Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a global impact on children’s access to education and learning. During the extended school closures, countries relied on Education Technology (EdTech) to mitigate the learning losses. However, research shows that children with disabilities faced severe barriers in accessing and using EdTech for learning. While issues related to the availability of assistive technologies have been documented, especially in low- and middle-income countries, evidence on the uptake, use, and impact of EdTech at scale on participation and learning among learners with disabilities in these countries remains very limited. This paper aims to investigate this question through a systematic literature review, by focusing on medium- to high-tech solutions that aim to support the learning of children with difficulties in hearing and seeing in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region. By searching the Web of Science, the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and ProQuest, a total of 1,661 studies were screened for eligibility and relevance based on titles and abstracts, of which 44 studies were screened using the full-text, and 13 studies were retained for the final analysis. An analysis of these 13 studies shows that most identified EdTech solutions were applied only at small scale, with a focus on the testing stage of the EdTech, and also involved very small sample sizes. Only two of the 13 studies measured changes in student learning outcomes. There were very limited discussions on the cost implications, especially the costs in relation to market price. While most studies identified engaged students and teachers during the design and testing of EdTech, there was limited discussion on engaging other key stakeholders, including parents, private companies, and civil society.

Keywords:

EdTech, Child, Low- and Middle-Income Countries, Deaf, Blind, Inclusive Education.