The information on this website was collected by the World Bank´s Edtech team during the initial response of education systems (“coping phase”) to school closings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data shown on this page corresponds to resources, initiatives, programs and events collected from March 2020 to June 2020.
The resources on this page remain available but will not be updated. For more information about the phases of “managing continuity” and “improving and accelerating”, please visit the Lessons For Education during the COVID-19 crisis site.
----
Large-scale, national efforts to utilize technology in support of remote learning, distance education and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are emerging and evolving quickly.
This page attempts to curate useful resources and publish related documents collected and prepared by the World Bank's edtech team in support of national dialogues with policymakers around the world. Other institutions are welcome to redistribute any of what appears below. Updates are frequently posted on this page.
BRIEFING NOTES AND RESOURCE LISTS
EdTech Knowledge Pack on Remote Learning response to COVID-19 (pdf, last draft 8 April 2020). Knowledge Packs are resources developed by the World Bank’s EdTech team to serve as short, practical guides on individual topics within education technology. This Knowledge Pack focuses on remote learning in response to COVID-19 with a focus on K-12 (primary and secondary education) in low resource environments.
Education TV Knowledge Pack – (pdf, last version June 2020)
Guidance Note: Remote Learning & COVID-19 (pdf, last draft 7 April 2020)
A short 3-page guidance note offers principles to maximize countries’ effectiveness in designing and executing remote learning.
Rapid response reference note: Remote Learning and COVID-19 (pdf, last draft 20 March 2020)
A 12-page rapid response reference note prepared to help brief policymakers on some general rules of thumb of potential relevance when very quickly exploring and rolling out the use of remote learning, distance education and online learning at scale.
Remote Learning, Distance Education and Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Resource List (pdf, last draft 10 April)
The selection of resources and platforms that you will find here has been curated to facilitate the rapid identification of helpful technological solutions that could be used to support remote learning. The resource list is regularly curated and organized by the World Bank's Edtech team.
Rapid Response Guidance Note: Educational Television & COVID-19 (pdf, last draft 17 April)
Five things to do, and five thigns to consider, when rolling out educational TV programmes while schools are closed as a result of COVID-19.
- - - - - - - -
EDTECH & COVID-19 RESOURCES FROM PARTNER INSTITUTIONS
Many partner organizations are rapidly trying to curate and make available related infomation, as well as share guidance and documentation that they themselves are generating, including the EdTech Hub, UNESCO, mEducation Alliance, Learning Keeps Going (U.S. consortium), INEE (Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies), Commonwealth of Learning, and many others.
LESSONS FOR EDUCATION DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS
With many different approaches being taken by countries worldwide, the COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity for policy makers to learn from each other and co-operate to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and maybe even “build back better”.
To support countries in this effort, the Harvard Global Education Innovation Initiative, HundrED, the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills and the World Bank Group Education Global Practice are combining their expertise to provide the countries with information and resources from around the world on the education response to the crisis.
EDTECH HUB RESOURCES
The EdTech Hub, a joint initiative of Dfid, the World Bank and the Gates Foundation, is developing and sharing many reports and knowledge resources related to the use of edtech during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
- EdTech Hub COVID-19 Activity, by country and theme.
- Consolidated list of edtech companies in Sub-Saharan Africa (plus a few others). 168 firms are currently listed, and new companies are added every week. The list includes some companies based outside of the region which do most of their work in the region.
- Opportunities and constraints of using EdTech in low-income countries the during COVID-19 crisis
- Best practice in pedagogy for remote teaching (PDF) | short summary (PDF)
- What’s working? What isn’t? (PDF) | short summary (PDF)
- View all coronavirus (COVID-19) blog posts from the EdTech Hub
- - - - - - - -
From the World Bank document library: Educational radio
While not designed for a COVID-19 operating context, a number of countries are finding that much of the contnt in the following two documents, produced with EDC, is 'evergreen', and thus applicable today:
- Five Myths about Educational Radio, by Katharine (Kit) Yasin, Education Development Center
- Learning at home in times of crisis using radio: Lessons from the Education Development Center (EDC), Online video, (April 2, 2020)
- Learning at home in times of crisis using radio, Lessons from EDC (pdf, April 2, 2020)
- Expanding access to early childhood development: Using interactive audio instruction (2015)
- Improving educational quality with interactive radio instruction : a toolkit for policymakers and planners (2005)
- - - - - - - -
Relevant past posts from the World Bank EduTech Blog archive
While written prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, many posts from the Bank's EduTech blog explore topics and implementation models of potential relevance. Here are a few of them:
Education & Technology in an Age of Pandemics (revisited)
The use of educational technologies at scale in response to disease outbreaks pre-dates the current COVID-19 pandemic; recent past experiences occurred as a result of outbreaks related to SARS, H1N1 and Ebola as well.
Zero-rating educational content on the Internet
In some countries, learners can access educational web sites and use educational apps at no cost because the resources are 'zero rated', i.e. data charges don't apply when accessing them.
Universal Service Funds & connecting schools to the Internet around the world
Many countries are tapping so-called 'universal service funds' to quickly pay for expanding connectivity to learners at home. Here's some related background on the use of such funds in education.
The promise and the challenges of virtual schools
As a result of the coronavirus, many schools have quickly become 'virtual'. Much is known about what works, and what doesn't, when it comes to 'virtual schooling'.
Complexities in utilizing free digital learning resources
Many countries are trying to quickly provide access to digital learning content from multiple sources. Some of these are free 'open educational resources', others are provided by publishers, private companies and non-profit groups, while in yet other cases governments are quickly digitizing existing content and putting it online. This posts looks at a three-step process for doing this.
Digital teaching and learning resources: An EduTech reader
A consolidated collection of posts of potential relevance to decisionmakers quickly considering the use of online learning content.
The Matthew Effect in Educational Technology
While the use of educational technologies are often touted for their ability to close the 'digital divide' and to 'open up geater possiblilties for all learners', in practice the opposite often occurs. Unless care is taken, edtech brings with it often profound challenges related to equity.
Bad practices in mobile learning
Believing that, in the short term, the best technologies are usually the ones people already have, know how to use, and can afford, many countries are astutely trying to make available learning and learning support materials for use on mobile phones. When doing so, there are a number of things that should be avoided.
Interactive Radio Instruction : A Successful Permanent Pilot Project?
Especially where students don't have other technologies at home, educational radio can be an effective means of reaching leaners at scale when schools are closed. While originally designed to support low capacity or untrained teachers in the classroom, so-called interactive radio instruction can also be helpful when teaching at home is coordinated by parents or other caregivers.
10 principles to consider when introducing ICTs into remote, low-income educational environments
When planning for the use of educational technologies to reach learners in some of the most challenging circumstances, it can be useful to formulate a set of principles to guide related decisions. Here are a few for consideration.
Last Updated: Jul 15, 2020