Learning Equality’s Project Based Learning Curriculum: Why, What & How
Last year, we shared what we had learned from developing and piloting Flying Colors, an innovative approach to tech-enabled project-based learning in low-resource, low-connectivity learning environmentsThe project was a collaboration between Learning Equality, Hopelink Action Foundation Uganda, and Amal Alliance. The aim of the project was to build foundational and social emotional skills through play and critical thinking, as well as re-engage vulnerable, out of school refugee children in Uganda back into learning, and prepare them for mainstream education. You can explore further details about the program on this blog post.
Building on the Flying Colors pilot, we revised both its educational and guidance materials, and packaged them into an openly-licensed Project-Based Learning (PBL) Curriculum and Toolkit channel, available in the Kolibri Library.
Making these resources publicly accessible is closely aligned with our mission of building equity in education. Now, anyone can facilitate their own project-based learning program in their classroom or learning center.
What is the PBL Curriculum & Toolkit Channel
The PBL Curriculum and Toolkit channel is a comprehensive resource for educators and program administrators to implement a project-based learning program that integrates blended, student centered, and social-emotional learning. The curriculum is aligned to the P3 Abridged Ugandan National curriculum and aims to equip learners with foundational literacy and numeracy skills.
Project-based learning can be challenging to implement for teachers, as they need to coach learners, prepare the resources, and manage class time. They also need to design the driving question, the rubric, and scaffold the projects into the curricula.
With our PBL Curriculum, we tried to address those challenges. Clicking through the channel on Kolibri, you will find:
- 21 weeks of lesson plans that guide educators on facilitating the content by optimizing instructional time. Lesson plans include options for differentiation and are easily customizable to different learners’ needs;
- Projects-based learning components and elements seamlessly planned and embedded in classroom activities. The sessions follow this structure: 1) introduction to the driving question and project; 2) a combination of independent research and collaboration and teamwork: 3) allocated time for project design and peer feedback, and 4) a public presentation of the final product evaluated using a rubric;
- Three parent and caregiver engagement sessions at the beginning, mid-point, and end of the program, where parents and caregivers are effectively and strategically included as active contributors to the success of their children’s learning;
- Fully adaptable and customizable Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) tools, such as teacher training surveys, training needs assessments, formative assessments, and project rubrics;
- Aligned, open-source digital resources that are high quality, engaging, and relevant to the local context. Some content sources include Khan Academy, Ubongo Kids, and Bookbot;
- Access to an innovative digital social and emotional learning program, Colors of Kindness, which utilizes a trauma-informed, play-based approach and includes activities such as art, movement, breathwork, and storytelling;
- And most importantly, the channel includes a phased teacher capacity building approach for sustainable impact, with a detailed Training of Trainers (ToT) manual, community of practice guidance, interactive training slide decks, and training participant workbooks. All designed to best equip educators with the skills to implement the program.
To learn more about what’s in the channel, watch the following demo video:
Methodology: Understanding the Needs
Many members of the Learning Equality team are educators, myself included. We know firsthand what it’s like being in a classroom with 20+ learners with varying interests and needs. We know the challenges teachers face when juggling competing priorities between managing a class, completing admin tasks, preparing lessons, addressing parents’ concerns and much, much more. We knew that whatever resources we were going to create needed to be teacher friendly, straightforward, and easy to use. We also wanted to make sure that whatever we created would address an actual need. Therefore, it was imperative to adopt participatory approaches, where teachers who woulduse these resources were included in the design process.
So, why did we move forward with designing a tech-enabled foundational literacy and numeracy project based learning curriculum and toolkit that integrated social and emotional learning skills?
Because that’s what the research, the experts, and the teachers all indicated was needed to improve learning outcomes and enhance learning motivation.
The Research
According to researchers at the University of Michigan, PBL has been found to improve learning outcomes when done correctly. This confirms what we saw during the pilot. Project-based learning can have this impact when utilized for interdisciplinary topics, but also has been found successful in literacy instruction and in mathematics. The successful impact of PBL is maximized when technology is integrated into the learning experience. Watching videos, using visual aids, and playing interactive games makes learning much more enjoyable.
For these “ingredients” to have their impact though, teachers also need to be upskilled with capacity building and coaching.
Finally, despite the current technological advances, literacy and numeracy skills remain core foundations for learning, according to the OECD Framework for Learning. The framework also elaborates that equal focus and support need to be awarded to social and emotional learning, as well as mental and physical wellbeing, which are particularly important core foundations.
The Experts
We are fortunate to have a strong network in Uganda and surrounding countries in the region. Because of this, we were able to consult local and regional education experts at the initial phase of the project. More specifically, I spoke with Alfred Muriuki, the Digital Literacy Project Coordinator at LEWA Wildlife Conservancy, and with Adedoyin Lebimoyo, the Programs Specialist at One African Child. Both Muriuki and Lebimoyo agree that foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) skills are critical, as many students — including those in high school — lack these essential abilities. It was also noted that teachers face significant constraints to help build those skills, including limited resources, rigid curricula, and insufficient training, which hinder their ability to support learners effectively. Despite these challenges, innovative teaching practices such as active learning, group projects, and the use of songs, videos, and culturally relevant storybooks have shown promise in enhancing engagement and learning outcomes. For them, successful implementation of new pedagogies like project-based learning (PBL) requires robust teacher training, mentorship, and curriculum alignment to ensure buy-in and sustainability. While integrating technology initially posed challenges, consistent support and capacity building have helped educators embrace these tools, enriching the classroom experience.
The Flying Colors Teachers
Last but not least, we also captured the feedback of the Flying Colors teachers, those who have implemented the pilot and would most likely be the first users of the newly designed resources. The main challenge they faced was the quality and relevance of the available digital resources. Learners whose first language was not English found it challenging to follow and understand some video content where English was spoken quickly or in an accent different from their own. Some of the stories and texts learners were asked to read were about experiences and topics far too removed from their everyday lives. Teachers had a hard time trying to help learners relate to this type of content. They also needed support in differentiating instruction and tailoring the content according to their learners’ levels and interests, especially in classrooms where there was a wide range of differences between learners’ abilities.
The Design Process: Developing Materials and Rigorous Review
Armed with this knowledge and information, I got to developing lesson plans and training materials. First, I had to make sure that the themes, topics, examples and resources covered were relevant to learners.
The PBL curriculum unit themes: ‘family and home’, ‘community heroes’, ‘environment’, and ‘nutrition and healthy habits’ are pulled directly from the Uganda P3 Abridged curriculum scope and sequence.
The resources used in the channel are mostly from content sources that are locally and culturally relevant, such as African Storybook Library and Ubongo Kids. When this type of content was not available, where appropriate, I created content myself, such as this phonics video.
We also prioritized creating playful and child-friendly visuals and thumbnails so the channel is appealing to learners:
Before releasing the curriculum and toolkit to the public, it underwent a rigorous review process. First, it was reviewed internally to ensure clarity, proper spelling and grammar, and to provide suggestions for alternative activities and pedagogical methods. Next, we sought out external feedback from partner organizations and our community, as bringing in fresh perspectives was extremely important. It helped us become more confident in the final product.
Final Thoughts and Takeaways
It took me a little over a year to develop this curriculum and toolkit. I faced many challenges and setbacks. These challenges mostly had to do with answering what was possible and feasible in a classroom setting with limited resources. I was driven by the impact that we saw during the pilot, and by a belief in its potential if we built on what we’d created.
To date, I continue to reflect on this process and what I have learned along the way. Two of my main takeaways, which I will carry with me when working on upcoming projects are:
1- Obviously, designing a curriculum is HARD. It is a frustrating process of trying to put different pieces together. Despite all the surrounding noise, the best approach is to not lose sight of who you’re designing for: the learners and the teachers. There may be a misalignment between what you think the approach should be and what actually needs to be done for the benefit of learners and teachers.
2- Finding high quality, openly-licensed educational content was a major blocker for this work. We simply need more openly-licensed educational content so that those who truly need it can access it.
What’s Next?
This is most likely not the final version of the PBL Curriculum and Toolkit. The design process always requires revisions and iterations, and I am excited to see all the different adaptations of this curriculum that our community will create!
