A global literacy learning response for the pandemic

Thanks to technology and the hard work of many, we are uniquely positioned to give out-of-school children the opportunity to learn to read in this moment of crisis via apps on smartphones. We just need to make sure parents know about it. 

If one or more of the following describes you:

  1. Do you have the phone numbers or email addresses of parents? CLICK HERE

  2. Do you have a large social media following (in particular reaching parents)?  CLICK HERE

  3. Are you a broadcaster (radio or television) reaching children or parents? CLICK HERE

  4. Are you a donor excited to support this work? CLICK HERE

We need your help.

Why

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 300M children did not attend school. Now over 1.5 Billion children are out of school, in 165 countries.

In low-income countries, the primary focus of schools, in general, is teaching literacy skills, as huge percentages struggle to learn to read (90% of Sub-Saharan African children do not read at grade level). School closures widen learning inequalities and hurt vulnerable children and youth disproportionately.

High-income countries are adapting online platforms (e.g. Zoom) for distance learning, a technology that works for older kids but is of little to no help for PreK - Grade 2, where the primary educational focus is literacy learning. 

Literacy skills drive solutions to poverty, armed conflict, infectious disease or climate change and, unlike other forms of aid, can never be taken away. We do not want literacy learning to come to a halt. 

What

  1. We have apps and know they work. (see below)

  2. With your help, we can get parents to download these apps and give them to their kids. 

  3. The data we get back allows us to improve the process at all levels. 

Apps

In the last 6 years, there has been much research showing how children learn literacy skills from apps.  An average of 22 hours of use of Feed the Monster in Arabic-speaking refugee children resulted in the equivalent of 2-3 months of learning in a well-resourced school. The Global Learning XPrize winners were able to cut illiteracy in half in Tanzania over 15 months.

These are apps that develop mastery of letter learning and decoding skills -- crucial foundational reading skills. In addition, the apps provide ample practice in reading text and learning new vocabulary. They are free and available on GooglePlay. The current collection includes:

  • Feed the Monster- gamified format to match letters with sounds, and early reading and spelling skills. (in 48 Languages)

  • Global Digital Library- a large collection of open-source text that is leveled for easy access to grade appropriate text. (in 42 Languages)

  • Read with Akili- interactive e-books designed to promote word-level reading skills and vocabulary growth. (in 2 Languages, more soon)

Who

Here is a list of some of the organizations and countries we are already working with: