Worldreader.org’s social goal is pretty simple: we want to put a library’s worth of books into the hands of everyone in the developing world, so all can share in the world’s ideas. To achieve that goal, we’ll need to make it is as easy, inexpensive, and common to get a book anywhere in the developing … Continue Reading →

We just posted a new video in which we discuss the challenges that we face moving forward — specifically, the need for electricity, the durability of e-readers, creating a mechanism of paying for content (without credit cards), and the ever important human component of developing a culture of reading. Big thanks go to our videographer, … Continue Reading →

A promising note from Ghana’s Ministry of Education.  This note permits us to expand our trials to more schools, in partnership with the government. Onward we go…. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * … Continue Reading →

A recent article in the New York Times mentions Kentaro Toyama, a research fellow at the University of California – Berkeley’s School of Information. Formerly of the Technology for Emerging Markets Group at Microsoft, Mr. Toyama speaks at U.S. universities about “technological utopianism” which lies on the myth that “technology is the bottleneck in developing … Continue Reading →

Donated paper books are fine. They are sent by well meaning people and received (after overcoming the logistical challenge of getting them there) with dignity and gratitude. They fill up bookshelves and give the impression of a well resourced educational institution. Schools in developing countries like them. Well…. actually not all schools like them. In … Continue Reading →

In all the research we’ve done about literacy, one thing is clear: It doesn’t seem like anyone can agree on a definition. The classic Merriam-Webster definition is: able to read and write versed in literature and creative writing … having knowledge or competence, computer-literature, politically-literate But in today’s world, the word literacy takes on a … Continue Reading →

One of the major parts of our strategy at Worldreader is to run extensive trials involving the use of e-readers in the classroom. We are currently running our first trial at theBenjamin Franklin International School in Barcelona, Spain. Simultaneously, we are preparing for our next batch of trials in Ghana, beginning in mid-March. We chose … Continue Reading →