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MILLEE: Mobile and Immersive Learning for Literacy in Emerging Economies (0 comments)
Play Game >> Age Range Ages 7 and up
Brief Description
Cellphone-based games that enable poor children in the developing world to acquire language and literacy in immersive, game-like environments. These games target localized language learning needs and aim to make literacy resources more accessible to underprivileged children who face the child labor challenge.
Release Date July 2009Developer Matthew Kam and team
Project Lead Matthew Kam
Press Coverage
To appear on ABC News. Becoming Literate, One Cellphone at a Time. In Ahmedabad Mirror, India, April 23, 2009. UP Kids Call California for an English Lesson. In Indian Express, India, January 1, 2009. Cell Phone: The Ring Heard Around the World. Television documentary produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, aired on public television on April 3 and June 5, 2008.
Press Release URLhttp://www.hastac.org/node/1881
Full Description
Literacy levels in poor countries remain shockingly low. Even more challenging is the tension between regional and “world” languages – that economic opportunities are often closed to those literate only in a regional language. In India for example, the value of English is widely recognized by ordinary Indians, and it is the poorest citizens who are lobbying most strongly to expand English teaching. Whereas regular school attendance is far out of reach for those children who have to work for the family in agricultural fields or households, the growing adoption of cellphones in developing countries hold the potential for mobile learning to make English literacy more widely accessible in places and times more convenient than school. The MILLEE research project, now starting its 6th year, aims to realize this opportunity. MILLEE takes a scientific approach to the design of immersive, enjoyable, language learning games on cellphones. It draws from theory and best practices in second-language learning. It also draws on the traditional village games that rural children are familiar with. It has won several competitive grants, and seen extensive field tests with rural and urban slums children. We are taking the project to the next level: a controlled field experiment with 800 rural children in India and validation against standardized school tests. The lessons will permit the project to be scaled nationwide and replicated in other developing countries for other languages. The project has been featured in India’s major press, a Canadian public television documentary, and soon, ABC News.
Purpose
In India for example, English is the language of instruction in private schools and all universities, a large fraction of business and government, and the language which is driving India’s service economy. The value of English is widely recognized by ordinary Indians, and it is the poorest citizens who are lobbying most strongly to expand English teaching. For complex reasons, however, English teaching in low-resource public schools is not succeeding. MILLEE aims to complement the formal education system by dramatically expanding English skills in young Indians, which is the fastest way to open the doors for well-paying employment and further education.
MetricsHow are you measuring results?
Performance on tests of English learning
What outcomes have been measured?
Demonstrated short-term vocabulary retention and improvements in spelling skills
Non-Profit involved: yes
Funding Sources: MacArthur Foundation, Microsoft, National Science Foundation, Qualcomm, Verizon
Sponsors/In-kind donations: Nokia
Social Issues/Channels Poverty, Other Game Tags
Cellphone, Developing countries, Developing world, English as a Second Language, India, Language and literacy, Mobile learning
Where you can play this game Via cellphones
Contacts
General Matthew Kam, mattkam@cs.cmu.edu
Press Matthew Kam, mattkam@cs.cmu.edu
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