September 5, 2018, by Lindsay Brooke
International aid can work both ways
Children in the UK are benefitting from a Maths app learning tool thanks to an International Aid project that started in Africa.
The specially designed app allows children to work through engaging exercises at their own pace, in their own language. An in-app teacher guides children through the content being taught. Childrens’ knowledge is assessed through a quiz at the end of each topic.
Initial research
The initial research was carried out by Professor Nicola Pitchford, from the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham, in schools in Malawi as part of VSO’s ‘Unlocking Talent’ project that uses onebillion’s ‘onecourse’ software to boost children’s learning in areas of the world where there is limited access to education. VSO and onebillion are now working closely with the Government of Malawi to have the project scaled up across all primary schools in the country.
The research was then brought to the UK by Professor Pitchford and PhD student, Laura Outhwaite who is also supervised by Educational Psychologist Anthea Gulliford from the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham.
The University of Nottingham research team examined children using the onebillion maths app on tablets in the classroom. Using careful testing and observation methods before, during and after use it was found the children using the app improved their maths understanding much more quickly than with traditional classroom teaching alone.
Dr Pitchford says: “The results from the initial research in Malawi showed that the app made a significant impact on the children’s learning in maths. It fuelled our interest in finding out whether this app could be similarly effective in other countries. We started working in Nottingham with Dunkirk Primary School and Burton Joyce Primary School. Using the same methodology we found that the effect on children using the app was the similar to that in Malawi. We then expanded further to 11 more Nottingham schools and every time we saw the same thing – children using the onebillion maths app were significantly improving their performance in maths, and not only that they were becoming more confident and enthusiastic learners. We believe this is because the app provides engaging, individualised content that the children work through at their own pace without the distractions and pressure of large group classroom teaching.”
Positive impact
Professor Pitchford says: “International Aid has been in the headlines recently with Theresa May’s visit to Africa where she talked about its benefits and this project is another example of the positive impact it can have.
It is unusual for UK schools to be benefitting from educational learnings in Africa, but initial research on this project has shown the benefits for children using the app in vastly different contexts.”
The Department for International Development, through Comic Relief, have now provided funding to VSO’s ‘Unlocking Talent’ project in Malawi to set up and run a series of learning centres where children can use the onecourse software.
Children in the UK are benefitting from a Maths app learning tool thanks to an International Aid project that started in Africa.
The specially designed app allows children to work through engaging exercises at their own pace, in their own language. An in-app teacher guides children through the content being taught. Childrens’ knowledge is assessed through a quiz at the end of each topic.
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