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Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute

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Abstract

This paper describes a research endeavor aimed at exploring the role that technology can play in improving child literacy in developing communities. An initial pilot study and subsequent four-month-long controlled field study in Ghana investigated the viability and effectiveness of an automated reading tutor in helping urban children enhance their reading skills in English. In addition to quantitative data suggesting that automated tutoring can be useful for some children in this setting, these studies and an additional preliminary pilot study in Zambia yielded useful qualitative observations regarding the feasibility of applying technology solutions to the challenge of enhancing child literacy in developing communities. This paper presents the findings, observations and lessons learned from the field studies.

Keywords

Developing Regions, Education, Educational Technology, Literacy

Notes

Associated Center(s) / Consortia: Field Robotics Center

Associated Lab(s) / Group(s): TechBridgeWorld and Project LISTEN

Text Reference

G. Ayorkor Korsah, Jack Mostow, M Bernardine Dias, Tracy Morrison Sweet, Sarah M. Belousov, Malcolm Frederick Dias, and Haijun Gong, "Improving Child Literacy in Africa: Experiments with an Automated Reading Tutor," 3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD2009), April, 2009.

BibTeX Reference

@inproceedings{Korsah_2009_6380,
   author = "G. Ayorkor Korsah and Jack Mostow and M Bernardine Dias and Tracy Morrison Sweet and Sarah M Belousov and Malcolm Frederick Dias and Haijun Gong",
   title = "Improving Child Literacy in Africa: Experiments with an Automated Reading Tutor",
   booktitle = "3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD2009)",
   month = "April",
   year = "2009",
}

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