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244MM children are out of school. Many of these children, such as the Venezuelan refugee students in Colombia or girls displaced by conflict in NE Nigeria, belong to groups that have traditionally been denied access to education. There’s a lack of low-cost, interactive education for learners in crises. The humanitarian sector is in dire need of breakthrough education solutions that reach scale.
AudioClass (ACS) is our first step in this low-tech pursuit to move towards more personalized education models. Currently, ACS provides students with learning content in various formats with an accelerated curriculum that reduces a regular learning year to half the time and provides an alternative to access quality education. Among the particularities of ACS is that it was designed by understanding the teachers, learners, and caregivers needs in humanitarian settings, particularly for Venezuelan refugees and host communities.
We are currently running a pilot with some preliminary findings indicating a) easy onboarding process, b) early and fast adoption, c) a better understanding of curriculum content, and d) good engagement rates.
The goal is to make this program into multiple languages, adapting to countries’ curriculum requirements, and accessible to other international NGOs, UN, school systems, etc, providing education to children affected by crises.
ACS is being piloted for grades 6-7 curriculum in three cities: Medellin, Soacha, and Cali. ACS has developed 27 weeks of lessons based on Colombia's national flexible model (an accelerated curriculum) and has reached over 1,100 students through schools, community centers, and outreach programs. The use of the platform has contributed to the student’s sense of confidence and increased retention rates. A live dashboard enables teachers to track learners' progress and follow-up individually with them.
We’re currently expanding ACS to include grades 8-9, strengthening the AI model and NLP-based interactions. The goal for the next 2-3 years is to explore the bring your own device (BYOD) model and to reach 350,000 students by 2025.
To learn more about AudioClass System and the EdTech solutions we are currently working on, please contact Atish Gonsalves, Research and Innovation Lead for Education, atish.gonsalves@rescue.org or Sheila Burkhardt, Digital Strategist for AudioClass, sheila.burkhardt@rescue.org.
