Knowing English is a highly marketable skill in the Indian economy. It is a vital asset for jobs in India's growing service industry, and opens up countless doors in the business world. For this reason, English is a common course in Indian schools, private and public. However, many children in rural India are unable to maintain regular school attendance because they need to work for their families. An organization, called Mobile and Immersive Learning for Literacy in Emerging Economies (MILLEE), has developed an effective and efficient solution: cellphone games. Despite how ridiculous this claim seems at first, this idea of "mobile learning" is well thought out and display the kind of entrepreneurial spirit needed to produce the innovations that will help end poverty. MILLEE's programmers have developed a suite of educational games that teach English literacy. The cellphone's portability and convenience allow children to learn at home and in the field. The best thing about MILLEE's approach is that they program the games on a case-by-case basis rather than a country or world wide platform. They use local games from each individual region as the basis of each game so children are familiar with the games and motivated to play them. Over the past five years, MILLEE has been phenomenally successful, and expanded their program from India to include Africa and China.
MILLEE's program has also shown other benefits in ending social inequalities. In the initial study alone, 8 cross-caste friendships were formed among the 18 participants. Caste boundaries are normally inviolable, but this innovative program has begin breaking down the social barriers. With any luck, this will be a continuing trend and not just a freak anomaly.
How does MILLEE decide which children receive the phones, and is the distribution limited to a certain age group? I think the idea of mobile learning is a good approach but what about the children that are left out? Also this mobile learning seems like bribery. If there comes a time when the organization can no longer provide an incentive, this will cause the children to drop out of school and try to find jobs.
ReplyDeleteAh! Jessiona is asking exactly the same question I asked of Raney's post. Is this phone initiative also a case of so-called bribery? What do we think of this "bribery" issue?
ReplyDeleteJ Bryant and Itm are right, these children shouldn't be bribed into learning.The phones seem like a really unique idea, but these children need to learn the values of learning and not just playing phone games.
ReplyDeleteI think mobile learning is a great tool for those who are fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to use it. Do the kids who attend school get to participate as well? This is a cool learning opportunity for the kids who don't regularly attend school
ReplyDeleteI wasn't saying that I disagree with "bribing," I was asking you all what you think of it.
ReplyDeleteProf Murphy (aka ltm)