Bringing the Bottom Billion into Basic Literacy: How We Can and Why We Must.

Area of Science:

• Education
• Technology
• Global Health

Background:

• Nearly one billion people worldwide lack basic literacy skills.
• Traditional schooling is often impractical for children in challenging circumstances.
• Mobile technology offers a potential solution for widespread literacy education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a cross-disciplinary, mobile technology approach for literacy education.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Curious Learning platform in improving literacy outcomes.
• To address the challenge of delivering education to underserved populations.

Main Methods:

• Developed the Curious Learning software platform distributing research-based English literacy content on mobile devices.
• Utilized data collection tools within the platform to measure usage patterns and literacy outcomes.
• Implemented the approach for children without access to adequate schooling.

Main Results:

• Regular access to the Curious Learning platform resulted in higher early literacy skills.
• The mobile technology approach demonstrated effectiveness in improving literacy.
• Usage patterns and outcomes were successfully measured via the software platform.

Conclusions:

• The Curious Learning approach is a viable method for improving literacy in underserved populations.
• Mobile technology can effectively supplement or replace traditional schooling for literacy acquisition.
• Future work will focus on adapting the approach to local languages.