In March 2020, the onset of COVID-19 and school closures in Botswana presented an opportunity to pivot our education programs to remote instruction and venture into the unknown: digital education programming. In response, we designed and implemented digital adaptations of our education and health programs. Six months later, we’ve successfully completed one of the world’s first randomized trials on remote education during the crisis: a low-tech RCT that used phone calls and SMSes to deliver learning content to approximately 10,000 students across Botswana.

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Our midline results, published in collaboration with Oxford University’s Center for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) are striking: at midline, we observed a 52% drop in the percentage of students who were unable to perform any mathematical operation at the start of the intervention, among students who received a weekly phone call and SMS. These findings illuminate the high potential of low technology (low-tech) as a safe, effective and widely accessible means to remotely deliver education content and improve learning outcomes during crises and periods of school closure. Below, our team shares the tools, tricks and tips we’ve utilized over the past several months, to successfully implement low-tech digital education programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tools: Phone Call and SMSes, SurveyCTO and WhatsApp Employing effective digital tools to administer educational content was key to our RCT’s success. Phone calls and SMSes allowed us to reach students across the urban/rural and digital divide in 9 regions across Botswana.