Offline Squared: Project-based learning with Kolibri

Solution Pitch

The Problem

Nearly 40% of the world cannot access the internet, and for learners in these areas, there are also fewer opportunities to participate in technology-enabled, project-based learning approaches. Resource-constrained learning environments often have inaccessible hands-on tools or educator support materials to guide facilitation or adaptation of project-based activities.

The Solution

Kolibri is Learning Equality’s end-to-end suite of open-source tools, content, and do-it-yourself support materials, designed specifically for offline-first teaching and learning in an organic adoption model. Offline Squared expands Kolibri to enable the use of technology for project-based learning to build skills and knowledge acquisition facilitated through real-life experiences, all in low-resource, low-connectivity learning environments in a way that is collaborative, problem-based, and inquiry-based. It includes new facilitator materials with teacher lesson plans and training materials aimed at building educator capacity and confidence, leverages existing open educational resources and creates new ones focused on project-based learning, foundational skills, and social-emotional learning, particularly to be contextualized to specific localities.

Stats

• The pilot of Offline Squared in Uganda involves 316 students and 12 educators: 328 lives in total have been impacted to date.

Market Opportunity

This solution’s market is K-12 teachers and learners in underserved, disconnected communities globally. Kolibri is specifically offline-first to cater to learners that disproportionately do not have foundational literacy, numeracy and SEL skills, and have limited relevant digital learning resources, digital literacy skills, and required pedagogical support.

Organization Highlights

• Currently piloting a specific adaptation of this additional support for project-based learning with Kolibri to support refugee and host community learners in a settlement in northern Uganda with collaborators Amal Alliance, incorporating their Colors of Kindness social-emotional learning curriculum, and Humanity for All Foundation Uganda, who is leading implementation of the pilot. This collaboration has been ongoing since the beginning of 2022, and was first established informally through a concept note phase in Q4 2021. This pilot and an improved iteration in an 18 month period is being funded by the LEGO Foundation. Beyond this, Learning Equality collaborates with various UN agencies, governments, NGOs, content creators, technologists and private sector companies including UNHCR, Agami in Bangladesh, UNICEF Uganda, Vodafone Foundation, Kamkalima, and the Endless OS Foundation.

Partnership Goals

Offline Squared seeks:

• Growing exposure through speaking opportunities

• Review and support in defining impact metrics

• Support developing a plan for ongoing fundraising for sustainability after the solution’s pilot stages

• Connections to content creators and teachers who have developed project-based learning materials that can be distributed and/or adapted via an open license, or can be contextualized for tech-enabled use when there is limited Internet access. Content that supports the development of foundational literacy and numeracy skills, as well as social-emotional competencies, would be ideal.