Curious Learning
Curious Learning is a global literacy project aimed at helping every child learn to read while out of school on the planet. It makes use of technological solutions to curate, localize, and distribute free open source applications.
Mission
Curious Learning believes that access to a basic education is universally recognized as a human right. It partners to help build open solutions that underprivileged people can use to learn to read. It integrates with the solutions which already exist for a particular need that is free and openly available, enabling its access to the larger ecosystem.
Curious Learning focuses on getting tools in the hands of the individuals who wish to learn to read regardless of where in the world the learner resides. This empowers users with the resources and tools to activate their own learning and engagement, from the individual child that wants to learn to read, the parent that wants more for their child, to the teacher striving to help many, the NGO working with a community, the governmental or aid organization working on policy and large scale deployments etc. Curious Learning also collects data to research and create a positive cycle of constant improvement.
Why Literacy?
Literacy is important because it is:
- a poverty issue: Each grade level of literacy increases earnings by 9.7%.[1]
- a gender issue: ⅔ of illiterate adults are women.[2]
- a health issue: With literacy people are 5x more likely to know how HIV/AIDS is spread.[3]
- a peace issue: Without literacy people are 9x more likely to become radicalized.[4]
- a social justice issue: 80% of those incarcerated cannot read- 85% of juvenile offenders are functionally illiterate.[5]
- a human rights issue: 500M children with disabilities globally; 80% are denied the right to learn to read.[6]
- a child labor issue: 47% of child laborers will never attend school.[7]
- a human trafficking issue: 46% of Nigerian youth identify illiteracy as a major cause of human trafficking.[8]
- a food issue: Literacy would increase food production by 24%.[9]
- an economic issue: Basic literacy for 770 million illiterate adults would increase the annual global GDP by $1.2 trillion.[10]
Theory of Change
Across the globe, 770 million adults have no literacy skills, and 660 million children are going to join them.[11] Literacy is linked with many societal issues such as exploitation, living standards, earning capacity, etc. It can solve issues like poverty, infectious diseases, climate change, armed conflict, among others.
Apps prove to be better to teach kids. The Global Learning XPrize winners were able to cut illiteracy in half in Tanzania over 15 months using apps.[12] The data gathered and the technology used further help in measuring the impact on the world. It helps in keeping the users engaged, and optimize learning. Smartphones reach is also increasing which facilitates in teaching via apps.
Apps and Tools
Apps designed to empower children through exploration and curiosity.
- Feed The Monster - An educational game to help kids learn to read by collecting and growing monsters while learning fundamentals of reading.
- Read With Akili - So Many Different Places - An interactive storybook to help explore words, pictures, and ideas.
- Read With Akili - What Do You Like To Do - An interactive storybook to help read from multiple range of difficulties.
- Chimple - A gamified, personalized and adaptive learning system which guides a child from absolutely no knowledge of the alphabet to a stage where the child can read to learn and perform basic arithmetic.
- Global Digital Library - A collection of high quality reading resources in under-served languages worldwide.
- Ubongo Toolkits - Toolkit to make localized educational resources available to kids across Africa.
Partnerships
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- UCSF Dyslexia Center
- UNICEF Innovation
- The World Bank
- Ubongo
- Tata Consultancy Services
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research
- Tufts University
- BIRC
- Georgia State University
- The Roddenberry Foundation
- Chemonics
- BrainLens
- Bellavista
- Clover Foundation
- Gus on the Go
- Maba
- MRP Foundation
- Weema International
- Selam company
- Lipa
- GDLL
References
- ↑ "Adult Literacy Development and Economic Growth" (PDF). National Institute of Literacy. August 2010. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Two-thirds of world's illiterate adults are women, report finds". the Guardian. 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ↑ "Prisoners, HIV and AIDS". Avert. 2015-07-20. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ↑ "Role of Education in the Prevention of Violent Extremism" (PDF). World Bank. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Literacy Statistics". www.begintoread.com. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ↑ Hayes, Anne M.; Bulat, Jennae (2017). Disabilities Inclusive Education Systems and Policies Guide for Low- and Middle-Income Countries. RTI Press Occasional Papers. Research Triangle Park (NC): RTI Press. PMID 32125793 Check
|pmid=value (help). Search this book on
- ↑ "Global Estimates of Child Labour, Results and Analysis" (PDF). ILO. 2012–2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)CS1 maint: Date format (link) - ↑ Umaru Kwagyang, Garba (January 2016). "Child trafficking in Nigeria: Causes, consequences and the way forward". International Journal of Law. ISSN: 2455-2194: Page No. 17-26.
- ↑ Joseph Frick, Martin (1990). "A definition and the concepts of agricultural literacy: a national study". Iowa State University Digital Repository.
- ↑ "Illiteracy Costs the Global Economy $1 Trillion". Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ↑ "Eradicate Illiteracy". Eradicate Illiteracy. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ↑ "$15M Global Learning XPRIZE Culminates With Two Grand Prize". XPRIZE. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
External Links
Curious Learning Official Website
Google Summer of Code Participant | 2021
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