Can children in developing countries use technology to teach themselves?
That's the goal behind the Global Learning XPRIZE, a US$15-million partnering with the United Nations and Google. The competition asks the 136 competing teams, including 10 Canadian entries, to develop open-source tablet software that will allow children in developing countries to teach themselves reading, writing and math, working on their own or in small groups. Five finalists will be selected and awarded $1 million each from among the entries, before one is awarded the grand prize of $10 million.
XPRIZE organizers recently announced that the finalists' apps will be tested among hundreds of villages in Tanzania. Each team's app will be tested with 3,000 children between the ages of seven and 10, for an 18-month trial period. At the end of the trial, the winner of the competition will be determined based on the highest standardized testing scores.
Registration for the competition opened in 2014, and the development phase is scheduled to open on May 1. All entries are due in by Nov. 1. Semi-finalists will be announced next March, followed by the naming of five finalists in June. The 18-month field test in Tanzania will kick off Sept. 1, 2017.
Ten Canadian teams have signed up for the competition, including groups from Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Edmonton, Calgary and Kelowna, B.C.
The initiative was first announced at the UN General Assembly week in 2014, with support from UNESCO and the World Food Programme.
Google has donated 8,000 Pixel C tablets, running on Android operating systems, for the testing phase. Each child involved in the test will be allowed to keep the tablet when the competition ends. The five finalists' open-source apps will also be released when the competition is over, so others can use the programs or improve upon them.
The WFP will install solar charging stations in the communities involved in the tests, so children can keep their devices powered up.
In a news release sent out on Friday, XPRIZE Senior Director Matt Keller said he is "thrilled" to have Tanzania on board for the testing phase. "The testing phase is highly critical to the success of the prize," he said in the release. "We hope the competition will yield transformative learning results within these villages and pave the way for every child on Earth to access a world-class education in the palm of her hand."
The Global Learning XPRIZE is a competition funded by a group of donors including the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation, the Anthony Robbins Foundation, the Econet Foundation, the Merkin Family Foundation, Scott Hassan, John Raymonds and Suzanne West.
