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In good times and bad: Low-cost mobile teaching during a pandemic

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  • Ojha, Manini
  • Yadav, Kartik

Abstract

In view of school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper examines how a Home-Based Learning program affects learning outcomes of children in under-resourced communities. To overcome limited internet connectivity, the program provides remote instructions via phone calls and simple text messages along with automated voice calls to engage children enrolled in grades one to five in activity-based learning content. This intervention was conducted in three districts in the state of Odisha in India. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we find that the intervention led to a statistically significant improvement in basic number recognition and arithmetic operations, and language learning scores of children by 4.69 percentage points and 5.52 percentage points, respectively. Our results are robust to alternative methods of estimation and application of Lee bounds, thus indicating that well-designed low cost interventions could be a useful supplement for continued learning in the face of sudden shocks in low income countries. With a rise in hybrid format of teaching and learning, such interventions have the capability to cushion the decline in learning levels and provide a safety net in the event of school closures.

Suggested Citation

  • Ojha, Manini & Yadav, Kartik, 2023. "In good times and bad: Low-cost mobile teaching during a pandemic," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:96:y:2023:i:c:s0272775723000869
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102439
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Noam Angrist & Peter Bergman & David K. Evans & Susannah Hares & Matthew C. H. Jukes & Thato Letsomo, 2020. "Practical Lessons for Phone-Based Assessments of Learning," Working Papers 534, Center for Global Development, revised 10 Jul 2020.
    2. Harald Tauchmann, 2014. "Lee (2009) treatment-effect bounds for nonrandom sample selection," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 14(4), pages 884-894, December.
    3. Afridi, Farzana & Barooah, Bidisha & Somanathan, Rohini, 2020. "Improving learning outcomes through information provision: Experimental evidence from Indian villages," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    4. Jenny C. Aker & Christopher Ksoll, 2020. "Can ABC Lead to Sustained 123? The Medium-Term Effects of a Technology-Enhanced Adult Education Program," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(3), pages 1081-1102.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Learning outcomes; Schooling; Home-based learning; Mobile; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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