Learning Equality

Learning Equality
Name	Learning Equality
Founded	2012
Headquarters	San Francisco, California
Founders	Adam Holber, Ryan McGrath
Type	Nonprofit organization
Focus	Offline educational resources, open-source software, digital learning

Learning Equality is a nonprofit organization that develops open-source educational technology for offline and low-connectivity environments, with flagship software designed for distribution in remote communities, refugee settlements, and under-resourced schools. The organization works across international development, humanitarian response, and academic collaboration with partners to deploy libraries, training programs, and tools that enable self-directed learning and teacher support.

History

Founded in 2012 by Adam Holber and Ryan McGrath, the organization emerged from collaborations with Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and makers of the Raspberry Pi to prototype offline content servers. Early pilots tested deployments with UNICEF country offices, Save the Children programs, and World Vision operations in regions such as Kenya, Uganda, and Haiti. Subsequent phases included partnerships with UNHCR, Médecins Sans Frontières, and national ministries including the Ministry of Education (Zambia) and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development to adapt content and scale field operations. Major milestones include the release of a stable platform used in refugee camps like Dadaab and Zaatari and recognition from funders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google.org, and Omidyar Network.

Mission and Activities

The stated mission aligns with goals promoted by agencies like UNESCO, United Nations, and Global Partnership for Education to expand access to learning through technology. Core activities span software development, content curation, teacher professional development, and logistics for hardware distribution with collaborators such as World Bank education projects, African Union initiatives, and country-level agencies including the Department for International Development (UK). Programmatic work includes training with civil society groups like BRAC, Room to Read, and Columbia University teacher education programs, as well as humanitarian deployments coordinated with International Rescue Committee and Norwegian Refugee Council.

Products and Technologies

The organization develops a content delivery platform integrated with hardware appliances such as low-cost servers inspired by Raspberry Pi and devices used in projects like One Laptop per Child. Its software supports offline access to repositories including Khan Academy, Wikipedia, CK-12 Foundation, PhET Interactive Simulations, and collections from publishers such as Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press that have collaborated for licensing. Technical components intersect with standards and tools from Mozilla Foundation, OpenStreetMap mapping data for contextual resources, and content packaging approaches compatible with SCORM and xAPI for learning analytics used in studies by Stanford University and MIT Media Lab.

Partnerships and Funding

Funding and partnerships include philanthropic grantmakers like the Gates Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Open Society Foundations, alongside corporate support from entities such as Google, Microsoft, and Intel Corporation for hardware and cloud credits. Implementation partners encompass international NGOs like Save the Children, Plan International, and Catholic Relief Services, academic institutions including University of Cape Town, Makerere University, and University of Oxford, plus multilateral agencies such as UNICEF and UNHCR. Collaborative research projects have been funded by bilateral donors like USAID and DFID and conducted with evaluators at RAND Corporation and International Rescue Committee research units.

Impact and Evaluation

Impact assessments have been carried out with independent evaluators including J-PAL affiliates, researchers from Harvard Kennedy School, and teams at University College London comparing deployments in contexts like South Sudan, Nicaragua, and Pakistan. Reported outcomes cover metrics such as learner engagement, teacher usage patterns, and retention where NGOs like Save the Children and agencies like UNICEF documented improvements in access to curriculum-aligned materials. Academic publications from collaborators at Stanford University, University of Cambridge, and UCL Institute of Education analyze efficacy, scalability, and cost-effectiveness relative to alternative interventions promoted by entities like The World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Governance and Organization

The organization is governed by a board that has included representatives from civil society, philanthropy, and technology sectors connected to institutions such as Mozilla Foundation, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Operational teams coordinate software engineering, content partnerships, field operations, and monitoring and evaluation with staff and advisors drawn from networks including USAID country education advisors, researchers from MIT Media Lab, and education specialists formerly with Save the Children and BRAC. Legal and financial oversight aligns with nonprofit reporting standards observed by comparable organizations like Teach For All and Room to Read.

Category:Non-profit organizations Category:Open-source software Category:Educational technology