Adopting a digital whole school approach

Kenya's population is approximately 48 million. The population of youth under 35 years in Kenya is 70%. Transition of students from secondary to tertiary education in 2017 was less than 15% and around the same in 2020. Many students who do not transit to tertiary education get involved in criminal activities since they are not engaged in meaningful employment. In a survey we did of 700 school students in Nairobi and Kitui, many students indicated they need academic mentorship assistance, acquisition of life-skills, ability to sift content provided through social media
Our solution addresses lack of quality content and digital connectivity in mainly public schools, psycho-social issues due to lack of parental involvement and peer support, continuous teacher professional development and parental support. The solution has a potential of addressing 15 million children in Kenya and roughly 50 million within East Africa, 1.5 million teachers and 30 million parents.

More than 1.18 billion children in 188 countries around the globe have been forced to stay home following the closure of schools and higher education institutions after the Coronavirus outbreak. 67.6% of these are enrolled learners (UNESCO, 2020). Traditional forms of learning majorly premised on a face-to-face interaction have been discontinued. In Kenya, schools were abruptly closed in March 2020 after the first case of the virus was confirmed in the country, disrupting learning for over 17 million learners.In Kenya, it accelerated an already vibrant education technology sector. In a survey done by Pwani University(2020) under the Training Trainers for Education and Management(TOTEM.KE) in Kenya, it indicated a need to train student-teachers in providing 21st Century skills including civic engagement. Another survey by Kitawi (2019) on life-skills in around 10 schools indicate a need to provide academic mentorship, life-skills support and parental support to advise youth facing very unique challenges. The solution provides access to public schools through an online platform to access academic materials; a centralized online portal through which teachers can offer(tutor-training) for free or subsidized rates; connecting schools to mentors who are in tertiary institutions through service learning; providing content to parents to address challenges facing youths

Our solution is to provide a digital platform that has four critical aspects: a customizable Learning Management System solution that resides on a Moodle architecture and 500mb free access option per school above which schools will be required to pay for any extra usage and will be accessible through Smartphones and USSD; a platform where teachers can provide teacher-tutor services and able to access continuous teacher professional development training(also on Moodle); a mentoring system which allows students in tertiary institutions to offer mentorship to students in basic education institutions (service based learning); support parents to address youth challenges through podcasts and other digital material. The four main processes are: learning management system; mentoring system; parental support system; teacher training support system. The main technologies are a Moodle LMS architecture with the ability to integrate online and MPesa payment, a mentoring system that adopts the framework of an already established research system(proprietor-sophie-rms.com) and winning at life skills podcast channel(

https://winningatlifeskills.buzzsprout.com). The life-skills support material will be adopted from the alive to the World learning materials that has a clear philosophy and learner psychological development framework.

According to UNESCO statistics, more than 1.18 billion children and youth in 188 countries around the globe have been forced to stay home following the closure of schools and higher education institutions after the Coronavirus outbreak. 67.6% of these are enrolled learners (UNESCO, 2020). Traditional forms of learning majorly premised on a face-to-face interaction have been discontinued and thus affected student access. In Kenya, schools were abruptly closed in March 2020 after the first case of the virus was confirmed in the country, disrupting learning for over 17 million learners and trainees. Guided by Kenya Basic Education COVID-19 Emergency Response Plan, the country made a transition to virtual learning, underlining the importance of agile alternatives to school-based education and spotlighting the centrality of technology. In Kenya, it has accelerated what was an already vibrant education technology sector. The ramifications of prolonged institutional closures are particularly stark for the marginalized and most vulnerable children who already experience barriers accessing education, who are at higher risk of being excluded, and who do not have access to internet and smartphone technology at home.

Kenya has approximately 45-50 EdTech providers encompassing learning content and resource providers, stem, and coding (gamified learning), jobs & upskilling, language & literacy and supporting teachers and schools through learning management systems. It ranks in the second tier of African countries in terms of the hosting of technology hubs for innovation and entrepreneurialism, on a par with Egypt and Nigeria. Many startups in Kenya target K-12, i.e., primary, and secondary level, and 80% of these focus on primary level. The services these EdTech startups provide include learning and content resources; stem and coding; education financing; job and upskilling (career development); language and literary; supporting teachers and schools. Kenya is projected to have the highest mobile learning growth rate soon (WorldBank, 2019).  Kenya leads in terms of internet connectivity in the continent with the highest bandwidth per person, the fastest bandwidth and some of the lowest costs. However, a huge portion of the population is underserved and has little access to modern technologies like the internet and smartphones. In 2019, 43% of the Kenya population owned a mobile phone, 20% used the Internet and 10% owned a desktop computer, laptop, or tablet. Integration of ICTs can improve access and equity. Kenya’s infrastructure poses a problem when it comes to delivering advanced technology to schools, publishers are not willing to give out content to the developers to allow content interactivity. Other challenges are those common to African countries like the lack of open licenses for online course materials that is a significant obstacle for African educators to localize content for African learners. A few initiatives and resources have begun to address IPR in education. These include the UNESCO/COL Guidelines for OER in Higher Education, and OER Africa’s Copyright and Licensing Toolkit. Another challenge is to develop and implement training and professional development for teachers who in many cases lack 21st century skills (creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, civic engagement). 

The solution adopts a whole school approach and targets four main groups: students; parents; teachers; tertiary institutions. This consists of target group of 15-million students in basic education institutions, approximately 1-2 million parents and around 300,000 teachers. The tertiary education students involved in mentoring are approximately 300,000. The tertiary education institution students will provide mentorship to students in basic education institutions.There is a potential of the numbers tripling if the same project is scaled-up within East Africa that has introduced a similar competency based curriculum. The competency-based framework is expected to align the education according to countries manpower needs and provide necessary 21st Century skills. 

The solution is premised on projects that we have already deployed. The innovators of the challenge are involved in a different intervention with six partner institutions aimed at upskilling lecturers in universities with schools of education to change to provide competencies relevant for the new competency based curriculum (totem.ke), mentorship support to schools in some specific counties in Kenya that include teacher support (Macheo and TAI mentorship project), a podcast project that is an interaction between parents and students on specific challenges they face (https://winningatlifeskills.buzzsprout.com). These projects have been premised on research work that is being led by Kitawi et al and some of these are accessible on (https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/index.php/ijcre/article/download/6150/7114?inline=1) and https://www.eoslhe.eu/service-learning-at-strathmore-university-kenya/, in addition to surveys that are not yet in the public domain of approximately 1,000 students. The research management system whose architecture can adapted into the mentoring system can be accessed on this link:https://sophie-rms.com though requires rights to access the platform. This implies that it will be an integrated platform where students, parents, teachers and universities can access all the different services under one central point.

The solution addresses elements in the options listed and cannot be categorized solely under one option: it enables teachers facilitate personalized instruction in remote/hybrid settings; it enables psycho-social/mental support of learners through a centralized mentoring system; enables parental support. Many of the initial online applications focus on one area while many curricula require a cohesive whole school approach to address challenges. It is imperative that a novel solution that provides such an approach is considered pegged on previous interventions done by some members in the innovation team.

We are in the prototype stage since we have developed the critical components of the four systems separately and deployed this in communities, for instance the learning management solution to train lecturers in universities with schools of education, the research management system to capture research and engagement activities at Strathmore University and the podcast channel that is still relatively new. Therefore combining the solution into one central integrated product offer to schools is imperative. The underlying architecture for the LMS is Moodle which is opensource. We have developed the research management system that is going to be customized so the innovators have the sole rights. We can get permission to use and share content that has been produced to support parental engagement. It will be important to pilot the integrated prototype in 4 different counties, i.e. urban, semi-urban and remote to find out the challenges the schools in these counties face. Thereafter through existing partnerships, try to replicate this within the East African region.

What makes the solution innovative is: a) adopts a whole school approach; b)

cuts across basic and tertiary education institutions and creates synergies where in many cases solutions focus on only one aspect; c) includes psycho-social support which needs to accompany academic support since man has the affective, cognitive and psychomotor domains which need to be factored in any intervention; d) includes a heavy element of research and analytics cutting across different facets; e)  enables adaptation and adoption of innovations according to context and allows various stakeholders to connect to the platform and offer other supporting services for instance, reading materials(publishers), school distributors of necessary school equipment; f) 

enables conversations between parents-students-and teachers. In addition, most of the innovations have been tested separately and already there is traction in terms of content addressing specific needs. Most of the data collected can be provided to agencies on a need- basis and therefore inform their own policies. The innovation is expected to revolutionize the conceptualization of education apps from a single use approach to whole school approach and requires a multi-stakeholder engagement approach. A university institution is the best place the solution can be incubated and grow from due to the sensitive nature of data, multisectoral approach and need to create a reliable center of trust and data confidentiality. The market will be changed slightly and we expect that other innovations, focused on one solution to be disrupted. It has a broad societal impact.

The solution as different applications has:

a) Podcast channel- 10,000

b) eLearning LMS- 3,000

c) Research management system/Mentoring system- 2,000

If the solution is integrated and promoted the numbers that we shall serve after one year directly are:

a) Podcast channel- 100,000

b) eLearning LMS- 30,000

c) Research management system/Mentoring system- 20,000

The above will be the pilot phase

Numbers we shall be serving in five years directly will be:

a) Podcast channel- 5,000,000

b) eLearning LMS- 5,000,000

c) Research management system/Mentoring system- 2,000,000

The above will be the scaleup phase

The following are the measurable indicators premised on the four pillars:

a) Access to public schools to an online platform 

Measurable indicators: Number of schools accessing online platform across the country; number of students accessing online platform either through USSD or smartphones; number of content updates on platforms; number of queries between students and online facilitators; number of subjects with content including assessment

b) A centralized online portal through which teachers can offer training

Measurable indicators: Number of teachers on platform; number of teacher professional development courses on platform; teacher-tutor access provided on platform; megabytes of different forms of content; number of online completed tutorials and teacher professional development courses

c) Connecting schools to mentors who are in tertiary institutions

Measurable indicators: Number of mentors subscribed to platform; number of mentees on platform; interactions between mentor and mentee; completion of student mentorship hours; types of issues discussed on platform; number of comments on mentorship relation; number of mentors trained; variety of portfolio of evidence on mentorship training; number of students who have completed their studies; transition rates of mentored students; other community initiatives developed after mentoring

d) Content to parents to address challenges facing youths

Measurable indicators: Number of stories on podcast channel; number of podcasts according to grade level; comments on relevance of issues; number of challenges addressed; number of likes/unlikes; number of threads on parental engagement forums

The different solutions developed are partly owned by the Centre for Research in Education, Strathmore University, i.e. the mentoring system and the learning management system while the podcast and mentoring materials are owned by the Community Service Centre. The team lead and Michael Gichure owns the other shares of the Research management system and LMS. We expect the integrated solution to be operated by a company incubated within Strathmore University with a clear ownership structure. We expect the programmers and people working on the whole project to own 70-80% of the shares and 20% will be owned by the university. 

The people who work on the solution team are 6 full-time staff (1 legal expert, 1 financial expert, 1 director, 1 analyst and 2 technical staff). Part time staff are around 10 and include administrative staff.

We believe that universities should act a focal points to spark new solutions and companies. The team will be sourced within educational institutions. In terms of mentoring and parental engagement, the team has more than 10 years experience in running different programmes for instance the Macheo and TAI projects. In terms of teacher professional development, the team has approximately 15 years experience and partnerships across East Africa in case we want to scale the solution. The team members, particularly, the team lead has published research papers in the areas of mentoring, teacher professional development and parental support. In addition we have a part time media presenter who has over 15 years experience in the media industry  and has assisted in packaging the podcasts and materials for the youth.

The fact that the company is incubated in a university context implies that we are able to draw from a variety of experiences and expertise in information technology, law, marketing, finance and humanities. In addition, we can leverage on partnerships that exist with governmental and non-governmental organisations.

The main team values are transparency, accountability and trust. Transparency is shown in giving cognizance to merit and expertise when engaging in projects including communication between team members. This also ensures equity. Accountability is achieved through each member accounting for the project deliverables and having a transparent financial system with audit checks. Trust is the most critical pillar and is communicated in the nature of engagement and cooperation between team members and considering each opinion including the stakeholders who use our solutions. This ensures inclusivity.

In terms of solutions, the parental support and mentoring solution relies on a diverse staff of 60% females and 40% males. Unfortunately the lead for the Learning Management System and the Research Management System(to be tweaked as the mentoring system) are men, though we expect to draw expertise from at least 3 other women programmers once we start integrating the solution. Therefore we aim for diversity and equity in the project lead teams. In terms of the solutions, the integrated solution will be customized to people with learning difficulties especially the podcast and mentoring system. This ensures inclusivity. In addition, the project team includes people from varied religious and ethnic backgrounds. Once we scale up the project to other African countries, it will  be important to ensure that the project team has at least 40% local representatives in the country where the solution is implemented. This ensures the issue of local customs and histories are considered.

The reasons we are applying Solve are: a) To promote awareness of the same solution in other countries; ii) to receive scale-up advice for the intervention; iii) to receive peer support; iv)Access mentorship, coaching, and strategic scale-up advice from experts, as well as the Solve and MIT networks for the intervention; v)  access to funding in grants and investments

The solutions we have suggested is an integrated solution that is quite novel. It will be important to receive critical comments on its expandability, how to further structure it so as to meet international design development standards including security, how to ensure the application follows international legal regulations and at the same time be able to generate substantive fundings. During the pilot and scaleup phase, there will be need to have support on how to make better use of the data we are generating. We also think the benefits we are generating can be better promoted through media campaigns including social media.

At the moment, it will be important to partner with MIT accelerators and MIT faculty who have experience in integrated solutions that require interoperable standards and development. It will also be important to partner with EdTech organizations in other African that can scale the same solution to other countries.

The solution is open to STEAM education, that is not only Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics but also the arts and humanities shown by the inclusion of a psycho-social dimension. This is specifically within the African context which is one of the most vibrant emerging markets in the world. The solution cuts across digital technologies that support learning, to those that support parental engagement and mentoring support to students. This enables institutions be able to meet the dynamic challenges that parents, teachers and students face. It also highlights the synergies that can be developed when different levels of education institutions work together.

The main reason we are applying for the prize is that it cuts across the gender divide and some of the solutions are already being implemented in education institutions that foster girl-child education, especially the mentoring and podcast aspects. The research work cited in the references shows this.

We would wish to apply for the GSR prize because the solutions we have suggested focus on communities, including those in informal settlements. The lead of the project has assisted in incorporating the issues of social capital (mutuality, trust, sense of commitment and belonging) in the different solutions and it will be important to bring these synergies into one solution. The solutions proposed focus on digital inclusion and equitable classrooms. It will also assist students to be resilient and some of the materials in lifeskills will include issues on safeguarding biodiversity and the ecosystem apart from relational issues. In addition, if funded, the solution has a capacity of being replicated in more than one country (zone).