Our mission
is to make knowledge accessible
to people
living in poverty.
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Our Tool towards the goal is the Talking Book Device.
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A low cost
audio player/recorder
with special features
for Knowledge Sharing
and Literacy Learning.
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Features
Simple device-to-device copying
(no PC or network needed)
Audio Hyperlink
Slow play for reading practice
Interactive Features
(for educ. lessons and games)
Rugged - usable by children
Very low cost & Affordable
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Usage Scenarios
Ewura is listening and learning about malaria prevention. Even though she missed the live presentation by the visiting officer from the Health Ministry.
Fortunately, the officer brought a recorded version, and had copied it to all the villagers' devices. Ewura can access the info anytime.
Ashok has a thriving business started by a micro-credit loan. He records his experience onto the device, and urges his friends to listen to and copy his "How to Succeed with Micro-Credits" recording and pass it along to others.
Although Rishad is illiterate, he plays a recording of his daughter's story book, and reads aloud together with her, following the interactive prompts of the device.
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A second tool is a low cost PC based Kiosk.
It is a local hub for the storage, collection and distribution of audio content.
There will be business opportunities for an entrepreneur to manage the kiosk, sell and service Talking Book Devices, and serve as a local librarian/guide to available content.
The Talking Book Device and Kiosk empower their users to Create, Learn and Share audio-based knowledge. It supports not only top down but also
peer-to-peer information generation and sharing.
To get an idea of how the system operates as a whole, see the system flow diagram here.
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Benefits
Our dream is that the power of knowledge
will be an effective means towards advancing
health, education,
economic
development,
democracy and human rights.
We are extremely excited about the empowering potential of the Talking Book.
Life saving or life enhancing knowledge will be far more accessible. Such as:
- Prevention methods against malaria or HIV/AIDS
- Advanced farming techniques
- Micro-credit lending processes and success stories
- Gender rights protection
- and many other life enhancing information.
Visually impaired individuals can access knowledge beyond the limited supply of Braille-based books.
Any parent can use the Talking Book Device to engage a child in early literacy exercises, even when he/she is also learning. A child can practice reading exercises to supplement classroom teaching.
To learn more, see the sections on knowledge uses and literacy uses.
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Credit for photography to Scott Sweeney
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We are excited to announce our pilot program in Ghana. See initial feedback and testimonials here. More info in our press release.
Donate to our Talking Book Program!
Please consider donating today
to support our program.
We are ready with:
- Working devices.
- Audio content produced by our local partners in Ghana.
We need funding to build many more of these devices for families in rural Ghana. We can only do this with people like you!
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Get Involved!
Enter your name and email address to stay updated on our latest advances.
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News:
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Google and Yahoo have both invited our Exec. Director to
present the Talking Book Project to their employees. The Google Tech
Talk can be found here.
more news >
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