Messaging Teachers to Boost Student EdTech Use

Self-led educational technologies have the potential to improve student learning at scale, but sustaining student engagement with these platforms remains a challenge. We present results from an experimental evaluation implemented following the scale-up of a math platform in Peru, where primary school teachers received weekly WhatsApp messages summarizing their students platform activity and encouraging them to promote their students engagement. The messages increased the average weekly share of students using the platform by 5 percentage points (a 17% increase) and the average share of math exercises completed by 4 percentage points (a 16% increase). Effects dissipated once the messages stopped, suggesting that salience and simplified monitoring are likely mechanisms. We find little evidence of impact heterogeneity based on teacher characteristics or students prior platform use and achievement. Non-experimental
evidence suggests that increased use of the student math platform improved math learning. Overall, our findings indicate that light-touch communication with teachers can cost-effectively strengthen engagement with EdTech platforms scaled through the education system.