Chennai: Amrita University’s Android-based mobile learning app for adult basic education, called the Amrita Learning Reading App, has entered the semifinals of the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE, a $7-millionglobal competition in the US to transform the lives of low-literate adults.
The 8 semifinalists, announced in a ceremony in Los Angeles, US, have been chosen from 109 teams worldwide which have been competing to develop the best mobile app that would result in the greatest increase in literacy skills among adult learners in 12 months. While six semifinalists are from the US, two are from Asia, including India and Hong Kong.
Said Dr. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor, Amrita University: “Reaching the semifinals of the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE is a very proud moment for us. We could achieve this success because of years of research work at our education technology lab, AmritaCREATE. It has been providing tablet-based, technology driven education in remote villages through our rural education program called Amrita Rural India Tablet-enhanced Education (RITE). The world-class app developed by Amrita University to provide adult basic education can revolutionize adult literacy in India, which has the largest population of illiterate adults in the world at 287 million, amounting to 37% of the global total. I wish the team all the success for the finals ahead.”
Aligned with the national mission of Digital India, the AmritaRITE program is offered using mobile technology in nine Indian languages, with a focus on educating children and low-literate adults in remote and rural villages in 21 states of India. This outreach program of Amrita University has impacted over 300,000 learners till now.
The Amrita Learning Reading App is an extension of the AmritaRITE program. It incorporates pedagogy with Adaptive Learning, motivation through social media and culturally appropriate content. The app is available on Google Play Store at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.amritacreate.reading&hl=en
The eight semi-finalist teams now enter a 15-month-long field-testing phase across three partner cities – Los Angeles, Dallas and Philadelphia – that includes a total of 12,000 adult-learner participants who read English at a third-grade reading level or below. Following 12 months of consistent use, a post-test will be administered to determine the highest gains in literacy achieved by the participants, and the winner app chosen.
Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi ("Amma"), the world-renowned humanitarian leader, is the founder of both Amrita University and the UN-affiliated NGO, Embracing the World (ETW), a charitable-outreach organization. ETW’s project in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, won the UNESCO / NLM National Award (2008) for Adult Literacy.
