A learning app for adults with low literacy skills developed by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (AVV) has entered the finals of the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult literacy XPrize (a not for profit global leader in designing and implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grandest challenge) in the US, earning the top private Indian university $100,000 in prize money.
The AVV is one of only five teams from around the world to enter the finals of this prestigious global competition to develop apps that would enable the greatest increase in literacy skills among adult learners in just 12 months. The finalists were announced at the 2018 American library Association (AlA) Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans.
The app was developed by an 18-member team from the university’s Center for Research in Advanced Technologies for Education, led by Dr Prema Nedungadi who said: “We are thrilled to be selected as a finalist. The vision was to aim for quality education for all that motivated us to develop the app and compete globally. Reading is one of the golden keys that can break the cycle of dependence, depression and incarceration among adults. We are happy to know that learning apps which have entered the finals will be widely distributed in the US and elsewhere.”
The team has created a personalised learning app with engaging, culturally appropriate e-content linked to life skills. It provides instructions to adult learners from alphabets to the fifth standard reading level. “There is substantial Spanish language support throughout the app; games and a Picture Dictionary support the main curriculum. True and fictional passages are designed specifically for adults, supported by human voice audio. We believe this educational approach will engage and uplift our readers, so they may persist until they succeed in improving their reading skills,” Dr Nedungadi, said.
The teams from around the world are competing in the multi-stage competition that tests learning apps for their ability to increase the literacy level of low-literate adults within 12 months, creation of a design that is easy to use on a mobile phone, and software curriculum that is engaging for adult learners.
A $3 million grand prize will be awarded to the app that shows the best performance across all adult learners over a 15-month, 12,000-person field test, which is currently being held in los Angeles, Dallas and Philadelphia. The winner will be announced in 2019. Through the app, the team sees a great scope to help the 36 million adults in the US who have low literacy skills.
Speaking about the app Dr Nedungadi said that they are very proud of their app and its ability to help people learn to read.
“We would like all major social-service providers and adult educators to promote its widespread distribution to adult learners. The use of the app should increase the user’s literacy to a point where his or her learning begins to naturally increase exponentially as they participate more in society and notice the reading opportunities that surround them daily. From there, we hope that users would feel confident to engage fully in civic life and become more economically sufficient,” she said.
The university has also developed and deployed large-scale projects across India in education. These include Rural India Table enhanced education in remote villages which has received awards including the 2008 UNESCO-NlM award for Adult literacy in India and the 2015 Digital India Award; Intelligent Tutoring Systems for School Education; e-Governance Systems for Schools, Big Data Analytics in Education and Health; Health Awareness and Monitoring Systems and Simulations; and Virtual Interactive learning environments for Medical Education.