A Decision Tool for Selecting a Sustainable Learning Technology Intervention

Abstract

Education is a basic human right. In pursuit of this right, governments in developing countries and their donors often invest scarce resources in educational initiatives that are sometimes not sustainable. This paper addresses the problem of selecting a sustainable learning technology intervention (LTI) for a typical developing country. By solving this problem, more sustainable LTIs can be selected for implementation; this will in turn improve the efficiency with which limited resources are utilised, thereby allowing greater access to education for all. The paper introduces a unique decision framework for project selection by combining “soft” and “hard” decision analysis techniques. The selection problem is modelled as a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem and a combination of the Future Search Conference technique and the Analytic Network Process (ANP) is used to develop a decision tool for selecting the most sustainable LTI for a developing country. Our analysis revealed that of the nine LTIs considered, school on wheels was the most sustainable LTI in the collective opinion of all the experts involved in this study.