Audio Now!: A Proven Child Development Program
Across the globe, the pandemic has disrupted educational systems and children’s learning. With EDC’s help, communities are turning to a powerful tool: interactive radio.
For 30 years, EDC has implemented interactive audio instruction (IAI) programs, reaching 24 countries, over 100 million learners, and hundreds of thousands of facilitators—with dramatic learning results. We have an extensive catalog of standards-aligned content, deep implementation expertise, and a strong local presence throughout the world.
What we need are partners able to join forces with us to meet the current global pandemic. Together, we can keep young people learning.
Why Audio Is a Powerful Tool
IAI is a distance learning technology that benefits children whose educational systems have been disrupted or halted due to the pandemic. EDC has used audio to reach children unserved by conventional programs, in unstable and conflict-affected regions, and where broadband is not widely available. We do this by delivering low-cost, culturally appropriate education via broadcast radio and mobile audio technology.
Join Our Efforts
EDC has expertise working on all aspects of audio programming, especially in resource-lean settings. We understand all aspects of the supply chain, including content development and distribution, stakeholder roles, hardware and infrastructure, and assessments and evaluation.
We are in conversation with governments, donors, and other stakeholders actively responding to the pandemic, including USAID, the World Bank, ministries of education, school districts, and NGOs. Because radio broadcast is likely the quickest and most effective way to disseminate existing audio education resources widely, we are quickly repurposing our catalog of audio programs.
Read more about Audio Now!
Contact Helen Boyle to discuss partnership opportunities.
EDC’s Catalog of Programs
EDC’s existing IAI programs are available in a variety of languages, including English, Spanish, French, Malagasy, Chichewa, Bamanankan, Songhai, Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, and Somali. Program content includes literacy, math, social studies, science, foreign and second language instruction and life skills. It is aligned to standards and best practices and was validated by ministries of education at the time the programs were developed. We can make these programs available to donors and host country governments to use with COVID-19 recovery.
Read “Repurposing Established Radio and Audio Series to Address the COVID-19 Educational Crises.” | Français
Please contact Rachel Christina for further information about accessing and repurposing any of these resources.
See IAI in Action
- Interactive Audio Instruction Videos – Examples from EDC's work around the globe
Evidence
- Distance Education for Teacher Training: Modes, Models, and Methods
- Tuned in to Student Success: Assessing the Impact of IRI
- Examining the Impact of Teacher Practice on Student Learning in Interactive Radio Instruction Classrooms: Lessons from New Delhi and Rajasthan
- Fostering Early Math Comprehension: Experimental Evidence from Paraguay
- Radio Instruction to Strengthen Education and Zanzibar Teacher Upgrading by Radio: Post Project
- EDC's presentation to the World Bank about IAI: Slides | Recording
- Five Myths about Educational Radio
- Tuning into Radio-Based Education in the Age of COVID-19 – EDC's Learning at Taonga Market program
Toolkits
- Repurposing Established Radio and Audio Series to Address the COVID-19 Educational Crises | Français
- Learning at Home in Times of Crisis Using Radio: Interactive Audio Instruction Repurposing Toolkit: Summary | Français | Español
- Improving Education Quality through Interactive Radio Instruction
- Expanding Access to Early Childhood Development Using Interactive Audio Instruction | Français
Other Resources
- Reaching Students with Radio during the Pandemic (BBC)
- Mobilizing Audio for Learning During and After COVID-19
- Remote Learning during COVID-19: EDC Interactive Audio Instruction Finds New Purpose
- Online Learning May Not Be for Everyone. Radio Is.
- A Radio-Based Approach to Learning during COVID-19
- School, interrupted: 4 options for distance education to continue teaching during COVID-19
- Listen to the Radio…and Learn!
- Interactive Radio Instruction : A Successful Permanent Pilot Project?
- English for Latin America
- Advancing Youth Project Interactive Audio Instruction Programs in Liberia
- Delivering Phone-Based Care: A Valuable Lifeline during COVID-19
- Lessons Learned about Remote Learning from Liberia's Ebola Crisis
- World Bank: Remote Learning, EdTech & COVID-19 – EDC developed resources in "Educational radio" section