Five research projects examining the effects of digital learning innovations on various aspects of educational equity, quality and efficiency have been added to the DL4D program.

Two new DL4D studies focus on digital games for early literacy learning—the development of a guidebook on developing digital games that teach reading and an impact evaluation of a mobile game used in a reading program in Cambodia. Both projects are jointly funded by DL4D and All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development.

A third study investigates the use of gamification and mobile learning strategies for language learning in Mongolia while a fourth study, co-funded by the United States Agency for International Development through the Philippine-American Fund, is an impact evaluation of a blended learning model for teacher professional development on early literacy and numeracy in the Philippines. This blended learning model is also the subject of a cost effectiveness study—the fifth new addition to the DL4D program—along with another DL4D-funded trial of a web-based language learning model in rural China.

The Research Projects

Guidebook on game development for early literacy learning in developing countries

Principal Investigator: Kenneth Lim, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

An evidence-based practical guide for designing, developing and deploying effective digital games for early literacy learning in developing countries.

An evaluation of m-Learning integration in the TRAC+ (Total Reading Approach for Children Plus) Project

Principal Investigators: Grace Oakley and Mark Pegrum, Graduate School of Education, University of Western Australia

An assessment of the impact of using the local language mobile game Anh Khmer on the reading skills of early grade students in Cambodia.

Mobile Gamification-Based Language Learning in Mongolia: Toward a Participatory Learning Model

Principal Investigator: Hyo-Jeong So, Ewha Womans University, South Korea

Co- Investigators: Christine Shin, Mongolian International University, Mongolia and Lung-Hsiang Wong, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

An investigation of a localized model of gamified and mobile-assisted language learning for teachers and students in Mongolia. It also explores how the model may be used to motivate and empower learners in the developing world to generate meaningful and relevant learning content.

ELLN Digital – Technology-Supported Teacher Professional Development (TPD) on Early Language, Literacy and Numeracy for K-3 Teachers: An Evaluation (Philippines)

Principal Investigator: Grace Oakley, Graduate School of Education, University of Western Australia

Co-Investigator: Ronnel King, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

An assessment of the impact of ELLN Digital as a TPD program. It will describe and measure—quantitatively and qualitatively— the impact of ELLN Digital on teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, perspectives and practice.

A Cost Effectiveness Study of Two Digital Learning Innovations in China and the Philippines

Principal Investigators: Charalambos Vrasidas and Demetris Hadjisofoclis, Centre for the Advancement of Research and Development in Educational Technology, Cyprus

An analysis of the cost effectiveness of the use of ABRACADABRA, a web-based literacy program, by primary school students in rural China and ELLN Digital, a blended teacher professional development model, by K to 3 teachers in the Philippines.