Key details
| Location | Kenya |
| Start date | May 2021 |
| End date | May 2022 |
| Client | eKitabu |
Background
Having been awarded funding through the International Publishers Association’s Africa Publishing Innovation Fund (APIF), eKitabu partnered with OpenDevEd (OpenDevEd) and KaiOS to implement a programme aimed at promoting sustainable accessibility and use of digital educational content in and beyond the classroom. Developed using universal design for learning (UDL) principles, the content was designed and delivered through a platform on classroom devices – provided by KaiOS – and outside the classroom on an online platform.
Our Approach
The programme’s first proof-of-concept stage tested this design in six selected schools across Kenya, and included both government-run and special disability-focused schools, with the aim of ensuring that digital content could be accessed and used by all students, including those with disabilities.
As experts in rigorous educational research and agile research methodologies, ODE supported the ‘sandboxing’ approach taken by eKitabu through the first proof-of-concept stage, providing methodological oversight of monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) planning and activities, ensuring that data collected could provide answers to key research questions and support programme effectiveness when scaling activities to a larger pool of participating schools.
contribution
ODE staff performed the following key tasks:
- Advised in the experimentation with UDL-based TPD materials to increase utilisation of ICT in the classroom, assisting preparations for training delivery to 80 teachers
- Outlined the programme’s research design principles, building these into the programme’s MERL plan. Supervised production of the MERL report for the programme’s first proof-of-concept stage
- Advised on and co-created the programme’s MERL framework and plan with programme staff at eKitabu, ensuring efficacy and validity of measurements. Continued assessing and reiterating the framework through the programme’s first proof-of-concept stage
- Developed an effective assessment tool for use during classroom observations conducted by eKitabu staff collecting both qualitative and quantitative data
outcome
The programme’s first stage has successfully concluded, with plans for the second stage scaling the intervention up to a greater number of schools across several regions in Kenya.
