AI and Human-Centered Open Education

 In response to a post on LinkedIn about the OER World Congress by UNESCO in Dubai, the question was asked, "Spreading the word on upskilling has to be a global effort—collaborations, partnerships, and community engagement could help bridge that gap. What strategies do you think would work best?"

We have a potential example that we think provides an example that others can follow.

(The following is an abstract of a more in-depth paper that will be published by MIT CSAIL in January 2025.)

AI and Human-Centered Open Education

This paper describes an innovative approach to K-12 education that functions effectively in classrooms with or without internet access. Currently being implemented in the Northern Region of Ghana, this project creates an example for other countries facing similar disparities in technology access. AI-enhanced, offline-first tools deliver quality educational resources and personalized learning experiences to students in remote and underserved areas. The initiative prioritizes those with the least access and then scales to all classrooms, regardless of internet availability.

The global K-12 education system is ready for a solution that offers translation, assessment, and teacher professional development tools adaptable to any setting, with or without internet access. In Africa, some schools have internet access, but many do not. Teacher training on digital assessment tools is rare as is access to low-cost high quality instructional materials. Our solution leverages proven, low-cost technology - MoodleBox, Kolibri, Internet-in-a-Box, and Kiwix - to provide all teachers with access to high-quality, free, culturally relevant instructional materials and help them become proficient with the technology. An offline-first model is crucial for guaranteeing equity and inclusion for all students.

Our solution focuses on three key areas: 1) Translating educational materials; 2) Assessing student learning; and 3) Enhancing teacher skills and professionalism. Using the student's first language for instruction and assessment is central to our approach.

While the education ministries in many African countries mandate instruction in the student's first language, high-quality first-language materials are often lacking. Our solution provides accessibility to high-quality instructional resources by using AI to help translate open education instructional materials (including assessments) into the first languages of teachers and their students.

We also support teachers’ systematic delivery of assessments and the use of assessment data to better support their students and reflect on their instruction. Currently, in most rural African classrooms, teachers write the assessment questions on the chalkboard and students respond either verbally or on paper at their seats. This chalkboard-based teaching method limits teachers' ability to use assessments for formative purposes thus hindering broader educational progress. Our solution makes using assessments for formative purposes more feasible and allows teachers to access and reflect on data at any time. The technology also supports the delivery of comparative achievement assessments across different regions. Our solution makes it possible to monitor incremental progress in achievement for individual students across classrooms, teachers, schools, districts, and regions.

Finally, our solution uses the same technologies being used by students to provide professional development. We have partnered with several local nonprofit organizations experienced in similar projects to offer on-site professional development and technical support, focusing on empowering educators rather than merely delivering products. The professional development content materials are openly licensed and delivered using the same tools the students use.

Based on the encouraging results of our pilot in the Northern Region of Ghana, we expect 5,000 students in Ghana to increase learning achievement in reading and math by at least 40% in the next three years. The offline accessibility and rich, interactive, locally curated content create a new learning paradigm, removing the barriers of internet access and limited resources and empowering teachers and students.

Co-Authors:

● Dan McGuire, Executive Director, SABIER, Minneapolis, MN, USA - dan@sabier.org

● Robert Murphy, Owner and Principal Education Research Consultant, LFC Research,
Mountain View, CA, USA - bfmurph@icloud.com

● Sadik Shahadu, Executive Director, Dagbani Wikimedians User Group, Tamale, Ghana
uniques.sadike@gmail.com

● Peter K. Amoabil, Founder and Executive Director of Rural Literacy Solutions, Tamale,
Ghana - amoabilhatma@gmail.com

● Maxwell Beganim, Africa Anglophone Coordinator,  Open Knowledge Network  
. Kumasi, Ghana - mbeganimgh@gmail.com 

● Musah Fuseini, Team Member, Dagbani Wikimedians User Group, Tamale, Ghana -musahfm@gmail.com

● Steve Miley, MoodleBox Advocate, Santa Barbara, CA, USA - stevenraymiley@gmail.com

● Stephane Coillet-Matillon, CEO, Co-founder, Kiwix Offline, Lausanne, Switzerland -stephane@kiwix.org