Profiles

The Kosovo Education Strategy (2022–2026) recognizes the need to scale up digital learning solutions to support individualized learning for children. Shkollat.org, Kosovo’s version of the Learning Passport, combines the largest repository of curriculum-aligned video learning content in Kosovo with communication tools to engage students inside or outside the classroom. This research presents findings from the implementation of Shkollat.org in Kosovo, providing policy takeaways for the scale-up of digital learning solutions for education policymakers in the Western Balkans and beyond. Research findings are organized around six pillars of digital learning embedded within the Kosovo Education Strategy (2022–2026): digital learning platforms, content, teacher upskilling and support, connectivity, devices, and institutional support.

How can countries engage teachers, parents, and learners in the successful of scale-up digital learning solutions? EDUINO, North Macedonia's platform for digital learning, fostered a community of practice and successfully crowdsourced a large amount of educational content from teachers and educators around the country within weeks of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research presents factors that enabled the rapid development and scale-up of EDUINO at a systems, school, and classroom level. Research findings in the brief are organized around four key implementation strategies: 1. Developing and crowdsourcing curriculum-aligned learning content 2. Fostering user engagement through a community of practice 3. Furthering teacher capacity for digital learning, and 4. Reaching students with disabilities and other learning barriers.

In Italy, more than 700,000 asylum seekers and migrants arrived in the country between 2014-2020. Newly arrived children including refugees and migrants need to quickly acquire Italian skills to succeed in school and society. To help address this urgent need, the Akelius digital learning application was introduced in Bologna and Rome for Italian and English language learning in the 2021/22 school year. This research presents findings from the first year of implementation of the Akelius digital learning application in Italy. Results show the use of the application supported self-paced learning, boosted students’ motivation and confidence and the use of the tool was especially beneficial for newly arrived children and children with disabilities. The report also explores challenges and good practices to inform improvements in the use of digital learning in classrooms.