#righttoread

[lizellyn]

Stand Up For The Freedom To Read

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[azspot]

Microsoft announces it will shut down ebook program and confiscate its customers' libraries

Microsoft has a DRM-locked ebook store that isn’t making enough money, so they’re shutting it down and taking away every book that every one of its customers acquired effective July 1.

Microsoft has a DRM-locked ebook store that isn't making enough money, so they're shutting it down and taking away every book that every one of its customers acquired effective July 1.

[seattleru]

28,000+ young people nationwide now have Seattle Public Library cards through “Books Unbanned” 📚✊ Access banned titles anonymously via the Libby app and fight censorship with more reading, not less. Details: https://hyperlocalnews.website/seaen/28000-young-americans-got-seattle-library-cards.html

[authorhusbandfather]

Happy Halloween! Grab yourself some free candy (books)!! #prolificworks.com #braincandy #free #righttoread https://www.instagram.com/p/CG-tbczlCn-/?igshid=wjlayjbchc9f

[newsblogalpha]

Right-to-Read Advocates Undeterred by Court Setback

Right-to-Read Advocates Undeterred by Court Setback

[ad_1] A push to get a federal court to recognize a constitutional right to education continues, despite last month’s dismissal of a Detroit right-to-read case.

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[englishhelperblog-blog]

Digitization and the English Language - EnglishHelper Blog

Our mission is to spread the use English language through RightToRead's technology and help people move away from the vicious cycle of poverty.

English Language Learning in the Digital World

Our RightToRead program is addressing challenges of basic literacy and reading. The number of Indians who can read and write has improved since Independence. However, the uneven distribution of literacy in India makes literacy a more difficult mission to achieve. In rural India where it is absent, it has continued to perpetuate poverty. Thirty-six percent of the world’s illiterate live in India, and one in five people were considered poor in 2016. Our mission is to spread the use English language and help people move away from the vicious cycle of poverty.

Since 2013, EnglishHelper has worked with Government schools across the country to improve basic reading skills of students. Today, ReadToMe, our reading and English language comprehension solution is used in over 6000 schools, across multiple states. It has touched the lives of over 1.3 million students and thousands of teachers. The use of technology has enabled us to scale rapidly, stay relevant, and assist teachers and students with low reading proficiency.

English Language Impact on Students

The impact the program has had on students has been tremendous. In Purulia, West Bengal at Baragram High school, (a RightToRead school) Nitish Kumar Suren, a young student using ReadToMe remarked, “It is a very nice feeling when Sir calls on me to read. I love getting every word correct”. At Corporation Girls School in Coimbatore, the Principal, Anbuselvi remarks, “Students in my school come from very poor backgrounds and do not have televisions, computers, or cell phones at home. They see ReadToMe as a wonder and come to class with enthusiasm and excitement.” In Gujarat, the desire to learn English is strong. The children’s dreams and spirits are even stronger. Priyanka, a student of class 6 says her dream is to become a Pilot. “I’ve always wanted to sit on a plane but not as a passenger, as the person driving.”

Let’s take this opportunity to bring meaningful change in the world and bridge the divide with the use of the English Language.

For more information about RightToRead, follow the blog!

[englishhelperblog-blog]

Learning English Through Technology in Gujarat

Gujarat: Reading with Technology

In a small village in Gujarat, forty children were learning English sitting in front of a LCD screen by using RightToRead’s reading solution. The school was in a small village, miles from the nearest city only surrounded by vast fields. Here one has to find the right spot to use a phone. The students here are mostly from the agricultural community with absolutely no exposure to English! This is true of each of the 80 schools under the RightToRead initiative supported by EnglishHelper and sponsored by American India Foundation (AIF) in Gujarat.

According to the 2011 census, the average literacy rate of Gujarat is 78.03% and the female literacy rate is 69.68%. There are more than 36,000 primary schools in 18,000 villages, more than double the number of villages in Gujarat. Every child has a school within a 1 km radius. However, education is a not priority for most of the children as they are put to work as soon as they are able. A majority of children in these schools come from economically-deprived families where most parents are day labourers. Gujarati is their main medium of instruction, however students have to learn four languages in school – Gujarati, Hindi, Sanskrit, and English!

Importance Given to Education

What an overwhelming experience! I’m not sure what I was more astonished by – that the schools were almost 100 years old and wonderfully maintained, or that parents in these remote villages want their “daughters” to become “bahut bada officers”. They wanted their children to study which was also beautifully reflected by the young headmaster’s open mindedness and acceptances of technology. I was also amazed as the English teachers were not necessarily from an English background, they actually had a Gujarati/Sanskrit or Hindi background of teaching!

The most novel finding was to see how beautifully the teachers and students have adapted to technology in the class. Teachers, most of whom have never used a computer are now able to use ReadToMe (RTM) with great confidence. Some even said they now can’t think of taking English classes without ReadToMe! “Learning English” here is synonymous with ReadToMe.

What the Teachers and Students have to say about Learning English

There was praise for ReadToMe in all the 6 schools we visited. The confidence level of the English teachers and their commitment towards teaching English through ReadToMe was quite apparent. With ReadToMe they said, they were “able to retain the interest of the children, make the lesson enjoyable, and ensure students’ participation throughout the lesson.”

The students just love engaging with ReadToMe. Their favorite tool is the “picture dictionary” so much so that they stopped teachers frequently requesting to look up words in the picture dictionary. They love the spirit of competitiveness that ReadToMe provides – reading competition, pronunciation competition, spelling competition, etc. Their confidence level was completely different level. Students who could only speak the English alphabet till about 2 years ago are now able to introduce themselves, talk about their family, and their goals. Therefore, we see that learning English became an exciting activity for every child in Gujarat.

The Daily Lives of Children

The children live with several challenges, Dev Thakur, cooks food for his ailing mother before coming to school. Neha Thakur has no parents and lives with her uncle; she has to cook, clean, pack, and deliver food to the fields before coming to school. Kinjal Chawda, who lives with her old grandmother rushes home during recess to finish washing and feeding her. Despite these problems at all of 11-12 years, they just love coming to school. These students are bright and will thrive when given the opportunity.

– Written by a member of the EnglishHelper Team.

For more information about RightToRead, follow the blog!

[englishhelperblog-blog]

Every Child Can Learn English With RightToRead

An Introduction to RightToRead

RightToReadwas launched in 2013 in 100 government schools in 6 states covering 20,000 students. The main aim of this project is to help children learn English using innovative technology. RightToReadwas an initial partnership between EnglishHelper and American India Foundation (AIF). Co-sponsored by USAID and in partnership with IL&FS Education and AIF. It was then expanded to over one million students in almost 6000 schools in the country. RightToReadhas spread to almost 12,000 schools covering nearly 2.5 million students.

Implementation of RightToRead

RightToRead is an effort which demonstrates that reading and comprehension technology can play a key role in solving the country’s reading crisis. RightToRead enables the introduction of technology into classrooms guided with the motivation of minimum change and sustainability. Class text books are digitized and made available on the reading and comprehension software. Use of these textbooks on the software is integrated into the regular English class period. It enables the students to learn English in a multi-sensory way increasing student engagement and teacher effectiveness.

The RightToRead Footprint

Currently, the RightToRead footprint reaches Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In India, the RightToRead program has been implemented in multiple states and helped almost 2.5 million students learn English. In 2015, RightToRead was launched in Barranquilla and Cartagena in Colombia. The project expanded to Sierra Leone and Bangladesh. More recently, the program had been introduced in Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, and Honduras.

How to RightToRead Helped Children Learn English

RightToRead aims to enable improvement in English literacy by implementing a large scale technology intervention. Students exposed to the program improve their reading and spoken English skills. A series of studies have demonstrated the impact of the program and created a compelling case for the deployment of this model across the globe. Tests administered over the year 2016 indicate reading improvement of students covered by the program is on average 20-40% higher than students in ‘control’ schools.

Read more about the impact of the RightToRead initiative here:

https://www.englishhelper.com/dashboard/righttoread#page4

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