How to Submit a Helpdesk Request
FCDO Education Advisers, World Bank staff and UNICEF staff who work closely with ministries of education in low- and middle-income countries can request and receive short-term, discrete support from the EdTech Hub Helpdesk. Learn how to access this support below. If you’re not on our approved list for support, please return to the main Helpdesk page.
Eligibility
If you meet the eligibility criteria below, you are welcome to complete and submit a request form.
- Helpdesk support is short-term and of limited duration, ranging from an hour-long conversation to a 15-page topic brief, along with many other possibilities.
- You must be an FCDO education adviser, World Bank education staff member, or UNICEF staff member to submit Helpdesk requests.
The Helpdesk prioritises support to low- and middle-income countries and conflict-affected countries and regions. The Helpdesk does not usually accept requests from high-income countries.
How to submit
Get Your Password: You’ll need a password to submit your request. If you haven’t received one from your employer (head of department or EdTech Hub relationship manager), please contact them or reach out to the Helpdesk Team at helpdesk@edtechhub.org.
Submit Your Request:
- Click the “Submit a Helpdesk Request” button below.
- Enter your password to access the form.
- Complete the form with as much detail as possible, then submit.
What Happens Next: We will review your request and, if approved, guide you through the next steps.
Find evidence for your EdTech needs
Services
EdTech Hub provides support on primary and secondary education. Requests related to tertiary education are usually out of our scope.
You should use the Helpdesk to inform education responses, programmes and projects that involve EdTech and digital learning.
This includes those led by FCDO, the World Bank, or other institutions with which FCDO or the World Bank are partnering, particularly government entities. These may include countries’ digital learning plans, proposals for funding programme designs, operational manuals, or implementation plans, in the case that these plans involve the use of EdTech.
EdTech Hub’s Helpdesk offers a range of services tailored to each request. We generally provide support around EdTech Hub’s five thematic areas and responses can take many different forms. But, we’re flexible and here to work with you.
What to expect
The Helpdesk takes the following steps after receiving requests from FCDO advisers and World Bank staff. If we have not answered your question on process below, Please contact the Helpdesk team at helpdesk@edtechhub.org.
After submitting your request, you will receive an email response from the Helpdesk team within 48 business hours to acknowledge receipt and set up a video/phone call to discuss your request(s).
During this call, we will ask you to share any relevant context (e.g. background on the current stage of the programme, the decision point that the request response will inform, etc.). We may also ask you to clarify your questions, to make sure that we understand them and that they fall into our areas of expertise. We will share our initial thinking on the support that the Helpdesk can provide, as well as available evidence, knowledge, and resources that we will draw on to respond to your request.
After the initial call, the Helpdesk team will develop a brief terms of reference (TOR) for support that notes an agreed-upon timeline, scope of work, and clear set of next steps, and identifies the staff and experts who will undertake the request response. You will be asked to review and confirm the contents of the TOR via email, and we also suggest that the FCDO or World Bank Helpdesk ‘lead’ share this document with others.
Then it is time for the Helpdesk to get to work on your request. We will complete the request according to the agreed TOR, and we will explicitly document the nature and strength of evidence we have drawn on.
In instances where evidence is limited and gaps exist, we will use the best information and experience possible to provide a well-informed answer. We anticipate these sorts of gaps will not be uncommon, due to the generally limited evidence base on EdTech in low-and middle-income countries. Helpdesk responses will also incorporate cost and value-for-money information whenever they are available, and note this limitation when not.
For all responses, the Helpdesk will draw on expert input to source relevant research, resources, and examples.
For written outputs, the Helpdesk will conduct quality assurance review. Expert reviewers will provide input on an early plan or outline, review a near-final draft, and review the final draft. A Helpdesk manager oversees all Helpdesk support.
In instances where evidence is limited and gaps exist, we will use the best information and experience possible to provide a well-informed answer. We anticipate these sorts of gaps will not be uncommon, due to the generally limited evidence base on EdTech in low-and middle-income countries. Helpdesk responses will also incorporate cost and value-for-money information whenever they are available, and note this limitation when not.
Once the response is ready to go and has been quality assured, we will share it with you via email for review and offer the option for a follow-up video/phone call to discuss any feedback or changes that need to be made to finalise it.
In instances where evidence is limited and gaps exist, we will use the best information and experience possible to provide a well-informed answer. We anticipate these sorts of gaps will not be uncommon, due to the generally limited evidence base on EdTech in low-and middle-income countries. Helpdesk responses will also incorporate cost and value-for-money information whenever they are available, and note this limitation when not.
By making Helpdesk responses publicly available, the Hub increases the impact of each response by reaching secondary audiences beyond the original requester.
The Helpdesk will make responses available as global public goods so that they can inform others with similar questions. During the initial phone call about your request, we’ll discuss a proposed plan for how to make the response public and agree on what can and cannot be shared. Expert consultations and programme document review responses will not be shared publicly. However, curated lists of resources and topic briefs are intended to become public, unless there are compelling reasons not to do so.
See the Hub’s evidence library to browse all Helpdesk responses that we have published so far.
After submitting the request response to you, we’ll want your feedback.
We will send a brief survey or offer a short phone call to hear what worked well for you and identify anything we can do better next time. We are especially interested to know whether our support helped you make a better decision about EdTech, and if so, how.
Meet our team of experts
Proud to collaborate on requests with global organisations
