Reopening with Resilience: Lessons from Remote Learning during COVID-19

"Meaningful interactions between teachers and students are critical for successful remote learning."

The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closures around the world, affecting almost 1.6 billion students. The capacities of education systems to respond to the crisis by delivering remote learning and support to children and families have been diverse and uneven, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). From the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Office of Research - Innocenti, this report reviews emerging evidence on remote learning during the pandemic, combining a review of the global literature on remote learning with an analysis of global-, regional-, and country-level data sources. The purpose is to help guide decision-makers as they work to build more effective, sustainable, and resilient education systems for current and future crises.

As outlined here, from late February 2020 until August 2021, the average duration of education systems being completely closed was 125 instruction days. when accounting for partial school closures (where a portion of the student population has been out of school), the average duration of academic disruption is 232 days across countries. The majority of children affected by closures are from LMICs already facing low levels of learning.

Particularly in the context of climate change that makes resilience in education delivery all the more important, UNICEF Innocenti stresses that "The evidence on the negative effect of school closures on children's education, wellbeing and future livelihoods is overwhelming, and schools should be prioritized for reopening as soon as possible."

In an attempt to continue education and mitigate learning loss due to school closures, countries around the world implemented remote learning programmes. Online platforms for remote learning were the most commonly reported type of response by ministries of education (91%) followed by TV education broadcasts (85%), take-home packages (82%), mobile phone learning support (70%), and radio broadcasts (54%). The report summarises evidence on the challenges and promising practices in the implementation of each modality of remote learning. For example, while a number of countries offered a digital learning modality, there was often a mismatch with the infrastructure available. For instance, while Mongolia rapidly developed a web portal for students with pre-recorded videos, internet penetration in the country stands at just 36%, and further data suggest that just 2% of the economically poorest quintile of households has access to the internet.

Lessons learned are highlighted based on UNICEF's (and others') experiences around the world. For instance, the organisation has found that partnerships are critical in developing education content for broadcast media. In Guatemala, the Ministry of Education produced 570 hours of radio and TV educational content in partnership with UNICEF. To cite another example: The distribution of paper-based materials remains a challenge. So, in Liberia, schools were used as pick-up points for printed take-home packages as part of the national remote learning response, and community-based actors were deployed to inform parents about the take-home packs. Also, support to students from caregivers, teachers, and/or facilitators is critical when using take-home paper-based materials.

The report offers recommendations for policymakers and education practitioners that centre around increasing investment in remote learning programmes that feature accessible digital and media resources based on the curriculum together with robust delivery systems. To do this, there needs to be global and local action to:

• Address electricity, connectivity, and data affordability challenges, especially in sub-Saharan Africa - These actions cannot be taken by ministries of education alone and should be coordinated between government agencies, the private sector, and the multilateral system.
• Leverage widespread access to mobile phones to make remote learning more interactive - Combining mobile-phone-based follow-up support with less interactive modalities, such as paper-based take-home materials and broadcast media, has been key to improving the take-up and effectiveness of remote learning, especially in areas with technology constraints and among refugees and migrants, girls, and children with disabilities. Education actors should plan proactively and develop guidelines for how teachers interact and engage with students and families when schools are forced to close.
• Improve teacher and facilitator training and preparedness for remote learning - Including best practices for the use of different technologies (including digital, broadcast media, and mobile phones) in learning will not only prepare teachers and facilitators for when schools are forced to close but will also improve their skills to incorporate different media in lessons when schools are open.
• Monitor implementation of remote learning solutions - This includes measuring learning outcomes and monitoring access to and use of devices, the production of relevant and engaging content, and the provision of training and support to teachers.
• Strike a balance between the interactivity of digital learning and the bandwidth and devices necessary for use - Developing digital learning modalities that can be used offline or in places with unreliable internet connectivity will allow them to be used more efficiently and equitably.
• Create a plan for delivery of broadcast media (radio and TV) that includes interaction and feedback, such as call-in numbers and mobile-phone-based check-ins with students and families - Coordination must occur between levels of education to ensure that lessons are available for students of all levels at times when they can benefit from them.
• Use mobile phones to facilitate communication, content (lessons) delivery, psychosocial support for students and families - When used in conjunction with other forms of remote learning, mobile phones can also be used to receive feedback, monitor learning progress, and increase interaction between educators, families, and learners.
• Leverage community actors and build on existing supply chains from other sectors to deliver paper-based take-home packages to families at scale - Regular communication channels between educators, families, and learners would not only be useful to support learning and coordination but would allow end user feedback and monitoring of remote learning usefulness and quality.