ICT in education with TAK-TAK-TAK

Education is essential for the development of societies, unfortunately students with socioeconomic disadvantages are more likely to have a poor-quality education. The basic level of competence is necessary to obtain good jobs .

Inoma devised an innovative free system that combines technology and fun to drive the best in education. The TAK-TAK-TAK System consists of educational video games for children (taktaktak.com) and a platform for parents and teachers (LabTak) that allows them to learn about digital tools for teaching, develop pedagogical strategies based on high-quality digital educational content, follow up their children's progress, and access to a fellowship environment through a forum, blog, and MOOCs. 

The use of digital tools in education promotes better academic performance and helps students develop 21st century competencies. This represents better job opportunities, social mobility, reducing the digital divide and therefore participation in society that guarantees an increase in the quality of life.

In Mexico, a lack of a minimum quality education, deteriorated educational strategies, and lack of use of Information Technologies (IT), produces social and economic divides that prevent children from disadvantaged backgrounds from fulfilling their potential. Before the pandemic, we were already facing a learning crisis, since around 80% of students in primary school didn’t reach the expected knowledge in reading comprehension and mathematics (PLANEA, 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated interruption in the educational system that has affected almost 1,600 million students around the world, therefore, 94% of students have been affected all over the world (United Nations, 2020). In México low-income people have been most affected because they do not have the technological accessibility that is required for the virtual school modality; this inequality has led to school dropouts from students. According to INEGI 33.6 million were enrolled in the 2019-2020 school year, however, 740 thousand of them didn’t complete it for reasons associated with the pandemic; for the 2020-2021 school year, the number of enrollments decreased to 32.9 million, and 5.2 million did not enroll due to financial complications. 

The TAK-TAK-TAK System, aimed for this population, has great educational value, as well as easy access and simple scalability.

The TAK-TAK-TAK System aims to leaverage the students knowledge and skills through the use of two platforms. Taktaktak.com allows children to have fun and learn through educational video games. LabTak.mx allows teachers to improve their own lesson planning through a wide range of digital resources previously revised and classified to enrich their lessons. It also allows them to consult real time students reports in the use of TAK-TAK-TAK video games. And offers a community for them to connect with their peers, share knowledge, strategies, and train through: a blog, forums and MOOCs. 

TAK-TAK-TAK video games are available in web and as apps. They include subjects such as: Math, Reading, Grammar, Spelling, Science, Values, Economic Inclusion,  Arts, and they also reinforce social-emotional and digital skills. They have been developed based on the comprehensive basic education curriculum (K-6) and in accordance with most national curricula, the American Common Core, and Skills of the XXI century defined by UNESCO. 

Each community can decide the pedagogical strategies that work best within its planning and to solve the particular needs that concern them. In the short term, a better education is achieved; in the long term, better job opportunities.

According to an INEGI report of 2020, there were 30.4% million young people in Mexico preparing for the future, and approximately 1.2 million teachers responsible for their education. The richest sectors in society are migrating towards private education where they spend more money in modernizing, globalizing and adopting educational tools based on ICT to their curriculum; public schools are lacking this development which generates a bigger gap between public and private education.

Inoma is constantly looking to attend the most vulnerable schools and regions who are willing to live the digital educational experience in order to reduce the gap. To carry out a face-to-face intervention, Inoma looks for low resources communities,  and conducts an ethnographic study to learn about their problems, causes, and needs. 

Inoma deploys TAK-TAK-TAK System mostly in public schools, adapting the intervention to their needs and to the digital skills of teachers who work with girls and boys between 6 and 12 years old in vulnerable regions of Mexico, Central and South America.

First, Inoma shows them the benefit of integrating TTT System in their teaching planning. Then, throughout the school year, they integrate a pedagogical strategy and the TTT video games and other digital content according to their needs and knowledge. Through labtak.mx they access the strategy and follow up their students progress through activity reports. The intervention focuses on the appropriation of the System for a subsequent replication, independently of our intervention. That is why the implementation’s objective is also to strengthen teachers` capacity of creating pedagogical strategies based on digital tools, and to  reinforce their students´ abilities, knowledge, and digital and socio-emotional skills.

Support teachers and educational institutions with teaching and learning methodologies, tools, and resources that help develop future skills for students.

Design, create, and implement new educational or training models for educators and students that guarantee access to quality education in low connectivity environments.

Promote the assessment and recognition of skills developed outside the formal educational system.

Offer training and flexible curriculum in hard (technical) and soft (social and interpersonal) skills, preparing people for the work of the future.

We have created an effective educational System that has been tested primarily in Mexico. Through this experience we are convinced that it can impact millions of communities on LAC. As a web-based educational tool it has an easy access and scalability. Now that we have completed the design of the tools, we seek to reach more beneficiaries, not only to improve their educational quality, but also because they are a key element in our growth. LabTak is designed to be nurtured by the content that the same community of teachers create, and share. A variety and flexibility of resources shared by users secure the growth in users and the engagement. Even though LabTak is a free tool, it also contemplates the design of personalized content with a recovery fee to continue investing in generating and curating new content, with the goal of reaching sustainability: more users guarantee more income. 

The TAK-TAK-TAK (TTT) system approaches the lack and quality of innovative educational content for children with low resources in Mexico and LAC. We make our system innovative by offering offline solutions (Tak-Server and Tak-USB), which lets children under any connectivity situation have an offline experience with our free educational video games. This project gives children the opportunity to improve their knowledge, abilities and skills. Unlike other ludic platforms, TTT offers personalized learning with predictive algorithms within different subjects (Spanish, Math, History, Ethics, among others), and with individualized feedback for parents and teachers (Reports available in LabTak). 

On the other hand, Labtak is the only platform available in Spanish that is comprehensive in nature. It allows teachers to design their own lesson planning, access to a wide range of digital resources previously revised and classified to enrich teachers’ lessons, consult real time students reports, connect with their peers, share knowledge, strategies, and train through MOOCs. LabTak benefit teachers in the way that they discover how to design their planning in a simple and effective way. They also integrate learning resources based on digital games into their teaching planning because throughout LabTak they learn the benefits they bring to their teaching methodologies and figure out that is very easy to do so. Students reach significant learning through the incorporated strategies and develop digital skills. 

The TAK-TAK-TAK system uses video games as a tool to reinforce children's learning.

Due to the different connectivity conditions in the different regions of the country, we have created several modalities to make our online and offline video games available to children: web, mobile applications, USB and client-server in the classroom.

The TAK-TAK-TAK video games give parents and teachers confidence about the learning of girls and boys by having educational information about video games available to them through the LabTak platform. Additionally, each video game has various indicators linked to the gameplay that allows knowing the progress in the learning of girls and boys. These indicators are also used to suggest, through personalized algorithms, the content that the page recommends to users to promote their learning.

Currently, based on the analysis of the data generated by each user, we are designing more detailed algorithms for each of the subjects to which video games belong in order to give more specific suggestions according to the learning needs of each user.

We seek to integrate technology, fun and personalized learning that provides broad benefits at a low cost.

For the development of TAK-TAK-TAK video games we were inspired by the constructivist theory of learning by Jean Piaget, whose principle is that students build their own knowledge from what they have learned. Also, as different scientific investigations (Balanksat et al., 2006; Kirriemur and McFarlane, 2004; Sefton-Green, 2002; Rosas et. Al. 2002) have shown, ICT creates an appropriate environment for higher-order skills such as management, organization, critical analysis, problem solving and creation of information. Specifically, Squire (2006) explains that video games promote the development of competencies by understanding that the student is an active participant, who seeks meaning and is a social organism. Additionally, through evaluations of our educational video games, we have verified their effectiveness, and found out it was greater when teachers support their use in the classroom.

The use of new technologies in the classroom improves the quality of teaching, as shown by data provided by the PISA test, where a positive correlation between the use of ICTs and the quality of pedagogical practices in the teaching of mathematics was found (DSTI/ICCP/IIS/OCDE 2015). However, around 56% of OECD teachers report moderate or high needs in professional development for the use of technologies for teaching (DSTI/ICCP/IIS/OCDE 2015). These challenges framed LabTak’s design.

For the development of LabTak we analyzed the specific interests and necessities of teachers through a focus group and conducted interviews, aiming to motivate them to use educational technologies in class. The results lead us to design LabTak to comply with their needs: make their planning for classes more effective and have the possibility to exchange knowledge with their peers.

Hence, LabTak and TTT address three of the six broad domains of good teaching practices established by the OECD: classroom management; assessment and responses to student understanding, and student cognitive engagement (OCDE 2020).

When developing video games:

The first risk we face is in the development of educational video games: if it does not teach the educational concept well, if it is not fun for the students, or if it does not have acceptance, or if it has programming errors that harm the user experience. However, we have methodologies to reduce them in which the "game flow" is verified, and the educational concept assured to be taught well. Second, if new operating systems or updates in internet browsers may not support video games. We solve them by adapting the video games with help from the original developers and/or internally.

In the LabTak site we have the risk that the content that the teachers share has no quality, for that we have an education expert in charge of checking the content teachers upload.

The lack of connectivity in Mexico is another challenge to face, but Inoma has developed offline alternatives to the TTT system (servers and USB).

We currently have  771,371  registered girls and boys  in taktaktak.com, and 34,027 teachers and parents in labtak.mx.

By the end of 2021 we have proposed to benefit 845,000 girls and boys with TAK-TAK-TAK and 36,700 teachers and parents with LabTak. 

By the end of 2025 we have proposed to benefit 1,177,000 girls and boys with TAK-TAK-TAK and 53,300 teachers and parents with LabTak.

Regarding skills developed in our beneficiaries, we expect that by the end of 2021, 1000 teachers and by the end of 2025, 5000 teachers, as a sum will be able to: 1.use technological devices and Internet  to develop their planning through LabTak site, 2. integrate didactic content as an activity for learning, and 3. evaluate their student’s progress through LabTak performance reports in the use of  TAK-TAK-TAK video games. That way their students will be developing 21st century skills such as digital skills and improving their academic performance in a 7% at least. 

Regarding content on our site, we expect by the end of 2025, that LabTak will cover 100% of the concepts and skills required in the Mexican elementary school curriculum with inhouse developed pedagogical strategies; currently we have covered 30% of them. It will also include a vast library of contents and more strategies created by the consolidated community. By increasing strategies we promote greater growth, permanence and, therefore, greater transformation and impact on target beneficiaries, also we would have TAK-TAK-TAK video games that will cover 62% of the skills and knowledge from the elementary school curriculum.

Through the application of pre-intervention and post-intervention tests in the System`s deployment programs, and through our database we will measure how teachers, girls and boys are able to apply the acquired knowledge. Initial and partial questionnaires will be applied to teachers about their perception of technology and its uses in class, which will be developed by experts in digital skills and which will serve both teachers and students to verify the effectiveness and appropriation of the TAK-TAK-TAK System.

Indicators: 

1. Teachers that took LabTak training and can perform basic planning for their classes using LabTak.

2. Teachers that understand teaching strategies based on didactic content such as TAK-TAK-TAK.

3. Teachers that implement LabTak’s pre-designed strategies which include the  use of digital content.

4. Teachers design one or more educational plans in LabTak.mx with digital content to implement them in their classroom.

5. Teachers evaluate their students’ progress through LabTak performance reports for TAK-TAK-TAK video games.

6. Teachers that have more than 3 planning strategies developed,  spent a minimum of 3 hours on the site, and reviewed at least 3 sections.

7. Play time of girls and boys in TAK-TAK-TAK and their progress in video games.

• Research and Data analysis: 1full-time worker (FTW).
• Technology and video games: 3FTW and 2 social service student SSS.
• Education: 2FTW and 1SSS.
• Deployment: 2FTW
• Institutional Development: 2FTW and 6SSS.
• Administration and Legal: 2FTW.  
• COO: 1FTW.
• CEO: 1FTW.

Inoma’s experience in developing serious video games for children, and the comprehensive teachers´ platform, LabTak, has resulted in a consolidated team formed by experts in different areas: educational content, data analysis, technology and game development, deployment of programs, fundraising, and marketing. Inoma has 14 full-time workers. 

We have a solid team that ranges between 3 to 10 years of experience with the organization. We have a circular and organic organizational structure that allows great flexibility and adaptability to the needs that the organization is facing.Our board is fully engaged with the program and will give advice to the team and follow closely all steps that are required to reach the stated goals. This allows a constant flow of information between areas as well as encourages creativity and innovation in the search for solutions.

Regarding our implementation record we have worked with more than 700 public schools in Mexico and Latam. We have reached more than 50 low income public schools in indigenous communities in Mexico (Mayas, Mazahuas, Tzotziles, Tzentales).

To achieve social change, and to impact more teachers and students, we work hand in hand with educational and local authorities and with our partners, donors, and suppliers for developing more content and offering our free platforms to more beneficiaries. Being a digital educational tool allows easy access, scalability, and low cost in maintenance.

We are a horizontal and inclusive organization in which everyone has autonomy to be the expert on their subject and each member of the team has an important value within the organization and something to contribute, while we learn from each other. We support feminists, LGBT and all movements that act inpursuit of equality and justice. We are sure that the differences between people are a positive value, which enriches our team.

We have created an effective and efficient educational tool that optimized the design and innovation of the planning. TPrize Challenge will help us finish the development of the site and its offline solutions. This will allow a generation of a learning community, enrich teachers’ learning, and unfold the system more easily. With variety and flexibility of content and pedagogical resources the growth in users and permanence rises. We are looking forward to adapting technology trends in basic education, for increasing productivity and preparing  a new generation into the new jobs and industries. This tool will encourage entrepreneurship and creativity in problem solving. 

We are convinced that this educational solution can impact millions of communities on the planet. For that reason, we are looking to make partnerships with MIT Solver network of professionals to improve our product’s areas of opportunity, strengthen it to have an effective and efficient scalability and expansion. Also, we want to have access to MIT Solver funding, media and conference exposure, and technological mentorship, as one of the main pillars of this project is technology.

From the beginning, Inoma has worked with the philosophy of being integrators and has achieved more than 100 alliances with different sectors (private, public and education, technology, etc.). However, we consider fundamental to build these alliances with the international community as well, and we would love to be part of the MIT Solver network because they are committed, open-minded and are the best in technological matters.

To achieve social change, and to impact more teachers and students, we work hand in hand with educational and local authorities and with our partners, donors, and suppliers for developing more content and offering our free platforms to more beneficiaries. Being a digital educational tool allows easy access, scalability, and low cost in maintenance. We are looking forward to maximizing our number of active users  and impact. This might include improving our content, data analysis, deployment and financial strategies.

Inoma’s partnerships' goals are to grow, expand and sustain our projects. Alliances with UNICEF and UNESCO could help to develop teaching strategies where children learn about their rights, the environment and climate change, contributing to building  inclusive knowledge societies. It could also help teachers to be prepared to work technology-centric demands, and not be unemployed or underemployed and create prosperous and sustainable livelihoods for themselves.

Alliances with English educational sites such as: Pulitzer centre, Common Sense, and Digital Promise (Learner Variability Project) could help LabTak enrich its content because they have valuable programs of education that could be translated and integrated into LabTak. This will make the content of the classes provide students with greater knowledge, clear explanations and give them tools on how problems are fought in the 21st century in developed countries.

MIT’s network of professionals could help improve the areas of opportunity of our product through research and innovation.