MILLEE: Mobile and Immersive Learning for LIteracy in Emerging Economies

Literacy in a global or national language (e.g. English, Mandarin Chinese, etc.) is a key to socioeconomic success in the developing world. Such literacy opens the doors to regional and international markets, careers in the formal economy, continuing education where the language of instruction is a majority language, as well as social services.

After more than two years of educational experiments in developing regions, a clear opportunity emerged: while the desktop computer is currently the platform of choice in practically any grassroots literacy program, mobile devices offer significantly more convenience due to inadequate building infrastructure and irregular electricity in rural areas. There is a more fundamental social argument: since a substantial fraction of children in developing regions have limited time to attend school regularly when they need to perform agricultural work, housework, etc., learning in out-of-school settings made possible by mobile technologies can potentially increase access to literacy by at least an order of magnitude.

We believe that educational games on cellphones can address the above challenges. In particular, we believe that game-like design can improve enjoyment of the learning experience and encourage spontaneous adoption. Informed by educational theories on language acquisition, we are designing a suite of mobile learning applications that target literacy and language learning. These applications will run on cellphones, the fastest growing technology platform in emerging economies.

The role of the MBA student(s):

Since our existing team is made up of people with backgrounds in computer science, education and economic development, we are seeking an MBA student to complement us. He/she will help us examine various community business models that leverage the above cellphone applications. He/she will also be responsible for taking the lead on the business plan for the GSVC.

Contact Matthew Kam, mattkam@cs.berkeley.edu