OTAN News

XPrize Semi-finalists Announced

Semi-finalists were announced this week for the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPrize , a global competition in which 109 teams competed to develop mobile applications for smart devices that result in the greatest increase in literacy skills among participating adult learners in just 12 months.

The eight semi-finalist  apps will now be field tested for 15 months in Philadelphia, Dallas and Los Angeles by 12,000 adult participants who read English at a third-grade reading level or below. We at the EdTech Center will be following the field testing to report on leanings on the effectiveness of different instructional strategies used in the apps with different demographics (ELL, ABE, etc.).

Approaches vary from teaching through song lyrics ( Lyrica ), interactive audio and texting messages ( Cell-Ed ), gaming ( People ForWords , AutoCognita  and Learning Games Studios  ), videos and other multi-media content ( Learning Upgrade  and Alphabet  ), and culturally appropriate e-content linked to life skills ( AmritaCREATE ). Some of the apps deploy a combination of strategies.

For more information on the competition, see the XPrize competition's announcement. Of note is that apps that perform best in field testing will be made available across the United States for complimentary use for 18 months.

Photo by Trevor Traynor. Courtesy of XPrize Foundation.

Source: EdTech Center at World Education News, July 2017