Using Technology to Deliver Education: Towards a Global Education Platform

Worldreader President and co-founder David Risher contributes to the discussion

The global education system cannot supply the quantity and quality of education needed to meet the current market demand for skilled individuals. This need is growing rapidly while the young and marginalized lack access to the education that would minimize skills gap.

In response to this growing need, the paper Towards a Global Education Platform: Potential Models for Harnessing Technology to Promote Education as a Global Public Good provides a discussion of five potential models for using technology to deliver education to the most marginalised. It also provides an overview of the current context and use of technology to situate these models. Based on a careful analysis of the needs of potential students, educators and employers, this discussion paper identifies several opportunities to add value to the existing education ecosystem by synthesizing the conversations and consensus points to date.

The paper was launched at the A World at School September Forum titled 2015 #EducationCountdown: Failure is Not an Option co-hosted by the Global Business Coalition for Education. Business leaders in technology and international development convened a discussion to consider a proposed Global Education Platform to bridge this gap. Following the event, Coalition members are mapping out the next steps for determining the proposed Global Education Platform model.

The GBC-Education’s Global Education Platform initiative has convened academics, technology entrepreneurs, business leaders, global development experts and educators in conversations to identify how technology could be used to deliver recognized skill development that leads to economic opportunity in a model that prioritizes learning as a public good for the most marginalized. Participants explored the potential added value of an initiative to enable content creation, dissemination, as well as the recognition of learning pathways for skill development. The process also examined the current challenges and opportunities surrounding the delivery of education with technology across different contexts, as well as gaps in learning opportunities best suited to the introduction of technological innovations.