Ustad Mobile

1. There is unequal access to education technology today in the world and 1.3 billion children, aged 3-17 years old, do not have sufficient internet connection at home. The digital divide affects the educational outcomes of these children. 

2. The Ustad Mobile App works simply: teachers and organisations can create their own content and add it to the app, students can download that content from the internet or without the internet directly from the phone of their teacher or anyone else who has the content and complete their assignments seamlessly offline, while teachers can access reports and student progress tracking information. 

3. If the Ustad Mobile App is scaled globally it can reduce inequality in access to education technology, and thus reduce inequality in education more wildly and that will reduce inequality in the wider society.

• Challenge: existing learning solutions function poorly offline or require additional hardware

Most digital learning solutions are built using a client-server model that requires a reliable Internet connection. In the least developed countries 26.3% of the urban and 11.8% of the rural population had access to the Internet in 2019 (ITU 2020). Even if connectivity is available, the costs of data bundles remain prohibitively expensive, especially for transferring large amounts of data. Offline functionality is often incomplete (e.g. EdX and Khan Academy can download videos for offline usage but not run exercises) and/or unreliable (e.g. Moodle which cannot resume interrupted downloads). 

• Challenge: equitable gender access

Girls face additional access challenges due to safety and security, gender roles, and socio-cultural norms that expect them to undertake household responsibilities and limit their access to the internet and devices. Girls may not have the same opportunities as boys to learn and work on their school activities (EdTech Hub 2020).

• Challenge: disability

According to 2020 WHO data, 34 million children have disabling hearing loss worldwide and the number of blind children in the world is estimated to be 1.4 million. Hearing and visual impairments can impede use of digital learning platforms.

Challenge: existing learning solutions function poorly offline or require additional hardware

Ustad’s solution: The Ustad app was built to work offline on mobile devices without requiring any additional hardware. All features work as seamlessly as possible online or offline. The app has a unique offline sharing system that enables users to share content between phones without requiring Internet access or any extra hardware.

Challenge: equitable gender access

Ustad’s solution: Teachers and decision makers have access to gender disaggregated reports to ensure girls and boys are served equitably. The gender field has been made compulsory. Digital learning on low cost devices can help make learning more accessible for girls who have limited access to school or are not allowed to stay longer for extracurricular activities.

Challenge: disability

Ustad’s solution: The Ustad app has been built to work with text-to-speech accessibility features (e.g. TalkBack) and supports subtitles for those with hearing impairments. The color scheme is designed to be accessible for those who are color blind. Touch areas are made as large as possible to help those with mild motor issues.

Beneficiaries:

• Teachers can benefit from an easy-to-use interface that enables them to manage content, record attendance, conduct assessments, track student progress, and give feedback, instead of relying on messages, questions and submissions coming from multiple WhatsApp groups 24/7. The application allows teachers to identify students who need further support, and it can provide them with gender dis-aggregated statistics to ensure that girls and boys are not excluded from education. It can also provide teachers with subject matter and pedagogical professional development content and enable them to connect with their peers.

• The application is a versatile open-source product that has supported kindergarten children and tertiary education students among others. Learners can easily access coursework, choose e-books, interactive exercises, or videos from the library to help them learn with no or minimal Internet access required and complete their assignments even when connectivity is interrupted on Android phones (25 USD+) or on KaiOS devices (11 USD+). The application supports gender equality by enabling girls to study in the safety of their homes, allows refugees who move school to bring their learning records with them and is designed for students with disabilities, including those with visual or hearing impairments.  

• The app supports learners and educators by supporting education providers – local and international NGOs, government, private sector – who deliver education services in humanitarian settings. Ustad targets different age groups in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly those affected by emergencies. Education providers need a system to deliver educational content digitally that works with limited connectivity and device access. Organizations can upload their own content or use open education resources, Ustad has over 150,000 OER resources ready to import (Khan Academy, the African Storybook project, PHET simulations, etc.). The app will enable them to continue education services during the COVID-19 pandemic for those with limited Internet access. The app provides valuable monitoring and evaluation to enable education providers to improve outcomes, particularly for learners from disadvantaged groups and raise resources.

Protracted school closures and reliance on online learning threaten to create greater inequality. The World Bank warned of a surge in dropouts and significant learning losses because millions of less privileged children are not equipped for remote learning. Distance learning can often amplify educational divides, however, when well-studied, planned, and implemented, distance learning has the potential to increase opportunities for the most marginalized. Edtech can contribute to lessen the digital divide and reduce inequalities by catering to the specific needs of those living in low- and middle-income countries and at Ustad Mobile this is what we aim to achieve. 

The app has been built in a flexible way such that the same app can accommodate a diverse range of humanitarian education requirements in multiple countries. This provides solid foundations for scalability in the future. Ustad Mobile is conducting extensive field tests with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and UNICEF Tajikistan to enhance and improve new app features to deliver distance learning in humanitarian situations. Testing has been conducted in Lebanon, Tajikistan and Nepal. Larger rollouts are scheduled to begin from June 2021, the application will be piloted with teachers and students, reaching 4,000 users (Syrian refugees) in Lebanon. Ustad Mobile signed piloting agreements with VSO and IRC and have been working on app modifications since January 2021. Starting 1st of September IRC will launch the application for the new starting projects in Lebanon. 

Ustad Mobile is a platform that has been built to handle limited resource settings from the start. Innovative features include:

• Offline database sync and query engine: Ustad’s software can automatically sync all data that a user has access to in real time. The local copy of the database can then be used to run any query or report on-demand offline.

• Peer-to-peer offline sharing: Users can share content with each other offline using a combination of bluetooth and WiFi functionality builtin to the app. This feature requires no additional hardware and does not need a local wifi network.

• SD memory card support: Storage space can be limited, so the Ustad app gives users the choice to save to a memory card to save space on their phone.

• Content deduplication and incremental update: The app can update only parts of content that have changed reducing the bandwidth and storage needed.

Ustad Mobile has the potential to be a market leader in limited resources settings due to its unique features, thus reducing inequality in access to edtech, reducing inequality in education outcomes and reducing inequality in the wider society. 

4500; 15,000; 500,000 

Measuring the number of active users using Ustad Mobile is key. In addition, the software is designed to transmit aggregated data to Ustad without submitting personally identifiable information. Each server (given client consent) will update the Ustad central server daily, which means we have more information about the users and can further improve the app. 

Ustad Mobile has a passionate team of dedicated software engineers, designers, testers and education specialists. Currently there are six full time employees, including the: CEO, Chief Technical Officer, Chief Business Development Officer, Software Developer, Software Engineer and Software Test Engineer.

Ustad Mobile’s team: 

• Mike Dawson (Chief Executive Officer) - Mike has over 15 years of experience in education technology including projects in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya, and Lebanon, among others. He lived in Afghanistan for over 7 years and has over 20 years of software development experience, including mobile and server applications.

• Varuna Singh (Chief Technical Officer) - Varuna has over 10 years of software development experience using Java, Kotlin, HTML, and Javascript.

• Barbara Bedike (Chief Business Development Officer) - Barbara has 7 years of experience in the training and education sector and completed a master's in International Education and Development at the University of Sussex.

• Samih Mustafa and Lukundo Kileha (Software Developers) both have over 7 years of experience in mobile application development.

• Pooja P Ravi (Quality Assurance Test Engineer) - Pooja is well-versed with all stages of software development life cycle and software testing life cycle, having worked for 3 years in manual and automation testing across different industries. 

Ustad Mobiles promotes a greater understanding and respect for diversity, equity and inclusion and respectful communication and cooperation between all employees. In recruiting practice diversity is something Ustad Mobile thrives for. All employees of Ustad Mobile have a responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect at all times. Any kind of discrimiation based on religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. is not acceptable. The CEO and senior management team has an open door policy. Teamwork and employee participation, permitting the representation of all groups and employee perspectives are encouraged. Ustad Mobile prioritises work/life balance through flexible work schedules to accommodate employees’ varying needs and thus creates an environment where everyone feels welcome and comfortable.

We are applying to Solve to maximise our impact on society and make EdTech more inclusive, achieve financial sustainability by accelerating our business and scale up regionally and globally. We would use the Solve funding to support existing users (including the International Rescue Committee and Voluntary Service Overseas) to conduct activities that support scaling usage of the app internally or externally e.g. user focus groups, monitoring and evaluation work, etc. and to conduct further secondary research on the factors that increase inequity in education technology. Therefore, it would be great to receive monitoring and evaluation support to build an impact measurement practice. We are hoping to be part of the Solve and MIT networks and gain access to mentorship and coaching as well as strategic advice from experts. Ustad Mobile would also greatly benefit from gaining exposure in the media and at conferences.

Ustad Mobile's priority is to pitch to investors and expand the client base to reach more students and teachers in limited resource settings.

Ustad Mobile would like to partner with education providers – local and international NGOs, government, private sector – who deliver education services in humanitarian settings, especially those  who operate in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly those affected by emergencies.

Ustad Mobile works with its clients and partners (such as the International Rescue Committee and Voluntary Service Overseas) to implement a human-centered design process with users (including refugees and host community members). We have signed piloting agreements with VSO and IRC and have been working on app modifications since January 2021. At present the timeline is as follows: 

- In June, the application will be piloted with the teachers and students, reaching 4,000  users (Syrian refugees) in Lebanon
- From June to August during the pilot/testing if issues and bugs will pop up will be fixed
- Starting 1st of September IRC will launch the application for the new starting projects in Lebanon

Ustad Mobile believes everyone should have access to education technology’s potential and we advocate for inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 4. The App also enables to make STEM education more accessible and equitable in limited resource settings for boys and girls alike.

The open-source Ustad Mobile app is a learning management system that has been built to overcome challenges prevalent in limited resource settings. The app enables distribution of educational content including video, interactive content and tracking usage data (online or offline). It also supports managing class and school membership, classwork management, and attendance tracking. The app has been used in a diverse range of education settings including distributing digital stories for Kindergarten children in Jordan, providing interactive soft skills training in Afghanistan to attendance, and class attendance management in Lebanon. The Ustad team believes that everyone should have equitable access to the potential benefits of education technology. The platform is built to enable education providers to overcome challenges serving groups that are often disadvantaged. The overarching mission is to reduce the inequity that is all too often associated with education technology.