EAFIT Children’s University

Public education in Latin America continues to be traditional,  which makes it difficult for children to adapt and learn. Additionally, during the pandemic it has become evident that teachers don't have enough skills to adapt their methodologies to remote and hybrid environments. Over the past  16 years, EAFIT Children’s University developed a methodology based on active learning and science engagement that has proven to facilitate learning, strengthen social, communicative and cognitive skills and improve interaction between teachers and students. This methodology has been adapted for remote and hybrid environments, even with low-connectivity conditions, through a multichannel strategy. Developing an online course will strengthen our “Teach the Teacher” strategy and reach more teachers in Latin America. We will transfer our methodology and empower teachers to deliver an education that is adapted to students’ environments and modes of learning. In turn, this will reduce education inequality and gaps in attainment.

Public education in Latin America is rigid and not conducive to curiosity-led learning. One major factor that negatively affects education in the region, especially with the pandemic, is a lack of tools for teachers for adapting pedagogies to remote environments. In this aspect, differences are perceived between teachers from public and private institutions. In a survey carried out in Mexico, half of the people stated that adaptation is very difficult, and this perception is accentuated in the less favored regions reaching 70% in the south of the country, in contrast with 37% among private schools (CEPAL-UNESCO: Education in times of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020).

Inequalities in terms of the skills required to take advantage of technology among students, teachers and family members, make public education more vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic. Considering that, just in Colombia, during 2019, 8'183.967 of children and adolescents were registered in primary and secondary public education (81,5% of the total of students) and the figures are similar around Latin America, it is evident that efforts should focus on this population.

Although some countries have developed strategies to support and train teachers during this period, these have not been enough (CEPAL-UNESCO, 2020).

We have developed an active methodology that has been proven to strengthen social, communicational and cognitive skills in children from different ages and contexts, improving their performance on national tests, but also fostering curiosity, critical thinking and the desire to learn. This methodology, based on play, lived experiences, questions and conversation, relies on the knowledge of senior researchers and has been transferred to many schoolteachers looking to enhance their work. In the last few years, we have recognized technology as a great ally to take the impact of the program even further, working with educators from other cities and countries with a multichannel strategy. When the pandemic limited our face-to-face activities, we were forced to strengthen our remote and hybrid strategies, making them flexible and adaptable. Now we want to synthesize our learnings in an online course, using the MOOC platform edX, that will be accessible to teachers throughout Latin America. It will also be utilized as a resource for our Teach the Teachers programs in Colombia and Latin America, synchronizing the advancement of all educators, whichever way they learn from us. 

For 16 years we have been working with children from urban and rural contexts, learning about them, and developing a methodology that adapts to their needs and desires. It is inspired by their questions and makes learning a joyful and surprising experience. Our programs and the work of educators who have been trained in our methodology have helped to meaningfully improve the lives of many children, giving them the opportunity to learn in a different, more active and more adaptive way, in environments where they can connect with others, express their opinions and feelings and explore their potential. Increasingly, the program has focused its efforts on those children most in need who have less opportunities to engage in quality educational processes and explore academic options in topics such as science and technology. Our goal is to help them improve their educational attainment and develop the skills they need to thrive in the 21st century. We believe that we can achieve this by strengthening our Teach the Teachers strategy in order to improve the educational experience of Latin American children who attend public schools.

Public education in Latin America is rigid and not conducive to curiosity-led, flexible, joyful STEM learning. Moreover, schoolteachers are ill-equipped for delivering adaptive education in remote settings. Our multi-channel technology-based solution and scaled Teach The Teachers resource will ensure Latin American children have access to quality, safe, and equitable learning environments. We will assist schoolteachers in adapting their methodologies while facilitating communication with students and families. This will increase the engagement of learners in remote, hybrid, and physical environments; enable access to quality, active learning experiences in low-connectivity settings using imaginative play, collaborative projects, and hands-on experiments. 

EAFIT Children’s University is in the growth stage. Formed 16 years ago, we have been serving children primarily in face-to-face mode on-campus in Medellin with a few live events outside in nearby communities. We are now positioning to grow our offerings digitally and implement more elearning programmes. This plan was accelerated not only by the pandemic, but the realization that we have a unique offering and value proposition in all of Latin America. Currently we serve thousands of children and teachers through our digital content, but want to grow this to a number in the millions throughout Latin America within the next five years. 

Our solution offers teachers of all disciplines an innovative way of teaching based on a unique active methodology that uses play, lived experiences, questions and conversations to engage children with science and technology. Besides being a 100% Colombian development in Spanish, our solution offers, not only an online course that can be certified by a leading Latin American university (EAFIT), but also a holistic educational program centered around a unique active learning methodology; it offers content, training, support and access to updated local scientific knowledge, and the possibility of being part of a program that promotes networking among teachers. 

Our methodology leverages existing technologies such as social networks and mobile applications, transforming them into learning environments that adapt to students’ learning contexts. To do so, we develop content in different formats, such as podcasts, videos and text, that can be delivered by those channels. We facilitate synchronous and asynchronous conversations. Promoting the use of simple materials that most families have at home, we encourage fun-filled experiments and projects. Furthermore, for families without internet access, we use strategies based on more traditional technologies such as landline phones and post. This multichannel strategy makes possible direct and personalized communication with children and families, allowing us to adapt to their needs. Our Teach the Teachers program is based on these principles and developing and delivering an online course on edX will allow us to reach more schoolteachers in Latin America, especially with the mobile compatibility of edx for iPhone and Android. 

Currently, over 2,300 people, between children, adolescents and teachers are participating in remote or hybrid activities. Of those, over 200 are teachers, each one of them in charge of an average of 30 children or adolescents which translates into over 6,000 people being served by our methodology. Additionally, more than 4,000 people follow the program’s social media having access to science and pedagogical content such as podcasts, videos and booklets. And our website receives about 200,000 monthly visits, most of them for our science content allocated on the Red de las preguntas (Questions’ network) site.

With the technology-based growth of our Teach the Teachers’ program, next year we will be serving about 5,000 people with physical, remote or hybrid activities, including 1,000 teachers in charge of about 30,000 students that will be served by our solution. In addition, we anticipate reaching 10,000 followers on social media and over 500,000 monthly visits to our website.

Continuing to strengthen our technology-based strategy, in five years we will be serving 100,000 teachers and, hand by hand with them, over 3,000,000 children and adolescents from public schools throughout Latin America. Additionally, more than 10,000,000 people will be accessing and using our science content through our social media and website.

To measure our impact we use different indicators. First, we keep track of the number of children, adolescents and teachers served by our methodology and we characterize them in terms of ethnicity, gender, territory of origin, wealth and special conditions, such as disabilities or migrant status. This allows us to track our advances in terms of coverage. 

Then, to measure the impact we have in this population, we have a group of indicators adapted to capture the improvement in terms of science engagement  using instruments we apply annually to a representative group of our participants. 

Finally, we engage in studies to measure the long term impact of the program with standardized tests and econometric methods.

EAFIT Children's University is a program created and partially financed by EAFIT University and functions as a unit within it, associated with the Discovery and Creation Vice-Rectory. EAFIT University is a private, non-profit institution of higher education.

Full time: 12 people

Part-time (Project-related): 7 people 

Contractors: 1 person

Interns: 2 people 

Fellows and volunteers: 80 (students who work voluntarily or receive financial aid for their support to the program)

Our team has diverse knowledge and skills related to education, communication, dissemination and appropriation of science, learning methodologies and public relations. Additionally, it has the backing of senior researchers, who provide advice on specific topics of need. Participation in national and international networks allows a constant dialogue to be generated regarding what to do in the organization, and to keep up-to-date in the media. We are a local team with good knowledge of the region and the education needs.

Our Children's University is part of the EAFIT University, which in addition to providing the knowledge produced academically, provides administrative and institutional support for the program. 

Currently, we are collaborating with volunteers Michael Clouser and Apple Zhang of GeeLearn Ltd. an international partnership. GeeLearn is experienced with designing, developing and delivering online courses for universities on various platforms including Moodle, Canvas, Blackboard, edX, Coursera, and others. They have skills in guiding course authors and subject matter experts, shooting and editing video, and creating interactive exercises. Through leveraging this volunteer resource, Children’s University will be in a position to develop a quality “teach to teachers” course on edX.  This will be branded as an EAFIT course and delivered to teachers in Colombia and the rest of Latin America. 

We have a diverse, equitable and inclusive team already in place, and we recognize and reinforce this value. Our team is led by Latin American women in Colombia, who recognizes herself to have afro and indigenous inheritage. 

Of our 12 full time employees, 10 are women and 2 are men, and we come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. 

As we are a department of a larger private university, EAFIT,  that values DIE, we adhere to these values and the policies of the university. Moreover, of the top leadership positions of the Universidad EAFIT, most are held by women. 

Inclusion is also one of the principles we promote with our methodology, present in all our activities. We offer flexible work schedules for our team members, allowing them to take off time or rearrange their schedules around family as needed.

We are convinced of the potential of our methodology to positively impact the education and quality of life of many children and adolescents in LATAM, especially those most underserved.

Being part of Solve’s network could help us strengthen our business model and scale our solution. It will also help us to present our program and its value proposition in a better way, and to identify new technologies that can enhance the educational experiences we develop and facilitate access to more children, adolescents, families and teachers.

Likewise, accessing funds from the program and other awards would be a significant boost to achieve the goals that we have set. The prize from MIT Solve will help with the issue of reach. Our staff and volunteers will develop the edX course. We can do this part in-house. The Solve funds will go far in helping us to market this course and gain exposure to teachers who will be interested in taking either for a certificate or not. Any revenue that we receive from the sale of certificates will be used to further the marketing effort and expand the reach beyond the borders of Colombia and into other LATAM countries. 

 Finally, we consider that as participants in a network like Solve we could contribute to the work of others from our knowledge and experience in working with children, young people and teachers and in developing active learning experiences in science topics.

EAFIT Children's University has 16 years of experience in the development of educational experiences and the strengths of its team are especially focused on methodological and communication aspects of science. However, our experience and capabilities in topics such as developing a business model or finding resources (marketing / distribution) are limited. This has meant that the program, despite having great potential, has been unable to expand its strategies to new audiences and territories to achieve greater impact. For this reason, we would like to be able to receive advice from other organizations with more experience in these issues that can guide us and show options that allow the program to grow and reach more children and adolescents all over Latin America.

Also, support from Solve’s network could help us identify new technologies that can enhance our multichannel strategy to get even further in our goal to ensure quality, safe and equitable learning environments for all children and adolescents in Latin America.

One main organization that we would like to partner with is edX, which is an initiative of MIT. This non-profit course platform is what we plan to build our “teach the teacher” online course in Spanish on edX Espanol https://www.edx.org/es

Another organization that we would like to partner with is Facebook (for distribution) as WhatsApp is such an important for our audience in South America. We would like to explore how we can get more exposure and distribution through WhatsApp. Also, there is the potential to receive resources through the Facebook Community Fund. These would help us distribute our current course more widely, and develop further teach-the-teacher content and courses not only on edX but also on Arist, a text-based course delivery platform. This will help us reach teachers in Latin America that have limited internet access. As there are many MIT alumni that work for Facebook, we are hoping for introductions to the key areas and people in the company that could help us accomplish our goals in Latin America. https://www.facebook.com/community/fund/

Also, we would like to learn from Science buddies on their strategies for content development and distribution. This English site and NGO has over 19 million students, parents and teachers in North America. The site has over 15,000 pages of science-related content. https://www.sciencebuddies.org/

Venezuelan migrants in Colombia and Latin American are an important part of our target population. Recently the Colombian government received international acclaim for its humanitarian policy of allowing over 1 million displaced Venezuelans legal status and the right to work in our country. In addition to legal employment, these new immigrants fleeing poverty and oppression were given the right to access healthcare and education.  Many of these newcomers are children who are in desperate need of education as the way out of poverty. An engaging, science-based education will have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of childrens and families. The EAFIT Children’s University wants to pitch in on this noble humanitarian effort. 

Also we will target indigenous and afrocolombian populations who have been victims of forced displacement. With this prize we will be able to reach children and adolescents from these groups to ensure them access to quality education both directly and through our Teach the Teachers program and support their integration to their receptor communities.

The Andan prize will allow us to develop further programs and teacher training to specifically address these children of Venezuelan immigrants, indigeneous and afrocolombian families. These children will benefit greatly from our engaging methodologies that spark curiosity and build confidence, and lead to a love of learning.

EAFIT Children's University intends to bring children and adolescents closer to STEM areas and increase their self-confidence in these areas. The program has its own active methodology based on play, lived experiences, questions and conversations, and develops learning experiences in spanish based on local scientific knowledge for LATAM audiences.

The ultimate goal is that children and adolescents from different backgrounds can appropriate scientific knowledge and tools that allow them to participate more actively in solving the problems of their context, overcoming the social and psychological barriers that sometimes prevent them from considering STEM areas as a possibility for their future.

The GM Prize will allow the program to make STEM education more accessible for all LATAM children and adolescents, overcoming gender, ethnicity and income barriers. 

EAFIT Children's University intends to bring girls and adolescents closer to science and increase their self-confidence in these issues. Using a technology-based multichannel strategy, the program will reach girls and adolescents all over LATAM encouraging them to engage with scientific knowledge that will allow them to participate more actively in solving the problems of their context and have a voice in the decisions made in their territories and communities that affect them directly.

Being a mainly female team, we are pretty aware of the barriers women need to overcome to get a place in science and of the importance of addressing gender gaps in this field to make science processes and results more equitable. The Innovation for Women Prize would allow the program to get even further in its intention of empowering girls and adolescents to change their lives and their world through science.

EAFIT Children’s University works to ensure all children and adolescents have access to quality, safe and equitable learning environments, including the most underserved children like those from immigrant, indigenous and afrocolombian families. Using a technology-based multichannel strategy we will reach children and adolescents all over LATAM to offer quality learning experiences and content based on local and updated scientific knowledge that will help them develop the skills they need to thrive in the 21st century. By doing so, we will help to alleviate poverty and contribute to a sustainable world.