EdTech for Ugandan girls: Affordances of different technologies for girls' secondary education during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Motivation: This article discusses the use of educational technology (EdTech) in girls' education at PEAS (Promoting Education in African Schools) schools in rural Uganda during the Covid-19-related school closures. Purpose: This article addresses a research gap surrounding the potential use of EdTech to support girls' education, focusing on the barriers to girls' EdTech use and how technology might be used to enhance girls' education in disadvantaged rural areas-specifically their academic learning and their social and emotional learning. Methods and approach: A sequential, explanatory mixed-methods case-study approach was used. Quantitative exploration of a dataset of 483 Ugandan students, from 28 PEAS schools, was first conducted, followed by interviews with PEAS staff to elucidate the reasons and context behind the findings. Findings: Findings show that female students are less likely than male students to have access to their caregivers' phones for learning. The form of EdTech that appeared to be most beneficial for girls' academic learning was radio; girls also had significantly more interest in tuning into radio broadcasts than boys did. Also, poorer boys were more likely to be influenced by SMS messages than wealthier boys. Apart from gender-based differences, students with more highly educated parents found SMS messages more helpful, and phone calls from teachers appeared to help boost younger students' self-confidence. Policy implications: The findings suggest that policy-makers need to: carefully consider provision of education through multiple modes of EdTech in order to ensure that it reaches all students; ensure that caregivers are involved in the strategies developed for girls' education; make EdTech interventions interactive; and consider language in EdTech interventions. Given the gender differences which emerged, the findings are of relevance both to supporting the continuation of educational provision during periods of school closure, and also in terms of finding additional ways to support girls' education alongside formal schooling.

Learning with technology during emergencies: A systematic review of K‐12 education

Emergency situations that cause damage to educational buildings or require the closure of schools due to unsafe health, environmental, or political conditions can be an unwelcomed interruption to education. Indeed, the recent COVID‐19 pandemic created the largest disruption of education in history, affecting 94% of the world's student population. In emergencies, technology is often utilised as part of a crisis response protocol by continuing education using emergency remote education (ERE). The purpose of this study is to determine how technology has been used to continue K‐12 learning remotely during an emergency. This systematic review included an aggregated and configurative synthesis to examine extant empirical work over eleven years, from January 2010 to December 2020. Following a rigorous, PRISMA selection process, 60 articles were included in the final analysis from 48 countries. Grounded coding of the strategies used for learning revealed the following categories: communication, delivery systems, student ERE readiness, partnerships, promoting student learning and engagement, and resources. Grounded coding of the technologies revealed that types of technologies used were divided into two major categories: Internet‐based and non‐Internet based, with the majority using Internet‐based technologies. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused school closures across the globe and prevented in‐person school teaching. The rapid shift to distance education in schools can be conceptualised as ‘emergency remote education’ (ERE). Prior ERE research focused on bounded geographic locations where localised emergencies occurred. What this paper adds This provides the scholarly community with a unique systematic review of existing academic research on K‐12 ERE implementation in emergencies. This provides aggregated data and analysis on the past 11 years of the types of emergencies, participants, subject domain, technologies used, and location information. This provides findings of the types of remote teaching strategies involving technology used to continue K‐12 learning in emergency situations. This provides a set of recommendations on ERE for teachers, school leaders, policy makers, and funders. This provides researchers with a review of the field with identification of gaps and future research opportunities. Implications for practice and/or policy Recommendations regarding ERE are provided in this paper that will be of benefit to K‐12 teachers, school leaders policymakers, and funders in the continuing COVID‐19 pandemic and future emergencies. The research gaps highlighted in this paper, such as the lack of studies conducted in low and low middle‐income countries, are presented with suggestions for much needed future research. This can lead to changes in practice and policy. What is already known about this topic The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused school closures across the globe and prevented in‐person school teaching. The rapid shift to distance education in schools can be conceptualised as ‘emergency remote education’ (ERE). Prior ERE research focused on bounded geographic locations where localised emergencies occurred. What this paper adds This provides the scholarly community with a unique systematic review of existing academic research on K‐12 ERE implementation in emergencies. This provides aggregated data and analysis on the past 11 years of the types of emergencies, participants, subject domain, technologies used, and location information. This provides findings of the types of remote teaching strategies involving technology used to continue K‐12 learning in emergency situations. This provides a set of recommendations on ERE for teachers, school leaders, policy makers, and funders. This provides researchers with a review of the field with identification of gaps and future research opportunities. Implications for practice and/or policy Recommendations regarding ERE are provided in this paper that will be of benefit t K‐12 teachers, school leaders policymakers, and funders in the continuing COVID‐19 pandemic and future emergencies. The research gaps highlighted in this paper, such as the lack of studies conducted in low and low middle‐income countries, are presented with suggestions for much needed future research. This can lead to changes in practice and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of British Journal of Educational Technology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)