Combining web technology and mobile phones to enhance English literacy in underserved communities
Hatem Alismail, Aysha Siddique, M. Freddie Dias, Anthony Velázquez, M. Beatrice Dias, Sarah Belousov, Ermine A. Teves, Rotimi Abimbola, Daniel Nuffer, Bradley R. Hall, M. Bernardine Dias · 2010
Despite the importance of literacy to most aspects of life, underserved communities continue to suffer from low literacy rates; especially for globally prevalent languages such as English. This is particularly problematic since English literacy is an important skill for increased access to income generation and higher education opportunities in these communities. Teaching English in underserved communities can be challenging due to a variety of obstacles. In this paper we report on our work with a primary school in Tanzania, with migrant workers in Doha, and with a school for the deaf in the USA to address some of these challenges using web technology and mobile phones. We developed a web-accessible content authoring tool that teachers