Towards Equitable and Inclusive Digital Learning in Kenya
In low-income countries, digital learning policies and strategies have largely focussed on closing gaps in digital infrastructure and students’ access to devices.
However, current discussions have shifted from digital access to digital inclusion, a concept that recognizes the various social determinants that influence the digital divide. Inclusion in digital learning holds that, in addition to equipment, learners need a conducive learning environment and support systems to reap the benefits of digital learning.
Lived Experiences of Kenyan Teachers
In 2016, the Government of Kenya launched the Digital Learning Program, popularly referred to as the Laptop Project. The latest statistics show 99.6% of primary schools in Kenya received over 1.2 million digital devices. Additionally, 22,927 schools were connected to power and over 6,000 kms of fiber network was laid to connect schools to the internet. The usage of devices by students and teachers, however, has been underwhelming with lower than 40% for all the schools that received devices.
Drawing from lived experiences in rural Kenya, we analyzed experiences of teachers actively involved in the Laptop Project, to understand challenges and opportunities of achieving equitable and inclusive digital learning in low-income settings.
This is what we found out.
Although most schools had access to electricity, devices and internet routers, still the biggest barrier was making these infrastructure available, reliable and useful. The teachers reported that the power and internet connections were extremely unreliable. Power blackouts were frequent and internet connection signals almost non-existent. Some classrooms didn’t have electrical cables and sockets. As a result of these infrastructure failures, most of the devices remained unused and locked in the staff rooms.
To address the unpredictability and unreliability of electricity, the teachers in the sampled schools sought to charge the tablets and laptops to full capacity before the start of the class. However, the battery-life of devices typically only lasted for one or two lessons. In similar ways, teachers sought work-around solutions by creating “hotspots” using their own low-cost smartphones and internet bundles. This solution was expensive and very unreliable because of the poor data reception in the sampled areas.
The power and the internet here is also very poor… So if I want to prepare for class using the school laptop, I have to travel on Sunday afternoon to a nearby town to download the materials I need for my classes. This costs me time and money. (Rural Teacher)
The other challenge was with content and pedagogy. While the students' devices were preloaded with national curricular content from the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), most teachers felt the digital content was not relatable, interactive, or engaging for the learners. For example, most of the content was in English, but with unfamiliar accents to rural learners, and most used content and illustrations were not culturally relevant to rural Kenyan settings.
My students are struggling with understanding the content [due to the accents]. You know, here, there is a way we talk to each other and understand each other. But this is too much [advanced] English for my small students. (Rural Teacher)
Challenges with integrating digital content into instruction were also linked to high student-to-teacher ratios in the schools. Teachers reported difficulty monitoring what each learner was doing with the devices during classes, an issue made more difficult by the high number of students in classes. However, some teachers divided the class into small groups and conducted the lessons into shifts to ensure every child had enough interaction with both the digital content and teacher-led instruction.
While the majority of teachers agreed that digital learning was a good idea to prepare themselves and learners for a better future, most of them felt inadequately trained and equipped to use devices in the classroom. Many teachers received no training on digital skill development to facilitate the implementation of the project. But even among those who did attend teacher training, many reported that the training was too short and it did not adequately prepare them to use digital learning in the classroom.
The training was rushed. It was my first time using a computer. By the end of the training, I was more confused. When I went back to school, the headteacher had very high expectations from me. But I didn’t know what to do. (Rural Teacher)
Most of the teachers interviewed showed a lack of motivation to embrace the program because they failed to see how it benefited them. They indicated that the program was not aligning with their personal and professional interests. The majority of teachers expressed a desire to gain skills and experience that would enable them to access promotions and professional recognition in their workplace. One teacher explained:
You know, I have to ask, what is in it for me? But I can’t see a benefit from the program. Unless I’m getting promoted and getting more money. This is a lot of work and I’m already overworked. (Rural Teacher)
Interestingly, most teachers in the sample of schools expressed concern about the safety of devices more so than the safety of the children when using the devices. This was because the government had issued a directive that headteachers would be charged for devices that get broken or stolen. As a result, headteachers would discourage both learners and teachers from using the devices if they felt the security and safety of devices was at stake.
I don’t earn much. If anything happens to those devices, the government will come for my small salary and I won’t be able to pay school fees for my children. (Rural Headteacher)
Recommendations
In response to these challenges, the following recommendations might be useful to improve access to inclusive and equitable digital learning programs:
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Diversify delivery channels. The implementation of digital learning programs using only digital devices is not effective. Digital learning in rural settings can be complemented by non-digital options. A blended learning approach, using multiple modalities of instructional delivery, appeared to be the most effective.
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Reward professional development credits for creating local content. Awarding teachers credit for professional development for creating digital content would be an effective way to incentivize and formalize teachers’ ownership of lessons and their pedagogical effectiveness.
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Develop equity plans. The equity plans will ensure existing barriers and inequalities rooted in the social context are identified and addressed before deploying digital learning programs so that digital investments can reduce rather than reproduce social inequalities.