On March 10th, Curious Learning started promoting one of our free literacy learning apps (Feed the Monster localized to Ukrainian). In only 3 weeks, there have been over 55,000 downloads at an average cost per download of $0.12. 

You can think of Curious Learning as the Red Cross of reading. Working with partners (Global Digital Library, NORAD, World Bank, UNESCO, amongst others) we supply digital literacy materials for free, to anyone that needs them. We collect, curate, and localize open-source digital literacy learning activities and distribute them via apps and the web.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in extensive damage in the first month, to at least 450 schools and the displacement of 4 million people. The impact on education is difficult to measure. At least 1.5 million of Ukraine’s 5.7 million school-aged children have experienced a profound disruption to their education because of the need to flee from the conflict or seek shelter. In partnership with the World Bank, NORAD, and the Global Digital Library, we have been developing and testing an approach to early literacy interventions that can keep displaced children connected to their education. How does it work? We run ads on Facebook and Google to build awareness of these free learning apps. The parent downloads the app and makes it available to the child. The child plays and learns. 

The first app to be marketed in this way, Feed the Monster, was developed for use with Syrian refugees. Children learn the connection between sounds and letters by feeding letters to their growing pet monster. An early study published by World Vision showed that 22 hours of play equated to 2 months of literacy learning in a well-resourced school. We localized Feed the Monster into more than 55 languages. When coupled with a collection of digital books like those in the Global Digital Library, a pathway to literacy is established. This combination was tested in a randomized control trial in over 9,000 homes in northern Nigeria. Conducted by the World Bank Development Impact Evaluation department (DIME), the study found that a 5-day intervention that used these apps improved learning outcomes of 6-9 year old children by a quarter standard deviation, being one of the most-effective interventions for improving children learning outcomes.  Moreover, this experimental trial found that smartphones preloaded with both literacy apps improved learning and development outcomes of older siblings, highlighting the importance of smartphones as household assets.  

At the same time we began to promote Feed the Monster, the Global Digital Library launched a campaign to translate 100 books into Ukrainian. In only two weeks they had over 100 volunteers sign up, in three weeks 50 books were translated, and they are on their way to reaching 100 books within 4 weeks. As these books come online, we can steer those that have been playing Feed the Monster to these resources. These children can continue their literacy learning journey, even while they are sheltering in a train station or on the move to a safer location. 

Historically, rapid crisis response efforts have not included education interventions. This makes sense when the only official recognized channel for providing educational opportunities is via schools. When a family is forced to relocate, their school does not come with them. School buildings are often used for other purposes during a crisis. It is worth noting that being illiterate is rarely life-threatening in the short term, so crisis management focuses on those conditions that are immediately life-threatening. But we are at a time in history where technology can afford us a way to provide educational interventions in parallel with food, clothing, shelter, and relocation to places of safety, and there are some real benefits to doing so. 

The proliferation of internet access and supporting technology makes it possible for organizations like Curious Learning and the Global Digital Library to develop rapid localization and distribution strategies. This ability to respond to the current crisis in a few weeks was only possible because that work had been done. An additional vital link in the supply chain is the proliferation of smartphones. A large number of Ukrainian adults have a smartphone. In a crisis, a smartphone becomes their lifeline for communication and information. This channel can be used to make them aware of something that would be of great help to them and their children. With 1500 Ukrainian children already having finished all 77 levels of Feed the Monster, the early indication is that they are highly engaged. 

The number of people (even those in extreme poverty) that do not have access to a smartphone is shrinking fast. In 2021, 1.39 billion smartphones were shipped. The number of smartphone subscriptions in the world as of 2022 is 6.567 billion. Demand and market forces are building the infrastructure we need to reach children everywhere. Even for those that do not yet have a smartphone, this approach could be cost-effective and appropriate. Governments and development partners are increasingly testing smartphone innovations to strengthen human capital gains disrupted by COVID-19 for both online and offline populations (see World Bank blog and forum).

In recent years, aid efforts have started to move away from providing hard goods (like food and clothing) to people in need. Instead, they provide financial support, allowing the person to spend it on what they need and what they will eat. In an effort to create a much more cost-effective way to distribute and track those financial distributions, aid organizations are turning to phones. It is cheaper to give someone a phone and then transfer money to them via digital currency than it is to manage the process of distributing cash. This provides the opportunity for the phone to be used for other benefits as well. For the refugee population, a phone provides access to information, communication tools, and the chance to find lost loved ones. Now it can provide a way for them to continue their and their children's education.

In many cases, Ukrainian parents (mothers in particular, as men are fighting) are sheltering or on the move with children. These apps provide a wholesome activity that, in addition to learning, provides a welcome distraction and a bit of fun. We have even seen comments from parents on Facebook about the benefits of a child building a positive relationship with a playful monster as a way to help with their fears. There are only positive psychological benefits to providing a way for children to continue to engage with learning during a crisis. The World Vision study with Syrian refugees and Feed the Monster found evidence of this effect. “At a psychosocial level, the game appears to have supported the development of positive social outcomes … Children wanted to share the game and their learning with both siblings and peers, demonstrating impact on emotional states and social behaviors. Peer interaction increased because of gameplay, while gaming engendered high levels of motivation to attend the summer camp, which had implications for children’s motivations to learn.”

Reaching parents through a smartphone and social media is not only a way to reach children rapidly, but is also cost-effective. In the Ukrainian campaign, we have spent about $5000 in advertising to acquire 50,000+ downloads, a cost of only $0.12 / download. So even if only a small percentage of these turn into long-term learners and we need to continue our campaign spending to retain and support their continued learning, the cost remains low. Even a cost of $10 / learner is still orders of magnitude cheaper than traditional interventions that cannot work under these circumstances. 

What does this mean for the average Ukrainian who makes about $2200 / year? Every year of literacy learning increases the lifetime income of an individual by 9.7%. This means every dollar spent to preserve or provide literacy learning could translate into a thousand dollars or more of lifetime income. This is a real gift to the child, its family, and for that matter, the country in which they end up living. 

We have learned that there is real value in making sure that open and free resources are either already available in the languages of need or can be quickly localized. By coupling freely available learning apps with the growing base of smartphones, we have the formula to change the paradigm. This new paradigm leverages mobile devices and innovative ways to use them to enact rapid educational responses, even in a crisis. 

The pandemic is continuing to create an educational crisis on a global scale. As of March 2022, UNICEF reported that 23 countries had yet to fully reopen schools. UNESCO estimated that 11 million girls may never return to school. In Uganda, up to a third of students may never return to the classroom. The pandemic disrupts the education of the youngest learners the most, those that are still in or beginning the process of learning to read. In a number of countries, we stand on the precipice of losing an entire generation to illiteracy. In addition to expanding our programs for Ukrainians, our next step is to take what we are learning in Ukraine and help address this global crisis.

This approach may break many social norms and push up against established ways of thinking about education, beliefs that likely limit the ability to achieve what is possible. But it is often a crisis that breaks us free of our old thinking and allows us to try new approaches. Out of necessity, our curiosity about what is possible is activated, and we open our minds to discover and learn new ways of doing things. In this case, we seek to discover more ways to help children everywhere and anywhere learn to read.