Digital StudyHall Overview

Digital StudyHallJune 2009

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The Challenge: Improve Quality of Education in Developing Countries

Shortage of qualified teachers for slum and rural schools in developing countries– Teachers lack subject matter knowledge and understanding of effective

teaching practices– Teachers are isolated and lack support and resources

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The Digital StudyHall Model

Overview

A community-based video production and sharing system– Films and distributes lessons taught by the best grassroots teachers to poor

rural and slum schools on DVDs Teachers at spoke schools use the DVDs to provide high-quality instruction to

their students and train themselves

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Key Components

A People’s Database of “Everything”

Practical Technology forCommunity-Based Content-Sharing

Mediation-Based Pedagogy

Network of Hubs and Spokes

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Themes

Not about any one particular piece, but about building an “eco-system” of symbiotic pieces

Cheap, practical, effective, replicable on a large scale Solve end-to-end education problem (not just a technology project) It’s a people system!

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Overview

The Digital StudyHall Vision


Importance of BeingVideo-Centric

• Accessible to the largely illiterate community

• Easy-to-scale content production (vs. flashware)

• Effective in capturing pedagogy and showmanship of great teachers

• Open-source, freely available content

• Community-based: Content relevant to audience due to localized creation

• Video-centric so audiences can use

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Database Content

• Classes are based on the state government curriculum and textbooks, and are filmed in organized, coherent sequences

• The goal is to cover:• All subjects• All grades• All languages

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• Daily filming of live classes conducted by grassroots teachers

• Filmed by local staff using cheap, simple equipment

Pune

Calcutta

Lucknow


Recording the Classes

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Bridging the Education Gaps: The Challenge

Content development must account for key differences between the privileged and underprivileged schools:

– Teacher qualification– Language (e.g., English vs. Hindi medium)– Student background and environment– Textbooks (e.g., CBSE vs. Uttar Pradesh State Board)

“Rich” School

“Poor” School

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Bridging the Education Gaps: The Solution

Pair the best teachers with slum students so classes filmed are audience-appropriate and bridges the education gaps

– Classes are filmed in local language– Examples and language used are generalized (e.g., not specific to urban lifestyle)

Best teachers from best schools

Slum kids

Slum kids

Best teachers from best schools

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Characteristics of Recorded Classes

Classes are highly interactive, with lots of:• Questions and answers• Role plays• Activities• In local languages

Science demonstrations via the recorded classes compensate for the lack of equipment, specimens, etc. at under-resourced spoke schools

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Since 2005, we’ve accumulated over: 1500 lessons in English, math, science

– Languages include: Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil, English 1500 pieces of other complementary materials


Current Status

Classes

Stories

Plays

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Practical Technology for Community-Based Content-Sharing




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Practical Technology for Community-Based Content Sharing

The Process

Cheap, simple camcorders / equipment to record classes

“Hubs” digitize and organize data “Hubs” sync with each other to build

global database

“Hubs” burn

DVDs to send to spoke

schools

Spoke schools use content with a cheap TV / DVD player setup

1 2 3

4 5

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Practical Technology for Community-Based Content Sharing

Equipment at Spoke Schools

Current Equipment Spoke schools given TV, DVD player,

and electrical equipment, including power supply if necessary

$550 per set of equipment Cheap, easy to use, easy to replicate

Equipment Being Tested Low-power solution based on “pico

projectors” powered by a solar panel $700 per set of equipment

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Overview

Model TV Teacher

• Provides lesson plan and knowledge of subject matter and pedagogical practices

In Mediation, the TV and a local teacher form a

team

Local Teacher

• Periodically pauses the video to “mediate” the lesson through mimicking, expanding upon, and tailoring the video content

• Uses questions, activities, board work, role playing, poems and songs, etc. to deliver an interactive lesson

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Training for Mediators

Training occurs over time:– An introductory training

session gives teachers fundamentals for mediation

– DSH staff regularly visits school site to observe and give feedback to teachers

Training for spoke school teachers emphasizes:

– Ways to interact with their students, while

– Viewing videos together

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Peer Teaching

Good students are enlisted as class “leaders”

– Can be effective in cases of teacher absenteeism Potential of scaling skilled and motivated mediators

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DSH Role in Teacher Training

Local teachers learn from video teachers Teachers should “graduate” from the DSH program

– We want the local teachers to kick out DSH equipment in the long run

Technology

Replacing People

People Replacing Technolog

y

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Overview

Each Hub: Is a local center of excellence Radiates content and methodology

into neighboring slums and villages through:

– Developing content

– Distributing content to spokes

– Supporting teachers at spoke sites Connects with other hubs to

populate global database and share best practices

The Spokes: Beneficiaries of hub activities, often

slum and village schools Spoke school teachers build their

own capacity through mediating the lessons

May connect with each other through the voice social network system

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Key Benefits

Decentralized content production, distribution, sharing, training, and monitoring means:– Content is localized and relevant to audience (e.g., in local language, based on

state curriculum)– DSH is easily scalable and replicable

Hubs can recognize and tailor operations to meet needs of specific region Hubs can learn from each other through sharing of best practices

Pune Calcutta

Karachi

Lucknow

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Current Status

Operational hubs in Lucknow (IN), Pune (IN), Calcutta (IN), Dhaka (BD), Karachi (PK)

Each hub works with a number of poor village and slum schools, totaling about 40 spoke schools

Spin-Offs

– Digital Green (Bangalore, IN): Spread sustainable agricultural practices

– Digital Polyclinic (Lucknow, IN and Ghana): Rural public health care education

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Spin-Offs from Digital StudyHall

Themes of Spin-Offs:

– Community-based video sharing system

– Locally relevant content

– Mediator-based dissemination

– Training of mediators results in local capacity building

– Open-source content

Digital Green: Agriculture Digital Polyclinic: Rural public health

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Impact of Digital StudyHall

Evaluation Study

Madantoosi

Kannar

Mauthri

Sarojini Nagar

Evaluation study conducted at 4 schools over 8 months

Assessed impact of DSH on:

– Student academic achievement

– Improvements in teacher pedagogy

Evaluation Methods:– Tests– Interviews– Field visit notes

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Impact of Digital StudyHall

Evaluation Study: Summary of Findings

Compared to non-DSH classes, DSH classes saw:

Significantly greater improvements in student test scoresIncrease of teachers’ and students’ engagement with subject matter

– Teachers asked more questions relating to subject material

– Teachers better connected material to children’s daily lives

– Teachers asked more sophisticated questions that require complex or critical thinking from students

Teachers adopted better pedagogical principles– More participatory practices and collaborative

approaches– More effective use of illustrative tools

Caution: Findings should not be over-generalized.

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Final Thoughts

Not about any one particular piece, but about building an “eco-system” of symbiotic pieces

Cheap, practical, effective, replicable on a large scale Solve end-to-end education problem (not just a technology project) It’s a people system!

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Contact Us

Google for: digital studyhall

Website: http://dsh.cs.washington.edu

Email: [email protected]

Digital StudyHall Overview

Education

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