Abstract:

Try to imagine being an illiterate farmer living in extreme poverty in a remote rural village, without electricity and with very few visits from anyone outside your village. How could you learn to keep your family healthy or grow enough food to feed them?

In 2007, Literacy Bridge was formed to understand this problem and to develop a solution. They designed a simple, durable, and battery-operated audio device called the Talking Book to provide on-demand access to locally relevant knowledge.

After selling Talking Books to governments and organizations trying to reach underserved villages, Literacy Bridge also saw a need to produce engaging audio content based on learning principles and behavior change communication, which it now does with UNICEF and other partners to impact hundreds of thousands of people each month.

Learn about this approach to delivering education in extreme situations by combining locally created content with technology designed specifically for the learning needs of oral cultures.