EdTech Without Data? Ethiopian Experts Warn of Biased Outcomes, Inaccuracy, and Fragmentation

Data forms an integral part of nearly all professional and even personal engagements in the contemporary technology-intensive world. The lack of accuracy and precision often leads to counterproductive and at times even destructive outcomes. For policymakers and ecosystem enablers, the inability to access reliable data could mean years of unfruitful endeavors. In the realm of education, poor data unfortunately leads to decisions that either negatively impact or fail to have any impact on the lives of young students 

May’s EdTech Mondays episode locked in on the implications of possessing robust education data and utilizing it for creating an inclusive education ecosystem bolstered by technology. The monthly show, produced by the Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Shega Media & Technology PLC, brought together industry players who dissected the current data landscape in Ethiopia and outlined potential paths forward.

All participants first acknowledged the importance of technology in the modern world to expand inclusive education, prompted by questions from host Rediet Meshesha.

Bethlem Seifu (PhD), lecturer and researcher at Addis Ababa University, said contemporary objectives to expand education access would not be realized without effectively utilizing technology. While Enku Fasil, an EdTech consultant and trainer, pinned success in expanding education technology on the ability to create comprehensive awareness among stakeholders.

“A deep understanding is necessary to avoid the negative impacts of technology,” he said. 

Michael Kassay, Founder and General Manager of Henon Edtech Solutions, tacitly agreed as he outlined the enhanced powers of teachers to supervise and track students with technology.

“Technology is important in education as it is in any other sector,” he noted.

Reflecting on who the important stakeholders are for advancing education technology, Michael referred to an ecosystem of infrastructure providers, students, teachers, financial institutions, and the government. He emphasized that a great deal of responsibility, particularly, rests on technology developers as they are tasked with tailoring their tools for the needs of the ecosystem.

Bethelem further noted the essential role local communities play in enabling the customization of EdTech tools to address nuanced contexts.

“Figuring out how local communities can play an integral part is crucial for progress,” she stressed.

Providing localized content, community-centric hubs not located in school compounds, and digitized libraries are potential pathways towards ensuring that all essential stakeholders play a part in advancing EdTech, according to the lecturer.

An EdTech Mondays episode had also delved into how the inability to address unique linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic realities of Ethiopian learners and educators leads to reduced effectiveness and inequitable access. The lack of adequate data often exacerbates inefficiencies as would be highlighted by the participants later on in the episode.

Inku cited the lack of awareness as the most crippling factor undermining the advancement of education technology for all stakeholders. He pointed to instances where providing technology for a student could be a hindrance to educational pursuits, with the continued rise of entertainment options online.

“We can use technology to ensure our students don’t spend too much time on social media,” the EdTech consultant noted, highlighting the importance of awareness.

Inku called for the development of EdTech tools that can create a more immersive atmosphere than can be provided by platforms like TikTok. He indicated the possibility of a holistic digital awareness that allows communities to extract the most from technology while avoiding its pitfalls.

As the discussion centered on the interplay between data and education technology, Enku recalled instances of not only data shortage but also distortion. Citing a previous experience researching school locations in Ethiopia, he relayed being surprised to learn the locations had been mapped with longitude and latitude coordinates by report from Yemen.

“We have to increase our data collection efforts,” Inku pleaded.

He stressed the essentiality of assessing the availability of infrastructure, the number of gadgets at schools and universities, determining digital skill levels, and cultivating insight about the current digital resources are paramount to initiate comprehensive data collection.

“Data distortion is prevalent across the education ecosystem,” the consultant said.” Contextualized solutions require robust data.”

Michael, who has been providing school management software for the past five years, echoed a similar sentiment. He remembered his Company’s (Henon) initial difficulties in finding preliminary data about each school’s infrastructure, teachers’ digital competence, and specific technology needs.

 “Significant data shortages existed,” Michael said.” We decided to enter the market and figure it out ourselves.”

Henon’s ambitions towards AI-powered adaptive learning required navigating an education ecosystem beset by limited automation, underdeveloped infrastructure, and starkly varying degrees of teachers’ competence.

“If data were available, we would have known what we were going to face,” the CEO said.

Michael said the Company had to pivot into automating the schools. A decision which proved ultimately fortuitous, as Henon has provided school management tools to over 300 schools till now. However, challenges of low digital adeptness by teachers and slow technology adoption persist till now, according to the CEO.

“The benefits of data for EdTech providers can't be overstated,” he said.

The university lecturer, Betelhem, pointed to an issue of conflating everyday technology usage with competent management of E-learning systems as one factor. She acknowledged the importance of capacity-building initiatives to develop EdTech-focused sets of skills.

“Intensive training is needed for those of us immersed in technology as well as those in peripheries,” she said

Unpacking the limitations of data, Betelhem concurred with Inku’s observation of untapped data resources already available. She expounded on how available data is not properly recorded, shared, or exploited, while there is a concurrent shortage of data. Bethelhem also explicated on the lack of sensitivity to determine what counts as personal data, hence requiring consent, and what could be made available to foster research and development.

“Unreliable data results in biased solutions hindering inclusivity,” the experienced researcher noted.” The benefits might become limited to a language group, community of incidentally more tech-endowed segments.”

Issues of data silos among public institutions, prevailing policy hindrances and principles of personal data protection were also raised. Calls towards infrastructure developers, license providers, families of students, teachers, policy makers, and technology providers for a holistic understanding of education data and EdTech were ubiquitous in the lively episode.