EducALL: Calls to Educate

Newton once said “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants”.

EduCall wants to provide access to those giants so that maybe the next giant will come from a poor village in Africa, or in a rural zone in Asia or South America. 

The education crisis is not new, but it is exacerbated. In Least Developed Countries (LDC), internet-based alternatives to school closures left behind children without access to the internet and with poor digital skills, causing a significant learning loss for the most vulnerable. 

Before the COVID 19 pandemic, there were approximately 1.3 billion children without internet access, 262 million out-of-school children worldwide, and 565 million who lived in conflict or disaster-affected countries.

As if this were not a problematic enough situation, according to the United Nations (UN) Covid 19 pandemic affected 94% of the global student population and up to 99% of the population in low and lower-middle income countries. 

Children living in rural areas and being part of vulnerable groups as immigrants, refugees, indigenous or forcibly displaced persons who had historically faced economical, geographical, cultural and technological barriers, are now being even more adversely affected by covid 19 pandemic measures to mitigate the transmission of the virus.

From this general panorama, only in Colombia, the community where we are currently working, before the pandemic, 51.9% of households had access to Internet via fixed or mobile connection. This situation was even worse in rural areas, where only 20.7% had Internet availability. 

As in the world, the pandemic brought with it an even more significant increase in educational gaps, resulting in an increase in school dropout rates of 2.7% at the national level and a failure rate of 6.2% and 11.3% in primary and secondary school, respectively (Bank of the Republic of Colombia, 2021). 

Of this percentage, the most affected regions were those with little or no access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), because they did not have the physical and technical availability of technologies that would allow them to adapt their curricula and allow access to alternative educational mechanisms. 

Regarding learning loss, the World Bank estimates three possible post-pandemic scenarios. The first one, predicts a reduction in average learning levels, specially for most disadvantaged children. The second one, foresees a deepening of the gap between those children who have high-income levels with access and knowledge of digital technologies and those who lack opportunities and resources to educate. Finally, the third one presents the discouraging panorama, since it forecasts a drop in school enrollment due to lack of resources and school closures with not accessible alternative methods.

This situation could extend to future generations and impact, as it is estimated that children in learning poverty will be increased from 53% before the pandemic to 70% in least developed countries across generations.

Education as a human right and enabler for development and accomplishment of each of the 17 remaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is at risk. We can no longer allow the loss of human potential and the continuation of inequality to the detriment of living conditions and access to opportunities for the most vulnerable.

In order to prevent learning loss from escalating into generational loss, EducALL has been created to enable children to access education by creating innovative solutions available to everyone, so that no barriers prevent children from accessing learning to improve their lives and those of their community.

EducALL is a phone line that can be used notwithstanding knowledge, resources, digital gadgets, internet access, or geography, and can be quickly replicable anywhere in the world to solve the information gap. (97% of the world's population has access to a cellphone network.)

Our purpose is to give to every child the opportunity to reach their full potential. To achieve this we turn dumbphones into smart learning experiences giving access to 4th industrial technologies applied to education to everyone:

• Voice assistant (Wikipedia, translator, google)
• Access to AI to Everyone (personalized education) 
• Remote learning for communities without internet or income. - Audioconferences. 
• Evaluations and feedback. 
• An audio playback device (Audio generates 4x more attention, it frees your hands and eyes)  
• A Learning Management System. 

To solve the inequality of access to education problem, EducALL turns a legacy phone into an audio playback and voice assistant device that works like an interactive radio. Thus, EducALL transforms low-cost dumbphones into educational speakers, by means of artificial intelligence, to help people without an internet connection to access the cultural knowledge of humanity from any corner of the world where a call can be made. 

How do we do it?

We have tree main tools:

1. SonIA, our Artificial Intelligence tool.

SonIA (Wisdom and AI=Artificial Intelligence in Spanish) is an educational assistant that brings cutting-edge technologies to vulnerable people. With SonIA anyone has access to voice assistants, recommendation algorithms, and educational personalization. Making it possible for everyone to have access to the best education on the planet just a phone call away. 

It's like having Spotify + Internet via voice (Google assistant, Wikipedia, Translator) + LMS (Learning Management System like Moodle) + Artificial Intelligence (content suggestion, learning tracking and data analytics) + Group classes + evaluation system.

You can try SonIA by calling to  +1 606 5190707 in the USA or in Colombia  01800 5190707 (a toll-free line with 15 free minutes per month) 

2.  Elena (Torch), our LMS that enables content management, grading, stores user usage, data analytics and reporting.

3.  LucIA, our virtual pollster, allows automating telephone data collection processes in an intuitive way for the user by only using voice and having the ability to perform complex surveys, with different flows and validations. Reducing costs, generating reports instantly and, above all, extracting value from the data.

With #CallsToEducate, children will never stop learning since they will have access to knowledge and teachers even when schools are closed or far away.

Advantages of this solution: 

• Available infrastructure (cell phones and available antennas are used, no large investments are required).
• Cost-effectiveness (Two randomized controlled trials - RCT- in Bangladesh (2021) and Botswana (2020) have tested the cost-effectiveness of call-based educational models with less technology-intensive solutions).
• Measuring usage and impact. (All data is measured respecting the use of personal data).
• Teaching support: Professional development and reduction of administrative burden.
• Data-driven decision-making. 
• Timely and accessible evaluations. Plan, monitor, and evaluate learning.
• Democratizing access: 15 minutes free per month 

We are aligned to the challenge because:

• EducALL enable personalized learning for every child without barriers of connectivity, income, or digital gaps
• The #CallsToEducate allows sharing of any kind of audio content, like socio-emotional.
• EducALL enables access, measurements, and monitoring with cheap phones and infrastructure that we already have. 
• Elena, our LMS help with educational content, evaluations, and feedback to help the teachers.

We also are creating an EducALL version on WhatsApp.

Want to know more? You can watch our 1 minute demo by clicking here.

WHO?

• Children and anyone living in rural areas without internet access, but have a basic cell phone with coverage (2G or superior) or landline phone. Children and anyone living in low-income urban areas who do not have a device beyond phone coverage.  
• Educational institutions and their officials to offer alternative educational methods that do not disrupt the learning process of children, and that do not cause them to incur not only higher monetary costs, but also administrative burnout, as it is a simple solution that does not require further deployment or training on its use.
• Teachers to reach, monitor, accompany and evaluate students.
• We democratize access to education because anyone can access K12 education for 15 minutes a month for free. As EducALL grows we will give more free minutes.
• We have reached 1547 people in Colombia, and we have done specific projects with indigenous communities, peasants, and victims of the armed conflict.

IN WHAT WAYS?

When an user makes a phone call to EducALL, she/he can:

• Listen to pre-recorded classes, podcasts, audiobooks, music

• Search on Wikipedia or Google through voice commands.

• Translations in their language to English.

• Access conference rooms with teachers and classmates.

• Send assignments through voice notes.

• Playback controls

• Personalized content

• Access to playlists that contain learning routes

• Gamification (points, budgets, and leaderboards)

• Access to the benefits of  artificial intelligence for learning

Finally, EducALL also makes it possible to monitor each child's learning to adjust the intervention and ensure a positive impact on the child's life and community, since EducALL allows to:

Have a record of the use of the platform

Track children progress by periodic evaluation each learning module

Monitor consistency of access to the platform to take action in case of sustained absence over time (text messages motivating them to continue, calls to their parents…)

Usage and satisfaction surveys for children, their parents and teachers before and after using the platform

Our commitment to remote communities allows us to identify communities with special needs that will benefit in the long term from our solution. Our project directly impacts their lives by promoting access to education and bringing unique experiences to those communities through voice and artificial intelligence. The long-term impact will be to build a bridge between education and areas or families without internet connection. We bring technologies of the 4th industrial revolution applied to education to people without internet or devices.

We are committed to the ethical and inclusive use of artificial intelligence and data protection. This is why:

• We only collect data with the consent of our beneficiaries/users.  
• This data is not shared or traded without permission. 
• Privacy terms are public on both the calls and the page. 
• Artificial intelligence is human-centered and respects all human rights.
• We seek to prevent algorithms from being trained with biases that extend inequalities. 
• We use interpretable models. to facilitate transparency, explainability, and accountability.

We are a team dedicated to putting technology to use in the hands of the most vulnerable. 

we create EducALL aligned to the needs and possibilities of our beneficiaries and users. That's why we focused on an audio-based educational platform because these communities listen more to radio, because it fits into their routine and because it has a longer attention span. We also did it on basic cell phones because they are much more accessible to children. 

We worked on 4 educational projects with one indigenous community, one rural community, and two with adults in areas affected by the armed conflict in Colombia, also 1547 beneficiaries/users that call for all the country. From this experience, we learned how to simplify the platform, include specific content to the interest of the communities, and improve reporting and data analytics.

We also conduct surveys and interviews through the platform to get to know our beneficiaries/users. With it, we measure indicators such as perception of use, what new features they would like to find, Net Promoter Score.

Our solutions are created and improved with the user in the centric and all is measured with data.

Some examples of our pilots

Steam Education: #ScienceCallsYou (Santander),

Cross cultural education Escuela de Saberes Ancestrales (La Guajira).

We are looking to conduct a randomized custom trial -RCT- to prove that our solution is cost-effective as suggested by the literature. Having access to MIT's network of evaluation experts would help us tremendously.

We also want to accelerate the development of the EducALL version for WhatsApp (work in process) and Telegram. The support of MIT experts could guide us in its development.

We have some barriers with the educational content at this moment the content is crawled from the internet on YouTube Chanel like Khan Academy. To enable these high-quality educational resources to be made available through calls and handbooks to everyone.

But we are looking to include answers, evaluations activities automatically. To provide teachers in rural areas with classroom guides that they can adapt to their needs.

EducALL is innovative because:  

• It is INCLUSIVE: People with old cell phones and no internet access can access state-of-the-art educational technology,
• We put technology at the service of the most vulnerable, 
• Aims to close digital gap: Telephone and phone calls are familiar to a large part of the population.
• It is ACCESSIBLE: When using devices under $5 and without Internet connection.
• Offers CUTTING-EDGE-EDUCATION: with the support of ScienteLAB has STEAM and EducALL skills teaching methodologies with its proprietary programs and gamification we create meaningful educational experiences.
• It is EXPONENTIAL: There is more 2G and 3G networks coverage than 4G networks, allowing us to serve more users and grow faster.
• It is ECONOMIC: Telephone networks are falling into disuse, which generates a market opportunity.
• It is SIMPLE: We do not need expensive networks or devices to solve access to educational content.
• It is ON-DEMAND: Our customers only pay for the minutes they use.
• We democratize
• Offers LIFELONG LEARNING AND REMOTE LEARNING: a child never stops learning, as they will have access to knowledge and teachers even when schools are closed or far away.
• It is TRENDY: EducALL capitalizes on the global macro trend of the growth of audio-based platforms such as podcasting and social networks such as Clubhouse.

Our impact goal is to enable personalized learning and individualized instruction and reduce learning poverty in rural communities. And provides tools for the teachers, parents, and students to have personalized, remote, on-demand, and significant learning.

Our impact is to democratize access to educational content: At this moment we generate impact through our national toll-free line with 15 free minutes per month.  

And also with projects with specific communities.

For the next year, we will create more relevant educational content and evaluations to ensure the knowledge acquisition of the students. We will measure the progress of our interventions by applying entry and exit assessments to consolidate the learning of competencies related to customized content. This is complemented with recurrent formative evaluations carried out in coordination with the teachers of the selected schools and secondary sources of information to establish the short, medium, and long-term impact.  

We seek to advance an RCT to have evidence of the cost-effectiveness that allows us to scale the solution to Latin America and the world.

The indicators taken into account are:  

• Number of students accessing distance learning in Colombia through an accessible and usable tool.   
• Number of devices delivered/effective use.
• Decrease by 2% the dropout rate in the selected schools. 
• Increased potential demand for education by targeted educational levels.
• Increased school attendance rate.
• Increase in the degree of satisfaction of parents and the community regarding the relevance and quality of scientific educational content
• Increase the degree of satisfaction of students regarding the interest and the relevance and importance for their daily life of the scientific-educational contents. 
• Net Promoter Score - NPS

At the same time, qualitative information will be taken into account through the perceptions of students, parents and the community, which will be analyzed to show trends and changes in mentality during the implementation of the project.

In the future realize measurements align with the SDG like:

• Proportion of children and young people: (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
• Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development, including gender equality and human rights, are mainstreamed at all levels in: (a) national education policies, (b) curricula, (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment
• Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications, by education level

We monitor the use of the platform and can ask questions to measure the acquisition of knowledge, perception, and impact by means of the questions, this allows us to carry out continuous monitoring. But we need to reach more communities to have more data.

In our experience with communities, these children don't study and learn more because they don't have the relevant tools  

An inspired child can be the next scientist to lead change in his or her community. If we can inspire children to reach their full potential by learning science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics in rural and remote areas, we will one day have more scientists who will inspire the next generation of innovators. 

link to TOC

EducALL consists of two parts:  

The first Elena (Torch), a Learning Managment System - LMS that allows content management, grading, stores user usage, and supports wired microservices.  

The second SonIA (Wisdom) is a cloud application that turns phone calls into a radio, contains playback controls, internet searches, surveys, audioconferences, data collection and many more.  

We are working in a WhatsApp Version of SonIA, that allows to every student to have access to all the educational content that he/she deserves in a chat away. All content will be available without leaving WhatsApp to take advantage of the fact that people know how to use WhatsApp and that WhatsApp plans are unlimited.

The technologies used are call management platforms and cloud services, as well as state of the art question answering services, translation and speech recognition, as well as playback controls to enhance the user experience, audioconferences like zoom that enables s to the teacher silence students, see the participants and soon raise the hand. 

One of our main goals is to contribute to making the benefits of AI applied to education accessible to everyone in the world. We are using artificial intelligence to suggest educational content to reinforce and overcome students' difficulties, voice recognition, and content creation.   

EducALL is an educational platform that works over 2G or superior phone networks, making it possible to use legacy phones into smart speakers.

EducALL uses technologies that are accessible, cost-effective, appropriate to the population, scalable and rapidly replicable, allowing us to solve the gaps in access to education in the world. 

All development is hosted on cloud servers, allowing for rapid scalability

With these child protection criteria 

• Data collection: User consent is explicitly requested for collecting data.

• Data sharing: The solution does not share personally identifiable information to third parties without explicit user consent.
• Data marketing: Children’s data collected is not used for marketing.
• Data privacy and protection terms: are available on the phone call and online.
• Guest login: Guest login available to reach beyond a paywall or premium restricted access because we have 15 free minutes to every child.

• There are randomized impact evaluations that prove that telephonic educational alternatives are cost-effective in achieving educational outcomes.
• Botswana: The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab proved the efficiency of SMS messages and calls in primary Botswana’ school students learning, concluding the following results:
  • “Reduction in innumeracy of 31%"
  • "Low-tech learning interventions have the potential to close gaps in learning between higher- and lower-performing students"
  • "In households that received SMS-only and SMS + phone calls, parents were 7 and 12 percentage points more likely, respectively, to spend time engaging with their child on educational activities”  
  • Angrist, N., Bergman, P., & Matsheng, M. (2020). School&Apos; S Out: Experimental Evidence on Limiting Learning Loss Using. S Out: Experimental Evidence on Limiting Learning Loss Using" Low-Tech" in a Pandemic.

• Bangladesh: The Global Development and Research Initiative (GDRI) implemented this intervention. Using an Interactive Voice Response - IVR. To measure the Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling (LAYS)
  • "These effects are equivalent to 0.59 Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling (LAYS)"
  • "Overall, the intervention was especially beneficial for students who were female, academically weaker, from the poorest socio-economic strata, and who had parents with low levels of education."
  • Islam, A., Wang, L. C., & Hassan, H. (2022). Delivering Remote Learning Using a Low-Tech Solution.
• Colombia had the first and most powerful educational radio in the world with Radio Sutatenza, which demonstrated that it is possible to make millions of people literate with the radio. We want to do it even better with the calls. https://books.google.com.co/bo...
• Janela was part of English in Action (EiA), a major initiative aimed at improving the language skills of 25 million people in Bangladesh by 2017 and funded by the UK government's Department for International Development (DFID). https://books.google.com.co/bo...
• Papper: Evans, C. (2008). The effectiveness of m-learning in the form of podcast revision lectures in higher education. Computers & education, 50(2), 491-498.

• In our users, we apply pre and post-test and satisfaction tests, for which we got a Net promoter Score of 100% in teachers and 76% in students. In the future, we have planned to apply impact evaluation randomized to have the statistical evidence of our educational approach.
• Link to the Demo Testimonials 1 and 2

We created EducALL as an educational solution to overcome educational barriers in diverse conditions. We believe that the diversity of the team is one of the main advantages when developing products and understanding our users. That is why we are committed to being a diverse team, with equity and inclusion. 

We sell the technology we develop to organizations that need to make training processes accessible in low connectivity contexts (telephony and WhatsApp*). In a Software as a service scheme. Where they only pay for the minutes consumed, which gives them access to the platform, metrics, and support. And with that, we fund EducALL to be free and share educational content for grades K-12 (in this moment only for 15 minutes per month).

Although our proven business model is B2B, we are currently iterating our business model in order to rapidly scale the solution. We are testing B2G strategies, where we are in discussions with national government entities.

In the B2B strategy, we sell our platform to institutions to help them in their social responsibility campaigns in exchange for including their advertising in the call, improving their brand recall and tax reductions. 

In the B2C strategy, we plan to create a plan to sponsor children in rural areas and manage donations for a tax deductions.

By selling our learning platform, our plan is to improve the platform and find new clients.

We also are creating the EducALL foundation to enable the sponsorship program. 

EducALL uses accessible, cost-effective, population-appropriate, scalable, and rapidly replicable technologies, allowing us to solve the world's educational access gaps.  

We have our first two clients at this moment, the German cooperation agency - GIZ and Science Clubs Colombia - Clubes de Ciencia Colombia.

We also win tho grants, in the SurSur Innova (6000 USD) and T-Prize (5000 USD)