HOW MIGHT WE EVALUATE TECHNOLOGIES FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN ASIA?
In 2019, Asian Development Bank (ADB) wanted to support the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to identify contextually appropriate technologies for early childhood education (ECE) that would support positive learning outcomes. They asked, how might we determine which technologies are effective and know when to use them?
THE BIG IDEA
Let’s create a framework for ECE that classifies education technology based on existing programs, use cases, literature and research.
IMAGE COURTESY OF ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK.
OUR DESIGN APPROACH
After conducting an extensive literature review on education technologies for ECE, we worked with ADB to identify the most promising evidence-based tools used for ECE in the PRC and Asia. To confirm our findings, we conducted a series of interviews with stakeholders in Beijing and Shanghai on their research and/or products, and collected data on their impact, costs, competition, obstacles around implementation and adoption, etc. The synthesis of the literature review and field work resulted in a comprehensive framework that ADB could use. We classified technologies into the administration of teaching to include student information systems and classroom management and communication tools, and the implementation of teaching, which more broadly encompassed everything from teaching aids and computer-assisted learning, to teacher professional development and assessment tools. The framework also featured the technologies, types of software and hardware, use cases and examples of products.
TA-DA! THE OUTCOME
At the end of the project period, we delivered a thorough, personalized framework that classified a wide range of education technologies in order to empower ADB member countries to select and review a set of tools for their individual use cases.