Mobile + Early Childhood Development = Revolution

By ubongo | Akili and Me, Partners, Ubongo | 0 comment | 2 October, 2019 | 1

According to GSMA’s 2019 Mobile Economy Report, there are over 456 million unique mobile subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa, and this number will grow to 623 million by 2025. This means that currently, 44% of the population has access to mobile devices. And thanks to mobile technology we now have easy access to mobile banking services, health information, news, and educational services.

Innovators and changemakers have used the growing mobile penetration to help transform learning on the continent via mobile-based edtech solutions. We are living in the golden age of Africa-focused educational mobile apps that are offering children and educators much-needed support. For example Tanzania’s Soma App which gives students information about different scholarships they are eligible for, Kenya’s Eneza that offers revision and learning materials via basic feature phones, South Africa’s Obami, a social learning platform for students and educators, and Nigeria’s Tuteria that links students to tutors in their area within their budget – to name a few. However, there are a lot fewer people working to design apps for early learners (0 to 8 years old), which is a real problem.

“The early years are critical because this is the period in life when the brain develops most rapidly and has a high capacity for change, and the foundation is laid for health and wellbeing throughout life” (WHO). Currently, 44% of children aged 3-4 in Africa experience low cognitive or social-emotional development (McCoy et al, 2016). Moreover, there will be 2 billion babies born in Africa by 2035, so we have to leverage technology to address the learning challenges they may face. As Africa’s leading creators of children’s educational entertainment, we have created several mobile-based products to reach these early learners and their families. Here are 3 ways to effectively create and use mobile technology to drive learning in early childhood.

1. Understand the end-user and their challenges

Currently, 35% of people aged 15 and above in sub-Saharan Africa cannot read this sentence. This means more than 202 million people are illiterate, though they may have access to a mobile device. So how do you get much-needed educational content to them if they can’t read and have low levels of digital literacy? You use IVR (intra-voice response) technology.

Through our partnership with Viamo, families in Tanzania and Nigeria can use a simple feature phone to listen to free and low-cost literacy and numeracy lessons with their children. They can also get parenting tips about learning through play and positive disciplining techniques. We’ve already gotten over 500,000 calls in Tanzania and Nigeria. Viamo operates in 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia to provide low-literacy people with interactive, educational, and life-saving content.

2. Design and test with children for effective solutions

Beyond the low cognitive development that many children in Africa experience, 50% to 80% of kids in second grade across sub-Saharan Africa cannot comprehend a short reading passage. Among second grade students assessed on numeracy tests in several Sub-Saharan African countries, three-quarters could not count beyond 80 and 40% could not do a one-digit addition problem. Our research shows that children learn best when they are engaged and have the opportunity to repeat a lesson and learn at their own pace. Apps are therefore a perfect environment for individualised, independent interactive learning.

While most people in sub-Saharan Africa still use feature phones, 39% of mobile users have smartphones and 23% of them have access to the internet. That’s 238 million mobile internet users! We have partnered with Curious Learning (creators of the award-winning app Feed the Monster) and Enuma (2019 X-Prize Winners) to create educational apps that parents with lo-fi smartphones can use to help their kids develop their literacy and numeracy skills. Our apps include:

Read with Akili (Ubongo + Curious Learning)
Find the Pair (Ubongo + Enuma)
Akili’s Spelling App (Ubongo + Enuma)
Ubongo Quiz App (Ubongo)

These apps are effective because we designed and tested them with children at every stage of creation. From the information architecture and navigation to the content and design. For example, when conducting user testing for our Read with Akili app, there was a scene in the app of Akili eating alone. We learned from parents that this was very odd, as culturally children never eat alone, in fact, eating is one of the activities families often do together.

A scene from the Read With Akili App where Akili is eating alone

3.Build partnerships with other organizations

While we reach over 15 million families on TV and radio, we work with several partners to reach even more children with digital-based content for learning. For example, we have developed over 56 ebooks for Worldreader’s platform that currently reaches 500,000 people in 50 countries each month. In many countries, mobiles are the only channel for effectively distributing reading materials, given the high cost of books and their distribution, especially to rural areas.

Furthermore, we’ve also launched a beta version of our Akili Toolkits, our digital-based platform where organizations working to achieve early childhood development outcomes for children can freely find, download and share localized resources for their programs. The toolkits can also be used by parents and teachers looking for videos, activities or eBooks. We currently have customized toolkits based on different subject areas; pre-literacy, early numeracy, and SEL ready for download by any partner working directly with communities who need these resources the most.

Mobile is the future of learning in Africa

Both neuroscience and behavioral research has shown that the best time to invest in a person’s development and adaptation of ‘positive’ habits, is in early life. And as more and more children are born into the digital age, more than ever before, we have a unique opportunity to reach families across Africa through mobile with interactive, educational, and life-changing content. The future of education in Africa will be fuelled by mobile if we build edtech ecosystems that support people at every stage of life. Will you join us?