Antura and the Letters app builds foundational literacy skills in Arabic and improves psychosocial well-being for Syrian children who are out of school or struggling in school.
Project Name
Antura and the Letters
Location Implemented
Global
Technology Used
Software/Apps
Competition Entered
EduApp4Syria Prize
Reading Skill Targeted
Foundational, Pre-Reading, Reading
Status
Winner
Amount Award
$650,000 (innovative tender)
Collaborators/Partners
The project is the result of the successful collaboration of three partner entities: Cologne Game Lab (German university), Wixel Studio (Lebanese development studio), and Video Games Without Borders (international nonprofit organization). Their team, the majority of which is composed of Middle East and North Africa residents and refugees, is a mix of scientists, entertainment game veterans, and humanitarians.
The Challenge
Years of conflict in Syria has uprooted millions of people, hampering children’s access to education. More than 3.5 million refugee children were unable to attend a single day of school in 2016, and those who did attend often faced learning difficulties due to long-term stress as well as the use of educational materials in languages they don’t use or understand. A lack of basic literacy and numeracy skills among young people significantly decreases their educational progress and economic opportunities.
The Big Idea
“Antura wa al Huruf” (Antura and the Letters) uses the properties of play to achieve its pedagogical and psychosocial goals, featuring principles such as stealth learning, flow and player psychological modeling. The narrative context tasks the player with helping an old keeper watch over the living letters – wild little creatures. With the help of the keeper’s dog, Antura, the player embarks on a journey through multiple mini games, which correspond to content from Syrian elementary school curriculum.
Results
Available for free on Google Play, the App Store and Windows.
Featured Innovation
Antura and the Letters (Arabic)
Learning becomes an adventure with Antura, the fun-loving dog. Catch Arabic letters hidden around the world, while solving puzzles and earning gifts. Available on Android, iOS and Windows.
Blogs and Media
News Byte // March 13, 2023Antura and the Letters receives global recognition
Research and Resources
Adapting Open Source Solutions to Unlock Literacy for More Children
Learn from the ACR GCD and Curious Learning how to select and adapt open source literacy apps to improve child literacy in low-resource contexts.EduApp4Syria GitHub Source Code
Use the open source code for the winning EduApp4Syria games, Antura and the Letters and Feed the Monster, to translate the apps into new languages.Antura and the Letters (English)
Learning becomes an adventure with Antura, the fun-loving dog. Catch English letters hidden around the world, while solving puzzles and earning gifts. Available on Android, iOS and Windows.Antura and the Letters (Arabic)
Learning becomes an adventure with Antura, the fun-loving dog. Catch Arabic letters hidden around the world, while solving puzzles and earning gifts. Available on Android, iOS and Windows.Guide to Developing Digital Games for Early Grade Literacy for Developing Countries
The guidebook by ACR GCD and Digital Learning 4 Development outlines key principles for developing digital games for literacy and includes 12 case studies of leading games.Assessing the Impact of Literacy Learning Games for Syrian Refugee Children
An executive overview on the impact of two winning EduApp4Syria prize apps on Arabic literacy learning and psychosocial outcomes of children affected by the Syria crisis.
