Everyone deserves a good education. It’s not only a basic human right, but also a powerful way to improve our lives and our world. But sadly, not all kids get the chance to go to school or learn well. Many kids face problems like poverty, war, discrimination, and other things that keep them from getting a quality education. According to UNESCO, more than 250 million kids are not in school, and many more are in school but not learning much.
That’s where tech can help. Tech can make learning better for kids who need it most in many ways, such as:
Making learning more accessible and fair: Tech can help kids learn from anywhere and anytime, even if they can’t go to school regularly because of where they live, how they feel, what’s happening around them, or other reasons. Tech can also give kids access to lots of different and useful content and resources that they might not have otherwise. For example, online platforms, mobile apps, digital libraries, and e-books can offer all kinds of learning materials and courses that suit different needs, interests, and levels of learners. Tech can also make it easier for teachers, students, parents, and communities to talk and work together across different places and situations.
Making learning more fun and effective: Tech can help teachers and students make teaching and learning more fun and effective. Tech can help teachers create and deliver lessons that are more engaging and personalized for each student. Tech can also help students develop important skills like critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and digital literacy that they need for the future. Plus, tech can provide feedback and assessment tools that can help teachers and students check progress, find gaps, and improve results.
Making learning more innovative and transformative: Tech can inspire new ways of learning that are more focused on the learner, more collaborative, more inclusive, and more adaptive. Tech can also encourage a culture of innovation among educators and learners by making them try new things, discover new things, and do new things. Moreover, tech can give kids the power to make a difference in their own communities by giving them platforms to share their voices, tell their stories, and create solutions for local problems.
Tech can make learning better for kids who need it most in many ways. But tech alone is not enough. Tech needs to be supported by good policies, enough infrastructure, suitable teaching methods, professional training, community involvement, and ethical issues. Only then can tech really change education for kids who need it most and help them live better and grow better.
