Wasta

Wasta is a unique English language learning application making successful peer learning accessible to all. We work towards long term transformational impact by creating engaging learning experiences through social interaction and peer learning. However, when group work is not facilitated by a teacher, it can lack proper sequencing and structuring. That's where Wasta excels. Groups are formed using digital matchmaking to find optimal matches. Learning environments are facilitated by machine learning and chatbots influenced by methods and pedagogy based on years of experience teaching English in developing countries. Wasta supports students that are lagging behind, especially in the context of the pandemic that negatively affected student learning. Through social activities and games, Wasta can supplement the instruction within primary and secondary schools meanwhile developing soft skills such as leadership. Finally, learning English can change lives by opening doors to international opportunities and perspectives. With Wasta, we learn and grow together.

In developing countries, a large number of language learners are not obtaining real language proficiency. Students have little opportunity to practice speaking with authentic tasks and spontaneous social activities. Other reasons include, outdated and ineffective pedagogy, difficult access to education, and affordable, quality remedial and tutoring programs.  All were exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to J-PAL, on top of a preexisting learning crisis, the pandemic has left an unprecedented 1 billion children out of school for substantial periods of time and is expected to widen the gap between children with access to learning resources out of school and those without. 

Virtual learning is commericially succesfull but not for learners. There are a plethora of MOOCs and online learning platforms with quality content but despite this, online course completion rates are significantly low. Only 3% of registered students completed their courses in 2017 - 2018. Duolingo offers an amazing platform, with gamification, and AI but less than 1% complete the "language tree". It is becoming clear that superior content and technology cannot supplant the learning experience entirely. Human interaction, motivation, and engaging, properly sequenced activities are missing. No accessible solution exists today to offer these services as an integrated package.

Wasta leverages peer learning and social activities to increase engagement, sustain motivation, and provide communicative language opportunities. We facilitate small learning groups and a community for learners that use our English language learning application. These small learning groups will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual experiences, synchronously and asynchronously. Using digital matchmaking, we determine the best profiles to group together. Once formed, these small groups interact with machine learning generated feedback, content and prompts, chatbots and automated responses. We will incorporate audio recognition for providing feedback and measuring certain indicators such as member speech time. To track and record the progress of learners we use a third party LMS. In addition to small group learning, we also organize larger events where communities from around the world can interact and practice english. 
The learning experience is student-centered and influenced by 21st century learning strategies and methodologies both for in-person and virtual environments. Disruptive elements such as "teaching to the test" and inconvenient locations and times are removed. Students will notice an improvement in their ability and ease in using english, in their agency to guide their learning, in their motivation to learn and in their leadership and collaboration skills. 

Wasta's initial target customers will be learning institutions and centers to support English language learning initiatives through a B2B2C model. Our main target users will be secondary school level, beginner and intermediate English proficiency levels, in urban and rural areas with consistent access to the internet. We also aim to work with development agencies that support refugee and migrant communities through learning programs.
We will deliver this program first in Morocco and Laos as we have a network and extensive knowledge of the English language programs and offerings available in those countries, enabling us to understand the needs of our target customers. From Morocco, we will expand throughout MENA. From Laos we will expand throughout South East Asia. Finally, we aim to offer our solution in all developing countries as well as in developed markets with a focus on disadvantaged communities. 
Following the initial phase, with a larger user base and an established brand, we will open our app to the general public, introducing a B2C model. At a later stage, we believe that Wasta can be used to learn other languages than English, and also other topics such as STEM.
In order to understand our target users, we have been and we will continue engaging with them via three main activities. One, eliciting and compiling feedback from surveys and testing. Second, promoting active students with exhibited leadership potential to higher roles allowing them to influence the learning experience and create their own activities. Finally, observing their participation through activities and measuring changes and progress as we implement new developments and features. 

Our solution directly answers the need for new learning experiences to support young learners to develop the skills and competencies they need to thrive in the 21st century. On top of achieving English proficiency, Wasta helps learners build agency and ability to interact in groups. By focusing on social activities and peer learning, we develop soft skills and leadership, skills that will be crucial in the future workplace according to several sources such as the World Economic Forum. In addition, Wasta offers a gamified learning experience that is accessible and engaging for young learners. 

We are in the prototype phase where we are testing with first year students at a leading Moroccan university, The Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. 

We have also tested our solution in a hybrid model, using public and private spaces and virtually using accessible tools such as WhatsApp, Zoom and Google Suite. We created and facilitated small groups for language exchange, where we tested several facilitation methods: roles, automated messaging, prompting. 

Before COVID-19, we also organized several social learning events and clubs in a vacant convention space at a learning center in Rabat, AMIDEAST, during which we reached over 1000 beneficiaries. With Wasta online sessions, we have been able to reach students all over the world, in over 12 countries from Mexico to the Philipines.

Since we started working on this solution, we have had over 15 volunteers to support marketing, English language teaching and content creation, and community management. 

With our solution, we seek to reframe education to adapt to the changing context, needs and modes of learning of students.

The English language learning applications that exist today on the market offer either independent learning (such as Duolingo) or human interactions that are not facilitated (Tandem, Hello English). Wasta offers both learning activities and social interactions in a structured environment that is adapted to young learners. 

In addition, we leverage technologies such as digital matchmaking and chatbots, that have been traditionally used in other contexts, for educational purposes.

Finally, we use innovative and engaging learning methods and tools such as gamification that focus on experiences, human connections and interactions instead of traditional content delivery. 

100 people 

1000 people

1 million people 

stealth assessments

surveys, baseline, and quarterly 

profiency assessments, baseline and quarterly

With Wasta, there are two people actively working on the solution: Michael Bayyouk and Imane Fahli.

Mike educator for 11 years, worked in all settings, traveled the world, former fulbright, americorp and nyc teaching fellow. have tested the concept, has worked virutally and is a current instructional designer looking at new experiences and technology. cares about improving human experience via three capitals and promoting communities and local activism. big time learner and language learner 

Imane public policy, stategist, project management worked for world bank, royal commision, moroccan government, and now currently J-Pal where .... she can speak 4 languages and is leanring more. 

We make ourselves first aware of our diversity. We then consider what can be done to make us more equitable. Leadership is not one person and the others below. we put the focus on competency and ability to communicate. we also consider workload. these determine who leads, there is not one assigned person but it is project dependent.

Wasta wants to reframe the perception of learning and champion community learning. As educators, we know it can be better. Our Chief Learning Officer has worked within the industry for the past decade. He has taught all over the world, worked with all age levels, in multiple subjects, and has his M.Ed. in Special Education. There is an issue with lack of viable options to improve accessibility in education considering growing ubiquitnous of mobile phones and internet access; even true in Laos, one of the world's most developing countires and also in Morocco, Jordan, Thailand. Why do MOOCs generally fail, even when they have content and courses from some of the most established universities in the world? Why can't anyone master a language with Duolingo? It is fun and gamified but why cannot learners succeed to meet the proficiency level they desire. Why are we not connecting and learning from people around the world. The internet seems to have speed up the process of segmentation and isolating view points. Where is the open-mindedness to accompany the world wide web? 

Learning is part of experience and, for that, we must develop exeriences that are worth our time and compete with the ever growing and evolving inventiveness of entertainment and media. Human interaction, belonging, affirmations are things that media cannot provide. Family and friends may be insufficient for some, but in Wasta there is a community that builds ideas and values of tolerance, emotional intelligence, cooperation, and understanding. We seek to improve the world by improving minds and well-being. Humans are social creatures but they do lack organization and discipline and the awareness to improve and iterate development. That's what our application does. We track and provide feedback. We give direction similar to a board game the responses and laughter are not programmed but are part of the game's dynamics. 

Wasta needs support in the following areas:

Human capital, we will need to hire people that are invested and believe in our mission. they need to understand the purpose behind the tasks and be flexible as well as theri own leaders. Looking for experts in  machine learning, app development, ux, financial planning and proposals

Financial, we need to develop more accurate budgeting and also planning of exisiting finances. Wbhen it comes to taxes and grant applications we must also consider this as well

Legal and regulaory matters, since we work with minors, below the age of 18 then this will become even more important, stillwe are proivinding the opption for learners to meet together in person. these will be most likely people that hwave never met eachother and this can be a le3gal nightmare as well. Having privacy and data protection is improtant aswell for education concerns. we will neeed to use theri data for imporoving the learnign experience but when it comes to advertisting or selling their data or securing it we must be able to do so. 

Monitoring and evaluation, a lot of the techonolgy in wasta will be doin this. the lms must be able to and it needs to work via api and other methods of integration to work with other plugins and technologies to observe and provide feedback during the learnign process. these feedback and monitoring services must be done so they do not disrupt or disturb the learnig processes tnand so they operate int he background and surface only for pertinent sequencing or next step directions. We must measure the other areas of soical impact and strucrture researc h and studies that validate our impact solutions and help and support us to get further funding

Technology, machine learning, and deep learning will be utilzied in Wasta. we need someone who understands how to translate teacher actions and prompts into coding and formulae to recreate these experiwnces but also to improve upon them via a mobile platform in a social setting. using open source software and programs and patching them togeter to interolperate and speak togehter is another important part. we must have the ux and the localization of the app to work. we need the app to be native like so that it can use the microphoen speakers camera and other sxettings such as hand motions and sensors. 

We would like to partner with Sesame Workshop. their ability to create localized contyent at high production value with the purpose of educating youth is impressive. their creativity and dedication are par-none

We would like to work with adult learning centers as well as community colleges, community centers, and libraries. anywehre that would have available space for groups and events to meet. This would be an important aspect. also these institiutions and organziations would be able to privdie free content or license it for eduucational usgae with some form of compenstation to be given

We would like to partner with a higher ed instituion that cna provide certification and validation of learning efforts. this is important as many7 learners are extrinisically motivated and a certificate or digital badge would drive them and motivate them furhter. Certificates are even good for those with intrinisc motivation, it can  serve as an arftiact of the experience. This would also be a good pipeline for future students and college admission boards can review their activity and parcitipation to get a better understanding of them. 

Wasta is about connecting people centered around common learning objectives and new language acquisition is one of many challenges that face refugees making a new home in a new countries. However, learning the language of the new country of residency can support better assimilation and adaptation. Furthermore, with advanced language proficiency entry to the workforce is more likely as well as matching the agency and motivation to translate their previous career's experience. 

With Wasta refugees will be able to have direct communication with people of their new residence. This may be the first and most accessible option for many. Paired with modern language pedagogy and advanced learning technology integrations, Wasta is dependable option to integrate refugees into their new communities. 

In regards to resiliency, communities and small groups are proven to be important in sustaining and building resiliency. Additionally, through collaborative projects, peer affirmations, and positive social experiences, refugees can strengthen and grow their self-esteem and agency to affect positive transformation in their lives and local community. 

What makes Wasta distinctive is it's ability to create small groups and facilitate peer learning. Both rely on the power of AI.

AI will be used for digital matchmaking, chatbots, content delivery, stealth assessments and advanced learner tracking, and promoting consistent high levels of engagement. Furthermore, AI will enable Wasta to provide services for thousands of interacting members.

What makes Wasta distinctive is it's ability to create small groups and facilitate peer learning. Both rely on the power of AI.

AI will be used for digital matchmaking, chatbots, content delivery, stealth assessments and advanced learner tracking, and promoting consistent high levels of engagement. Furthermore, AI will enable Wasta to provide services for thousands of interacting members.

What makes Wasta distinctive is it's ability to create small groups and facilitate peer learning. Both rely on the power of AI.

AI will be used for digital matchmaking, chatbots, content delivery, stealth assessments and advanced learner tracking, and promoting consistent high levels of engagement. Furthermore, AI will enable Wasta to provide services for thousands of interacting members.