Friday, November 02, 2012

E-readers kindle enthusiasm for learning among children in Kenya




This article is about how in sub-Saharan Africa there are few to no textbooks for students. The cost for buying and transporting books means that they would have to be shared between classmates which would cause slower development and would hinder the learning process. A school in South-West Africa received e-readers that were donated which came with Kenyan textbooks in English as well as their language, Kiswahili. Also, when there are electric shortages the e-readers can be charged by using a small solar power pack and generators. The headteacher has noticed a lot of positive changes since using the Kindles. She sees that the children are excited about learning and reading most of the time. The Kindles help students with their spelling and English language skills. She also says that the children are ahead compared to other schools and the parents are very happy about the small device that can hold so many books. The school was given 150 e-readers for 200 students by the Kilgoris Project that partnered with Worldreader. They feel that technology is the most effective and efficient way for students to get all of the benefits of access to books.
Moving forward in today’s society education is advancing and so is the tools used to educate students. It seems that e-readers and other technology are the way to go when trying to update education tactics and even easier to developing countries who cannot afford to access a library full of books. Students are learning from technology better than textbooks because they can relate. 



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