Digital Technologies in Education

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming education, enabling personalized learning, real-time feedback, automated assessments, and virtual tutoring at a scale never seen before. For low- and middle-income countries, AI presents a unique opportunity: If supported by foundational digital skills and connectivity, AI could help address the global learning crisis—particularly in communities with teacher shortages and high dropout rates.

It also enables new capabilities that would be impossible or difficult at scale without technology. Hybrid and blended delivery approaches can reach all students anytime, anywhere. Hybrid learning can also reach out-of-school youth, and AI can accelerate and personalize learning, providing additional support to struggling students.

Technology can be used for data-driven decision-making; early warning systems to prevent dropouts; and transparent, just-in-time payments. Education technology (EdTech) can help transform education systems to deliver services more effectively and efficiently and introduce new innovations. It enables education systems to support what they are already doing, but faster, more cost-effectively, and at scale, including teacher professional development, large-scale assessments, continuous monitoring of learning, and creation of new digital content and structured lesson plans.

However, technology is not a silver bullet. Despite its promise, AI in education brings risks that must be carefully managed,  including data bias, privacy concerns, and the potential displacement of teachers. Without safeguards, AI may deepen educational inequalities, offering machine-based learning to poor students while wealthier peers benefit from teacher-led, tech-enhanced instruction. The private sector will play a central role in developing and scaling these technologies, but public systems must ensure inclusion, affordability, and data security through strong policies and oversight. Ultimately, AI can support—not replace—human teachers, who remain essential in helping students think critically and thrive.

The World Bank Group’s approach to EdTech is anchored in the belief that education is fundamentally about human connections between teachers, students, families, principals, and the community. The World Bank offers innovative EdTech financing methods to support countries with capacity building, strategic advice, technical assistance, and implementation support. As of 2025, over 94% of our education projects included an EdTech component, typically investing in digital infrastructure in schools, digital learning and management platforms, and digital skills for teachers and students. The Global EdTech Readiness Index (ETRI) evaluates countries' preparedness across six critical pillars: school management, teachers, students, devices, connectivity, and digital resources.

As governments invest in EdTech, the World Bank advocates using these five principles when designing and implementing technology to re-imagine education:

1. Ask why:  EdTech policies need to be developed with a clear purpose, strategy and vision of the intended education change to address the learning crisis. Policies must be holistic to account for teacher capacity and incentives, digital learning resources linked to the curriculum, and assessments that capture learning.
2. Design for scale: EdTech design should be flexible and user-centered with equity and inclusion at its heart to realize scale and sustainability for all.
3. Empower teachers: Technology should enhance teacher engagement with students through access to content, data and networks allowing them to focus on personalized student learning. EdTech cannot replace teachers, it can only augment teaching.
4. Engage the ecosystem: Education systems should take a whole-of-government and multi-stakeholder approach to engage and incorporate the most innovative ideas to support student learning.
5. Data driven: Transparent standards and interoperable data architecture supports evidence-based decision making and a culture of learning and experimentation. Countries must have flexible, scalable systems that avoid data silos and vendor-lock in, where future decisions are constrained by choices made in the past.

To operationalize these principles, the World Bank focuses on the discovery, diffusion and deployment of new technologies.

Discover, document, generate and analyze evidence-based technology solutions in education attuned to developing countries. Find EdTech Documents & Reports

Diffuse this knowledge widely across policy makers in our client countries and support capacity development to better use this new knowledge. The World Bank promotes partnerships beyond the traditional education sector, to support the effective, appropriate and impactful use of EdTech.

Deploy solutions that tackle adoption barriers, are informed by evidence, and allow for efficient course correction.

Developing digital skills for lifelong learning and jobs

The World Bank Group works with governments and partners to expand digital literacy and skills development for all. Our programs aim to equip students, teachers, and communities with foundational and advanced digital skills necessary for learning, civic participation, entrepreneurship, and employment in a rapidly digitizing world.

The  Burundi Skills for Jobs: Women and Youth  project aims to support job creation for women and youth, with a focus on digital skills. The project supports a new Institute of Computer Science/Computer Engineering and Digital Transformation.

Building resilient, inclusive infrastructure and digital learning systems

To address the digital divide in education, the World Bank Group is working with countries to identify how to address issues of affordable connectivity, device procurement, cloud solutions and multi-modal delivery of education. We support countries in designing hybrid, blended, and open schooling models that ensure learning can continue anytime, anywhere—even during crises like pandemics, climate shocks, or conflict. We help reimagine education delivery to reach out-of-school youth, refugees, and students in remote areas, enabling more flexible, inclusive, and future-ready education systems.

In Pakistan, the  Higher Education Development Project  equips students and higher education institutions with technology to improve the teaching, learning and research environment in Pakistan.

Education and Skills

Education and skills training are the bridge between human potential and economic opportunity.

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