Rural and Inclusive Digital Education

The Ceibal Foundation, through the “Rural and Inclusive Digital Education” project, seeks to strengthen the educational systems of Honduras and Nicaragua.

Latin America is the most unequal region in the world in terms of access to education and is going through a learning crisis that limits social mobility. Educational inequalities are exacerbated in rural areas. Rural schools, which in Nicaragua and Honduras represent around 80% of the total, are affected by geographic isolation, greater exposure to natural disasters, lack of infrastructure and connectivity services, and limited access to financial and institutional resources.

In this context, this project seeks to increase the capacity of the educational systems of Honduras and Nicaragua to improve equity and inclusion in rural communities through the efficient use of digital technologies for distance and blended learning.

It proposes an approach with sustainable integration of educational television with accessible digital media and adaptations, use of available technological and cultural resources, participatory practices in the production of resources and projects (teachers, students, families, community), and a strategic design based on proven experiences in the region.

Project stages:

Initial diagnosis: Analysis of rural educational systems in Honduras and Nicaragua and their users: demographic and socio-cultural aspects, teaching and learning dynamics, access to digital and analog technology or adaptations, cultural consumption of students and teachers of the communities that will be part of the project.
Analysis of innovations: Qualitative study of selected innovations, to determine effective approaches that allow them to be adapted, scaled and implemented in the rural educational systems of Honduras and Nicaragua.
Prototype development: Design and testing of prototypes, with the participation of technical teams from both countries and with a focus on the second cycle of primary education. The adaptation tests of the innovations will include a block of a television program based on a topic relevant to both countries and preliminary versions of production guides for teachers and students.
Sustainable scaling: Design of the scalability plan, with the learning that results from prototype testing, as well as a series of virtual meetings aimed at promoting a progressive increase in capabilities and two final face-to-face workshops (one per country) to observe both the most effective formats of design, circulation and use of educational resources as well as the relevant interaction practices between teachers, students and their families.

The project is being implemented by the Ceibal Foundation and is funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

Prototype: educational resources

The following is a prototype version of the materials developed within the framework of the project. These materials will be used for the implementation of the prototype, which will take place between March and June 2023, in 4 schools in rural communities in Honduras: Las Hortensias, Yamaranguila; Francisco Morazán, La Florida; CEB Unión Centroamericana, Nueva Unión Centroamericana; El Camalotal, Alauca.