MICHAEL
TRUCANO 
TECHNOLOGY | INNOVATION | EDUCATION

WRITING & RESEARCH

 

Mike's research and writing explore issues related to effective and ethical uses of new technologies in education around the world, with a strong focus on equity.

 

Current areas of inquiry include generative artificial intelligence in education, the use of digital educational credentials and, more broadly, emerging edtech policies, initiatives, and institutions after the pandemic.

 

latest

 

The rise of technology for education: Launch of the Global Reference Group
Global Partnership for Education

 

AI and the next digital divide in education

Brookings Institution

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Selected publications

 

Author of and contributor to numerous papers, technical reports, book chapters and books exploring the use of new technologies in education around the world, as author, lead author and co-author, including:

• Trucano, M. (2022) Republic of Sudan: Policy Note: ICT in Education. World Bank.
   
• World Bank EdTech Team. (2022). EdTech Toolkit for Remote Learning. World Bank.
   

• Trucano, M. et al. (2020) Guidance Note on Remote Learning and COVID-19. World Bank.

• Trucano, M. et al. (2020). Rapid response reference note: Remote Learning and COVID-19. World Bank.

• World Bank EdTech Team. (2020) Remote Learning, Distance Education and Online Learning During the COVID19 Pandemic. World Bank.

• World Bank EdTech Team. (2020) Rapid Response Guidance Note: Educational Television & COVID-19. World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2017) More perspectives on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to benefit education in developing countries. Essays from the World Bank’s EduTech blog (Volume VIII). World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2017) Documenting national educational technology policies around the world and their evolution over time. World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2016) Teachers and tablets, mobile devices and 'MOOC Times': Innovations in technology use in education in developing countries. Essays from the World Bank’s EduTech blog (Volume VII). World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2016) Technologies in education across the Americas: the promise and the peril – and some potential ways forward. World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2015) Mobile Phones & National Educational Technology Agencies, Sachet Publishing & the Khan Academy: What's happening with educational technology use in developing countries. Essays from the World Bank’s EduTech blog (Volume VI). World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2014) Tablets & MOOCs, Digital Textbooks & Matthew Effects: What's new (and what isn't) in technology use in education in developing countries. Essays from the World Bank’s EduTech blog (Volume V). World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2013) Mobile learning and textbooks of the future, e-reading and edtech policies: Trends in technology use in education in developing countries. Essays from the World Bank’s EduTech blog (Volume IV). World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2012) Separating the Hope from the Hype: More perspectives on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to benefit education in developing countries. Essays from the World Bank’s EduTech blog (Volume III). World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2012) “Information & Communication Technology.” in: Strengthening Education Quality in East Asia: System Assessment and Benchmarking for Education. World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2011) Worst Practices in ICT Use in Education, Low-Cost Gadgets, e-Books in Africa and a Hole in the Wall: Investigating the use of educational technologies in developing countries. Essays from the World Bank’s EduTech blog (Volume II). World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2010) Perspectives on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to benefit education in developing countries. Essays from the World Bank’s EduTech blog (Volume I). World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2009) “What do we know about the effective uses of information and communication technologies in education in developing countries?” in: Assessing the effects of ICT in education: Indicators, criteria and benchmarks for international comparisons. European Commission/OECD. 

• Dykes, G. and Trucano, M. (2009) "Case Study: Iceland." in: Digital learning resources as systemic innovation. OECD.

• Gaible, E. and Trucano, M. (eds.) (2009) Surveys of ICT & Education in the Caribbean: Country Reports. infoDev/World Bank.

• Farrell, G, Issacs, S and Trucano, M. (eds.) (2007) Survey of ICT & Education in Africa: 53 Country Reports. infoDev/WorldBank. 

• Trucano, M. (ed.) (2005) Appropriate Uses of ICT for Teacher Professional Development in Developing Countries. infoDev/World Bank.

• Trucano, M. (2004) Knowledge Maps: ICT and Education -- What we know, and what we don't, about ICT use in education in developing countries . infoDev/World Bank. 

• Hawkins, R. and Trucano, M. "Getting a School On-Line in a Developing Country: Common Mistakes, Technology Options and Costs." Techknowlogia, 2002.

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The World Bank EduTech Blog

Mike was the principal author of the World Bank's influential EduTech blog, which explored and documented uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to benefit education in middle- and low-income countries for almost a decade. Eight annual compilations of posts from the World Bank EduTech blog were published as separate, stand alone documents. In 2024, the EduTech blog was merged into the World Bank's Education for Global Development blog, where all posts are now available. (more information)

 

Popular and/or influential EduTech blog posts include:

• Worst practice in ICT use in education
  (collectively read over a million times, this blog post remains the most cited, and influential, item to appear on the EduTech blog)
• 10 principles to consider when introducing ICTs into remote, low-income educational environments
• Ten things about computer use in schools that you don't want to hear
• Big educational laptop and tablet projects: Ten countries to learn from
• Questions to ask (and not to ask) when your president tells you to buy 100k (or a million) tablets for students
• Textbooks of the future: Will you be buying a product ... or a service?
• Education & Technology in 2025: A Thought Experiment
• School computer labs: A bad idea?
• Searching for India's Hole in the Wall
• Educational technology and innovation at the edges
• Paying teacher salaries with mobile phones
• A short note to the new philanthropist looking to support education and technology initiatives in the developing world
• Promising uses of technology in education in poor, rural and isolated communities around the world
• Learning to code vs. coding to learn 
• What's changed: Ten reflections on ten years of technology use in education
• Zero-rating educational content on the Internet
• Universal Service Funds & connecting schools to the Internet around the world
• Banning and unbanning phones in schools
• Digital teaching and learning resources: An EduTech reader

 

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Selected research projects

Mike led research under the World Bank’s flagship Systems Approach for Better Education Results program related to the use of new technologies (SABER-ICT), edited the related SABER-ICT working paper series, initiated the EdTech Readiness Index project, and coordinated the Global Networked Readiness for Education project. 

At Brookings, Mike led a research project exploring uses of digital education credentials and learning and employment records (LERs).

At infoDev, Mike coordinated a number of research initiatives, including:

• over 75 country-level Surveys of ICT and Education in Africa and the Caribbean; 
• a handbook on Monitoring and Evaluation of ICT in Education Projects;
• a guidebook on Using Technology to Train Teachers: Appropriate Uses of ICT for Teacher Professional Development in Developing Countries; and
• the ICT in Education Toolkit for Policymakers, Planners & Practitioners (with UNESCO, used in policy planning processes in over 25 countries).