Understanding the adoption and diffusion of educational technology: Evidence from Peru

Last registered on December 17, 2021

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Understanding the adoption and diffusion of educational technology: Evidence from Peru
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008663
Initial registration date
December 14, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
December 17, 2021, 10:23 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Northwestern University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
IADB
PI Affiliation
GRADE
PI Affiliation
IADB

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2021-07-13
End date
2022-06-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This project explores the adoption and diffusion of an online math curriculum (Connecta Ideas) designed to provide a remote learning environment among 4th to 6th grade students in Lima,Peru. 188 primary schools from the second lowest quintile of academic performance in Lima, Peru, are randomly assigned to four treatment arms: (i) an intensive teacher intervention that pairs some teachers with coordinators to assist with take-up and use, (ii) a low-cost teacher intervention that provides some teachers with virtual workshops to encourage take-up and use, (iii) a school-wide intervention providing virtual workshops to all teachers, and (iv) a control group that receives no treatment. We will examine which teachers are more likely to adopt the online math curriculum and how this educational technology is diffused to students and other teachers.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cristia, Julian et al. 2021. "Understanding the adoption and diffusion of educational technology: Evidence from Peru." AEA RCT Registry. December 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8663-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This project explores the adoption and diffusion of an online math curriculum (Connecta Ideas) designed to support math learning among 4th to 6th grade students. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education in Lima, 188 primary schools from the second lowest quintile of academic performance in Lima, Peru, are randomly assigned to four treatment arms:
T1: An intensive teacher intervention that pairs some teachers with coordinators to assist with take-up and use,
T2: A low-cost teacher intervention that provides some teachers with virtual workshops to encourage take-up and use,
T3: A school-wide intervention providing virtual workshops to all teachers,
C: A control group that receives no treatment.
Intervention (Hidden)
In the intensive teacher (T1) intervention, each teacher will be assigned a coordinator to assist them with signing up and using the CI platform. The coordinators will be responsible for providing information about the existence and benefits of the CI platform, helping teachers sign up for and use the CI platform, and providing reports and personalized reminders to encourage their students to use the CI platform. In the low-intensity teacher (T2) intervention, some teachers in each school will be introduced to the CI platform through virtual workshops and receive automated text messages providing information about the CI platform, links to instructional videos, and additional text reminders to follow up on the use of the CI platform by their students. Finally, the low intensity school-wide intervention (T3) is analogous to the low-intensity teacher intervention (T2) but with virtual workshops and automated text messages made available to all the teachers in the school. This final treatment mimics the national strategy of offering school-wide webinars that is being rolled out across Peru. Note that the intensive teacher (T1) intervention also begins with virtual workshops, together with the T2 and T3 interventions.

How does the remote version of the CI platform work? Students can access CI from cell phones, tablets, laptops or computers to solve exercises and mathematical problems posed in thematic units. Each week there is a new thematic unit in Conecta Ideas. These thematic units are aligned with the curriculum and the materials reviewed that week in “Aprendo en Casa,” a learning platform broadcasted by radio and TV that was specifically designed by the Ministry of Education in Peru to promote remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students can do the CI exercise offline or online. The app only needs to be online once a week to download the new thematic unit and upload the results obtained in the previous week. The platform also incorporates game elements ("gamification") to make the use of the platform more engaging for students. Every time a student performs a CI activity, the system records highly detailed information and sends teachers a weekly report, which should help teachers identify learning needs, provide individual feedback, and readjust their math sessions.
Intervention Start Date
2021-08-12
Intervention End Date
2021-12-17

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
We will focus on one main outcome for our measure of adoption/diffusion of the CI platform:
1) Teacher created at least one student account

We will also focus on one main outcome for a measure of potential learning associated with the CI platform:
2) Number of CI exercises completed per student
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Both of the primary outcomes are derived from administrative data collected from CI platform.
1) Teacher created at least one student account - this is a measure of CI adoption on the extensive margin that is solely under the teacher's control.
2) Number of CI exercises completed per student - this is a measure of student engagement with the CI platform that is likely to be correlated with learning.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
While we have focused on two primary outcomes, we view them as part of a sequential process of CI adoption and diffusion, reflected in the following outcomes:
- Teacher registered to CI
- Teacher created at least one CI student account
- Number of CI student accounts created by teacher
- Share of student ever connected to CI
- Number of CI exercises completed by students
- Number of CI exercises per student connected

In addition, we are collecting a number of additional outcomes that capture use of educational technology, time spent on different instructional activities, and communication with families.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experimental sample for this study includes 188 public primary schools in Lima, administered by the regional education authority, known as the Dirección Regional de Educación de Lima Metropolitana (DRELM). These are schools in Metropolitan Lima from the second lowest quintile of the average national test scores from 2016 to 2019.

The randomization consists of two stages. In the first stage, schools are assigned to the different treatment arms as follows:
- 47 schools in the control group
- 47 schools in the intensive (T1) teacher intervention
- 47 schools in the low-cost (T2) teacher intervention
- 47 schools in the low-cost (T3) school-wide intervention
The randomization is stratified according to average test scores from 2016 to 2019.

In the second stage, one teacher from grade 4 and one teacher from grade 6 are randomly assigned to treatment within T1 and T2 schools. The randomization of teachers to treatment within schools serves several purposes. Most important, this will enable us to explore the diffusion of adoption within grades 4 and 6, and across to grade 5. If the diffusion within schools is limited, it will also increase our ability to discern impacts on learning outcomes by estimating effects from within-school comparisons. If the diffusion within schools is extensive, we will still be able to estimate the impacts from across-school comparisons. In addition, the randomization within schools reduces the cost and facilitates the implementation of the intensive (T1) teacher intervention.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization is done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
The first stage of randomization will be at the school level (188 units randomized into four groups of 47)
In two of the treatment arms (T1 and T2), treatment will be randomized across teachers within school/grade.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
First stage of randomization: 188 schools (into four groups of 47)
Second stage of randomization: 2 treated teachers per school (out of 47*2=94 schools)
Sample size: planned number of observations
Number of schools: 188 Number of teachers: approx. 1800
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
For the first stage of randomization:
- 47 schools in the intensive (T1) teacher intervention
- 47 schools in the low-cost (T2) teacher intervention
- 47 schools in the low-cost (T3) school-wide intervention
- 47 schools in the control group

For the second stage of randomization:
- 2 treated teachers
- 2 untreated teachers (but varies by school)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Northwestern University
IRB Approval Date
2021-10-22
IRB Approval Number
STU00215958
IRB Name
Comite Institucional de Bioetica de Via Libre
IRB Approval Date
2020-11-05
IRB Approval Number
6208

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials