updates on projects.
Here are three stories from Tanzania showing the real passion and drive that spurs people forward. It is this passion and drive we are looking to empower and grow by providing them tools that they can use to more fully take their learning into their own hands from a young age.
Today we finally made it all the way back to my children's family in Bagamoyo Tanzania. They were greeted by their Uncle, cousins and Grandmother (Bibi) with hugs and smiles all around.
My son and daughter are about to go to school and I am dreading sending them there! I am dreading the systematic dulling of their creativity by the focus on grades, standardized tests and outdated teachings. This post is about what I am doing about it: Empowering children to take their learning into their own hands!
A testimonial from Dr. Diana Sharp: A learning scientist with a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology. She has spent over twenty-five years exploring research on the promises and pitfalls of technology for reading development. She has worked on numerous projects aimed at transforming the way that children learn to read, and in 2012 she was named a global leader in the field of early-grade literacy and technology by Microsoft’s Global Strategic Education Partnerships division.
Diana Sharp, PhD describes her reasons for working with Dev4X and why our work is important.
It seems by backpack is a little heavier this time... 25 kg each excess weight these days. I am so excited to be taking my children home again. We have been practising some Swahili and thinking about how we can improve education for our family with technology.
We ran an indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the next field test and further development of the platform.
In 2000, the United Nations set out to achieve universal primary education within the following 15 years. While great strides have been made since then, much still needs to be done to make inaccessibility to education a thing of the past. Dev4X has been invited to the UN to take part in the events around the SDG summit to discuss how these challenges can be addressed.
Substantial research involving mobile tablets, and specifically their use in building literacy skills, has been conducted over the past decade. The Dev4x team has compiled this document to summarize the research underpinning the development of a new Dev4x Mobile Adaptive Learning Platform.
A decade ago someone said to me: Karibu Tena - welcome again to Tanzania. So I am dusting off my backpack and I am getting ready to fly back to East Africa!
The team at Dev4X are huge fans of Salman Khan’s work. His model for the future of education is an inspiration to ed-tech teams around the world. Which is why, we’re thrilled to announce that one of the perks of our crowdfunding campaign will be a certificate signed by Salman Khan, along with his book ‘The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined’. Read more here
The team at Dev4x are huge fans of Sir Ken's work. Which is why, we’re thrilled to announce that one of the perks of our crowdfunding campaign will be a certificate signed by sir Ken, along with his book ‘Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education’. Read more here.
There are few who have given as magnanimous a voice to the link between education, creativity, and purpose than Sir Ken Robinson. A world-renowned authority on the development of innovation, creativity, and human capacity in education and business, he is an acclaimed lecturer and author on these subjects.
A few months back we had the opportunity to present our project at TEDx in Loyola Marymount U, Los Angeles. Here is that talk and the presentation slides that accompanied it.
The team at Dev4x are huge fans of Sugata Mitra’s work. His research into self-organized learning environments and his incredible social work is a continual inspiration. Which is why, we’re thrilled to announce that one of the perks of our upcoming crowdfunding campaign(Mid October) will be a personally signed certificate by Sugata Mitra, along with his book ‘’Beyond the Hole in the Wall: Discover the Power of Self-Organized Learning" Read more here.
UNESCO estimates it will take until 2086 to reach all the children who need it using current approaches. We are thinking radically different, going far beyond current approaches and what's most exciting, we are doing it totally open. This way we can attract the best minds from around the world to help reach these kids while they are still young.
Come join the growing group of educators, designers, artists, parents, engineers, scientists and do-gooders, helping a cause that is changing the world.
Seth Godin Shows His Support For The Dev4x Campaign!
Seth Goding is supporting our crowdfunding project. As Seth might put it, please invest in your legacy of giving and compassion by supporting the DEV4X crowd funding campaign which will launch mid-October! There is a special perk available where you can receive a personally signed certificate and a copy of his book 'Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?' Read more here.
Dev4x is using modern technology to ensure children who don't have access to schools or quality education still have an opportunity to learn. Imagine a group of children in a refugee camp, or in remote villages, recovering from conflict, natural disasters or epidemics with no access to teachers or resources. Syria, Nepal, Nigeria and Liberia, are current examples of this urgent need.
We would like to invite contributions, from individuals and organisations around the world, to support our endeavour by developing media for this open project. In return we will offer a free workshop on developing HTML5 mobile friendly resources, which is currently a highly sought skill in our industry.
