This tool was created to support projects who are considering delivering educational content remotely. The decision tree supports multiple aspects of instructional design and accessibility to suggest specific authoring tools and delivery platforms.

This topic brief was prepared by Liezl F. Dunuan, under a subcontract issued to the Foundation for Information Technology in Education (FIT-ED), Philippines. It is based on document review and interviews with officials and staff of the DepEd’s regional and division offices in the Cordillera Administrative Region and Baguio City, DICT, DOST-Science Education Institute, the United Nations Development Programme Philippines office, two private telecommunications companies (Globe and Smart), two private EdTech service providers, and two non-profit organizations working in EdTech. Relevant policy documents were also reviewed. Carmen Strigel (RTI International) contributed to the international policy analysis section.

The acquisition and use of so-called “soft skills”, including problem solving, resilience, and self-regulation have been associated with better performance at school and in the workplace [1], [2]. Problem-solving is defined as the ability to acquire or use prior knowledge in order to solve new problems. Strengthening this skill is a concern to educators and employers as the 21st century labor market is increasingly unpredictable and requires skills that go beyond mastering and executing familiar processes. Students need to identify and solve problems that they have never encountered before, formulate a solution plan specific to that problem, and execute the plan. Thus far, the body of research that has measured these relationships relies on traditional self-reporting measurement questionnaires. This methodology is prone to bias since youth may respond in a way they know is desirable, rather than the way they actually behave [3]. Stealth assessment attempts to gather more authentic measurement of skills by asking children to demonstrate them in a structured environment where data collection is unobtrusive [4]. Digital games can be used for stealth assessment, with data on decisions and strategies collected in the application during game play. Since 2017, RTI has been developing games that target a range of soft skills by simulating real-world tasks in a virtual environment. The game designed to measure problem-solving skills gathers metrics on task completion, time management, accepting instruction, problem identification, solution identification, and self-regulation. This paper describes the multi-year process of development and testing of this game, the results obtained from pilots in the Philippines and Morocco, and the implications for strengthening problem-solving skills among youth worldwide. Cite this paper: Pouezevara, S., Powers, S. Strigel, C., McKnight, K. (2019). Assessing soft skills in youth through digital games. ICERI2019 Proceedings. 12th Annual International Conference on Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI), Seville, Spain. p. 3057-3066. https://doi.org/10.21125/iceri.2019.0774

This series of reports was produced by Omidyar Network’s Education initiative, whose mission is to unlock human potential through learning by catalyzing people, ideas, and systems – so every individual thrives and contributes in a changing and interdependent world. The Omidyar Network team included Eliza Erikson, Erin Simmons, Rebecca Hankin, and Eshanthi Ranasinghe. The data underpinning this report come from interviews, surveys, site visits, and desk research by a team of researchers and EdTech practitioners led by RTI International, drawing on local expertise in each of the case study countries. The team conducted more than 100 interviews with teachers, school principals, education administrators, policymakers, and EdTech experts. This study sought to understand the conditions that have thus far enabled EdTech initiatives to scale in Chile. This case study is the result of more than 20 interviews and site visits and a document review conducted in Chile over a 2-month period in 2018. The case demonstrates that long-term, top-down vision implemented in partnership with university networks or other NGOs who specialize in adaptive management, active learning and knowledge sharing.

Children with disabilities are less likely to be enrolled in school in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and beyond. Further, in most school systems in these countries, children with disabilities are not identified as having a disability and thus do not receive necessary support, even when the country has an inclusive policy education. Reports and studies indicate gaps in the identification of children with disabilities in school systems, gaps in teacher professional development and support, and a lack of specialized materials and resources. This desk review aims to provide critical information to policymakers and practitioners in US Agency for International Development (USAID) focal countries in Asia on the landscape of inclusive education for children with disabilities. Four main sets of research questions guide this desk review: 1) What are the disability prevalence rates in USAID-supported countries across Asia, and where do gaps exist in available data on students with disabilities? 2) What are the primary and secondary school completion rates of children with disabilities? 3) What policies exist, how do they vary across countries in USAID-supported countries in Asia, and are they being effectively implemented? 4) What is the education landscape for children with disabilities in USAID-supported Asian countries? What interventions to date have shown promise in improving aspects of inclusive education for children with disabilities, and what are the costs associated with implementing such programs?

This report documents the outcomes of a study, implemented jointly by DepEd and RTI International, to pilot a set of electronic vision and hearing screening tools that have been successfully used elsewhere, including by teachers. These tools hold the promise for easy administration, even with limited training, and more reliable data, especially when screening for hearing impairments.

Omidyar Network commissioned Scaling Access & Impact: Realizing the Power of EdTech to evaluate what might be necessary to enable, scale, and sustain Equitable EdTech on a national basis. We examined initiatives in Chile, China, Indonesia, and the USA that demonstrate how EdTech reached a broad spectrum of students. Download the executive summary to learn more about some of the events, actions, and initiatives that have contributed to the equitable scaling of EdTech as well as help inform policies using the highest-impact interventions.

On June 21 and 22, 2018, selected teachers, assessors, and medical officers from the Philippines National Capital Region (NCR) and Region-IV A participated in a two-day training to learn how to use electronic vision and hearing screening tools. The trained screeners then piloted the tools from June 25 to July 4, 2018, in a total of eight schools in the country. The activity was a proof of concept initiative that examined the feasibility of using electronic disability screening tools in the local school context. It also investigated how teachers might be trained to serve as effective screeners for students in their classrooms.

This presentation was delivered in Manila, Philippines on October 15, 2018 at a dissemination event including DepEd, USAID, and other local stakeholders. The purpose of this presentation was to share approaches and lessons learned from the pilot activities that were conducted in June and July 2018 in the Philippines.

Presentation by Carmen Strigel, Director, Technology for Education and Training, RTI International. Delivered at the RTI Panel Discussion "Vision and Hearing Screening in LMICs: Challenges and Opportunities" held Wed, September 26, 2018 in Washington, D.C. For related resources, see also the topic "Assessments" using the "by Topic" link in the menu above.