Client: Cotton on Foundation

Description: Ichuli has piloted and utilized ‘dumb’ technologies for electronic data collection, training and mentoring of teachers and teacher trainers for a range of clients using basic mobile phones through SMS, USSD short code, and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platforms. These leverage menus of options for users to navigate through using a free SMS service or by following voice-activated prompts. The approach allows for ongoing engagement of beneficiaries and stakeholders in the field by asking follow-up questions from initial surveys; informational questions regarding progress and experiences; and self-reported data regarding performance following initial trainings and skills development workshops. Digitizing these interventions also allows organizations to greatly expand their approaches to electronic data collection from a range of partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries, as many people have access to simple mobile phones in their homes, schools and communities.

Ichuli was contracted to support the Cotton on Foundation team to design and execute their teacher mentoring and training program using SMS/USSD (text messages) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). The goals of the SMS and IVR component include: extending elements of literacy training and support; encouraging better classroom management for literacy lessons; monitoring teacher and pupil attendance; linking training to ongoing lesson delivery; providing tips to teachers to improve their pedagogy and collect additional data on classroom assessment; and extend learning by providing teachers with simulated games and activities to apply their knowledge from a training or mentoring session to real-life classroom situations and activities. SMS and IVR prioritized components of COF’s monitoring and evaluation framework and assisted the team with real time data collection. Ichuli’s user dashboards also allowed for generation of reports in real time by the COF team to provide feedback on teacher progress and to identify areas for further training and support.