Expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out-of-school children in low-income contexts
Across Sub-Saharan African, 98 million children are illiterate and innumerate and do not attend school. Educational technologies (EdTech) that promote autonomous learning may ameliorate this learning poverty. Yet, little is known if or how these technologies can be implemented effectively within com...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Educational Research Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666374023000389 |
| _version_ | 1797398479285256192 |
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| author | Bethany Huntington James Goulding Nicola J. Pitchford |
| author_facet | Bethany Huntington James Goulding Nicola J. Pitchford |
| author_sort | Bethany Huntington |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Across Sub-Saharan African, 98 million children are illiterate and innumerate and do not attend school. Educational technologies (EdTech) that promote autonomous learning may ameliorate this learning poverty. Yet, little is known if or how these technologies can be implemented effectively within communities to support out-of-school children to learn basic literacy and numeracy skills. To address this knowledge gap, we explored expert perspectives of the perceived impact and challenges of implementing a unique large-scale EdTech learning competition conducted by the XPRIZE Foundation in 172 remote villages in Tanzania with 2500 out-of-school children. A qualitative expert elicitation was conducted with 14 key informants of the competition, using semi-structured interviews administered online over a 7-month period. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Four key themes were generated: ‘Technology as a novel concept’, ‘Children don't learn in a vacuum’, ‘Respecting the cultural context’ and ‘Accessibility problems in a mobile world’. Results demonstrated considerable community support throughout the competition, leading us to question the extent to which children can learn autonomously with EdTech alone. This study revealed communities are critical partners for the successful deployment of EdTech directly to communities in low-income settings, which has implications for organisations addressing the global learning crisis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:26:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-31674c7a784a4f18b3ffeb2b29603bb6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-3740 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:26:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Educational Research Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-31674c7a784a4f18b3ffeb2b29603bb62023-12-10T06:17:47ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Educational Research Open2666-37402023-12-015100263Expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out-of-school children in low-income contextsBethany Huntington0James Goulding1Nicola J. Pitchford2Department of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; Corresponding author: Bethany Huntington. Department of Psychology, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.N/LAB, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKDepartment of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UKAcross Sub-Saharan African, 98 million children are illiterate and innumerate and do not attend school. Educational technologies (EdTech) that promote autonomous learning may ameliorate this learning poverty. Yet, little is known if or how these technologies can be implemented effectively within communities to support out-of-school children to learn basic literacy and numeracy skills. To address this knowledge gap, we explored expert perspectives of the perceived impact and challenges of implementing a unique large-scale EdTech learning competition conducted by the XPRIZE Foundation in 172 remote villages in Tanzania with 2500 out-of-school children. A qualitative expert elicitation was conducted with 14 key informants of the competition, using semi-structured interviews administered online over a 7-month period. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Four key themes were generated: ‘Technology as a novel concept’, ‘Children don't learn in a vacuum’, ‘Respecting the cultural context’ and ‘Accessibility problems in a mobile world’. Results demonstrated considerable community support throughout the competition, leading us to question the extent to which children can learn autonomously with EdTech alone. This study revealed communities are critical partners for the successful deployment of EdTech directly to communities in low-income settings, which has implications for organisations addressing the global learning crisis.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666374023000389digital technologieshand-held tabletsremote learningSub-Saharan Africaautonomous learningcommunity support |
| spellingShingle | Bethany Huntington James Goulding Nicola J. Pitchford Expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out-of-school children in low-income contexts International Journal of Educational Research Open digital technologies hand-held tablets remote learning Sub-Saharan Africa autonomous learning community support |
| title | Expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out-of-school children in low-income contexts |
| title_full | Expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out-of-school children in low-income contexts |
| title_fullStr | Expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out-of-school children in low-income contexts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out-of-school children in low-income contexts |
| title_short | Expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out-of-school children in low-income contexts |
| title_sort | expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out of school children in low income contexts |
| topic | digital technologies hand-held tablets remote learning Sub-Saharan Africa autonomous learning community support |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666374023000389 |
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