From chalkboards to digital devices: How technology is transforming ECDE classrooms
Murang’a County in Kenya is implementing a digital learning program in ECDE classrooms using tablets loaded with curriculum-approved content. The initiative, partnered with EIDU, aims to bridge foundational learning gaps in literacy and numeracy for young children.
Why it matters
The program serves as a scalable model for integrating educational technology in resource-constrained environments to improve early childhood development outcomes.
A teachers assists an ECDE child use the learning device at St Patrick's comprehensive school, Gilgil, Nakuru/COURTESY
For a seven-year-old child struggling to pronounce a simple word such as “cat”, the difference between repeating it incorrectly and getting it right can begin with something as small as a digital device.
Inside a classroom at Ng’araria Primary School in Murang’a county, children take turns interacting with tablets loaded with lessons designed to teach them reading, writing and arithmetic.
The devices do not connect to the internet, carry games or function like ordinary smartphones. Instead, they contain curriculum-approved content, lesson guides and assessments designed to help children build foundational skills at an early age.
For teachers, the technology is changing how lessons are prepared and delivered while for parents, it provides a clearer picture of what their children can do and where they need help.
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