EdTech for Learning in Emergencies and Displaced Settings: A Rigorous Review and Narrative Synthesis

"Educational technology (EdTech), or the use of information communications technology (ICT) for educational purposes, had been a key area of engagement for the private sector."

From Save the Children, this report brings together 'what works' on the utilisation of edtech (at home or at school) for the teaching and learning of children in crisis-affected settings. The research strategy included a search of both academic and grey literature from databases: Google Scholar, Springerlink, Proquest, ERIC, Sage Journals, and JSTOR. The authors reviewed 135 academic papers on edtech's impact on learning outcomes and synthesised and analysed findings.

Some of the main findings and implications include, in summary:

1. "Impact evidence exists but is not utilized appropriately....
2. The provision of hardware alone is not sufficient to improve learning outcomes....
3. EdTech is a tool that needs to be constructed with the principles of pedagogy in mind, such as active learning, engagement, and content that hooks onto previous learning. EdTech should support cognition and not only present content.
4. EdTech must be implemented in line with the local curriculum...[for relevance to the child and not increasing the teacher workload].
5. EdTech must be responsive/adapt to the learners' level...Content should allow children to learn through their mistakes.
6. Scaffolded, appropriate, and adaptive software can be extremely useful in classroom settings....
7. ...Contextually appropriate material means that children are more likely to engage.
8. Material that is contextually appropriate can be used by families and can help increase opportunities for social engagement...[important in emergencies where family support is crucial].
9. Child learners tend to be able to teach themselves how to use technology fairly quickly....
10. Adult/teacher led scaffolding is key to productive learner engagement with technology....
11. EdTech must supplement and not substitute teaching if it is to be successful....
12. How EdTech is used matters more than what EdTech is used....
13. We cannot change the learning environment just to utilise a tool....
14. Teachers' opinions and perspectives matter when it comes to effective EdTech use....
15. Teachers must be trained and engaged with regularly for EdTech to be an effective tool in the classroom....
16. Poor teacher training leads to poor results....Continued teacher development positively correlates with successful EdTech take up.
17. Parents' perception of technology is important for learning....Taking an active approach to parental engagement can work to alleviate fears they may hold around technology, and indeed promote a positive attitude to the education their children are receiving at school.
18. The history and context of the country and education systems will influence the usage of EdTech for learning.... [by engaging the wider cultural context of a country or community in a proactive manner for sustainable improvements in learning outcomes].
19. EdTech can, but does not necessarily, represent the best value for money or sustainability.... [The sustainability and feasibility of an intervention has to be established in emergency and low resource situations so technology interventions do not become a burden to the communities.] The issues that need to be considered regarding value for money include considering the appropriateness of the hardware, sustained training initiatives for teachers, adaptation costs for the learning environment, and capacity building, where needed, to ensure that broken equipment can be maintained.
20. Infrastructure is a major barrier to the successful utilization of EdTech....
21. EdTech can be effectively used alongside accelerated learning programmes in order to help children to catch up and get back on track in their appropriate learning levels, but only if EdTech programmes are aligned with the curriculum and work as a supplement to accelerated learning programmes.
22. Boys and girls perform the same when not facing barriers to access.... [By working closely with local populations before engaging in programmes, EdTech programmes can avoid exacerbating inequality in society.]"

Save the Children felt that if it "cautiously cast the net a little wider, there were areas where research from more stable contexts could be used to inform practice in emergency settings as well."

The report concludes with guiding questions (page 64. section 9.) for ethical implementation in the categories of "Needs and values of the families; Emergency setting; Learning needs of the child; Infrastructure; Equity of Access; and Cost and Feasibility."