Frugal Innovation in Education: Designing and Evaluating Low-Bandwidth, Asynchronous Learning Systems for Re-mote Indonesian Schools

Abstract

Background. Educational technology (EdTech) is often said to democratize learning in Indonesia. In remote island regions the promise falls short: poor connectivity and thin infrastructure keep the digital divide in place. Frugal innovation builds effective solutions from limited resources and may offer a context-aware response.

Objective. We designed, implemented, and evaluated “Lentera”, a low-bandwidth, asynchronous, offline-first learning system for primary literacy and numeracy in remote Indonesian schools.

Methods. Mixed-methods Design-Based Research came first. A school-level controlled evaluation followed over one academic year in six primary schools in the Maluku Islands (three intervention, three control; 302 students; 34 teachers). Data comprised literacy and numeracy pretests and posttests, System Usability Scale (SUS) surveys, usage logs, interviews with 18 teachers, and more than 80 hours of classroom observation. Students were nested in schools, so we fitted a two-level Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM).

Results. Lentera was feasible to implement. Teachers received more than twice as many modules through offline peer-to-peer sharing as through internet downloads. After controlling for pretest scores, the intervention group scored higher in literacy (γ = 11.85, p < 0.001) and numeracy (γ = 12.91, p < 0.001). Mean SUS scores were 81.2 (teachers) and 75.8 (students). Interviews and observations described more student-centered, differentiated teaching and closer collaboration among teachers.

Conclusion. A frugally designed, offline-first learning system was feasible. It was associated with higher literacy and numeracy in remote schools, in line with the aims of Kurikulum Merdeka. Replication with more schools is needed before the effects can be generalized.