The Promising Role of Technology in Improving Education in the MENA Region
While on a panel on education in the Arab World at the University of Pennsylvania this week, I was asked about the role of technology in improving school performance and student outcomes in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa).
- How do tablet-based initiatives impact learning?
- Is technology being used effectively to engage students or to personalize learning?
- Can technology be used to support understaffed schools?
There is, of course, no one answer to these questions. Just as we’ve seen with technology initiatives in the United States, the outcomes depend on the input. Just as education cannot address all the challenges faced by societies, technology cannot address all the challenges that a school system faces. Handing out tablets in a MENA country without a sound strategy will be no more effective than handing out tablets in an American city without a sound strategy.
There are pockets of promise in the region, detailed below. One element that ties these emerging trends together is a sense of purpose and intentionality. Technology is being used to assist the teaching process and to provide otherwise difficult to access experiences.
Hardware and software companies supporting education improvement
Rather than simply respond to an RFP (request for proposals), an increasing number of hardware and software companies engage with education experts to ensure that their products are positioned within the context of education reform and used successfully and effectively. This can range from support with developing educational strategies to co-designing teacher development programs to co-creating model school plans.
Technology to reduce teacher workload
As a teacher in the 1990s and early 2000s, I spent hours planning instruction for my students over the weekend, generally at a coffee shop in my neighborhood. Teacher collaboration was limited to sharing resources and chats about lessons over lunch in the break room. Schools now encourage teacher-collaboration and co-planning and many schools in the region have adopted technologies to support this. Content-rich digital learning management platforms such as Classera, student learning record stores such as Kinteract, or teacher collaboration platforms such as Teacherly build teacher agency while reducing overall workload.
Providing data-driven insights
Schools are awash with data and teachers are under pressure to show that they are using data to shape instruction. But, what, really, constitutes effective data?
Effective data should help schools address significant challenges in effective ways and provide insights or evidence of impact. Lexplore, for example, is a two-minute reading assessment and intervention platform using eye-tracking and machine learning to provide an accurate reading age and recommendations and resources for instruction. Likewise, Dubai-based Nexquare provides uses multi-layered data dashboards to help teachers and leaders to fuel data-driven decision-making.
Personalized learning
I am a firm believer that learning is always personal. One may teach something, but no two people will internalize or use the content in the same way. That said, skills need to be taught to students within the “zone of proximal development” (Vygotsky) that refers to “the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner.”
Doing so in a class of thirty students may seem like a Herculean task; however, some technology tools are helping to address this including Amplify Reading, Newsela, Aleks to name just three. For example, Abu Dhabi’s Alef Education combines a personalized, data-driven core curriculum with coaching teachers in more interactive approaches to classroom teaching.
Teacher professional learning
Traditional professional development often has a limited impact due to a lack of supported application. Technology can help bridge that gap. Avatar-based simulation training allows teachers and school leaders to apply skills to localized scenarios, while programs like the Microsoft Innovative Education Experts provide resources and incentives, such as certifications, for teachers to drive their own professional growth. Both are growing in the MENA region. Furthermore, our own School Improvement Coach platform (in beta) provides schools and school networks with metrics, workflow, and resources for ongoing improvement of school performance and student outcomes.
While the trends above are promising, there are sustained challenges.
Shortage of quality offline resources
When I speak with prospective EdTech companies for projects in the region, one of my first questions is: can your product be delivered offline? All too often, the answer is no. In fact, in environments with limited access to the internet, it is essential to have offline functionality.
Shortage of quality products in Arabic
This is, thankfully, changing. An increasing number of LMS systems can support the Arabic language and platforms like “Little Thinking Minds” (I Read Arabic) which provides high-quality reading resources in Arabic. Likewise, www.arabcode.org provides programming tutorials in Arabic.
A need to incorporate the purposeful use of technology in Pre-service teacher training programs
Offering teachers opportunities for development at scale is a challenge in most regions and MENA is no exception. Developing models or beacon schools that can serve as teacher training hubs for specific practices is one way to address change in scale. Another way is to ensure that all new teachers are prepared to spread digitally supported practices in their schools. The work of Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab or Microsoft’s pre-service teacher certifications can be seen as exemplars in this area.
Ultimately, vendors and nations need to take a long-term, sustained approach to the use of technology. This will require a clear understanding of the gaps between current and the desired school performance, the value associated with those gaps, carefully selected digital tools, investment in training, and the ongoing impact assessment.
