Beeline Reader
Executive Summary
Project Host
Fellows
Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, Research Fellow
Sabrina Nagel, Social Entrepreneur Fellow
Efua Payida, Social Entrepreneur Fellow
Martin Tomasik, Research Fellow
Introduction
Literacy is an essential skill in every language. However, access to books and appropriate fluency interventions is needed to achieve high literacy results in Indonesia.
Bookbot addresses the challenge of teaching children to read proficiently through its innovative learn-to-read app. The app offers a leveled, phonics-based library of books, allowing children to read aloud while receiving natural text-to-speech feedback on their pronunciation and fluency through on-device speech recognition.
With Bookbot, children can monitor their reading skills progress and see how close they are to achieving proficiency. The app also sets goals and offers incentives for reading, rewarding children with a choice of virtual avatars or real-world awards determined by parents and teachers. Designed to be lightweight and efficient, the Bookbot app features a speech recognition and synthesis system that operates smoothly even on low-performance devices without internet access. While the app works offline, it stores data on reading time, fluency, and accuracy in a cloud database, enabling teachers to access and review this information.
Joining LEAP brings Bookbot closer to achieving their vision: that every child has the opportunity to develop their reading, writing and communication skills to live a happy and successful life.
Organization’s role and strength
Literacy is fundamental, not only for our personal and social development but also for our ability to function effectively in society. Bookbot’s vision is that every child should have the opportunity to develop their reading, writing and communication skills to create a happy and successful life. Bookbot’s mission is to deliver tools that use machine learning to advance human learning. The Bookbot app combines speech recognition and a reading program for school children to achieve greater literacy outcomes. Bookbot provides better tools for educators to monitor a child’s reading progress and provide incentives for growth.
Need summary
Bookbot wants to correctly monitor and evaluate its impact and grow its evidence base. Bookbot has articulated the following objectives:
- Identifying gaps in available data
- Prioritize additional data collection
- Providing a structure for data analysis and reporting
- Develop key evaluation questions
Solution summary and next steps
Following a few discovery sessions with Bookbot and reviewing their organizational objectives, we suggested the following:
- Deliverable 1: Strategic problem-solving framework
- Deliverable 2: Theoretical evidence framework
- Deliverable 3: Documented code
- Deliverable 4: Teacher's Guide
- Deliverable 5: Recommendations for the future