O.4 Technology

Overview | 19

BOX O.4

Technology

Technology is being increasingly used to expand access to learning resources in children’s school and home environments. Evidence from a range of contexts indicates that high-quality educational content delivered via television can promote better developmental outcomes. Several studies of interactive audio instruction have demonstrated that it can be an effective and low-cost mechanism for delivering early learning to remote areas and to support teachers with training. Although still limited, emerging evidence also suggests that educational apps can boost preschoolers’ learning outcomes. Technology can also be used to reach parents, for example, by using mobile apps or text messaging to deliver information about effective parenting practices and the importance of early childhood education. During the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in particular, there have been increased efforts to broadcast educational content targeted at both caregivers and young children through radio, television, text messaging, mobile apps, loudspeakers, and online platforms, sometimes accompanied by print materials, to support learning continuity. Technology can also be used to foster more inclusive early childhood classroom environments. In particular, assistive technologies, such as screen readers, audio books, or mobility aids, can support learners with physical disabilities or hearing and auditory impairments.

Several considerations need to be taken into account regarding the use of technology in quality early learning programs. First, young children benefit most from quality in-person interactions (chapter 1), and there are concerns about the developmental effects of too much exposure to screen time. Technology should not be used as a substitute for social interaction, and there are safety considerations, such as data privacy and cybersecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the digital divide that disproportionately affects poor communities’ access to learning opportunities. Policy makers should balance investments in connectivity and age-appropriate digital technology with investments in teacher professional development and parental support to address the above considerations and ensure equity and the resilience of the early childhood education system.

Sources: Borzekowski 2018; Dore et al. 2019; GEEAP 2020; Griffith et al. 2019; Hassinger-Das et al. 2020; Kearney and Levine 2019; Madigan et al. 2019; Mares and Pan 2013; Mateo Diaz et al. 2020; Richards and Calvert 2017; Saavedra Chanduvi, Aedo Inostroza, and Arias Diaz 2020; World Bank 2020c; Wright et al. 2001.

20 | Quality Early Learning

stimulating learning environment in Kenya is US$25. Bangladesh’s Early Years Preschool Program offers children an additional year of ECE by utilizing existing government ECE classrooms in two shifts, allowing for relatively rapid deployment and significant cost savings (Spier et al. 2019).

Building Quality Early Learning Systems Intentionally and Progressively

While ensuring minimum conditions for learning are in place, countries should invest in laying the groundwork for a systems approach to achieve sustainable quality early learning at scale. A systems approach to ECE may also facilitate coordination with other services that support early learning, such as health and social protection (see chapter 6). Building systems that deliver quality early learning takes time, planning, and multiple investments. Country planning requires an honest assessment of the current status and key challenges for ECE, a review of available resources (human, financial, and systemwide), and an articulation of objectives to expand access to quality ECE in the short, medium, and long run (see, for example, box O.5 on Norway’s universalization of ECE). Importantly, achieving sustainable, quality early learning at scale requires a resourced national ECE plan and dedicated financial commitments.

Building a quality early learning system entails a focus on results. A key step in this process is devising developmentally and culturally appropriate learning standards that create shared expectations for what children should be learning in ECE, as well as process and structural quality standards. Learning and quality standards should be agreed on incountry and include stakeholder engagement with local authorities and community members to ensure they are realistic and locally relevant. Also crucial are the definition and establishment of a regulatory framework for sustainable implementation of standards, including monitoring compliance. When accompanied by the necessary resources to sustain their implementation, these regulatory frameworks can help improve service delivery conditions across public and nonstate sector ECE providers (see chapters 4 and 5).

Monitoring and quality assurance efforts can help countries learn what works in the local context, identify implementation bottlenecks to improving child learning (which can be helpful to fine-tune interventions and policy), and define which investments to prioritize and which to deploy over time, informing learning feedback loops that help guide the growth of the ECE system toward quality early learning at scale (figure O.5).

Countries should prioritize investments in data systems that capture child learning and quality of learning environments, as well as in strengthening monitoring and quality assurance systems to ensure up-to-date