We made it!
By: Learning Equality
Tags: Education, 2020, Covid 19, Technology, Edtech

1) We contributed our voice and expertise in the global distance learning conversation . . .

As the world shifted towards discussing distance learning with edtech, Learning Equality joined in to share its unique perspective based on its experience designing for and working with partners in low-resource learning environments around the world, particularly as a member of UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition. This ranged from sharing how Learning Equality responded to COVID-19 through webinars with the members of the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies, to how to support inclusivity in Jordan, along with UNHCR Jordan, via an event organized by PROMISE GiZ, and providing introductions to Kolibri in low-resource contexts to Ministries of Education in the Caribbean with UNESCO, and sharing these considerations at the Futures Forum on Learning.

2) . . . and joined forces to deepen impact and support growth.

The Endless Key, a nonprofit initiative between Endless OS Foundation, Common Sense Media, and Learning Equality

By working in conjunction with other organizations, we can utilize our collective skills to contribute to both our suite of products centered around Kolibri as well as some of the key components that interact with our ecosystem to support its ongoing use and growth. This ranges from working with new friends like Common Sense Media and the newly created Endless OS Foundation to support innovative offline learning via USB distribution of engaging materials across the U.S., engaging with Google Season of Docs fellows to improve our documentation, leveraging expertise from Delta Analytics fellows to centralize data across our ecosystem, and contributing to the generation of public goods like the Digital Public Goods Alliance’s early grade reading assessment and a proposed hub to coordinate curriculum alignment with the EdTech Hub.

3) We kept our focus on supporting self-directed learning at home . . .

Learners in India engaging in digital learning from home, even with no access to the Internet. (Photo credits CINI - Tata Trusts)

Building on Learning Equality’s user-centered product design principles, in response to learners being kept at home during the pandemic, and now often moving to hybrid models of learning where some time is still spent away from an educator, we prioritized designing for self-directed learning in the Kolibri roadmap. With at-home learning resources and an understanding of the various modalities of home learning using Kolibri depending on the level of connectivity, we supported the continuity of learning.

Sneak peek: This effort will continue in the first half of 2021 through new updates to the Learn interface with new experiences for viewing channels and better support for learners who have limited coach support, to better support those learning away from school.

4) …and we saw innovative implementation models with Kolibri.

We saw true innovation in the implementation of Kolibri in 2020, now flying in more than 200 countries and territories. To name a few approaches: we explored a hybrid of offline/online use with UN Women’s Second Chance Education Programme, expanded the portability of Kolibri with the private release of an Android App, currently being piloted by organizations such as Shoulder to Shoulder in Honduras, CARE Peru, UN Women Mexico, and UNHCR Uganda, and which will continue to be tested before a public launch on the Google Play Store, aiming for Q3, 2021; enabled broad access through zero-rated models such as with Vodafone Foundation, and paid Internet bundles for offline servers moved online with UNHCR Jordan; and leveraged low-cost computing such as with TIU-11 in Pennsylvania, United States, piloting and then scaling more than 1,000 Raspberry Pis pre-loaded with Kolibri and relevant, organized content.

5) We shifted to virtual training of trainers.

Our partners in Brazil, Instituto Paramitas, conducting a virtual Kolibri training of trainers during the pandemic

Remember the time before the pandemic? We barely do, but Learning Equality started the year off strong in Australia, Cameroon, and Jordan with UN Women to support the training of local implementing partners on the use of Kolibri. When the ability to travel came to a halt, the Learning Equality Implementations Team converted its in-person training of trainer activities to a virtual format, taking advantage of tools such as breakout rooms on Zoom and feedback sharing on Padlet. We were so pleased to see our implementing partners across the globe doing the same with ease, and we are looking forward to testing new collaboration tools and formats to serve participant needs in 2021.

6) We built towards a new way to curate content for Kolibri . . .

In 2021, we’ll finally share the fruits of a significant development effort in updating our Kolibri Studio online curricular tool. With new updates and features to improve the ease with which curators can search, organize, copy, and import content, as well as backend updates for scalable usage, what you’ll see is a new design that is consistent with the Kolibri Learning Platform that you know and love. In collaboration with the EdTech Hub, users of the updated version of Kolibri Studio in early 2021 will also have a self-paced set of training materials around how to use Kolibri Studio for curriculum alignment, and both these materials and the user interface will also be available in Arabic and French.

The Kolibri Content Library Catalog offers a centralized view of all materials available for offline use in Kolibri

7) . . . expanded content for all learners . . .

This year it was important to ensure our users had access to the vital information that people around the world relied on while we went through the pandemic, so not only did we add health-related resources from WHO, CDC, UNICEF, and others in one simple channel, we also expanded the breadth of topics covered by adding materials that serve our users’ holistic needs beyond school, for example, social-emotional learning, stress management, gender and equality, public health, and inclusive education — all of which you can read about in more detail. We also conceptualized a centralized, dynamic hub to coordinate curriculum alignment, in collaboration with the EdTech Hub, which could benefit curriculum alignment efforts globally.

8) . . . and we enhanced our localized suite of Kolibri products.

Thanks to the unwavering support from our community of volunteer translators, and from our partner organizations Natakallam and Translators Without Borders, we had a significant year in internationalizing our suite of products. The Kolibri interface is now available in 23 languages, and we have been internationalizing the Kolibri EdTech Toolkit into Arabic, French, and Spanish. But the unique highlight of the year was the success of the joint initiative, Translate A Story, which mobilized volunteers globally to translate digital children’s books, resulting in over 6,500 books translated into 100+ new languages.

9) In an isolating year, our community was strong…

It takes a v̵i̵l̵l̵a̵g̵e̵ community! In a year plagued by isolation, our vibrant community supported each other and the development of the product ecosystem for all to use. This includes several of our Kolibri Hardware Grantees in Kenya joining forces to support various distance learning set-ups, including with Elimu’s remote access model via local network extenders; One African Child in Nigeria holding an introductory community webinar on using Kolibri; members of our online community providing each other with tech tips and guidance on the Community Forum, and implementation stories in the Kolibri Community COVID-19 Facebook Group; our GitHub community improving our products through bug fixes (you can join them!), and Verizon volunteers — in some cases along with family members — participating in translating storybooks.

Snapshot of an implementer from India sharing his plans for the benefit of others in the Community Forum

10) ...and our family grew, and we’re so glad it did!

As we celebrate what Kolibri has given to our community this year, we also celebrate the four special individuals who joined the Learning Equality team in 2020: Vahid Masrour (Curriculum Operations Specialist), Marcella Maki (Full Stack Engineer), Casey Boettcher (Systems Engineer), and Sairina Merino Tsui (Junior Full Stack Engineer), and we couldn’t be more grateful to have them on the team! The impact they have had on our team and work over the past few months is nothing short of amazing.

And even though we missed having each other’s company at the office, we crushed remote work by engaging in a variety of group activities throughout the year: team lunches and game sessions, book clubs, diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) workshops, yoga classes, design talks, etc. We were definitely able to share, learn, grow, and be together apart as a team! And speaking of team…

Here's to a new year of learning for everyone!

There are many ways in which you too can help make quality educational materials and digital tools accessible to everyone in 2021: