Using the School Basic e-Learning Libraries (BeLLs), Ghana Reads introduces educational content for students and teachers to address the lack of high quality reading materials
Project Name
Ghana Reads
Location Implemented
Ghana
Technology Used
Hardware
Competition Entered
Grant Competition 2011
Reading Skill Targeted
Foundational
Status
Winner
The Challenge
Many schools in Ghana critically lack high quality reading material. Often the materials that are in schools are not aligned with the Ghanaian curriculum and are out of date. Words and short sentences may be written on the blackboard for children to sound aloud but the students themselves have little opportunity to read at their own pace.
The Big Idea
The Ghana Reads project installs and supports (through coaching) the use of School Basic e-Learning Libraries (BeLLs) that sit on Raspberry Pi, which provide text, audio and video content to schools. Content, some of which are in the mother tongue, included alphabet letters sound songs, oral passages and written passages, games focused on vocabulary building, comprehension passages with questions and answers and resources for teaching phonics and reading in general.
Results
6,633 learners accessed the BeLLs resources in 20 schools including 307 new resources. While the midterm evaluation report noted that, among students who used BeLL, literacy skills increased 13% overall, with the largest gains made in subtasks of linking sounds to letters and identifying fictional words, the endline evaluation established that there was a 98% (n=88) MD improvement in overall performance between midterm and end-line phases.
Blogs and Media
Blog // October 4, 2016A World Teachers’ Day Tribute to Educators Piloting New EdTech
Research and Resources
Open Learning Exchange – Ghana / Kofi Essien
Open Learning Exchange shares their ACR GCD-funded innovation to launch and support 20 e-learning libraries in rural elementary schools in Ghana.USAID the Catalog
USAID spotlights leading science and technology projects for solving global challenges related to education, health, water and others.
Connect with the Innovator
Website
http://ghanareads.oleghana.org/Organization Type
Non Profit
Headquarters
Accra Metropolis, Greater Accra Region
