As a starting point, the highest school dropout rate in the European Union and below-average academic performance. The objective is to propose technological solutions to promote motivation in the classrooms and, thereby, improve student performance. This was the approach of the call launched in October by MWCapital and the mSchools program. The two finalist projects, of the 101 that have been received, will be implemented on a trial basis in public and subsidized centers starting next year.

“Based on the two winning projects, we will select the schools and institutes where they fit best and are most effective,” explains Marc Payola, head of MWCapital’s social laboratory. Of the hundred proposals received (the deadline ended on February 6), 41% are international, mainly from the United States, Europe, Africa and also the United Kingdom. After a first selection of 25 projects, the six finalists will be presented to the jury, which in April will select the two winning initiatives. “We are looking for proposals that help motivate students with technological solutions that at the same time promote safe and healthy use of devices,” adds Payola.

The projects received provide tools to promote student motivation (for example, strategies to increase concentration), to personalize learning, to “learn to learn” beyond school or to reduce school dropouts (contributing, for example, to discover one’s own abilities and talents).

The implementation of the two winning projects (which will receive 25,000 euros each) has to be viable both technically and economically in between six and nine months (during the next school year) “and solutions that have scalability potential. This call is part of the Digital Future Society (DFS) program, which MWCapital promotes together with the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service and Red.es.

To give voice to other educational projects, the MWCapital auditorium will also host a session on the Giga project during the congress. This initiative of international scope and promoted by Unicef ??and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) started in 2019 with the objective of connecting schools to the internet within a period of ten years. The project has already served to put 2.1 million schools in 140 countries on the map and, last year, connect 90,000 centers in 22 countries.