Digital Learning for Development in Asia (DL4D)

Digital learning for development in Asia (DL4D) brings researchers in the Global South together in an effort to scale proven innovations by contributing to educational policymaking and action at national and sub-national levels towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: inclusive, quality education for all and lifelong learning.

The first phase of DL4D, from 2015 to 2018, is part of the Information Networks in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (INASSA) programme. The aim was to improve educational systems in developing countries in Asia through testing digital learning innovations and scaling up those proven to be effective. To do so, DL4D phase 1 supported an international research network to assess how digital learning innovations help meet goals for equitable, quality, and efficient education in Asia. The research network also examined conditions that promote the successful integration of digital learning innovations in the classroom and their potential for sustainability and scalability.

For example, two of the DL4D studies are focused on digital games for early literacy learning: a guidebook about developing digital games that teach literacy and an impact evaluation of a mobile game used in a reading programme in Cambodia. Another study investigates using elements of game-playing (competition, point scoring, etc.) and mobile learning strategies for language learning in Mongolia. Yet another is an impact evaluation of a blended learning model for teacher professional development (TPD) on early literacy and numeracy in the Philippines. This blended learning model is also the subject of a cost effectiveness study, along with another DL4D-funded trial of a web-based language learning model in rural China. Another project looked at massive open online courses (MOOCs) as a new model for promoting teacher professional development at scale. Prof. Qiong Wang of Peking University and her colleagues from 10 universities have worked to provide 20 high-quality MOOCs to more than 1 million teachers in China since 2015.

The second phase of DL4D, running from mid-2018 through 2021, focuses on TPD at scale (TPD@Scale). The provision of high-quality TPD to all teachers, both pre-service and in-service, poses a challenge for many countries, especially those in the Global South where there are limited resources and significant rural-urban, regional, and other gaps. TPD@Scale uses digital technologies that are informed by the principles of effective TPD to ensure quality without sacrificing equity or efficiency.

Education, Technology

Education is a pillar of development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify it as a global development priority with a commitment to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030. The benefits of education are wide-ranging. Asia's strong economic growth relative to Africa and Latin America can be attributed in part to investments in education. Worldwide, research has shown that each additional year of schooling leads to an estimated 10% increase in wages, and women's educational attainment is linked to a 50% reduction in child mortality since 1970. Despite improvements to education in developing countries over the last 15 years, challenges still abound. As of 2012, more than 780 million people lack basic literacy skills, and two-thirds of them are women. Digital learning innovations, such as digital learning games, intelligent tutoring, and MOOCs, provide a unique opportunity to enhance the quality of education in a cost-effective manner that can be implemented on a large scale.