Sustainable Offgrid EdTech for Education Continuity and Outcomes in the Developing World

_特别是在撒哈拉以南非洲，SVRG为贯穿各领域的综合农村发展开发和提供技术解决方案和商业模式。SVRG解决方案的优势和优势在于这种广泛的综合方法，它与社区合作开发一种系统方法，以同时满足他们的主要需求和优先事项，通常是由获得能源、ICT和提高农业生产率推动的。__我们的客户社区提出的一个一贯的优先事项是改善受教育的机会。但是，虽然在整合能源获取、抽水或农业附加值时可以使用许多技术，但没有普遍可用的技术来提供基本的离网、离网、语言和课程独立的教育支持。__我们英国人当然熟悉任何数量的这样的系统--从BBC BiteSize到可汗学院、白玫瑰数学，以及任何数量的基本广告--或应用内销售--用于智能手机和平板电脑的基本算术和识字应用程序。在COVID封锁和关闭学校期间，我们已经特别熟悉所有这些在维持儿童学习和参与教育方面的效用和力量。__但我们在发展中国家与之合作的社区在这种情况下面临多重挑战。现有的教育材料(例如免费应用程序或像可汗学院这样的教育内容环境)很少根据他们的语言和课程需求量身定做，而且需要访问良好的互联网连接才能工作。因此，很少有学校，特别是资源匮乏的农村学校，使用任何教育技术来支持教师的教育努力或学生的学习成果。当学校关闭时，就像现在面对全球大流行一样，结果是教育停止了。没有鼓励，甚至没有设施或系统允许学生进行远程/在家学习。其结果是，许多人将在学校里落后得更远，甚至可能无法重返学校--特别是那些父母可能一开始就不愿送他们去的女孩。在这个项目中，我们将开发简单的教育内容--基于教师的经验--它是语言和课程中立的，可以支持学前教育、课堂学习和家庭学习。更重要的是，我们将开发一种本地化的解决方案，使这些内容能够在不需要个人设备连接互联网的情况下访问和传播。这将构成我们的客户社区和学校一直要求的智慧乡村模式中的教育组件的基础，然后可以从标准的核心功能逐步定制以满足个别本地课程需求。此外，这一系统还将使我们能够与当地教育工作者和专家协商，分享发展中国家课程和教学中很少涉及的更广泛的“生活技能”信息，如对COVID的认识、气候变化和环境管理材料。

_SVRG develops and supplies technology solutions and business models for cross-cutting integrated rural development, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The strength and USP of SVRG's solutions is this broad integrated approach, that works with communities to develop a systems approach to simultaneously address their main needs and priorities, usually catalysed by access to energy, ICT, and enhanced agricultural productivity.__A consistent priority raised by our client communities is improved access to education. But whereas there are any number of technologies to use when integrating energy access, or water pumping, or agricultural value addition, there are no generally available technologies for basic off-grid, off-internet, language- and curriculum-independent education support.__We in the UK are of course familiar with any number of such systems - from BBC Bitesize, to Khan Academy, White Rose Maths, and any number of basic advertising- or in-app-sales-driven basic numeracy and literacy apps for smartphones and tablets. And we have become particularly familiar with the utility and power of all of these in maintaining children's learning and engagement with education during the COVID lockdown and closure of schools.__But the communities we work with, in the developing world, face multiple challenges in this context. Existing educational material (for example free apps, or educational content environments like Khan Academy) is rarely tailored to their language and curriculum needs, and requires access to good internet connections in order to work. Consequently few schools, especially poorly-resourced rural schools, use any EdTech to support teachers' educational efforts or pupils' learning outcomes. And when, as now in the face of a global pandemic, schools close the result is that education stops. There is no encouragement for, or facilities or systems to even permit, remote/home learning by students. And the consequence is that many will fall further behind in school or may not even return to school - especially girls whose parents may have been reluctant to send them in the first place.__In this project, we will develop simple educational content - based on teacher experience - that is language and curriculum neutral and can support both preschool, classroom and home learning. And more importantly, we will develop a localised solution which enables this content to be accessed and disseminated without the need for individual devices to have internet connections. This will then form the basis of an educational component in our Smart Villages model which our client communities and schools have been asking for, and which can then be progressively tailored to meet individual local curriculum needs, from a standard core functionality. Furthermore, this system will also enable us to share broader "life skills" information which curricula and teaching in developing countries rarely cover, such as COVID awareness, climate change and environmental stewardship material, in consultation with local educators and experts._