Tuesday, 25 June 2019
A new study has shown that differences in learning between boys and girls in Malawi can be prevented with the help of interactive tablet technology.
The research, published in Developmental Science,has been carried out by psychologists at the University of Nottingham and shows that the use of an interactive app to aid learning prevents gender differences from emerging in Malawi when implemented at the start of children’s education.
Significant gender disparities emerge in mathematics and reading over the first grade of primary school in Malawi, a low-income country in Sub-Sahara Africa, with a history of underachievement and gender inequalities throughout its education system. By the end of primary school, less than 50% of Malawi children have achieved basic competency in reading and mathematics.
To help overcome this an innovative interactive app has been developed by the British not-for-profit, onebillion, joint winners of the recent Global Learning XPRIZE competition. The app was tested in the field in a programme run by UK development agency VSO.
The app is delivered to individual children through touch-screen tablets connected to headphones. They are designed to support mastery of basic mathematical and reading skills through a series of game-like activities that are mapped to a well-structured and staged early years curriculum.They capitalise on multisensory, child-centred, playful learning and include a set of features that engage children in the learning process. The app offers in-built assessment of learning progress and children are rewarded for their efforts and achievements through positive feedback.
Significant improvements
Since 2013 Professor Pitchford has been working with onebillion and VSO to investigate the use of this innovative educational software to enable children in Malawi, the UK, and several other countries worldwide. Field trials have shown there are significant improvements in attainment levels in mathematics and reading when the app is used compared to standard class-based instruction.
This latest study compared the learning of boys and girls in the first three years of school in Malawi with and without the learning app over a two-year period and showed that boys and girls learn equally well with the interactive appdesigned to support the acquisition of early grade mathematics and early grade reading.
These research findings are really important for low income countries like Malawi where girls often don’t have the same opportunities as boys in terms of attending school for various reasons. Using the interactive app as a learning aid we found that girls have the same ability and potential to learn as boys and should be encouraged to do so in order to achieve
In an attempt to raise early learning outcomes nationally, the Malawi government is now rolling out this novel digital technology intervention to over 100 primary schools countrywide, in conjunction with VSO. Each participating school is equipped with a set of hand-held tablets loaded with the onebillion app.
Professor Pitchford concludes: “Our findings showthat boys and girls have an equal potential to learnif the instruction they are given works.The app-based method has shown to make significant improvements forboth boys and girls, but importantly also shows that girls can attain the same levels of literacy and numeracy as boys if they are given the opportunity and tools to do so.”
Story credits
More information on the is available from Professor Nicola Pitchford at the University of Nottingham on 0115 9515 387 nicola.pitchford@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
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