Worldreader Aims To Eradicate Global Illiteracy By Giving Children E-Readers - PBSNewsHour

[WillyT]

Worldreader aims to eradicate global illiteracy by giving children e-readers
PBSNewsHour
11/29/13

Worldreader has a lofty goal: eradicating global illiteracy. So far they've reached 13,000 kids in Sub-Saharan Africa by giving them e-readers loaded with local and international books. John Risher of Worldreader joins Jeffrey Brown to discuss their mission and how learning to read can improve children's lives.

Video and Transcript Here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec13/worldreaders_11-29.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Sounds like a program to distribute up-to-date material, not end illiteracy

They seem to think that illiteracy is being caused by the material not being interesting enough. People don't learn to read in Africa because they've heard there are Hardy Boys e-books available for free; they get educated or not based on whether the children are close to a teacher, if the family can keep them healthy without them helping earn their living, and so on. And then we get this:

One of the earliest things that our kids asked us is, can we have a light so that we can read after dark?

And it was that sort of observation that made us realize, this really can work and it really can change the world.

And that is the sort of observation that should have made them realize that a community like that has more basic problems, such as no electrical system, and a few more basic things (rechargeable flashlights to use as general lighting? They're confident that they can charge up these e-readers in communities where they have no lighting) might help people a lot more than a publishing distribution system.