World Bank EduTech Podcast

The World Bank's EduTech team is speaking with educators around the world to see how they are innovating and supporting continued teaching and learning during COVID-19. In this episode, World Bank's EduTech team member Sharon Zacharia speaks with Ubongo (https://www.ubongo.org) Co-founder and CEO Nisha Ligon and Ubongo Head of Education Cliodhna Ryan about what we can learn from Ubongo's work in edutainment in Africa.

--

Further reading on Education TV as a remote learning tool during COVID-19:

- Rapid Response Guidance Note: Educational TV & COVID-19 (April 17, 2020): A four-page note that provides guidance on using educational TV as a remote learning tool with 40 current examples of countries responding to COVID-19. https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/659411587145759242/rapid-response-guidance-note-educational-television-covid-19

- Blog on 'Education TV during COVID-19' (April 24, 2020):  A blog that summarizes key takeaways from the Rapid Response Guidance Note on education TV (by World Bank's EduTech team members Sharon Zacharia and Alex Twinomugish). https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/educational-television-during-covid-19-how-start-and-what-consider

- Education TV Knowledge Pack (June 1, 2020): A short, pragmatic slide deck on how to start and enhance education TV with case studies on Ubongo, Sesame Workshop, Pakistan, and China & Korea. http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/267791593613610668/Education-TV-Knowledge-Pack-WorldBank-Edtech-Team

On August 7, World Bank Global Lead for Technology and Innovation in Education Michael Trucano spoke with World Bank Global Co-Lead for Technology and Innovation in Education Robert Hawkins about Robert's experience over the past 25 years working to improve teaching and learning in the classroom and education systems and management.

--

Michael Trucano is the World Bank's Senior Education and Technology Policy Specialist and Global Lead for Technology and Innovation in Education, working on issues at the intersection of technology use and education in middle- and low-income countries and emerging markets around the world. 

Robert Hawkins is the World Bank's Senior Education and Technology Policy Specialist and Global Lead for Technology and Innovation in Education, working on issues at the intersection of technology use and education in middle- and low-income countries and emerging markets around the world. At a practical level, Bob provides advice and technical assistance to governments seeking innovative ways to improve teaching and learning in the classroom and strategic advice on improvement of education systems and management.

On July 31, World Bank Global Lead for Technology and Innovation in Education Robert Hawkins spoke with World Bank Global Co-Lead for Technology and Innovation in Education Michael Trucano about Michael's journey over the past 20 years advising and evaluating educational technology initiatives in over 50 middle- and low-income countries. Bob and Mike have worked together since the mid-1990s on edtech projects around the world; their conversation here touches on some of what they’ve seen and learned along the way – and what this might mean for developments in the ‘edtech’ field in the coming years. 

--

On July 24, World Bank Global Lead for Technology Innovation in Education Robert Hawkins spoke with World Bank Education Specialist Alex Twinomugisha about Alex's journey from African Virtual University to the Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) to Intel Corporation’s Education and Government Digital Transformation work in East Africa.

--

On July 17, World Bank Global Lead for Technology Innovation in Education Robert Hawkins spoke with World Bank Education Specialist Cristóbal Cobo about Cristóbal's journey from Mexico, Uruguay, and the UK to the World Bank and his recent book, I Accept The Terms and Conditions: Uses and Abuses of Digital Technologies.

--

Robert Hawkins is the World Bank's Senior Education & Technology Policy Specialist and Global Lead for Technology and Innovation in Education, working on issues at the intersection of technology use and education in middle- and low-income countries and emerging markets around the world. At a practical level, Bob provides advice and technical assistance to governments seeking innovative ways to improve teaching and learning in the classroom and strategic advice on improvement of education systems and management.

Cristóbal Cobo is a Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank, focusing on the effective and appropriate use of new technologies in education. Before joining the World Bank in 2019, where he is a core member of the World Bank's global edtech team, Dr. Cobo spent 15 years working at the intersection of future of learning, cultures of innovation and human-centered technologies across both developed and developing countries.

As part of our partnership with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, HundrED, and OECD in response to the COVID-19 crisis, are co-hosting a series of webinars focused on education response to the coronavirus. The initial webinars focused on the cases of Spain and Colombia. 

On July 9, we co-hosted a webinar focusing on how Egypt is implementing digital technologies to support remote learning during the COVID-19 crisis with Dr. Tarek Shawki, Minister of Education & Technical Education, Arab Republic of Egypt. Event overview and speaker bios available here. 

Learn more about the webinar series and case studies here.

Designing Distance Education Programs: Lessons from Telesecundaria in Mexico (episode in Spanish)

On April 30, 2020, World Bank Education Specialist Cristobal Cobo spoke with Dr. Germán Ruiz from Telesecundaria in Mexico. Telesecundaria is a  system of distance education programs for secondary and high school students created by the government of Mexico. Learn more about Telesecundaria at https://telesecundaria.sep.gob.mx.

Using Flexible Digital Pedagogies: Lessons from Plan Ceibal in Uruguay (episode in English)

On April 8, 2020, World Bank Education Specialist Cristobal Cobo spoke with Claudia Brovetto and Gabriela Kaplan from Plan Ceibal in Uruguay. Learn more about Plan Ceibal at https://www.ceibal.edu.uy/es.

Crowdsourcing and Curating Education Content: Lessons from Educlan in Spain (episode in Spanish)

On April 7, 2020, World Bank Education Specialist Cristobal Cobo spoke with  Carlos Medina (Director of INTEF), Yago Fadiño (Director of Content for children on Spanish television) and Federico Buyolo (Deputy Director Cabinet of the Minister) about the Educlan program in Spain. Learn more about Educlan at https://www.rtve.es/educlan.

Reimagining the Future of Education: Lessons from Evoke in Colombia (episode in Spanish)

On June 24, 2020, the World Bank Education Technology team hosted a conversation about the future of education in Colombia.

The Ministry of Education in Colombia, the EAN University of Bogotá, the Economic and Commercial Office of Spain in Colombia, Telefónica, and the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz joined the conversation to review lessons learned from an education program in Colombia called Evoke, focusing on: