Expert perspectives on how educational technology may support autonomous learning for remote out-of-school children in low-income contexts

Abstract

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.