Researchers and volunteers from Carnegie Mellon University have joined in on the endeavor to improve learning on a global scale by working to design software that would teach children the basic skills of reading, writing and math on a tablet or mobile phone.

Such software is being designed in hopes of providing education to children in developing countries who otherwise do not have a structured education system available to them.

According to THEJournal, the Carnegie Mellon team, RobotTutor, is comprised of students a post-doctoral researchers.

The researchers are in the process of testing software they have developed, using children at the university’s laboratory school to help “determine whether the curriculum designs are going in the right direction,” the article said.

"The team is also working with experts in Swahili and faculty members who study cultural differences in learning, as well as the founder of a school in Tanzania,” said THEJournal.

"The teams have until November 2016 to finalize their solutions. Five finalists will be chosen for the next stage: a field test in at least 100 African villages in 2017 and 2018.”

Not only does this experiment field questions about solutions to increasing global education with a focus on developing countries, but also on whether technology can be developed to replace the role of a teacher when teaching basic, fundamental skills. 

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

12/1/2015