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Tech, If Used Correctly, Could Transform Learning in India’s Govt SchoolsShreya Shah, March 28, 2017

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Children can learn more with the help of technology, if the programme is well designed andimplemented, and personalises content to the child’s existing knowledge level, found aJanuary 2017 study of an after-school intervention in Delhi. Government upper primary and secondary school children (grades VI to X) who were part ofan intervention that used technology to improve learning made twice the progress inmathematics, and 2.5 times the progress in Hindi, compared to students who were not part ofthe programme, according to the study, co-authored by Karthik Muralidharan from theUniversity of California in San Diego, Abhijeet Singh from University College London, andAlejandro J. Ganimian from the Abdul Jameel Poverty Action Lab at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology. “A well designed intervention can have large impacts,” Muralidharan, a developmenteconomist and professor, told IndiaSpend.

In mathematics, benefits from the programme ranged from a 12% increase in questionsanswered correctly on the easiest type of questions, to a 36% increase on harder topics, suchas geometry and measurement. In Hindi, students who were part of the programme gained7% on the easiest topics, such as sentence completion, and 19% on the hardest questions,such as understanding and answering questions on a passage.

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Children In Grade VIII WhoRead A Grade II Text

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The program could cost as little as Rs 130 ($2) per student per month, if it is implemented ona large scale, the study estimated. India has over 130 million primary-age children between the ages of 6 and 10 years, and 120million secondary school-age children between 11 and 15 years, according to 2016 projectionsby the ministry of human resource development. But as few as 40.2% of grade VIIIgovernment school students surveyed in 2016 could divide, while 70% could read a grade IIlevel text, according to the Annual Status of Education Report, 2016, a citizen-led assessmentof learning in rural India.

Children In Government Schools KnowLess Than Their Grade Level

Children In Grade VIII Who CanDivide

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Weaker students benefited more from the intervention mostly because weaker students whoonly attended regular school were less likely to make any progress during the school year,according to the study. This could be because weaker students are likely to be so far behindthe curricular and text-book standards that the regular instruction in class that follows thetextbook is unlikely to add much learning for them, the study said. The study analysed the impact of ‘Mindspark’, a software that customised material based onstudent answers to questions, on 314 students who attended three ‘Mindspark’ centres inDelhi between September 2015 and February 2016, and compared the results to 305 studentsrandomly selected to be part of the control group. All 619 students–97.5% from grades VI toIX–were from government schools. The ‘Mindspark’ software delivered learning at the level of every student, and at pace withtheir progress. The software also analysed patterns in student errors and delivered contentthat targeted these conceptual bottlenecks, something that could be difficult for teachers toaddress in a classroom setting. On a large scale, the program could cost as little as Rs 130 a student The cost per child could be about $2 (Rs 130) per child per month, excluding rent andutilities, if the programme is implemented on a large scale, the study estimated. The programme has attracted the interest of several states, said Muralidharan. “There isenormous potential but a lot of work is needed for it to be implemented within thegovernment school system.”

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The Mindspark programme in the study cost about Rs 1,000 ($15) per student per month,including infrastructure cost, hardware and software, which was cost-effective, in terms oflearning outcomes, when compared to per-pupil monthly spending of Rs 1,500 ($22.5) in theschools the children belonged, the study said. Students attended the centre six days a week, for four-and-a-half months, with 45 minutes ofindividual learning and 45 minutes of support from a teaching assistant in groups of 12-15students. Average attendance at the centres was 58%. Technology could help learning, but effects vary across programmes Programmes that provide computers at home or in schools mostly do not have a positiveimpact on learning, while computer-aided programmes that allow students to review grade-appropriate content at their own pace have modest, positive outcomes, the authors wrote inthe study. An intervention that could deliver personalised content as per the learning level ofthe student (like the Mindspark programme) could provide much higher outcomes, theauthors explained. “For most politicians, technology is hardware,” said Muralidharan, adding that the politicalimpulse is to concentrate on laptops and computers which are tangible. “Hardware by itselfhas no impact.” For instance, the “One Laptop Per Child” programme in Peru increased the ratio ofcomputers to students in schools, but there was no impact on test scores in math andlanguage, an analysis found. Similarly, a computer-aided instruction programme in Gujarat, which replaced some timespent on regular lessons in schools, led to lower test scores, suggesting that using computersin schools could even be harmful to learning, according to a 2008 study. “Technology has enormous potential, but it is critical how it is integrated with pedagogy,”Muralidharan explained. Technology could help with large intraclassroom differences in learning levels Grade VI students part of the study were, on average, 2.5 grade levels below grade VImathematics standards, the study found. Further, students in one grade typically spanned five to six grades in terms of their learninglevel, which could make it harder for teachers to teach at the level of every student. “We findthat the bottom third of the class is not learning anything in school,” said Muralidharan. Teaching at the grade level could miss out weaker students, while a computer programmecould help personalise content as per every child’s grade level, the study suggests. (Shah is a writer/editor with IndiaSpend.) We welcome feedback. Please write to respond@indiaspend.org. We reserve the right to editresponses for language and grammar.__________________________________________________________________ “Liked this story? Indiaspend.org is a nonprofit, and we depend on readers like you todrive our publicinterest journalism efforts. Donate Rs 500; Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000.”

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