世界银行-利用辅助教育技术支持东亚及太平洋地区有视觉和听觉困难的儿童（英）

PublicDisclosureAuthorized

DisclosureAuthorizedPublicDisclosureAuthorized

Public

PublicDisclosureAuthorized

NoahYarrowLauriPynnonen ChuyuSongRiazBhardwajMarioSpiezio

2023

UseofAssistiveEducation TechnologiestoSupport ChildrenwithVisualand HearingDifficultiesintheEastAsiaandPacificRegion

WORLDBANKGROUP

Education

©2023InternationalBankforReconstructionandDevelopment/TheWorldBank1818HStreetNWWashingtonDC20433

Telephone:202-473-1000

Internet:

ThisworkisaproductofthestaffofTheWorldBankwithexternalcontributions.Thefindings,interpretations,andconclusionsexpressedinthisworkdonotnecessarily

reflecttheviewsofTheWorldBank,itsBoardofExecutiveDirectors,orthe

governmentstheyrepresent.

TheWorldBankdoesnotguaranteetheaccuracy,completeness,orcurrencyofthe

dataincludedinthisworkanddoesnotassumeresponsibilityforanyerrors,omissions,ordiscrepanciesintheinformation,orliabilitywithrespecttotheuseoforfailuretousetheinformation,methods,processes,orconclusionssetforth.Theboundaries,colors,

denominations,andotherinformationshownonanymapinthisworkdonotimplyanyjudgmentonthepartofTheWorldBankconcerningthelegalstatusofanyterritoryortheendorsementoracceptanceofsuchboundaries.

NothinghereinshallconstituteorbeconstruedorconsideredtobealimitationuponorwaiveroftheprivilegesandimmunitiesofTheWorldBank,allofwhicharespecificallyreserved.

RightsandPermissions—Thematerialinthisworkissubjecttocopyright.BecauseTheWorldBankencouragesdisseminationofitsknowledge,thisworkmaybereproduced,inwholeorinpart,fornoncommercialpurposesaslongasfullattributiontothisworkisgiven.

ThisOperationsNotedoesnotconstituteWorldBankPolicyorrequirementsandisnotmandatory.ItisadeliberativeinternaldocumentthatisupdatedperiodicallyandnotintendedfordistributionoutsideoftheWorldBank.

Anyqueriesonrightsandlicenses,includingsubsidiaryrights,shouldbeaddressedtoWorldBankPublications,TheWorldBankGroup,1818HStreetNW,Washington,DC20433,USA;fax:202-522-2625;e-mail:pubrights@.

SuggestedCitation:Yarrow,N.,Pynnonen,L.,Song,C.,Bhardwaj,R.,Spiezio,M.,2023.UseofAssistiveEducationTechnologiestoSupportChildrenwithVisualandHearingDifficultiesintheEastAsiaandPacificRegion

Coverphotocredits,IStockPhoto.DesignedbyVeronicaGadea.

Contents

Acknowledgementsiv

Abstractv

ExecutiveSummaryvi

Glossaryviii

1.Introduction1

2.ExistingRegionalAssistiveEdTechResearch5

LiteratureReview5

LimitedEvidenceandGapsinResearch7

EmergingSolutionsinEdTech8

3.PrivateSectorPerspectives10

TheAssistiveEdTechSpace:APrivateSectorPerspective10

Challenges12

RecommendationstoAddressMarketFailure16

4.AssistiveEdTechCountryCaseStudies18

Vietnam19

ThePhilippines23

Policydiscussion27

China28

Tonga34

5.ConclusionandRecommendations39

PublicSector40

EngagingthePrivateSector43

CommunityOrganizationsandNGOs45

ResearchCommunity46

WorldBankandMultilateralPartners46

6.References47

7.AnnexA:SystematicLiteratureReview55

8.AnnexB:SubjectsInterviewedforPrivateSectorSurvey65

9.AnnexC:SurveyDescription67

10.AnnexD:HardwareandSoftwareExamples68

Acknowledgements

WewouldliketothankAlejandroAlcalaGerez(OperationsManagerforChina,Korea,andMongolia,WorldBank)andCristianAedo(PracticeManageroftheEducation

GlobalPractice,EastAsiaandPacificRegion(HEAED),WorldBank)fortheirguidanceandsupport,andTaoSu(ProgramAssistant,WorldBank),forhersupport.Theauthorswouldalsoliketothankthefollowingreviewersandcontributors,whileretaining

allresponsibilityforanyerrorsorinaccuraciesfortheauthorsthemselves:HannaAlasuutari(WorldBank),DebbieMeiSiBong(IFC),FernandoBotelho(UNICEF),

DianneChambers(UniversityofNotreDameAustralia),MichaelDrabble(World

Bank),AlejandroAlcalaGerez(WorldBank),HenryGrageda(USAIDPhilippines),

SachikoKataoka(WorldBank),MariaAnaLugo(WorldBank),DeborahMikesell(WorldBank),YolandaQuijano(ResourcesfortheBlind),QingqingSong(ShanghaiNormal

University),TaNgocTri(MinistryofEducationandTraining,Vietnam),MatelitaTaufa(MinistryofEducationandTraining,Tonga),JanssenTeixeira(WorldBank),TranThiVang(VietnamNationalInstituteofEducationalSciences),VanNgaLe(ThuDuc

CongregationofLoversoftheHolyCross,Vietnam),HuafengZhang(ShanghaiNormal

University),MinxuanZhang(ShanghaiNormalUniversity),XiaohuZhu(ShanghaiNormalUniversity).

ThispublicationwasfinancedwithsupportfromtheChina-WorldBankGroupPartnershipfacility.

Thefindings,interpretations,andconclusionspresentedinthispaperareentirelythoseoftheauthors.TheydonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheInternationalBankforReconstructionandDevelopment/WorldBankanditsaffiliatedorganizationsorthoseoftheExecutiveDirectorsoftheWorldBankorthegovernmentsthattheyrepresent.

ivAcknowledgements

))

Abstract

Evidenceontheuptake,use,andimpactofEdTechatscaleonparticipationand

learningamongstudentswithdisabilitiesinlow-andmiddle-incomecountriesremains

verylimited.ThisreportpresentsfindingsonaccesstoEdTechforchildrenwith

difficultiesinhearingandvisioninmiddle-incomecountries(MICs)intheEastAsia

andPacific(EAP)regionusingthreeapproaches:(i)asystematicregionalliterature

review;(ii)interviewswith17actorsfromtheeducationtechnologyprivatesectoracross

theEAPregion;and(iii)casestudiesfromfourcountries:Vietnam,thePhilippines,

China,andTonga.ThemainfindingsfromtheliteraturereviewarethatmostEdTech

solutionsinEAPMICswereappliedatverysmallscale,withafocusonthetech

testingstage,andonlytwoofthe13identifiedstudiesfromasampleof1,661studies

measuredchangesinstudentlearningoutcomes.Theprivatesectorinterviewsindicate

qualitativelythatmostactorsinthisspaceareunawareoftheneedsofchildrenwith

visionandhearingdisabilities,andthatotherchallengessuchasprofitabilityand

generalinequalitiesrelatedtoaccesstodevicesandhigh-speedinternetreceivethe

mostattention.Thecasestudiesreportnoexamplesofnationaldeploymentofany

assistiveeducationtechnology,thoughtherearemultipleexamplesofsmall-scale

digitalapproachesdevelopedbyindividualschoolsorNGOsandsharedlocallyor,in

twocases,regionally.Inlookingatcountrycontextsforthecasestudies,wefounda

lackofpubliclyavailabledataonspendingforassistiveEdTechinEAP,alackofdata

on(a)prevalenceofdisabilitiesamongthestudentpopulation,(b)studentlearning,

and(c)studentpersistenceinhighergrades.Weexaminenewdataonpolicy-maker

estimatesofaccessandinclusionofchildrenwithdisabilities,andfindthatdespite

supportforinclusion,thereislargescopeforimprovingdatacollection,servicedelivery

andaccesstoassistiveEdTechinMICsintheEAPregion.

Keywords:EdTech,Child,Low-andMiddle-IncomeCountries,Deaf,Blind,Inclusive

Education,assistivetechnology

Abstractv

ExecutiveSummary

Assistiveeducationtechnologiescanbeeffectiveinsupportinglearningforchildren

withdisabilitiesandinreducinglearninginequalitiesbetweenchildrenwithandwithoutdisabilities,amajorconcerninEAPandglobally.Despitestronghouseholddemand

forassistiveeducationaltechnologiesandsupportfromdecisionmakers,evidenceforlarge-scaleuseofEdTechwithpositiveimpactsoneducationparticipationorlearningamongstudentswithdisabilitiesinlow-and-middleincomecountriesremainsvery

limited.Thisreportfocusesonhearingandvisionbecauseoftheirhighprevalence,

relativeeaseofidentification,andtheexistenceofmultipledevicestosupportlearningforchildrenwiththesechallenges.

Thisreportaimstoidentifyexamplesofassistiveeducationaltechnologiesusedat

scaleforchildrenwithdifficultiesinhearingandvisioninmiddle-incomecountriesin

theEAPregionutilizingthreeapproaches:(i)asystematicliteraturereviewtosearchforrelevantassistivetechnologiesdocumentedinpublishedjournalarticles;(ii)interviewswith17actorsfromtheeducationtechnologyprivatesectoracrosstheEAPregion;and(iii)casestudiesfromfourcountries:Vietnam,thePhilippines,China,andTonga.

Overall,wefindthatdespitesupportforinclusion,thereislargescopeforimproving

datacollection,servicedeliveryandaccesstoassistiveEdTechinMICsintheEAP

region.Basedonfindingsfromasystematicliteraturereview,themajorityofthe

assistiveeducationaltechnologiesthatmettheinclusion/exclusioncriteriaofthe

search,wereappliedatverysmallscale.Theseassistiveeducationaltechnologies

typicallyfocusedonthetestingstageandevaluateduserexperience.Onlytwoof

the13identifiedstudiesfromasampleof1,661studiesthatwereeligiblefortitleand

abstractscreening,measuredchangesinstudentlearningoutcomes.Thequalitative

interviewswiththeprivatesectoractorsindicatethatmostactorsinthisareaofinterestareunawareoftheneedsofchildrenwithvisionandhearingdisabilities.Withregardstoperceivedbarriersforprivatesectordevelopment,intervieweesalsoidentified

profitability,accesstodevicesandhigh-speedinternetaspotentialchallengesinthesector.Thecasestudiesreportnoexamplesofnationaldeploymentofanyassistive

educationtechnology,thoughtherearemultipleexamplesofsmall-scaledigital

approachesdevelopedbyindividualschoolsorNGOsandsharedlocallyor,intwo

cases,regionally.Inlookingatcountrycontextsforthecasestudies,wefoundalackofpubliclyavailabledataonspendingforassistiveEdTechinEAP,alackofdataon

prevalenceofdisabilitiesamongthestudentpopulation,studentlearning,andstudentpersistenceinhighergrades.

viExecutiveSummary

))

Weproposethefollowingrecommendations:

•Datareporting.Collectingandsharingdataonchildrenwithdisabilitiesisan

essentialroleofschools,subnationalandespeciallynationalgovernmentsto

ensurethatallchildrenarelearning.Inordertoimproveenrollmentandlearningforthesepopulations,itisessentialtodisaggregatetypesofdisabilitiesandtracklearningovertimeandtoregularlyreportandsharetheresults.

•Engagingtheprivatesector.Inorderforprivate-sectorcompaniestoidentifyandhelpaddressspecificchallenges,governmentsandmultilateralorganizationscanconductscopingstudies,public-privatesectordialoguemechanisms,andbroaderawarenesscampaigns.FinancialincentivesorassurancesfromgovernmentscanencouragemoreprivateEdTechplayerstoenterthissector.

•EngagingwithNGOs,researchgroups,andmultilateralorganizations.Thesegroupshaveoftendevelopedexpertiseinprovidingserviceswhileaddressingthemarketfailureinmeetingdemand.Theycanbeasourceoffeedbackandexperienceasgovernmentssupporttakingprovensolutionstoscale.

Photo:iStockPhoto

ExecutiveSummaryvii

•

•

•

•

•

Glossary

AssistiveTechnology.“Anumbrellatermforassistiveproductsandtheirrelatedsystemsandservices.Assistiveproductsmaintainorimproveanindividual’s

functioningandindependence,therebypromotingtheirwell-being.”1Examplesincludehearingaids,wheelchairs,andscreenreaders.

AssistiveEducationalTechnology(AssistiveEdTech).Assistiveproductsthatsupportandenrichteachingandlearning.

Disability.“Adisabilityisanyconditionofthebodyormind(impairment)thatmakesitmoredifficultforthepersonwiththeconditiontodocertainactivities(activitylimitation)andinteractwiththeworldaroundthem(participation

restrictions).Therearemanytypesofdisabilities,suchasthosethataffectaperson’s:vision,movement,thinking,remembering,learning,communicating,hearingmentalhealthandsocialrelationships.”2

InclusiveEducation.“Aneducationsystemthatincludesallstudents,and

welcomesandsupportsthemtolearn,whoevertheyareandwhatevertheir

abilitiesorrequirements.Thismeansmakingsurethatteachingandthecurriculum,schoolbuildings,classrooms,playareas,transportandtoiletsareappropriateforallchildrenatalllevels.Inclusiveeducationmeansallchildrenlearntogetherin

thesameschools.”3

SpecialNeedsEducation.“Educationdesignedtofacilitatethelearningof

individualswho,forawidevarietyofreasons,requireadditionalsupportand

adaptivepedagogicalmethodsinordertoparticipateandmeetlearning

objectivesinaneducationalprogram.Reasonsmayinclude(butarenotlimitedto)disadvantagesinphysical,behavioral,intellectual,emotionalandsocial

capacities.”4

1WorldHealthOrganization(2023).

2CentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention(2020).

3UnitedNationsChildren’sFunds(2017).

4UnitedNationsEducationalScientificandCulturalOrganizationInstituteforStatistics(2011).

viiiGlossary

Introduction

1

Shareofrespondants

1.Introduction

TheUnitedNationsConventionontheRightsofPersonswithDisabilities(CPRD)–

Article24recognizestherightofpersonswithdisabilitiestoeducation(CRPD,2006).

Inrealizingthisright,statepartiesshallensurethatpersonswithdisabilitiescanhave

equalaccesstoaninclusiveandqualityeducationaschildrenwithoutinequalities,

providingreasonableaccommodationbasedonindividual’srequirements.TheCPRD

formsthebasisofbroadsupportfromdecisionmakerstowardsinclusiveeducation

andaccommodation.Basedonaninternationalsurveyof602decisionmakersfrom

12countries(Figure1.1),over90percentofthedecisionmakersagreeorstronglyagree

withthestatementthatchildrenwithdisabilitiesdeservethesamelevelofaccessto

publicschoolingaschildrenwithoutdisabilities.WithintheEastAsiaandPacific(EAP)

region,forfiveselectedmiddle-incomecountries(MICs)—Vietnam,Laos,Philippines,

Indonesia,andMongolia—theaveragelevelofsupportishigherthantheaveragefor

othercountriessurveyed.Over72percentofthesampleddecisionmakersfromthese

fivecountriesstronglyagreewiththestatementwhichishigherthanthe49percent

averageofallothercountriessurveyed.Incomparison,whileoverallsupporttowards

theeducationofchildrenwithdisabilitiesisstrong,fewerdecisionmakersstrongly

supporttheneedtomakeaccommodationssothatchildrenwithdisabilitiescanbe

includedinregularclassroomswithchildrenwhodonothavedisabilities.

Figure1.1SupportforinclusiveeducationinfiveEAPcountries

andglobally

Childrenwithdisabilitiesdeservethesamelevelofaccess

topublicschooling

100%90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%

0%

StronglyagreesAgreesDisagressStronglydisagreesDoesnotknow

Introduction

3

Table1.1Continuumoftechnologyfromno/lowtohightech

Tech

Requirementsforuse

Maintenance

Electronics

Example

No/Low

Almostnone

None/Little

None

Magnifiers

Audiobooks

Medium

Sometraining

Some

Some

BrailleNotepadTexttospeech

High

Advancedtraining

High

Complex

Speech

recognition

Touchscreen

devices

Thisstudyaimstohelpfillthisgapintheliteraturebyfocusingonthedevelopment

anduseofmediumtohighassistiveeducationtechnologies—technologiesthatrequire

batteriesorelectricity—tosupportthelearningofchildrenwhohavefunctioning

difficultieswithvisionandhearing,acrossallstagesofeducation,andarefromtheEAP

region,includingchildrenfromthePacificIslandCountries.Thisobjectiveisachieved

throughasystematicreviewalongwithcountrycasestudiesanddatacollection

fromprivatesectoractors.Thesetwodisability-typeswereselectedduetotheirhigh

prevalence,possibilityofidentification,andtheexistenceofmultipledevicestosupport

learningforchildrenwiththesechallenges,thoughwenotetheverywiderange

ofindividualexperienceanddegreewithinthesespecificdisabilities.Wefocuson

medium-andhigh-techsolutionstobothexamineiftheinvestmentsindistancelearning

duringCOVID-19schoolclosuresbenefitedstudentswithdisabilities,andtorespond

totheinterestofgovernmentsinEAP—aregionthatishometo43.1millionchildren

withdisabilities,thesecondlargestgroupoftheworld(UnitedNationsChildren’s

Fund,2021).WhilepreviousstudiesfocusedonEdTechthatsupportslearnerswith

disabilities,theresearchisnotEAPspecificandeitherconcentratesonchildrenwho

havedifficultieshearing(Beal-Alvarez&Cannon,2014),orthosewhohavedifficulties

withvision(Kelly&Smith,2011).WhilepreviousstudiesfocusedonEdTechthatsupports

learnerswithdisabilities,theresearchisnotEAPspecificandeitherconcentrateson

childrenwhohavedifficultieshearing(Beal-Alvarez&Cannon,2014),orthosewho

havedifficultieswithvision(Kelly&Smith,2011).

Overall,wefindthatdespitesupportforinclusion,thereislargescopeforimproving

datacollection,servicedeliveryandaccesstoassistiveEdTechinMICsintheEAP

region.Basedonfindingsfromthesystematicliteraturereview,themajorityofthe

assistiveeducationaltechnologiesthatmettheinclusion/exclusioncriteriaofthe

search,wereappliedatverysmallscale.Theseassistiveeducationaltechnologies

typicallyfocusedonthetestingstageandevaluateduserexperience.Onlytwoof

the13identifiedstudiesfromasampleof1,661studiesthatwereeligiblefortitleand

abstractscreening,measuredchangesinstudentlearningoutcomes.Thequalitative

Introduction

4

interviewswiththeprivatesectoractorsindicatethatmostactorsinthisareaofinterestareunawareoftheneedsofchildrenwithvisionandhearingdisabilities.Withregardstoperceivedbarriersforprivatesectordevelopment,intervieweesalsoidentified

profitability,accesstodevicesandhigh-speedinternetaspotentialchallengesinthesector.Thecasestudiesreportnoexamplesofnationaldeploymentofanyassistive

educationtechnology,thoughtherearemultipleexamplesofsmall-scaledigital

approachesdevelopedbyindividualschoolsorNGOsandsharedlocallyor,intwo

cases,regionally.Inlookingatcountrycontextsforthecasestudies,wefoundalackofpubliclyavailabledataonspendingforassistiveEdTechinEAP,alackofdataon

prevalenceofdisabilitiesamongthestudentpopulation,studentlearning,andstudentpersistenceinhighergrades.

Thereportisorganizedasthefollowing.Thesecondsectionisasystematicreviewthatsearchedforjournalarticlespublishedoverthepast10yearsonassistiveeducation

technologiesforchildrenwithdisabilitiesintheMICsoftheEAPregion.Thethird

sectionprovidesadiscussionontheprivatesectorbasedoninterviewswithprivate

sectoractors.Thefourthsectionincludesfourcountrycasestudies—China,Philippines,TongaandVietnam,whichdescribestheeducationalcontextofeachcountryfor

childrenwithhearingandvisualdifficulties,andexampleAssistiveEdTechsolutionsthatwereidentifiedbythekeyinformants.Thelastsectionconcludes.

Photo:iStockPhoto

ExistingRegionalAssistiveEdTechResearch

5

2.ExistingRegional

AssistiveEdTech

Research

In2022,asystematicliteraturereview1wasconducted.Thereviewfoundthattherewas

limitedresearchontheuseofEdTechforchildrenwithvisualandhearingimpairments

intheEAPregion.Althoughatotalof1,661studieswereidentifiedbasedonkeysearch

terms,only13ofthe44studiesselectedforfull-textscreeningwereretainedand

analyzed.Evenaftershortlistingonlythemostsignificantresearchtobeincludedinthe

review,theselectedfewpapersstillhadafocusonlyonsmall-scaletestingofassistive

Edtech.Inaddition,thesestudieshadlimitedengagementwithkeystakeholderswithin

theeducationsystemandnodiscussionwithstakeholdersoutsidetheeducation

system,suchasgovernmentagencies.Thereviewalsofoundthatonlytwostudies

discussedcostsandonlyonestudycomparedthemwithmarketprices.Theevidence

oftheimpactofEdTechonlearningoutcomesforstudentswithdisabilitieswasfoundto

beextremelylimited,indicatinganeedforfurtherresearchinthisarea.

LiteratureReview

Thesystematicreviewfollowedapre-agreedprotocol,whichincludedfourselection

criteriaforeligiblestudies:(i)thetechnologysupportedstudentsaged3to25with

disabilitiesinaccessingeducation;(ii)thetechnologyrequiredelectricity;(iii)thetarget

populationresidedinanMICsintheEAPregion;and(iv)thearticlewaspublishedin

Englishwithinthepast10years.

Theselectionprocessbeganwithawebsearchofthreedatabases—WebofScience,

ProQuest,andERIC—fromwhich1,661studieswereretrieved.Usingtheinclusion/

exclusioncriteria,twoscreenersindependentlyreviewedthetitlesandabstractsof

thestudiesidentifiedinthefirstround.Athirdscreenerreviewedtheidentifiedstudies

whentherewasadisagreement.Thisprocessledtotheexclusionof1,617studiesand

theinclusionof44studiesdeemedeligibleforfull-textreading.Duringthefinalstepof

theselectionprocess,31additionalstudieswereexcluded,resultinginafinalsample

of13relevantstudiesthatmetallinclusioncriteria.Theagreementratesbetween

thetwoscreenerswerehigh,reaching93percentforthetitleandabstractscreening,

and80percentforthefulltextscreening.Two-thirdsofthestudieswereconducted

inMalaysiaandThailand,withtheremainingstudiesfocusedonthePhilippines

andIndonesia.Themajorityofthestudies(61.5percent)assessedsolutionsaimed

1ThefullliteraturereviewcanbefoundfromAnnexA.

6ExistingRegionalAssistiveEdTechResearch

atsupportingchildrenwithvisualimpairments,whilejust30.8percentinvestigated

solutionsforchildrenwithhearingimpairments,andonlyonestudylookedattailoredsolutionsforboth.Almostallstudies(69.2percent)focusedonsoftwareprograms

forchildrenwithsensoryimpairments,withjustahandfulofstudies(23.1percent)

concentratingonhardwareandoneonbothhardwareandsoftwareprograms.Aroundhalfoftheincludedstudi