CAREER PROFILE : Doreen says Ubungo Kids is the answer

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She speaks to Success about her career addressing education showcasing lessons learn in engaging new technologies to allow children to be active learners, having an impact beyond the material being taught.

We’re creating Akili, an innovative edutainment cartoon and radio series that helps young children develop pre-literacy, numeracy, motor and English language skills through fun learning; and Akili Mobile, a complementary service for basic mobile phones that gives parents and caretakers additional resources and guidance to take an active role in their children’s early education. This interactive, multiplatform edutainment leverages technologies that Tanzanian families already access: 91% of Tanzanians listen to radio weekly (Intermedia, 2012), 42% watch TV weekly (IPSOS, 2013) and 80% of Tanzanian households have at least one mobile phone (Sauti ya Wananchi, 2012). Using these technologies we can reach millions of families across Tanzania with ultra-low-cost learning, at a speed and scale never before possible with traditional educational interventions.

We are building on experience from our current primary school edutainment program Ubongo Kids, which teaches maths through fun, animated stories and catchy original songs. It broadcasts on national TV (in Kiswahili) to families across East Africa, and has live mobile phone interactivity: viewers can answer multiple choice questions via SMS while they watch, then receive feedback and encouragement from their favorite cartoon characters. Ubongo Kids has reached over 1.4 million unique viewers in Tanzania in its first 6-month season (IPSOS, 2014), and led to significant maths learning outcomes for Tanzanian primary school students (see 3.2 Impact). Ubongo Kids is the first cartoon produced in Tanzania, and the first large-scale, local edutainment product. We are now adapting this approach for another area of great need: early childhood education.

CAREER PROFILE : Doreen says Ubungo Kids is the answer

What you need to know:

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