After zoning in on the idea of a talking audiobook, the idea was to. Literacy bridge measures the success of the talking book based on user data, feedback that users can record directly onto the device, and in positive results reported by those using them. All content is posted anonymously by employees working at literacy bridge. Learn how literacy bridges talking book is helping impoverished rural families prevent disease and improve their crops. Literacy bridge and the talking book project microsoft. Exmicrosoft worker creates talking book to teach literacy. Literacy bridges success in delivering critical health and agriculture messages on our talking book platform has been largely due to our collaboration with. Our solution is based on our unique technology, the talking book, the worlds most. On a warm spring evening in 2006, software consultant cliff. Job vacancy for content officer at literacy bridge ghana. Literacy bridge ghana is a community development organization that works with organizations to make knowledge and skills available to the most underserved people in the poorest communities in such a way that leads to understanding and behavior change.
Literacy bridge is perhaps best known for creating the talking book, a light and durable audio computer that disseminates lessons to adults and youth in rural and impoverished parts of the world. This project will collect initial data and expand to talking books in 75 communities by the end of 2012, impacting 24,000 mothers and their children. Cos major program, developing new and affordable digital audio technology to provide vital. Literacy bridge country director andy bayor and founder cliff schmidt introduce the talking book to a ghanaian village. Working with the countrys ministry of health and agriculture to record important content, literacy bridge is now providing talking books to,000 people in the northwest region of country. Literacy bridge ghana vacancies 2018 jobs in ghana. The talking book is an example of an ict product built from the groundup specifically targeted to such scenarios and contexts.
Literacy bridge has worked on the technology since 2007 and has already carried out smallerscale tests. Apr 18, 2016 the talking book presents these topics in interactive and relatable ways, such as songs, stories, dramas, games and quizzes. Building the literacy bridge with talking books language. Social and behavior change communication sbcc audio content planning and production. Upper west region, ghana skills in january 2009, literacy bridge partnered with teachers and administrators in the jirapa district, upper west region, ghana. Nov 24, 2014 literacy bridges talking book program is an innovative use of lowcost, mobile technology to influence critical behaviors that impact the lives and opportunities of the most vulnerable and excluded children, said unicef ghana country representative susan namondo ngongi. The talking book presents these topics in interactive and relatable ways, such as songs, stories, dramas, games and quizzes. With the talking book, you can share hours of targeted audio content in a communitys local languages. Amplios digital solution is built around the talking book a rugged, easytouse audio device designed for sharing knowledge with lowliterate adults and youth. Scumble thorndike literacy bridge middle reader large.
The talking books, designed to cost around 10usd each, are already being used to help understaffed schools teach their children, and spread. The program provides children with an interactive audio. Apr 01, 2016 literacy bridge ghana is a community development organization that works with organizations to make knowledge and skills available to the most underserved people in the poorest communities in such a way that leads to understanding and behavior change. This research led him to found literacy bridge and through it the talking book. Using a lowcost audio computer called the talking book, the literacy bridge, a nonprofit group, disseminates information to users about health, agriculture, and education in their own dialect, said the groups executive director, cliff schmidt.
We address this problem with a simple and lowcost audio technology. The amplio talking book audio device enables governments and ngo to share knowledge to empower lowliterate people in rural remote communities, collect usage data and user feedback, and continually update and improve content for greater impact. Amplio talking book program global innovation exchange. Nov 20, 2014 literacy bridge country director andy bayor and founder cliff schmidt introduce the talking book to a ghanaian village. Literacy bridge, unicef, arm unite on talking books project. Publishers weekly a vintage tale from the master of the themedriven, feelgood school story. Literacy bridge the charity running the pilot said its talking books had been designed for people who might not be able to read.
It is designed for use in local languages, using locally produced content, as tool to promote literacy among primary school children to cite just one goal and target group. New leadership, strategic direction for literacy bridge ghana. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Talking book, a new voice for isolated communities miller. Jan 18, 2018 the primary responsibilities of the hop will be 1. Literacy bridge ghana hiring ict manager at literacy bridge.
Image literacy bridge image caption audio can be copied from one talking book to another with a usb cable their computer chips also makes them programmable. Literacy bridge, unicef, arm unite on talking books project in ghana as the united nations marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the convention on the rights of the child, humanitarian technology company literacy bridge has announced a new multiyear partnership with unicef and arm to deliver health education to 40,000 vulnerable people in ghana, using talking book mobile devices. Literacy bridge uses talking books to spread the word in. Users can select and play messages on demand and record their feedback. It covers many subjects like health and agricultural innovations and can be used for recording local responses and comments in whatever local languages are used. Remoteness, lowliteracy, lack of electricity or internet, and traditional gender norms and. Lbg offers services for talking book programs, including. How then do one billion illiterate adults in the world access knowledge crucial to preventing disease, creating economic opportunity, and. The talking book project is literacy bridges major program, developing new and affordable digital audio technology to provide vital, locally generated information and literacy training to. Literacy bridge is utilising easytouse, lowcost voice recorders to help spread information and increase literacy levels in rural ghana, where knowledge is still primarily spread via word of mouth. Farmers with access to the talking book also had an increase in crop. In 2020, a talking book pilot will launch in two communities to reach approximately 2,400 people prior to project expansion. Talking book pilot results jirapa district, upper west region, ghana january august 2009 literacy bridge. Jul 23, 20 students in ghana listen to a talking book.
Literacy bridge at the heart of the programs is the talking book an innovative lowcost audio computer designed for the learning needs of illiterate populations living in the poorest areas in. Literacy bridge ghana will be implementing a project on the jirapa district and require for immediate employment the following vacancies. Literacybridgeghana helping bridge the literacy gap. Literacy bridge is building the talking book device, a low cost audio player and recorder, for children and adults in the developing world.
Literacy bridge was founded in 2007 to advance health, education, human rights and socioeconomic development. Literacy bridges talking book by michael schifino on vimeo, the home for high quality videos. Literacy bridge volunteer opportunities volunteermatch. Talking book trial to help poorest of poor in ghana bbc news. Through current projects and new partnerships with the world bank, save the children, and others, we expect to significantly increase our program reach. Literacy bridges talking book project increasing literacy education case study. In early 2012, literacy bridge will create the recordings and launch a pilot for this project, deploying 200 talking books to womens groups in 20 randomly selected communities. Amplios affiliate, literacy bridge ghana lbg is based in wa, in the upper west region of ghana. Children and adults will use the device for literacy learning and knowledge sharing. A different approach is taking place in ghana, in regions with few resources and low literacy levels. But they often face barriers to reaching the most vulnerable populations. Both children feel like outsiders much of the time. According to literacy bridge, an evaluation of 37 users from their pilot site in rural ghana conducted from august 2009 to january 2010 revealed that 91% of users applied a new health or agriculture practice as a result of their use of the talking book.
Fidelis daure talks about the impact of the talking book in the lives of farmers living in the small village of ving ving, ghana. Literacy bridge and their talking book approach is an innovative and powerful way to provide key information to rural people in developing countries like ghana. Nov 20, 2014 image literacy bridge image caption audio can be copied from one talking book to another with a usb cable their computer chips also makes them programmable. The mission of literacy bridge is to improve the health, income and quality of life for the worlds most underserved communities. We designed the talking book to address the short and longterm needs of those we serve. Our durable talking book audio device is designed for offthegrid.
They plan to shift their focus to seeding a consumer market, and will use. Literacy bridge ghanas talking book covid19 program. Its talking book is a simple and lowcost audiobased mobile device that allows people with minimal literacy skills in rural areas, without electricity or internet access, to share knowledge on agriculture and health, as they gradually advance their literacy. The wide variety of problems in rural ghana meant that the talking book needed to have an array of features to ensure its greatest utility as well as simple directions to ensure its usability. Literacy bridge and the talking book project microsoft research. The talking book device is a simple, durable, portable audio computer built to endure rough play, dust and rain storms. Literacy bridge ghanas talking book covid19 program makes the news. Literacy bridge, unicef, arm unite on talking books. Nov 20, 2014 literacy bridge has worked on the technology since 2007 and has already carried out smallerscale tests.
Amplios talking book audio platform enables global development organizations to amplify their reach and provide ondemand access to knowledge for lowliterate people in. The arizona center for the book supports early literacy programs in libraries that help young children develop the skills they need to read during this foundational time for learning. The talking book is a lowcost audio device device with recording capabilities imagine a rubbery mp3 player about the size of a grapefuit rather ingeniously engineered and reengineered to meet specific needs and usage scenarios in very poor communities in africa. Leslie is new at school and has a background that seems foreign to her fellow classmates, and jess feels out of place in his own family and at school. Literacy bridge and the talking book project youtube. The devices store data on microsd cards, meaning they can each hold hundreds of hours of audio. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Literacy bridge uses talking books to spread the word in ghana. Cliff schmidt, the founder of literacy bridge, recently stopped by the world bank to discuss his work in northern ghana to help investigate. Economically disadvantaged, lowincome, and poor people. She starts by placing the book near her talking book device and playing the associated content. Jun 16, 2011 fidelis daure talks about the impact of the talking book in the lives of farmers living in the small village of ving ving, ghana.
Voice technologies not yet ready to push literacy techtonics. Terabithia is a place where leslie and jess can escape from the difficulties of the lives and use their imaginations. To date, the talking book programme has reached over 400,000 rural beneficiaries in africa and has led to many positive outcomes. Amplios talking book audio platform enables global development organizations to amplify their reach and provide ondemand access to. Literacy bridges talking book program is an innovative use of lowcost, mobile technology to influence critical behaviors that impact the lives and opportunities of the most vulnerable and excluded children, said unicef ghana. For more information about literacy bridge and the talking book, see the organizations web site and blog. Since 2008, amplio formerly literacy bridge has reached 800,000 people through talking book programs. Literacy bridge is currently developing a new version of the talking book that would reduce energy consumption and unit costs.
Literacy bridges talking book program aims toempower the worlds most underserved communities with lifesaving and lifechanging knowledge to reduce. Apr 03, 2017 this research led him to found literacy bridge and through it the talking book. In response to this problem literacy bridge was founded to empower children and adults with tools for scalable knowledge sharing and literacy learning. We do this through our flagship resource, the talking booka batteryoperated interactive communications tool that records key messages that community members listen to and apply. The talking book project is literacy bridge s major program, developing new and affordable digital audio technology to provide vital, locally generated information and literacy training to people with limited access to either. An early reading student, who may be a child or an adult, wants to practice decoding and properly pronouncing text within a book aimed at her reading level. At the heart of literacy bridges programs is the talking book, an innovative lowcost audio computer designed to deliver this vital knowledge to illiterate. Literacy bridge is a seattle and ghanabased nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting poor, rural communities with the locally relevant knowledge they need to improve their lives.
A ghanaian farmer explains how he uses the talking book. Literacy bridge ghana hiring field coordinators 2 at. Lbg gets new executive director tiah gumah aloysius recently joined literacy bridge ghana lbg as its new executive director. Wordbyword reading for literacy education and the power of content authoring software. May 19, 2009 in response to this problem literacy bridge was founded to empower children and adults with tools for scalable knowledge sharing and literacy learning. On a warm spring evening in 2006, software consultant cliff schmidt decided to take a walk near the hotel where.
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