The Learning Passport in Latin America and the Caribbean
Digital learning solutions for every child and adolescent in the region
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What is the Learning Passport?
The Learning Passport, a collaborative initiative between UNICEF and Microsoft, stands as one of UNICEF’s flagship initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. A comprehensive digital education platform, Learning Passport’s primary mission is to provide children and adolescents with continuous access to high-quality educational content in line with their distinct learning needs. Through its cross-device functionality and offline capabilities, the Learning Passport ensures continuity of access regardless of connectivity gaps. This key feature empowers students to maintain their learning regardless of prevailing constraints, thereby helping bridge the digital divide and facilitate equity of access.
Learning Passport functions as a highly flexible and adaptable virtual education solution. Countries can quickly adopt the platform as their national learning management system or, alternatively, as a complement to enhance their existing digital learning platforms. The Learning Passport’s versatility allows for nations to seamlessly integrate the Learning Passport into their educational landscapes. Whether used as a cornerstone of a national education system, or as an addition to an established digital platform, the Learning Passport can serve to bolster the learning outcomes for students across diverse settings.
How did Learning Passport come about?
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closures led to a prolonged disruption of educational processes within Latin America and the Caribbean, unveiling the formidable obstacles that nations face in the effective provision of remote education. While this situation precipitated a profound learning crisis, it allowed us to better understand the significance of technology in education, and the pivotal role technology can play in addressing rapidly evolving intra-system challenges. It was within this context that the Learning Passport initiative was conceived, brought to life through a collaborative partnership between UNICEF and Microsoft. Emerging as a response to the suddenly urgent need for innovative educational solutions, the Learning Passport harnesses Microsoft Community Training tools to provide education stakeholders with digital learning content that the majority of times is aligned with the national curricula.
Learning Passport in Latin America and the Caribbean
Since the COVID-19 education crisis, Learning Passport has undergone a rapid global expansion, extending its reach to more than 33 countries, including 6 in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Within this region, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, and Costa Rica, are at the forefront, leading/driving the development of the Learning Passport. A testament to the Learning Passport’s adaptability, each country has tailored the platform to specific needs, exhibiting varying degrees of implementation, integration, and innovation within their respective systems.
Currently, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Eastern Caribbean Countries (ECA) are in the initial stages of adapting and developing the Learning Passport to their teaching-learning contexts and needs.
Rapid expansion in Latin America and the Caribbean
| Costa Rica | Honduras | Jamaica | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Platform: Aprendo Pura Vida Seeks to reduce learning losses resulting from school closures and any potential future interruptions in education. Boasts the highest number registered users globally, with aproximatley 1,356,333 students and teachers. |
Platform: Educatrachos Offers more than 550 virtual courses in primary and secondary education for the 14,000 students enrolled. The contents align with the formal curricula and also includes skills development opportunities. |
Platform: Learning Passport Jamaica Aims to mitigate the learning losses caused by school closures for students in grades 1 -3. Contributes to improve the educational experience and strengthen the development of fundational learning in reading, writing and arithmetic. |
Platform: Learning Passport Mexico Seeks to mitigate learning losses following the pandemic, especially in grades 10 through 12 of high school. Offers more than 12 interactive courses with more than 300,000 active students and teachers. |
Countries in early stages of adoption of the platform
| Brazil | Dominican Republic | Eastern Caribbean Countries |
|---|---|---|
|
Two platforms, one for students -"1 Million Opportunities"- and another for educators (including indigenous teachers). Promotes the development of transferable skills in adolescents and youth, and supports them in their transition from school to the workforce. |
Digital platform for early childhood education and development. | Digital platforms with contents developed by the Ministries of Education in the ECA region, which reflect the curricula of formal education in the different countries and territories. |
Advantages of the Learning Passport
Through the Learning Passport, countries support students’ access to high-quality educational materials, even in regions with unreliable or absent internet connections. This achievement is made possible by the Learning Passport's unique combination of online and offline functionalities and resources.
Through the Learning Passport, countries can enhance overall learning outcomes and address the challenges posed by mixed-level classes, high teacher-pupil ratios, and the corollary limitations on interaction time.
Through the Learning Passport, countries are provided locally tailored content, alongside supplementary resources proven impactful in other countries. Furthermore, UNICEF’s is making ongoing efforts to further expand the Learning Passport resource library: incorporating open educational resources (OER) and content contributions from private enterprises. Through this expansion we seek to further diversify our collection of learning resources, providing a broader array of complementary materials for students and teachers.
How does the Learning Passport enhance education delivery and accessibility?
The integration of digital learning solutions, such as the Learning Passport, allows for the:
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Improvement of quality with timeliness of teacher-student interaction.
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Facilitation of ongoing assessment as a tool for adaptive instruction.
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Cultivation of learning environments in which students find enjoyment and develop personal interests.
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Customization of instruction and educational materials.
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Adaptation of instruction to enable educators to address specific learning challenges.
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Differentiation of teaching according to the unique progress and pace of individual learners.
In our region, the Learning Passport program works to:
Develop capacities and skills
With the Learning Passport, both students and teachers can develop and/or strengthen different skills within the platform according to their needs and interests. Among other strategic competencies are the digital skills that are key to navigate today's interconnected world.
In addition, this platform also builds capacity in Ministries of Education and other stakeholders, motivating work with online education platforms and moving towards the development of the local digital learning ecosystem.
Promote innovative educational practices
When Learning Passport is integrated into everyday pedagogical practice, it is possible to discover new ways of teaching and learning. This translates into more effective, adapted and attractive experiences for students.
In addition to leveraging technology to transform education, this platform also encourages teachers to innovate in their day-to-day work, in turn promoting the development of innovative educational alternatives that use technology.
Promoting cross-sector/impactful alliances
With our partners in the public and private sectors, we are exploring the possibilities of working on policies and plans that can achieve greater results and advance the digital education ecosystem at both the country and regional level.
Undertake local advocacy processes
The Learning Passport serves as an entry point to foster dialogue with decision-makers on key educational issues.
These conversations cover the importance of developing and improving the digital education ecosystem, as well as the different components involved, such as connectivity, devices, accessible content, affordable data, among others.
Generate evidence
The Learning Passport enables the utilization of data as evidence to inform country office initiatives and concurrently produce vital insights to assess the progress and learning outcomes attained through platform implementation.
Promote the participation of children and adolescents
The opinions and contributions of children, adolescents and teachers are key during the process of defining the digital education platform.
For this reason, with the Learning Passport, these actors play a central role during the planning, implementation and monitoring of the platform.
Learn about the experiences of implementing Learning Passport in Latin America and the Caribbean
