EdTech research in Latin America
Using EdTech to foster literacy in Latin America
CONTEXT
Early education is fundamental for the development of healthy children. The rapid development of the brain during early stages of life is determined by a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors. First experiences, activities and stimuli thus have a decisive influence on the formation of the brain and on the nature and scope of the capacities in adult life. Receiving care that satisfies the holistic needs of children leads them to grow apt to enter the school system, learn with ease, develop their unique human talents and fulfil their full potential.
Poverty leading to lack of guidance and support for parents and/or appropriate care for children jeopardize the entire development of children living in a difficult environment. Scientists and economists believe that investment at an early age has a favorable social impact in the future to reverse the cycle of reproduction of poverty and to trigger development. Investing in early education and in the formation of human capital is an efficient way to commit to economic, social and sustainable development, and to balancing social inequalities.
Educational Technology (EdTech) offers the possibility to complement traditional education where it fails and can offer access to individualized and adaptative learning methods to children with different needs. EdTech tools have proven to be a highly efficient way to reduce the biopsychosocial development gap between poor and rich children, and children with and without disabilities.
OBJECTIVES
The current project focuses on setting up pioneering and innovative early childhood neurocognitive tools among vulnerable children and families. This includes three core components:
- Objective 1: Foster literacy level of vulnerable population with no access to, or in parallel of formal educational institutions by deploying state of the art and culturally appropriate EdTech tools
- Objective 2: Refine the EdTech tools to build good learning opportunities for all
- Objective 3: Transfer usable skills to educators and practitioners to incorporate EdTech tools into their ongoing work.
ACTIVITIES
- Objective 1
- Activity 1: Organize 8-weeks session of intensive training for children with literacy deficiencies in difficult environments through the Graphogame app.
- Objective 2
- Activity 2: Examine abilities in language, speech/sound processing, reading, and math, along with comorbid neurodevelopmental conditions including attention deficit, autism, and other conditions of children in and out of the program.
- Activity 3: Organize a seminar with the GraphoGame Company to refine the development of the Latin America version of the app.
- Objective 3
- Activity 4: Develop a remote education and training program for students and teachers to continually share best-practices
The team
Kenneth pugh, phd
Haskins Laboratories (USA)
florencia salvarezza, PhD
Universidad de Favaloro (Argentina)
Augusto Buchweitz, PhD
PUCRS (Brazil)
Ulla Richardson, PhD
University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
Pekka Räsänen, PhD
University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
Heikki Lyytinen, PhD
University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
Anna Lucia Campos, PhD
International Mind, Brain and Education Society (Peru)
Renata Callipo Fujii
Haskins Laboratories (USA)
Partners
Centros De Desarrollo Infantil (CENDI)
The Centros De Desarrollo Infantil (CENDI) has 13 centers spread across a number of high poverty sections of the Monterrey (Mexico). Its mission is to ensure that equity, equality, inclusion, social justice, as well as the rights of at-risk children are respected. The CENDI works at offering a high-quality educational-assistance process that guarantees the full development of the potential of children and their families in a holistic approach. The CENDI has a track record of strong outcomes for children in these programs. In over 20 years the CENDI model has expanded into other parts of Mexico, has been recently adopted formally by the Ministry of Health in Brazil, and has been an inspiration for similar early childhood family-based stimulative programs in at risk populations in El Salvador, Hondoras, Columbia, Peru, and Chile. The core approach to wellness outcomes for these children and their families is holistic, emphasizing mental and physical wellness and support. At-risk mothers can make entry at these centers even during pregnancy, and from birth the children and their families have full access to resources aimed at supporting basic development (nutrition, health, medical services) and intensive early learning programs that focus on language and pre-literacy skills as well as numeracy and pre-mathematics skills, general cognitive skills, executive function and self-regulation, exploratory play, arts/music as well as other activities relevant to general development and school readiness in these children.
GraphoGame
GraphoGame is an academically researched learning app, game and methodology for teaching kindergarten and primary school children early grade literacy in English, Chinese, Dutch and many more. GraphoGame combines Finnish educational and special needs expertise with top level research in neuroscience conducted by prestigious universities around the world.