Abstract
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (United Nations, 2015). Whereas, the principal focus of global education planning since 2000 had been on getting children into schools, sustainable development goal 4 (above) reflects concerns about quality. As improving learning outcomes starts to receive heightened policy focus, it becomes imperative to consider the types of intervention that can be most effective in raising learning outcomes, particularly in settings characterized by poor resourcing and persistent low attainment levels. Here, we consider if touch screen tablets can be used to improve educational outcomes in primary school children in developing countries. We focus on early maths attainment in Malawi as one of the most dramatic examples of the current learning challenge.
Highlights
In the 2007 Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) survey at Grade 6, Malawi’s mean mathematics score of 447 was well below the average of 510 for countries participating in the survey (Milner et al, 2011a)
It is estimated that 250 million children worldwide do not possess the basic numeracy and literacy skills required to live a healthy and productive life and contribute toward economic growth (UNESCO, 2014)
We argue that to better understand the efficacy of using touch screen tablet technology to raise pupil learning outcomes research is needed that focuses on pupil learning outcomes, and on critical aspects of implementation, such as teachers’ use of and attitudes toward tablet technology and the embedding of tablet technology within the country’s education system
Summary
Malawi is in desperate need of educational reform (UNESCO, 2015). Its first democratic elections in 1994 saw education become a core electoral issue, with parties seeking to outbid each other on their educational promises. More than 20 years on, primary education in Malawi still suffers from high repetition and drop-out rates, poor supply or lack of essential teaching and learning materials in most schools, and severe shortages of qualified teachers These factors contribute to poor internal efficiency of the education system, as well as impacting negatively on early grade numeracy acquisition in Malawian pupils, a key foundation skill for later learning. Key factors appear to be the availability of resources, textbooks, and the quality of teaching (Chimombo, 2005; Milner et al, 2011b) This suggests that an early intervention, focused on basic arithmetical skills and concepts, that does not rely too heavily on teacher quality might be an effective way of addressing the challenges faced in primary mathematics in Malawi
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