Latin America and the Caribbean is in the midst of an educational crisis. Though enrollment in primary school has grown and today is nearly universal, average completion rates for secondary school stand at 64 percent compared to an average of 79 percent for OECD countries. Moreover, only 35 percent of 15-year-old students in Latin America attain minimum competency in math, way … [Read more...] about Leveraging Technology to Reduce Student Dropout and Improve Learning
#technology
Face-Ageing Technology to Boost Fitness, Savings, and Other Positive Behaviors
No matter how old we are, it is hard to imagine getting older. We are biased towards our present self and disconnected from our future one, stinting on our pension contributions, underinvesting in our education, and eating and exercising poorly with the mistaken feeling that the future will never catch up with us. This present bias -along with an excess of optimism and … [Read more...] about Face-Ageing Technology to Boost Fitness, Savings, and Other Positive Behaviors
Vaccinating Kids Against the Learning Loss of School Closures
Like millions of mothers around Latin America, Liliana Domador was forced to juggle a job, with the raising of and even teaching of her child as the Covid-19 pandemic closed down schools and afflicted the greatest interruption of in-class education in the region's history. So Domador, a 34-year-old Peruvian mother, was delighted when … [Read more...] about Vaccinating Kids Against the Learning Loss of School Closures
Boosting Math Education with Technology during the Pandemic and After
Education in Latin America and the Caribbean is facing an unprecedented crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced governments to close schools in the vast majority of countries, forcing study to take place at home partly through computers and other devices. But many teachers are still unprepared to use technology effectively in the learning process. And there are long standing … [Read more...] about Boosting Math Education with Technology during the Pandemic and After
A Nobel Prize for Development: A Look From Inside the IDB
The awarding of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer hits close to home for several reasons. First, in bringing "an experimental approach to alleviating global poverty," as the Nobel committee said in its Oct. 14 announcement of the prize, these distinguished economists have changed the way we do research at the Research … [Read more...] about A Nobel Prize for Development: A Look From Inside the IDB