Open Licensing digital storytelling for multilingual literacy development: implications for teachers Dorcas N Wepukhulu African Storybook Project (ASP) 2nd International conference of the African Virtual University

1. Open Licensing digital storytelling for
multilingual literacy development:
implications for teachers
Dorcas N Wepukhulu
African Storybook Project (ASP)
July 2nd - 3rd, 2015, Nairobi, Kenya

2. Structure of presentation
• Introduction –background to the intervention
• The problem to be addressed
• Objective of the intervention
• Model of the intervention
• Results
• Lessons learnt
• Recommendations

3. Introduction
• Brain science informs us – reading is acquired
not inherited.
• Special neurological pathways in brain
• Brain has to be wired to learn to read (Wolf,
2007; Hruby, Goswami, Frederiksen and Perfetti, 2011).

4. Introduction
• Practice is necessary – decode individual
words before sentences
• There is more to reading than decoding words
• Reading involves emotional engagement
• Learning to read much easier in familiar
language

5. The Problem
• Obstacle to achieving early literacy in Africa is
shortage of appropriate reading materials.
• No exposure to reading materials
no reading culture
no demand for materials
limits on commercial publishing
Vicious cycle

6. This leads to a vicious cycle
few or no
books
no reading
no
demand
for books
not cost
effective
to produce
books

7. ASP Objective
• ASP Objective - contribute to improvement of
literacy among African children aged between
3-10.
• Achieved by collecting and distributing
enough openly licensed digitized story books
that are contextually appropriate.

8. ASP Model
• Underlying hypothesis - use of digital
technologies and OER supported by an extensive
partner network can achieve access and use, even
in under-resourced African contexts.
• OER are teaching, learning, and research
resources that reside in the public domain or have
been released under an intellectual property
license that permits their free use or re-purposing
by others.

9. ASP Model (Cont’d.)
Features of ASP Model include:
• A website with tools for translation and or
adaptation and creation of openly licensed
stories.
• Story development from and in the contexts
of final use.
• Pilot sites in pilot countries to test delivery
methods, website access and story use by the
intended target audience.

10. ASP Model (Cont’d.)
• Nurturing of partners who use stories and
contribute to website by creating, translating,
adapting & commenting on stories.
• Systemic implementation to test implications
for scaling up.

11. Main Activities
• Selection of pilot sites in pilot countries
• Appointment of country coordinators
• Partnership development
• Supporting pilot sites
• Dissemination through conferences
• Advocacy

12. Results
• Access
- Use of website to find stories for use
- Create new stories
- Translate existing stories
- Adapt stories for various audiences
- Almost 2000 registered users

13. Results (Cont’d.)
• Number of stories
- There are stories in 49 languages:
- English 393, Kiswahili 102, Luganda 95, Maa 56,
isiZulu 86 etc.
• Influence amongst partners
- There is evidence of growing capacity & interest in
digital literacy
- In pilot sites, those with skills have supported those
that did not yet have sufficient skills

14. Results (Cont’d.)
- Some partners shown significant interest in
selecting and re-publishing ASP openly
licensed stories for use
- Increased planning and collaboration
- Teachers report emotional and cognitive
engagement with stories in local languages by
children
- Resource gap for lower learners being filled

15. Results (Cont’d.)
- Evidence on creativity and innovation by
teachers and librarians
- Teacher agency in literacy is enhanced
- Learner input is enabled by teachers
- “People have done many of the same things
we have done, but no one has clearly tied
language, level, need for stories, and
technology into one clear, simple concept”
(Judith Baker)

16. Lessons learnt
• The project is not only about literacy, but
about stories for multilingual literacy
development.
• In African countries, literacy means literacy in
the language of wider communication as well
as the language or languages of the local
community.
• Support for educators to access and use
• Refining tools for easy access is vital

17. Main recommendation so far
• Literacy development organisations to
Collaborate, and
 to boost the role and importance of open
resources in the society and in education
in Africa and in the rest of the world.

18. Conclusion
• ASP aims to develop and refine website tools that
enable access to stories for literacy development
• There is evidence
 that ‘going the open way’ produces quantity;
 of both enthusiasm for and use of the website and its
stories;
• Digital access for rural/peri-urban users is possible;
• Options for sustainability still need to be explored;
• Need for more focused research on how parents,
teachers and children use the stories.

19. So, spread the word
about ASP!
Thank you! Asanteni!