It is impossible to deny the ability of new educational technology (EdTech) to boost digital literacy and enhance academic results.
Although there are initiatives to increase the usage of EdTech globally, much more work has to be done in Kenya to completely realize the “leaving no one behind” goal. A multi-sectoral strategy, as recommended at a Kenyan EdTech meeting this month, will help the nation get there.
The Nairobi-based summit’s two days were spent discussing how to deal with obstacles to online teaching and learning.
The summit brought to the fore proposals for durable, impactful, and useful measures that are essential to help bridge the gap in EdTech so that underprivileged schools are brought up to par with better-endowed educational institutions. These methods range from developing digital infrastructure to evidence-driven policy.
Previous initiatives to advance digital learning in Kenyan schools encountered numerous difficulties, which slowed the overall EdTech agenda. Take the government’s 2013-launched digital learning initiative, which sought to provide all public schools with laptops and tablets.
Given the difficulties of inadequate infrastructure, such as crumbling school buildings in certain places, and concerns over how students studying under trees would benefit from “sophisticated technology,” critics criticized the initiative as unsustainable and poorly planned out.
Along with the regular outages that still plague schools connected to the national grid, the issue of electricity supply was raised.
With solar panels as an alternative, there have been stories of schools losing electricity because of neglected maintenance of the systems or as a result of powerful winds that tear off classroom roofs, ruining power supply systems. These are significant issues that require attention. Let’s take inspiration from Anne Kibara’s ideas, a celebrated educator who just presented at the Kenya EdTech Summit.
There should not be a one-size-fits-all strategy, the teacher at Nairobi’s outskirts Ngundu Primary and Junior School stated. Don’t standardize the digital learning interventions because what works in one area might not work in others.
Maybe the one-size-fits-all mentality has been our downfall. Experts have repeatedly urged that the design of digital learning and teaching be considerate of everyone, especially nomadic groups where learning may be disrupted due to their mode of subsistence. How can we best make sure that these communities gain from digital learning?
For instance, in Kajiado, the quality of grades at all academic levels has been declining over the past 20 years, despite an increase in school enrollment.
According to the Pastoralists Integrated Concerns Organization, which works in the county and aims to close the educational digital divide, this is the case. Perhaps we might learn from their strategy for creating a manyatta-based learning program, which involved setting up and equipping several learning centers scattered throughout the county with digital gadgets, as well as training and enlisting community volunteers to lead learning in each center.
The strategy has also included enhancing parents’ digital literacy and mobilizing them to take an active role in their children’s education. It goes without saying that for digital learning to be successful, it must focus on teachers as well as pupils. To improve learning outcomes, there have been calls for more instructors to receive regular ICT training.
In many schools, as is the case right now, just one instructor receives training and is then expected to teach the other teachers as well as the students. It won’t produce very much.
Similar to this, the ‘Technology in Education: A Tool on Whose Terms?’ section of the Global Education Monitoring Report 2023 notes that “Teachers often feel unprepared and lack confidence teaching using technology. Only half of the world’s nations have ICT teacher skill development standards.
Therefore, solutions must be created to fit a variety of circumstances, including laws that mandate the adoption of digital literacy programs that are equitable, inclusive, easily accessible, and reasonably priced.
Kenya’s abundance of policy rules is significant. However, it is up to all parties involved to work together to make sure that technology in education realizes its full potential. No one person will make it work, according to Jennifer Cotter-Otieno, CEO and co-founder of EdTech East Africa. To create effective solutions, we will all need to collaborate with the community and one another.
