Program Specialist, Student Centered Learning

In 2013, while many believed that universal internet access was imminent, and the digital learning revolution would soon benefit everyone globally, we made a bold decision and chose to focus on the educational needs of those who didn’t have reliable connectivity. Fast forward to 2025, and a third of the world’s population remains offline, 251 million children and youth are out of school, and many more still lack consistent access to quality digital learning.

Founded by a group of PhD students with a vision of ensuring that everyone had the opportunity to learn and flourish, over the last 12 years Learning Equality has grown from bringing Khan Academy exercises and videos offline to becoming a key player in the education technology landscape. Thanks to our work, over 10 million learners in underserved communities across 220+ countries and territories now have access to transformative digital tools—no connectivity required.

We develop and support offline-first, needs-driven edtech that builds agency for learners, teachers and organizations. Our solutions are  co-designed with the communities we serve to ensure they meet their unique needs. But we recognize that technology alone isn’t a silver bullet, so we also focus on supporting organizations—through our direct assistance or our DIY model—with what they need to foster quality, student-centered learning  in underserved contexts. And we know this proven approach improves learning. 

With the support of organizations such as the Hewlett Foundation, UNHCR, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Endless Network, and Swarovski Foundation – to name a few – we are continuing to grow our reach, deepen our impact  and ensure many more under-resourced communities around the world can access and actively foster quality learning opportunities.

We are seeking a Program Specialist, Student Centered Learning, to lead on key aspects of our implementation support strategy, with a focus on enabling equitable, learner-driven practices in low-connectivity environments. This is a full-time position for an experienced educator who is passionate about advancing student-centered learning at scale, and who resonates deeply with Learning Equality’s mission to foster equity, agency, and opportunity through learning. This is a remote opportunity open to candidates based in East Africa.  Additionally, this position involves some (<10%) international travel to the countries where our project partners are located.

What does student centered learning at Learning Equality look like?

At Learning Equality, student-centered learning means putting learners’ needs, contexts, and voices at the heart of education—and designing systems that recognize their agency and right to meaningful, relevant, and inclusive learning experiences. We work toward this vision by building and supporting an offline-first ecosystem of tools, anchored by Kolibri, that enables partners to provide flexible, curriculum-aligned, and culturally responsive learning experiences—without Internet access.

Learning Equality’s products and tools are enabled by a do-it-yourself model of adoption. While Learning Equality also supports its effective use through specialized services, we don’t design or implement interventions on our own. Instead, we collaborate with different types of organizations who choose to use our tools in their educational programming, from individual users, to small collectives, to state and national governments, to international NGOs, and UN agencies. Our role is to equip partners and educators with the resources, tools, and pedagogical strategies they need to adapt and apply Kolibri in student-centered ways.

In this position, your responsibilities will include developing and facilitating Kolibri training workshops, designing a coaching and mentoring framework to empower program staff and educators at partner organizations, and contributing to the development of materials to enable DIY adoption of Kolibri – all with a key focus on student centered learning.

Some of the projects you could be working on or advising others about in a given month include: 

• Designing and facilitating virtual or in-person workshops and coaching models that help program staff train teachers on the use of Kolibri to support learner voice, differentiation, and agency in the classroom.
• Building peer learning and feedback structures that surface educator insights and reinforce reflective, learner-responsive teaching practice.
• Developing contextualized training resources and implementation guides that support partners to adopt and adapt Kolibri through a DIY model rooted in student-centered principles, and writing documentation and training materials for the Kolibri Edtech Toolkit.
• Communicating over email, on the Community Forum, and on video meetings to provide guidance to potential or current implementers who would like to learn more about specific uses of Kolibri, as well as connect with organizations, based on shared interests. 
• Contribute to the evolution of Learning Equality’s implementation research, ensuring alignment with our vision of education that centers students as active participants in their own learning.

This position focuses on the following efforts, as part of a highly collaborative team: 

1. Content & Curriculum Development. Write, design, draft, iterate, and establish implementation support materials for the Kolibri EdTech Toolkit. This includes developing materials for educational contexts in low-resource settings, including formal, non-formal, and education-in-emergencies contexts, in a variety of different mediums, including video, audio, and written resources. Additionally, contribute to curriculum development and lesson planning for Kolibri-supported projects, ensuring alignment with diverse learner needs, pedagogical best practices, and contextual requirements.
2. Capacity Strengthening in Student-Centered Learning Pedagogies. Lead efforts to design and conduct virtual and in-person Training of Trainer (ToT) workshops focused on student-centered learning with Kolibri. Create training materials to support educators in implementing Kolibri and integrating it into their teaching practice, and to support critical pedagogy and anti-oppressive teaching and learning practices. 
3. Educator Coaching & Mentoring. Lead the development and implementation of the Kolibri Educator Certification Program, helping to design a structured coaching and mentoring framework that empowers organizations to effectively integrate Kolibri into their learning interventions with student-centered learning methodologies. Lead communities of practice by facilitating knowledge sharing, peer support, and ongoing professional development opportunities. Develop resources and strategies to foster reflective practices and continuous learning among implementers using Kolibri.
4. Community Engagement. Support initiatives aimed at learning more about the community of Kolibri implementers, including collaborating on community session planning, responding to support-related inquiries, and documenting feedback to help inform future development of the Kolibri Product Ecosystem. 

This position might be for you if…

You have:

• Worked with edtech in low-resource learning environments. You understand that blended learning in these contexts requires more than translating online models offline—it demands locally grounded, flexible approaches that center learners' realities and educators’ constraints. You have experience applying this understanding to inform programs, curriculum, or implementation strategies. Previously taught in an educational setting at the K-12 level. You have experience delivering instruction in a formal classroom or nonformal education context, and understand the day-to-day challenges that educators face in supporting learners with varying needs and learning goals.
• Used or engaged with student-centered, blended learning pedagogies. You’re familiar with pedagogies that emphasize learner agency, differentiation, and relevance, and have applied them in your own practice or programmatic work. You know how to help educators create inclusive learning environments using edtech as an enabler, not a replacement, for student-centered practice.
• Developed curriculum and educator training materials. You understand the nuances of developing a learning session plan, working with teachers, and providing guidance on how to integrate specific pedagogical approaches into teaching practice. You have researched teacher training materials and methodologies, created project-specific materials to upskill others, and adapted them based on needs. You have created a project plan to manage your work and have executed on it without supervision.
• Listened to needs and turned them into action. You’re comfortable gathering insights from partners, educators, and learners, and using them to shape implementation plans, adapt content, or improve training. Whether designing a toolkit or managing a project, you’re responsive, reflective, and solutions-oriented.Worked with a remote team or contributed to a global community. You understand that some flexibility is necessary to collaborate with the Learning Equality team (primarily based in the United States) while coordinating with the global Kolibri Community (primarily based outside of the United States). We want you to have a healthy work-life balance, and will encourage adjusted schedules or time off to balance your work week.

You are:

• You are well-versed in understanding teaching and learning needs in low-resource environments, particularly in the Global South. You proactively help identify gaps in how needs are being met, as well as process feedback cross-functionally to colleagues working on design and development. You understand the different types of education technology that exist and can assess which tools are most effective for addressing specific challenges.
• You are a writer.  You enjoy writing and can independently produce a range of materials, including documentation on how to support various blended learning models, training facilitation manuals for use in workshops, and blog posts to showcase different projects. 
• You are a facilitator. You have experience strategizing for and developing targeted sessions, and feel comfortable doing so. You enjoy facilitating group activities and take care to create safe spaces for discussions.
• You are a teacher mentor. You are well-versed in reflective teaching and learning and have coached educators to adopt new teaching practices. You have conducted classroom observations and can facilitate thoughtful debrief conversations.
• You are a skilled collaborator. You thrive working independently and asynchronously, as well as being an active member of a team. You enjoy co-designing training agendas and educator resources. You are a thoughtful communicator. You understand that communicating across a variety of mediums is important, and are conversant in email, Slack, WhatsApp, video conferencing, and more. You recognize that different modalities (and occasionally working at different times of the day) may be necessary. You are excited to refine your ability to translate software and hardware technology concepts for a non-technical audience. 

Bonus points.

Don’t let it hold you back from applying if you don’t meet these requirements but please mention if you do! 

• You’re tech savvy when developing materials. You have worked with Adobe Photoshop, Canva, or H5P, as well as with video editing and sound recording tools. 
• You know how to evaluate programmatic impact. You have developed monitoring tools, conducted evaluations, developed logistical frameworks, and communicated the impact of educational programming.
• You are knowledgeable about open educational resources and curriculum design. Your knowledge of digital learning resources goes beyond engaging with digital content online, but you understand the nuances of OER, and how they can be remixed to serve teaching and learning needs. 
• You have experience in emergency and crisis contexts. You have led or contributed to education or development initiatives for refugee and host community children and youth.
• You are fluent in languages other than English. Many members of our team speak, write, and can lead sessions in more than one language, which is helpful when engaging with the global Kolibri community.

Compensation

Our core values guide our compensation and benefits package, just like they guide the rest of our work. 

To avoid biases and address historical pay inequities, we use a consistent formula to set our team salaries. Rates are calculated through three factors: a person's role, level of experience, and their work-from-home location. We believe in being transparent about compensation: We will calculate candidate-specific rates based on cost of living at applicant locations, and will share exact numbers during introductory conversations. 

As an example, a full-time candidate based in Uganda would receive an hourly rate of $27.94 USD, for an estimated annual payment of $51,000 USD and a full-time candidate based in India would receive an hourly rate of $19.20 USD, for an estimated annual payment of $35,000 USD. This independent contractor rate is calculated to include supplements to compensate for benefits provided to US-based employees, such as medical benefits, paid time off, and retirement fund contributions. 

Learning Equality is a small, globally distributed team working towards a world where everyone can achieve their full potential through access to quality education. To achieve this goal we seek and support a team representative of the cultures and ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, religious beliefs and abilities that are reflective of our global community. The diversity of our team brings strength, creativity, perspective, and joy to our work. 

To apply, complete the application below. We do not ask for a cover letter and will not review one if submitted; please prioritize answering the questions on the application instead. We’re eager to hear from your authentic writing voice and would prefer applications to be completed without the use of AI or Chat-GPT. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with priority given to those received by Friday, June 13.