UNICEF: Learning Passport Initiative Supports Teachers and Students Inclusion in the Digital Economy in Developing Countries, Refugee Camps, and Post-Conflict Zones
Interview with Mac Glovinsky, from UNICEF, on the Partnership with Cambridge University and Microsoft to Accelerate Entry in the Digital Economy
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Partnership with Cambridge University and Microsoft Accelerates Entry in the Digital Economy
The UN Brief interviewed Mac Glovinsky to speak about the Learning Passport, a partnership with Microsoft and Cambridge University to accelerate onboarding of children and adolescents in the digital economy, through educational tools.
Glovinsky is the Principal Global Program Manager of the Learning Passport, and is based at the UN headquarters in New York. The Learning Passport is an educational tool that allows for learning on-and-offline. They have rolled-out at post-conflict areas, and in developing countries, helping children to continue their education and allowing them to carry their curriculum wherever they are, as they will eventually move out of refugee camps and thanks to these tools will be able to continue their studies at the appropriate grade level.
These are one of the many ways that new technologies are supporting the continuity of education in what are very trying situations for these children and their families.
Here are some of the places where they have already launched:
Honduras
Alejandro, 11 years old, has been out of school for a year and three months. He is currently in fifth grade and uses the Learning Passport platform daily to reinforce the content that his teacher teaches him via virtual classes.
Jordan, Syrian refugee camp
Amani, 19 years old, loves the Learning Passport for all the different learning options she has there, and in particular she loved the English classes, computer courses, Arabic, social interaction courses, and life skills curriculum.
Zimbabwe
Using a laptop to access the Learning Passport in a classroom
Zimbabwe
Rufaro, 9, uses her laptop at home to access the Learning Passport
Photos Courtesy of UNICEF
Glovinsky is the lead on the deployment and scalability of the Learning Passport, and is responsible for product, partnerships, communications, and fundraising. He understands product and deployment inside out, and has worked for UNICEF, in the field, for several years.
