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Integrating Education Accessibility for Marginalized Communities Across the Western Hemisphere

SpeakerS:

Dina Buchbinder, Founder & President, Education for Sharing
Alana Tummino, Senior Director, Partnerships and Development, Latin America, Sesame Workshop
Hector Mujica, Head of Economic Opportunity, Google.org; Concordia Advisor

Key takeaways & next steps:

  • Technology can be used to drive access and distribution of educational resources. It is critical, however, to decipher what technology to use in a specific setting, while simultaneously considering the full range of technology from high technology to low technology. 
  • The role of community is a central aspect to improving access to education, so we must continually focus on the interests and needs of the community.
  • Emphasis must be placed on early childhood development as a basic need for communities affected by crisis.
  • COVID-19’s impact on access to education in Latin America and the U.S. brought attention to the benefits of learning through play and its ability to create bonds between children, caregivers, teachers, and communities as seen in part through the Sesame Street Muppets.
  • To truly improve access to education, it is imperative to look holistically at a system-wide approach that engages children, parents, teachers, and practitioners, as well local and national policymakers, in order to bring new and improved practices into the classroom. 

“The path that connects human to human is something that we cannot forget. And so, in education policies going forward, if governments are really serious about making this a priority, then they also need to prioritize the relationships that can be formed through technology to rescue the loss of learning and trauma that we’ve been through.”

 

Dina Buchbinder, Founder & President, Education for Sharing

“The more that we can coordinate our work across ministries of education, and local ministries of education, that’s when we can really start seeing change and have the sustainability of these programs long after a specific intervention is over.”

 
Alana Tummino, Senior Director, Partnerships & Development, Latin America, Sesame Workshop

“I really see technology as both a tool and an amplifier in many ways. It can both amplify the best in humanity and the worst, which is why it’s so important that we’re having that human-centered focus.”

 
Hector Mujica, Head of Economic Opportunity, Google.org; Concordia Advisor

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