Despite rapid role-out of early childhood services in Latin America, many populations of children and their caregivers remain under-served. Digital technology may be one means for reaching families on a large-scale, providing them access to content and support related to their children's well-being. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of ed-tech programs remains understudied, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
With funding from the World Bank's Strategic Evaluation Impact Fund, the SEED Lab has recently launched a new project to evaluate the impacts of Afinidata for low-income families in Brazil who are receiving the national home visiting program Criança Feliz . Afinidata is a "virtual tutor" that uses artificial intelligence to provide parents with activity recommendations via chatbot that are customized to families' needs. Our study will use a multifactorial design both to examine the impact of adding Afinidata to existing home visiting services, as well as to consider the specific design elements (e.g., customization approaches) that optimize its effectiveness.
Check back soon for futher details of this new study!
For More Information
To learn more about Afinidata, visit their website.