{"id":1791,"date":"2011-04-12T09:26:01","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T13:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/?p=1791"},"modified":"2012-09-27T10:39:04","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T14:39:04","slug":"ereaders-will-transform-the-developing-world-in-and-outside-the-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edutechdebate.org\/tablet-computers-in-education\/ereaders-will-transform-the-developing-world-in-and-outside-the-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"eReaders will transform the developing world – in and outside the classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/center>.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0Worldreader’s<\/a>\u00a0experience so far is any guide, e-readers are set to transform the developing world, both in – and outside the classroom. \u00a0But this change won\u2019t be driven by e-readers by themselves – it will be driven by human curiosity, ever-increasing connectivity, enlightened self-interest, and a gentle push from organizations like ours.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with a very basic piece of technology: the book. \u00a0Most people intuitively believe in the power and importance of books, and in fact recent research quantifies that benefit: having access to a library of books is roughly the\u00a0equivalent of 3 or more years of schooling<\/a>. \u00a0The good news about books is that teachers and children all know how to use them – there\u2019s no training required. \u00a0But the bad news is that they often don\u2019t get where they need to. \u00a0<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0SACMEQ<\/a>,\u00a0half of the classrooms across six countries studied in Sub-Saharan African have no textbooks at all, because of cost and logistical issues. \u00a0And as Michael Trucano\u00a0notes in his World Bank blog<\/a>,\u00a0“Only 1 out of 19 countries studied (Botswana) ha[s] adequate textbook provision at close to a 1:1 ratio for all subjects and all grades.\u201d \u00a0Books just aren\u2019t getting to Sub Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n

Now consider e-readers like Amazon\u2019s Kindle, a technology that is moving astonishingly quickly in the developed world. \u00a0(In January 2011,\u00a0e-book sales surpassed those of hardback books in the US<\/a>.) \u00a0These devices were designed for readers in wealthy countries, but their impact on the developing world may well be even more profound due to the relative lack of access to books, and the ever-increasing popularity of mobile phones: it\u2019s getting hard to find a part of the world where kids don\u2019t have access to cell phones, and with that, some kind of power supply to keep them recharged… and of course, e-readers use the cell phone network to download new books.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, e-readers offer a blend between something familiar and something new. \u00a0What is familiar: teachers already know how to incorporate books into their classrooms, and students already know how to use devices with keyboard and screens thanks to the growth of cellphones. \u00a0But what is new is the concept of nearly infinite choice: now students can read not only the books that are required in their classrooms, but also have access to any book that piques their curiosity. \u00a0Watching a child finish a Curious George book and then ask: “Can I have another?\u201d is magical.<\/p>\n

Worldreader\u00a0is currently working with 500 teachers and students across three grade levels in Ghana to measure the impact of e-readers, and the effects have been pretty dramatic. \u00a0We\u2019ve loaded e-readers with about 80 books each – a combination of local textbooks and storybooks we have digitized along with international books donated by Random House, including the entire Magic Tree House series. \u00a0That\u2019s 40,000 books already delivered – nearly impossible to contemplate without the use of e-readers. \u00a0<\/p>\n

But beyond that, two-thirds of the children are\u00a0downloading an average of one free book a week<\/a>, along with numerous free samples, free trial subscriptions to magazines like Popular Mechanics, and more. \u00a0Along the way, we\u2019re measuring the children\u2019s reading levels, and are conducting mid-term evaluations right now. \u00a0We can tell you that based on the number of books downloaded and read so far, we expect to see some remarkable progress in a short amount of time.<\/p>\n

Here is a brief video about two of the students in our program:<\/p>\n