computer modelling
  • Quantitative data collection based on measurements of environmental conditions collected with high-precision sensors
  • Qualitative data collection on students’ comfort
  • Implementation of cost-effective interventions on temperature, acoustics, and lighting in selected schools of the country
  • Analysis of the impact of retrofits on the environmental conditions studied and on students’ comfort

RESOURCES

EdTech Testbed

Posted on by Tania Elena Megogo Bokamba

KEY INFORMATION

LocationRemote/ Event in Rome
Start dateSeptember 2022
StatusIn progress
ClientJacobs Foundation
PartnersUniversity College London, Leanlab Education and Itec KU Leuven.

BACKGROUND

Although the education sector has been designing and evaluating educational technologies (EdTechs) since the 1970s, there are no systematic studies that have documented and evaluated the different methodologies for EdTech “testbed” design. Consequently, EdTech testbeds operate as “black boxes” with many of the processes and products rendered invisible to external audiences. Alongside, the diverse and sometimes competing goals for EdTech testbeds leads to varying metrics for their evaluation. Most are rightly concerned with evaluating the impacts of the particular EdTech on its beneficiaries, rather than evaluating the EdTech testbed approach adopted. However, there is a growing body of expertise and interest to unlock this black box as a means to better understand the diversity of goals, testbed design methods, stakeholders, funding models, timelines, and timescales etc.

AIM OF THE PROJECT

The symposium convenes an invited group of EdTech researchers, CSOs, policy leaders and practitioners to synthesise existing models for EdTech Testbeds in high, medium, and low resource contexts. A structured set of workshops, discussions and invited inputs will be designed and offered by the project management team and a final report that both maps the landscape and summarises key features of different Testbed models will be produced, alongside the specification for an EdTech Testbed Design Toolkit for Global Stakeholders.

RESOURCES

Kerko updates to IIEP Educational Policy Toolbox website

Posted on by Tania Elena Megogo Bokamba

KEY INFORMATION

LocationWorldwide
Start dateSeptember 2021
End dateNovember 2021
Clients UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning

BACKGROUND

The UNESCO IIEP required technical support in building an Open Source evidence library to organise their publications. The contract focused on using Kerko Library software to integrate the IIEP Education Policy Toolbox library (a fully searchable library of resources, all of which are available in open access and tagged to relevant Policy Toolbox pages) into the Education Policy Toolbox website.

CONTRIBUTION

OpenDevEd performed the following tasks under the supervision of Amélie Gagnon, Senior Programme Specialist (Development) and Project Manager 

  • Conducted inception and discovery activities with IIEPdev and IIEPdev and IIEP-IT teams
  • Tested the staging app, identified issues, reported issues to IIEP team, and shared knowledge about the apps’s architecture or function in order to support them in solving the issues
  • Made technical modifications, including:
  • Configuring the build process for running the app in a custom Docker image
  • Configuring app function according to IIEP requirements (URL paths, search functions,  print function, library item exclusion, citation style selection, Google Analytics integration)
  • Made additional ergonomic and style upgrades, including:
  • Integrating library stylistic changes to match that of the EPT through the development of a custom application 
  • Updating navigation mechanism for smoother blending with parent site and informal pages 
  • Implementing ‘badges’ to highlight IIEP- produced resources

Capacity building on analysis and use of qualitative data

Posted on by Tania Elena Megogo Bokamba

KEY DETAILS

LocationZimbabwe
Start dateNovember 2021
End dateDecember 2021
Clients UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA)

BACKGROUND

UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa is implementing a Global Partnership for Education (GPE) funded Rapid Teacher Training on Open and Distance Learning Programme for teachers in Zimbabwe. As of June 2021, the programme had trained about 1,400 teachers in 2 modules. Of the programme’s 20 Teacher Trainers, ten were handling Module 1 on Introduction to Open Distance and Online Learning for Teachers in Africa, while another ten were handling Module 2 on Planning lessons for remote learning. In all, 60 Teacher Trainer reports on the sessions were produced. Contained critical information, trends, and issues that needed to be analyzed and documented, and used to develop policy briefs and action plans for teacher training and continuous professional development of teachers. OpenDevEd were therefore contracted to build the capacity of the research team at the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) to conduct data analysis and develop programme implications.

CONTRIBUTION

The OpenDevEd team conducted the following activities:

  • Producing an inception report, including a 5 weeks training plan for 10 researchers at MoPSE
  • Conducting 10 training sessions, virtually, each two hours long, over a period of five weeks to train 10 MoPSE researchers to review, collate, and analyze the Teacher Trainers reports (60 in all made up of 30 for Module 1 and another 30 for Module 2), including a focus on data analysis and developing policy and programme implications.
  • Supporting MoPSE researchers to produce a 10-page analysis report (with embedded graphics) from trainers’ reports on Modules 1 and 2.
  • Developing a two-page policy brief on the findings and implications; and producing an infographic on the findings and implications

RESOURCES

— See more publications in our Evidence Library .
— Capacity building on our Evidence Library

Partnership Database for TVET

Posted on by Tania Elena Megogo Bokamba

KEY DETAILS

LocationGermany
Start dateJanuary 2022
End dateApril 2022
ClientBertelsmann Foundation

BACKGROUND

Open Development and Education conducted a mixed-methods study to create a database of partnerships in TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) between agencies in Germany and overseas. The database provides an overview of the extent and location of activities, as well as the responsible institutions. The database contributes to research and implementation in the field of ‘transnational qualification and mobility partnerships’ (‘tQMP’, ‘training partnerships’) in the Federal Republic of Germany, which is an important topic related to migration. The database developed is supporting the activities of the Bertelsmann Foundation in the area of TVET.

CONTRIBUTION

The information was collected on:

  • ongoing and completed training partnerships, including integration of such partnerships into German TVET programmes,
  • stakeholders from different sectors in business, civil society and politics, who operate or support partnerships,
  • the geographical location of the activities taking place and planned in the countries of origin and destination within the framework of the partnerships,
  • the target groups addressed by the partnerships in the countries of origin,
  • funding institutions and the extent of funding for the partnerships,
  • possible conceptual approaches of the stakeholders and the funding programs developed for them.

OpenDevEd staff provided the following deliverables:

  • A final report as well as a database detailing ongoing interventions, programmes, and activities involved in training partnerships.

RESOURCES

— Report (This report is an internal report and not available from this site)


— TVET in our Evidence Library