aprendIA: AI-Powered Support for Teachers in Resource-Constrained Settings
What is aprendIA?
Developed by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), aprendIAis a teacher-facing learning and support program using AI-forward chat-based technology to improve educational outcomes for children in resource-constrained and crisis-affected regions. Recognizing that teachers have catalytic potential to impact their student’s learning and the importance of teacher dignity and autonomy, the program delivers immediate, in-classroom support to tackle daily needs, while also offering evidence-based coursework for long-term professional development and skillbuilding. By ensuring that teachers have the necessary skills and strategies to face these complex environments, aprendIA is able to successfully improve the lives of students.
As is true throughout much of the world, teachers are too frequently undertrained, undersupported and underresourced. aprendIA exists to mitigate these challenges by offering ongoing teacher professional development and in-pocket coaching. aprendIA was designed to bridge the gaps teachers often face in training, classroom support, and timely access to information. Through working in contexts with low internet access and resource availability, the IRC team is privy to the tendency for people with more access to education are often those who have more access to technology and internet access. As a result, teachers are often the community members to have phones even in low cellular usage areas. aprendIA capitalizes on this by reaching them through familiar, low-bandwidth platforms such as WhatsApp.
Technology Approach
In early 2025, the project began utilizing the Signpost Orchestration system to create a more intuitive, streamlined operational process while being cost efficient along the way. This allows for a significant evolution from the script-driven deterministic flow-based chatbots, a shift that enables more nuanced, context-aware responses refined through ongoing feedback and continuous improvement - all delivered at under half of the price of its previous technology platform.
The technology driving user journeys has evolved from basic script-driven deterministic flow-based chatbots (as seen with an earlier model) to more intuitive and responsive experiences powered by an orchestration of generative AI agents. This balance between scripted actions and Application Programming Software (API) calls to large language models (LLMs) represents a shift towards more nuanced, context-aware responses and highly personalized support, refining the user experience based on ongoing feedback and continuous improvement.
AprendIA is built on the IRC's "Healing Classrooms" pedagogy, which creates trauma-informed, safe, and nurturing learning environments. The program combines proven educational practices with real-world insights from teachers, education officials, and ministry leaders.
Pedagogical Approach
aprendIA’s pedagogical approach is built on the belief that every teacher, no matter where they work, deserves access to practical, evidence-based strategies that feel relevant and achievable in their own classroom. The chatbot blends evidence-based global practices with local curriculum and examples to help teachers translate proven approaches into everyday action. Each learning experience - whether a quick tip, a problem-solving exchange, or a short course - is designed to spark small, doable changes that make teaching more engaging, inclusive, and effective. The result is a learning journey that feels intuitive and encouraging: teachers explore ideas at their own pace, see suggestions applied to their local context, and gain the confidence to try new methods with their students.
aprendIA’s pedagogy draws from IRC’s Healing Classrooms approach and global evidence on foundational literacy and numeracy instruction, infused with strategies for inclusion, wellbeing, and learning through play. Every course and interaction reinforces practices that help children feel safe, valued, and intellectually challenged, whether through storytelling, group work, or hands-on exploration. At its core, aprendIA is built to model good teaching: personal, joyful, and grounded in the belief that everyone can learn.
What Makes aprendIA Unique
Building on evidence-based teacher training and support approaches, aprendIA leverages instructional and user-centered design principles to transform content into the bite-size user experience offered by messaging platforms. aprendIA offers a two-layered learning framework that combines immediate, on-demand personalized responses with longer learning pathways for skill development. This chatbot offers teachers:
Immediate Classroom Assistance: When teachers encounter urgent classroom challenges or need support preparing for a class, they can ask for support and receive tailored, real-time guidance on whatever their need. ‘Recalling’ previous conversations, the chatbot provides responses that are specific to the teacher’s context, classroom and style..
Skill-Building Learning Journeys: For deeper professional growth, aprendIA provides course work ranging from classroom management to teaching foundational skills. Courses are micro-sized for easy completion and are taken at the user’s own pace. They also utilize socratic questioning to help link the learnings to the teacher’s daily teaching experience and encourage depth of retention. The content is designed to be both effective and engaging.
Both paths emphasize motivation and mastery, helping teachers feel supported rather than evaluated. By combining interactive storytelling, locally grounded examples, and behaviorally anchored reflection prompts, aprendIA helps teachers build not just knowledge, but also a sense of capability and professional pride.
Looking Forward
aprendIA is now deployed in Northeast Nigeria with over 500 teachers to pilot the product and test for engagement, satisfaction and usability. As we expand our reach, we will continue to red-team, test and iterate on the product based on those findings. We will always ensure proactive safeguarding in AI innovation. By embedding red-teaming early, prior to deployment, aprendIA is aligning its models not only with technical requirements but also with broader ethical and pedagogical responsibilities. The Nigeria pilot and other early deployments will provide valuable insights that will shape how these systems can serve educators and learners effectively while avoiding harms that could undermine trust in AI.
What sets aprendIA apart is not just its innovative use of AI, but its grounding in respect for teacher autonomy and the realities of their daily work. The dual-layer approach recognizes that teachers need both immediate answers to pressing challenges and sustained opportunities for professional growth. By providing both without judgment or evaluation, aprendIA creates space for teachers to experiment, reflect, and grow at their own pace.
aprendIA's success will be measured not in the sophistication of its technology, but in the confidence of the teachers it supports and the learning experiences of the children in their classrooms. As education systems worldwide grapple with how to better support their teachers, aprendIA offers a promising model: one that combines evidence-based pedagogy, thoughtful design, and accessible technology to put powerful resources directly into teachers' hands—and trust them to use those resources to transform their classrooms.