Teach By Tech

Education is the key to escaping poverty, yet women and girls around the world are denied education. Currently there are 781 million adults that lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, 2/3 are women. This leaves them vulnerable to exploitation in the job market and with limited opportunities for advancement. Teach By Tech overcomes obstacles to education for women by using instructor led mobile phone classrooms to expand access to education and workforce training. Our solution calls for blended models of education using videos, texting platforms, the Teach By Tech app and direct instruction.  This model introduces technology that expands the reach of quality teachers to a greater audience.  Our courses are designed to be inclusive and culturally appropriate. We incorporate essential digital literacy and financial literacy components into all curricula  to better prepare women for success and create generational change as women take steps out of poverty and into stability. 

We are working to make education and workforce development more accessible for marginalized women and girls. Globally, 32 million girls are not enrolled in primary school, 29 million are not enrolled in lower secondary school and 68 million are not enrolled in upper secondary school. Lacking basic education leaves women vulnerable to exploitation in the workforce or denies them entry into the workforce. According to ILO, globally almost 1.7 billion workers were estimated to be in vulnerable employment in 2019. In developing countries, vulnerable employment affects three out of four workers. 

Currently we work with the refugee and immigrant population in Colorado. Approximately 47 % of the 44.4 million immigrants in the U.S., lack basic English literacy skills and 48% lack basic numeracy skills in English.The lack of basic literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy skills prevents inclusion in mainstream society for millions of immigrants and refugees. In Colorado 9.6% (557,944) of the population are immigrants. Of these immigrants 83% do not speak English at home and 46% have limited English literacy and numeracy skills; 82% are 18-64 years of age; 51% are female; 29% have no high school education. Our solution overcomes obstacles to education and workforce training.

Teach By Tech’s solution uses instructor led blended learning models via mobile phones to provide localized workforce training and education.  Our U.S . curricula prioritize English language acquisition and digital literacy gains while equipping students with the specialized skills and time management skills needed for successful employment. Students are provided printed training manuals designed for ESL and low literacy learners. The manual includes explanation of concepts, visual prompts for understanding and learning activities. Students take pictures of completed learning activities and submit them to instructors via picture text for feedback. To begin, students meet with an instructor for digital literacy needs and understanding of mobile phone functions. During a 12 week period students meet once a week for 2 hours in person or through synchronous video chats to cover all aspects of desired curriculum.  Each week students receive, through text, a 10-15 minute supplemental video. The videos are designed to engage ESL and low literacy learners. Each video includes embedded assessments, which provide immediate feedback for learners and allow us to collect data on comprehension and viewership. Our app includes individual student progress, gamification and serves as a repository for all content.

In the U.S., our target audience is adult refugee and immigrants living in Colorado who have limited English proficiency. Many female students have limited literacy and numeracy in their native languages. 67% are unemployed or are employed in janitorial services or back end service jobs. In our classes we ask students (informal discussion and formal surveys) what is preventing them from attaining better jobs. Results are: lack of English skills, lack of computer skills, lack of specific workforce training and inability to access to training. Our courses are designed to address these obstacles.  

Ghana is our target country. 80 % of the Ghanaian workforce is employed in the informal sector. The sector is characterized by underemployment, bad working conditions and low wages. The majority of people are living with high income insecurity. Women are prolific in the informal economy and actively comprising of 88% of urban street vendors who account for 14% of all urban informal nonagricultural workers.  Women are also engaged as homebased workers accounting for 78% of the total 21% of all urban informal nonagricultural workers.  Despite seeing large numbers of women in these sectors, men on average make 1.7 more than females in the same sector. 

Our solution is regionally implemented in Colorado, but has potential to serve young women in marginalized populations internationally, starting with Ghana. Here 2 of 5 women have no more than a primary education, one in four young women (ages 15–24) cannot read and write, and less than half of women older than 25 are literate. Transition from school into productive jobs is too slow, especially for girls. Our solution incorporates technology and education into workforce development.  This increases the number of young women participating in and benefiting from formal and informal learning and training, while expanding their digital literacy skills. 

 We want to alleviate the primary obstacles to education for women: time, cost and travel. The hybrid model does this while providing opportunity for interaction with fellow participants and quality instructors. Students have access to resources via our app and instructors via texting platforms. Students receive instruction directly and via mobile phones, significantly reducing the time and travel required for education. Not only is the hybrid model beneficial to students it also is an innovative way to overcome constraints created by technological infrastructure barriers. Dissemination via mobile phones allows for greater distribution of quality education and a wider reach to people who have been denied access to education; and permits us to bridge the capacity gaps many developing regions are experiencing. Throughout the course students are provided a mobile phone and data plan if they do not already have one. We work with local partners to create safe spaces for women and provide child care (during direct instruction). Our LMS measures learner engagement, outlines goals and benchmarks and develops communication and interaction between learners and instructors.

Cell-Ed works in the adult education space both regionally and internationally. They provide work force training, ESL and medical training via texting platforms. They do not offer face to face instruction or hybrid instruction. Cell Ed is focused on micro-learning, providing lessons in 3 minute intervals.

Alternativ is focused on business education training internationally. However, they use face to face instruction only and do not incorporate digital literacy skills as a priority.

Our solution involves a holistic approach to education for young women and women. We are dedicated to promoting transferable skills that prepare women for the job market or opening their own businesses. The mobile phone is our primary method of instruction. Our use of the mobile phone involves videos with embedded assessments that provide real time feedback, texting platforms that encourage communication between instructors and participants, gamification of concepts with badges and achievements and the development of an app to overcome continuous wi-fi needs. If students only have access to basic phones we use SD cards to download videos. Using the mobile phone engages students, overcomes obstacles to education and provides them with digital literacy they need to be successful in the 21st century. Because we target young women who have limited basic literacy and numeracy, we believe that the hybrid approach is the best model to provide instruction because it provided hands on learning and direct interaction with the instructor as well as increased access to the material through digital platforms. Through a robust reporting section, instructors can watch student’s progress through modules, trouble shoot, identify errors in the curriculum, and/or encourage continued practice.

Mobile technologies allow adult learners to study anytime, anywhere, extending their learning far beyond classroom hours. 92 % of American adults own cell phones, and they are embracing their phones as learning tools (Pew Research Center). Today, there are 5.28 billion people that have a mobile device in the world. This means that 67.95% of the world’s population has a mobile device. Global smartphone users increased by 40% in 2016-2020. It’s anticipated that by 2023, global smartphone users will increase by 40% (GMSA). M-Learning initiatives do exist however they do not teach basic adult literacy and workforce training. Instead the focus is teaching English, literacy retention, and/or children’s education.

Hybrid classrooms are widely used in the United States. Over 70% of community colleges, which target low income, remedial skill, working adults, in the US have hybrid options for adult learning programs.

A University of Washington study identified the following benefits to students:

● More opportunities to interact with course materials and resources, leading to greater engagement and enhanced opportunities for success

● Higher-quality peer interaction

● Greater flexibility in course scheduling, leading to a higher percentage of working and commuting students.

● Increased skills in, self-directed learning, leading to greater learner autonomy.

● Skills in communicating effectively in multiple modes.

● Increased technical skills.

Benefits for Instructors:

● Better student engagement.

● More flexible schedule and better ability to work from different locations.

● More opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary practices. 

Teach By Tech alleviates obstacles to education and workforce training experienced by marginalized populations using blended learning models. We provide essential skills training, inclusive of soft skills and digital literacy components. To achieve this we use a blended learning model which provides students with access to material via direct instruction, texting platforms, videos with embedded assessments and the Teach By Tech app.  Our immediate goals are to improve basic literacy and numeracy rates as we close the skills gap and assist in the development, retention and growth of local businesses, by ensuring female participants in the labor market have the skills necessary to succeed in targeted growth occupations and keep a living wage job. In addition, we advocate for increased access to the job market for females. Because we work closely with local partners we promote community awareness of in demand area occupations and the associated skill sets required. These connect to our long term goals of growth in female led businesses, increase in economic opportunities for women, enhanced female participation in local and regional governance and networks of female entrepreneurs and businesswomen. To test these links we have piloted our program in partnership with Denver Workforce Services in Denver, CO. To date results show steady gains in English language proficiency and math proficiency, increased employment opportunities for participants in targeted sector, significant growth in digital literacy skills and increased wages for participants.

In order to achieve our goals, Teach By Tech must provide: 1. Quality course materials. We custom create our printed and digital material and rely on experts in the field for guidance and direction. 2. Qualified teachers. Our instructors have 10+ years in the adult education and are certified in teaching or their field of expertise. 3. Learning Management System. 

 Teach By Tech must acquire: 1. Physical venue and/or online host. 2. Mobile phone or mobile device or computer. 3.Monetary Investment. 4. Community Partners are at the heart of our mission. They are invaluable in helping us to reach our target population and in educating us on the priority and needs of the individual communities. 

Over the past two years we have served over 220 refugees and immigrants in the Colorado community with blended learning education models.   

Currently we are serving 37

One year- 120

With in increase in funding, capacity and partnerships which creates  the opportunity for expansion into the international field we can potentially serve over 350 women each year at the 5 year mark

2020-Successfully conduct 6 workforce training courses using our blended model. Graduate 120 refugees and immigrants with certificates in Cashier and Money handling certificates. Assist graduates in job placement at 80% success rate. Increase our local partnerships by 3 in the city and 2 in rural communities. Attain $20,000 through grant funding and individual donations.

Over the next five years our goals fall into four overarching categories:

Capacity: Train and hire new instructors. We aspire for the new instructors to be female from the refugee and immigrant communities we serve.  Onboard 4 new board members specifically with expertise in marketing, accounting and legal knowledge. Hire a development director and marketing associate.

Funding: We need to increase our funding by 1/2 every year over the next five years. At the end of 5 years we would like to have a budget of $150,000.

Expansion: When we designed our model, it was always with the intention of implementing it in the international market to women in marginalized populations. We need to create expand our meaningful partnerships in the developing world and secure funding that can make implementation a reality. Locally, we would like to expand our reach to over 300 refugees and immigrants per year

Technology: We have developed an app in the minimum viable product (MVP) stage. This needs to be tested and improved. We also are researching development of an Learning Management System (LMS) specific to our needs with the capabilities to also serve as our texting platform. 

Our obstacles are primarily financial and marketing or visibility. We are a known entity in our small community of Colorado, but we have little visibility on a global scale. We have been able to establish an important partnership in Accra, Ghana with a local grassroots organization focused on livelihood projects for women. We believe this is a good match because we can expand the reach of their offerings and train additional local facilitators to serve more geographical areas in the area. However, neither of us has the funding to support the other in international implementation. I believe we also need a more robust measuring and evaluation system in order to highlight our successes and show or ability to adapt to challenges in our field. Locally part of our objective is English language proficiency training. However on the international market we need to offer multi-language capabilities. We have an excellent technical team in place, however our lack of funding slows the progress and momentum of our projects. 

Funding- We are improving at identifying grants that fund our particular services and target population. We also have begun new partnerships with a pay for service model as we expand our workforce trainings. To date our partners are happy and we have extended our contracts to provide more classes. We are developing a sponsorship package to encourage local businesses and banks to become involved in our programs and services and provide monetary backing for courses.

Visibility- Locally are gaining new partnerships, increasing our social media presence and creating more press releases. We are also reaching out to local foundations and organizations to increase our visibility. Internationally we are strategically choosing to attend or speak at conferences that have global reach and international organizations as speakers and/or attendees.

Multi-Languages- We are developing relationships and hiring translators to assist in content conversions. In hiring individuals from the refugee and immigrant population we will expand our current offering potential from English, Spanish and French to include more languages. 

1 full time lead teacher- 16+ years in adult education and hybrid/online curriculum development.

1 part time CTO- specializes in software development, graphic design, Q&A and web design/development

1 part time graphic design  consultant- creates motion graphic content for all supplemental videos

1 volunteer business analyst

Linnie Pawlek- FT lead teacher has 16+ years in curriculum development and adult education. She has developed 9 different courses for history, financial literacy and workforce training using a blended learning model. She also has intermediate French language skills

Andrew Pawlek- PT CTO has strong software development skills. Strong project management skills. In addition to daily programming and design tasks, he is experienced in leading teams as SCRUM master and Release Manager. He works daily with PHP, react.js, javascript, and git. He has experience as a game developer and QA specialist. He possesses advanced French language skills.

Keiko Ozaki- graphic design consultant has more than a decade of experience in video production and editing. She’s well-versed in After Effects and the entire Adobe Creative Suite.

Nancy Walker- business analyst (volunteer)- has strengths in business analysis, requirements development, project and program management, agile process, Scaled Agile Framework, EHR design and implementation.

This is female led team and all participants are advocates for equality and economic empowerment programs that serve women and minority populations.

Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountain Region is one of 3 resettlement agencies in Colorado.  Through this partnership we are able to provide financial literacy and workforce training to newly arriving refugees and prepare them for integration into their new communities.

Hope Communities is low housing development in Denver, CO that houses many refugees and immigrants. This partnership permits us to provide on sight financial literacy courses and workshops to a broad community.

Project Worthmore and Emily Griffith Technical College provide ESL, food assistance and community navigation. We provide on sight workforce training and financial literacy courses and workshops to the a large refugee and immigrant population.

Denver Workforce Services (DWS) serves as a comprehensive employment and training resource for jobseekers and employers throughout Denver. DWS recruits refugees and immigrants to be placed in Teach By Tech workforce training courses. DWS then identifies potential employers and facilitates interviews. 

Red Rocks Community College IDEA Lab- developing solar solutions to power challenges and designing a portable mobile classroom that can be used in various climates and is easily erected and dismantled. This is to solve space issues that may arise in the developing world. Also researching virtual reality (VR) development for economic development and education.

Key Resources- Instructors, quality curriculum; texting platforms; custom supplemental videos, physical space/online host, technical expertise

Partners and Key Stakeholders- Local resettlement agencies, community organizations and nonprofits, workforce services, government agencies, local banks and credit unions

Key activities-  Classes teaching basic literacy and numeracy acquisition, digital literacy and workforce development

Financial Literacy courses and workshops- Students set financial goals and prepare budgets, receive an introduction to U.S banking and master U.S. currency, distinguish between different types of loans and credit card offers, and learn how to establish, access and read their credit reports.

Workforce development training

a. Cashier and Money Handling students understand working conditions, customer service, using computers, scheduling, money handling, time management and safety at work.

b. Small Business development students master basic accounting, creating savings plan, marketing, business development, customer service and competition

Type of intervention: Workshops and course training. Blended learning model

Channels- Partner approach to gain visibility and enroll students.

Segments/Beneficiaries- Adult refugees and immigrants (focus on women) with limited English proficiency, limited knowledge of basic literacy and numeracy and limited familiarity with digital tools.

Customer- Government agencies and grant funded initiatives with partner nonprofit organizations.

Value Proposition-  Making education more accessible, interactive and customizable to specific needs.

Cost structure- Expenses- technology, consultants, insurance, employees; As we scale employee wages and benefits will increase. Global expansion will increase travel and technology cost.

Surplus- Invest in hiring new talent, expanding our service and improving our technology

Revenue- Individual donations- 35%

                  Grants-                   20%

                  Pay for service-       45%

For the past three years during our initial R & D and piloting phase we have relied solely on philanthropy to fund our activities.  In 2020  we began transitioning to a combination of fee for service and low income client business models. Our workforce training courses are provided for a fee to our nonprofit and government agency partners. We our on track to offer at least 5 of these per year. We also experience success when writing grants for our workforce training courses. Receiving these grants allows us to offer the courses in conjunction with new partners, who in turn write co-grants with us or provide a fee for service at later turns. Our financial literacy classes are primarily funded via grants and a bank sponsorship. Our individual donations are stable, but we are hesitant to rely on any greater percentage as these can change easily. We are focused on developing sponsorship models, not only for expanded revenues, but also to serve as another opportunity track for students who have successfully completed our workforce training. 

We have plans to sell licenses to community partners granting access to our assessment and tracking, data collection and education platform. This license is inclusive of support and training to help the licensee implement the blended learning model. 

We are building a texting platform to use through our website. We will offer  paid subscription for access and additional fees for message rates. We charge reduced to create videos for other non profits. 

Access to increased funding would not only allow us to expand our model and extend our reach to a larger population, it would also alleviate pressure on the team to constantly seek out funding opportunities. This pressure often causes deviations from the primary goal of creating a quality product that can serve as a stepping stone out of poverty for thousands of people.

Becoming a Solver would give us the visibility and leverage we need to connect with international organizations and share our model and ideas. This honor would offer us potential sounding boards to learn how to improve our product and best meet the needs of vulnerable female populations.

The mentorship and technical expertise will help us to develop a more robust and inclusive product. It will likely offer advice to take our product in new directions and create more features to make educational more accessible and available. Solve mentors will be invaluable in assisting the expansion of our business and funding models to develop more vigorous and diverse models o expansion.

Engaging with Solve and MIT networks would provide us with an opportunity to speak with more organizations working in international development. This is vital to learn from their experiences, replicate their successes and avoid repeating mistakes. This network would provide access to more data relevant to our particular field and give us access to other experts and entrepreneurs that can critique our ideas and provide feedback. We hope that we can reciprocate in this capacity as well. 

The prospect of accessing technical experts is exciting. This would expand the knowledge of our technical team and give them more of an opportunity for collaboration. We are particularly interested in solving the connectivity issue and narrowing the gender digital divide. 

J-PAL is an invaluable resource for data and evidence. We could learn a great deal on how to devise surveys, what data to collect and how to use the data to inform decisions. JPAL could also teach us how to implement RCT’s to prove the success or areas of weakness of our programs.

Rumie Initiative has been incredibly successful in integrating technology and education. From Rumie we can learn how to leverage our app and market our solution.

Open Learning Exchange has incredible local networks. OLE could offer advice on vetting potential partners and assist in making introductions with possible partner candidates in target countries.

Lynk is a vast network of experts with knowledge of how to scale and manage growth of for profit and on profit organizations around the world. We have much to learn to do this efficiently and we can always improve our organizational framework and learn much about making strategic decisions.

Moringa School is one of the few examples of blended learning in the developing world. Not only would we appreciate learning from a pioneer in the blended learning model, we recognize the potential for mentors and role models for female entrepreneurs. This can also be an opportunity for our students to further their economic opportunities.

The Future is Offline is another innovator of blended learning. This partnership could create a pathway from illiteracy to higher education for marginalized populations.  

For many refugees and immigrants coming to the US, participation and inclusion in mainstream society remains a challenge. Low literacy & numeracy skills exacerbate this problem.  Though interventions exist it is difficult for people with limited literacy skills & low income to consistently attend classes because of a myriad of obstacles in time, cost and travel. Reaching this population is imperative and overcoming obstacles is essential.

Teach By Tech addresses these challenges by providing adult refugees and immigrants workforce training while teaching essential skills- oral communication, numeracy, writing, reading, job skills and digital literacy- using a blended learning model, which incorporates access to quality instructors and access to learning via mobile phones and texting platforms.  Our model can be used without the necessity of expensive data plans or internet connection.  

The prize would be used to further our research into the educational and economic needs of refugees in camps outside of their countries. We would use this opportunity to partner with a local refugee led organization and implement our solution while training local teachers to use the blended learning model and Teach By tech curriculum developed in collaboration with the local partner. 

Our solution is centered on improving the educational and economic opportunities available to low income and marginalized women. By using a blended learning model we can overcome obstacles of time, cost and travel that often prevent women from accessing education and workforce training. This model combines online learning with face-to-face interaction. We use printed manuals customized for the community served. Mobile phones are our online interface used in conjunction with texting platforms. Qualified teachers are accessible throughout the course via texting platforms. Our custom videos are female centric and include embedded assessments. Our dashboard provides student and instructors with information on progress, viewership and comprehension. Because of the blended learning model digital literacy skills are an essential component of every class. 

We currently have a minimum viable product app, this prize money would allow us to improve the app development and create interactive games to further test business practices. It would also be used to improve our graphic animations for our videos and expand our vocational scenarios viewed in each video. In addition we can begin to translate our curricula into local languages, pilot our solution with a local Ghanaian partner and train local teachers to use the hybrid model and our curriculum. 

Our solution is centered on improving the educational and economic opportunities available to low income and marginalized women. By using a blended learning model we can overcome obstacles of time, cost and travel that often prevent women from accessing education and workforce training. This model combines online learning with face-to-face interaction. We use printed manuals customized for the community served. Mobile phones are our online interface used in conjunction with texting platforms. Qualified teachers are accessible throughout the course via texting platforms. Our custom videos are female-centric and include embedded assessments. Our dashboard provides student and instructors with information on progress, viewership and comprehension.

Our curricula are centered on providing specific workforce training while also providing soft skills training in leadership, motivation, goal setting and building self confidence. Because of the blended learning model digital literacy skills are an essential component of every class. We believe that each of these is essential to the 21st century job market and necessary to increase job opportunities for women that will provide a path to economic stability.

This prize money would allow us to further develop our app and create interactive games to further test business practices. It would also be used to improve our graphic animations for our videos and expand our vocational scenarios viewed in each video. In addition we can begin to translate our curricula into local languages, pilot our solution with a local Ghanaian partner and train local teachers to use the hybrid model and our curriculum.

In today’s world, expectations for literacy include the use of digital and online media to communicate and to produce, find, and evaluate information to meet educational and work demands. Strong reading and writing skills reinforce valued aspects of digital literacy in many areas of work and daily life . Our solution is based on improving the basic literacy and numeracy rates of adults through workforce development and training. Each class incorporates essential skills- oral communication, numeracy, writing, reading, and digital literacy-into workforce development. We use a blended learning model to overcome obstacles to education and training and provide outlets for self paced learning and discovery.  This model combines online learning with face-to-face interaction. We use printed manuals customized for low level learners. Mobile phones are our online interface used in conjunction with texting platforms. Qualified teachers are accessible throughout the course via texting platforms. 

With the award we will be able to further the development of our app and create interactive games specific to  literacy acquisition and workforce development.  It would also be used to improve our graphic animations for our videos and expand our vocational scenarios viewed in each video. Teach By Tech would partner with regional adult literacy programs and research best practices and technology practices in the adult literacy space. This research would drive current curricula improvements and technology advancements.