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by morganya 1611 days ago
As with many projects, there was quite a range in acceptance/uptake! Language was certainly a factor (more rural schools - which were also poorer on average - tended to be more Guarani-centric), but I would say that based on my observations it was not the most significant factor for uptake at school or at home.

In the classroom, bigger factors that limited uptake were breakage, drained batteries (most classrooms had minimal charging capacity, and even that capacity had been installed by Paraguay Educa), uninstalled software, and lack of teacher time/resources to develop curricula and work around all of these issues. Paraguay Educa hired teacher trainers in early 2010 and had a rotating tech support team to help with these issues, and this extra staff made some headway, but that kind of ongoing cost wasn't something the small NGO could sustain, unfortunately. (I have a long discussion about funding for charismatic new projects vs. maintenance/sustainability of existing projects in the book - as with many tech projects, maintenance was certainly a big issue!)

Kids who used them at home did tend to be stronger in Spanish, but relatively few were using them much at all, Spanish-speaking or not. While I didn't see improvements in reading or math among those who were part of the project there between 2010 and 2013 testing (though the testing was really not my focus - the observations and interviews were - we still ran them), it's common in other 1:1 programs to have modest gains in literacy because enough kids are motivated to practice reading to make sense of what they encounter on the Internet.

I hope this helps! Happy to clarify or answer follow-ups!