EdTech for Last Mile Learners in the Global South: Navigating Technological and Motivational Learning Insights with Radios and Mobile Phones

Paper Title

EdTech for Last Mile Learners in the Global South: Navigating Technological and Motivational Learning Insights with Radios and Mobile Phones

Publication Info

• Topic area: Educational technology for marginalized learners in low-resource settings.
• Keywords: EdTech, low-infrastructure, Global South, last-mile learners, radios, mobile phones, remote learning, community engagement, learner motivation, HCI.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Existing EdTech and HCI research predominantly focuses on the Global North, neglecting the needs and lived experiences of last-mile learners in the Global South. While low-infrastructure EdTech (e.g., radios, mobile phones) has shown promise, there is limited qualitative understanding of how learners engage with these technologies and the challenges they face.
• Significance: Addressing this gap is crucial to designing contextually aligned EdTech solutions that can provide meaningful and accessible learning opportunities for marginalized communities.
• Motivation and related work: Prior studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of low-cost technologies like Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) and mobile phone-based interventions in improving literacy and numeracy. However, these studies often overlook the nuanced dynamics of learner interactions, community perceptions, and the contextual realities of rural learners.

Solution

• Proposed approach: A qualitative study investigating learner experiences with a remote engineering education course delivered via radios and mobile phones in rural Uganda.
• Novelty:
  1. Provides qualitative insights into how last-mile learners navigate low-infrastructure EdTech.
  2. Highlights community skepticism as a novel barrier to EdTech adoption.
  3. Explores diverse learner preferences and challenges with multimodal EdTech solutions.
  4. Offers actionable recommendations for designing contextually aligned EdTech interventions.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • A 16-week remote course teaching engineering concepts through radio broadcasts and mobile phone interactions.
  • Data collected via semi-structured interviews with 81 learners, categorized by course completion and performance.
  • Thematic analysis of learner responses to identify key themes related to motivations, challenges, and community perceptions.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Radios and mobile phones created safe, adaptable, and meaningful learning environments, enabling learners to study at home, during work, or at flexible times.
  • Learners reported goal-driven motivations (e.g., economic, social, and geographic mobility) and practical motivations (e.g., applying skills to real-world problems).
  • Community skepticism emerged as a significant barrier, with some members questioning the legitimacy of remote learning.
  • Technical challenges included poor network connectivity, weak radio signals, limited airtime, and difficulties charging devices.
• Advantage over baselines:
  • Demonstrated the complementary strengths of radios (scheduled, structured learning) and mobile phones (flexible, asynchronous access).
  • Highlighted the potential for multimodal EdTech to address diverse learner needs in low-resource settings.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Participants: 81 learners from a rural district in Northern Uganda.
  • Data: Semi-structured interviews, translated and thematically analyzed.
  • Metrics: Learner perceptions, motivations, challenges, and engagement with EdTech.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Uneven participant distribution across course completion criteria.
  • Limited demographic and outcome-specific analyses.
  • Future work will explore broader learner networks and demographic variations.

Summary

This study investigates the experiences of last-mile learners in rural Uganda engaging with a remote engineering education course delivered via radios and mobile phones. The findings reveal that these low-infrastructure technologies fostered meaningful learning environments but also highlighted persistent challenges such as technical barriers and community skepticism. Learners exhibited both goal-driven and practical motivations, while their preferences for radio and mobile phone modalities varied based on contextual realities. The study underscores the importance of designing contextually aligned EdTech solutions and integrating community engagement to enhance acceptance and effectiveness. Future research will explore demographic differences and expand the scope to other learner populations.