Let's Read

Let’s Read catalyzes children’s literacy through the confluence of intuitive, accessible technology design, community-led engagement, and fun, local language stories. 

Imagine a world where children have free and easy access to books in home languages and a community positioned to support them. Currently, millions of children do not have access to education in a language they understand nor internet connectivity to benefit from available EdTech literacy solutions. Many fall behind in school, drop out, and experience poor education outcomes.

Let's Read addresses a problem that confunds most Ed Tech interventions: how to increase adoption to improve literacy among populations that speak non-majority languages and are poorly connected to the internet. To improve reading skills, Let’s Read introduces a more accessible and effective technology interface to allow parents and communities to be part of their children’s learning experiences, regardless of their own education levels. 

Let’s Read builds new approaches from proven technology to place a fun, intuitive, and usable digital library directly into the hands of communities, lowering the walls that have been erected around formal education.  Our solution reduces friction and increases engagement and accessibility so low literate families and educators in low bandwidth environments will feel comfortable and confident using the library. It includes features that do not require cellular data or internet connectivity and approaches that cost-effectively produce written, audio, and signed content to complement local curricula.  

Let’s Read builds local reading ecosystems by combining a powerful platform with the support of staff and partners located in 15 countries. Let’s Read’s solution is poised for growth in the Philippines and markets across the Asia Pacific region. 

Let’s Read addresses the problem of how to develop literacy skills among non-majority language speakers in the Philippines with an EdTech solution and community-driven approach. Let’s Read’s solution enables parents and communities to be part of their children’s learning experiences, regardless of their own education levels, and supports the government’s Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) policy.  

Like most countries in Southeast Asia, the Philippines’ rich linguistic diversity (170 languages) is a cultural strength and a complex challenge for education. A majority of Filipino Grade 5 students read below grade level (SEA-PLM, 2019) and a staggering 80% of students did not reach a minimum level of proficiency in reading on the 2018 PISA test. These data underrepresent the extent to which children are falling behind today. Schools in the Philippines are expected to remain closed to in-person instruction until vaccines are available, likely after 2022. 

Science shows that children who develop foundational literacy skills in their mother tongue are better able to develop literacy in the language(s) of instruction by linking new knowledge to existing knowledge. Therefore, many education systems around the world are adopting MTB-MLE policies that support the development of foundational literacy skills in mother tongues along with national languages. The Philippines, like many countries in Southeast Asia, struggles to implement its MTB-MLE policy. Key challenges include a lack of culturally embedded home reading practices, scarcity of local language books, and insufficient internet connectivity and digital skills in non-majority language communities.  

Our solution can be scaled to underserved language communities across Southeast Asia. With a special emphasis on the Philippines, Let’s Read collaborates with the Department of Education (DepEd), USAID, and other organizations to produce mother tongue literacy content in support of the government’s MTB-MLE policy. For example, in Guimaras Province (Region VI) most families speak Hiligaynon, but few books and opportunities exist for children to develop a love of reading and foundational literacy skills in their home language. In Guimaras, 24% of grade 5 students were not able to read at even a grade 3 level and only 13% were on track to meet grade 6 reading proficiency goals (SEA-PLM 2019).   

The Guimaras provincial government began using Let’s Read in early 2021 for a community based Read Aloud program in Hiligaynon. The Guimaras government now seeks to expand the program to equip parents with read aloud skills to increase children’s language and literacy skills. Together with the government and community, we will introduce Let’s Read’s new interface and produce the first ever “Listen and Learn” stories in Hiligaynon that sync local voices with text. These stories will boost children’s abilities to develop foundational literacy skills by enabling them to connect sounds they already know with written letters and words. This technology will also boost the confidence of low literate families to engage in their children’s learning at home.  

Let’s Read’s community- and technology-driven model aligns with the Challenge by 1) providing equitable access; 2) improving literacy and social emotional learning; and 3) supporting communities with capacity building and professional development.    

First, the solution is especially designed to provide impactful reading opportunities and early grade reading content to underserved language communities, poorly connected areas, and low literate families in the Asia Pacific region. The Let’s Read’s platform delivers openly licensed books that complement curricula in written and signed languages that are not supported by other products. Let’s Read can be used by in-school and out-of-school children and their families, including children in low-income households who are less likely to return to formal education after the pandemic. The Let’s Read platform was originally developed and tested in northern Thailand and Nepal to reach underserved and low bandwidth environments in the Asia Pacific region. Content can be used online, offline, and in print to bridge the digital divide. 

Second, Let’s Read’s content and local reading programs complement and leverage early grade reading interventions to transform childhood literacy outcomes. The thoughtfully crafted content nurtures social emotional learning and supports a diverse range of learning paces and styles, including learners with visual and audio disabilities.   

Third, on-the-ground reading outreach programs build the knowledge,  skills and confidence of parents and communities to use both digital and print content. Professional development is provided to book creators and community translators to create a sustainable supply of high quality, local language resources for the Let’s Read platform. 

The Team Lead for Let’s Read is Kyle Barker, Associate Director, Books for Asia, at The Asia Foundation. 

Most education solutions require greater digital skills and internet access than underserved families and educators speaking languages enjoy, and greater support to accomplish behavior change. Let’s Read is catalytic because it improves how technology interfaces with people to allow parents and communities to be part of their children’s learning experiences, regardless of their level of education. Our solution complements the efforts of overburdened school systems but is not dependent on them. 

Let’s Read facilitates engagement by 1) putting a free platform that is accessible, intuitive, and fun directly into the hands of children, families,  and communities; 2) offering features that do not require cellular data or internet connectivity; 3) using a unique application of drag and drop technology to simplify the production of books with local voices synced to text; and 4) using an embedded translation tool to crowdsource community contributions to quickly and cost effectively adapt and quality assure books into home languages. 

Our model is effective because it recognizes that changing human behavior requires engaging with learners and communities in-person. Our on-the-ground staff and partners build awareness about the strong learning links between reading enjoyment and academic achievement, and between home languages and national languages. Our model engages communities and educators as part of the solution and gently introduces families to digital content and navigation.  

Finally, Let’s Read stimulates children’s book markets across the Asia Pacific region. Our model catalyzes demand for books among parents, supports government MTB-MLE policies, and builds book creators’ skills in local languages. 

The Let’s Read model is currently being used in 15 countries and 46 languages by schools, library systems, community organizations, and families. In the last year, 5.4 million books have been read on the platform.  Let’s Read’s new peer-to-peer sharing and Listen and Learn audio-text syncing technologies have been tested by staff and small groups of learners in three countries. 

Let’s Read is being used to implement read aloud programs in multiple countries, including Philippines and Indonesia. In the Philippines, we collaborate with the Department of Education, USAID, and others to produce children’s content to support the government's Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education policy. In Indonesia, with the support of the Estee Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation, over 800 reading ambassadors were trained in 2020 to host read aloud sessions that provided over 6,000 children with opportunities to engage with the Let’s Read library. 

Let’s Read builds off existing technology in new ways to provide a platform and reader apps that increase usability, user engagement, and accessibility. The Let’s Read model relies on technology that families are already familiar with - their own phones. Our interface is optimized for low-bandwidth environments to reduce load times and it serves up different image sizes to automatically adjust to users’ devices. Books can be read online or offline, shared directly between phones without using cellular data or an internet connection, and printed. 

To make readers feel at home in the library, Let’s Read prioritizes language options to the reader based on their location from the moment they enter the library. Let’s Read’s entire interface is in the user’s language of choice.  

As described previously, Let’s Read’s database/platform technology enables us to collaborate with underserved communities and disabled people's organizations to cost-effectively produce very localized libraries in underserved written and signed languages. For example, to quickly adapt stories into written languages, an easy-to-use translation tool embedded in the platform facilitates teams of community volunteers and local language experts to adapt and quality assure books. This is especially valuable with ethnic minority languages where multiple perspectives are needed to reach accurate translations. To produce books with audio in underserved languages, we have developed an innovative, drag and drop way of syncing in local voices and text. 

ACTIVITIES 
Let’s Read places free, accessible, intuitive reader apps (web, Android, iOS)  directly into the hands of children, families, and educators who use their own familiar devices for access.  

Let’s Read continuously iterates features to improve usability, engagement, and accessibility for communities with non-majority languages, low literacy, and low internet connectivity.   

Let’s Read’s network of local staff and formal and informal education partners collaborate to develop strategies to build market awareness, encourage Let’s Read adoption, create and translate books, and develop children’s literacy skills. 

OUTPUTS 
Children and families use Let’s Read’s platform and apps to read hundreds of local language stories. 

Communities quickly and cost effectively produce books with languages and features they need for home learning. These books complement government curricula and MTB-MLE policies.  

Formal and informal education partners deliver a variety of supportive programs that equip families, communities, and educators with knowledge, skills, and practice to use Let’s Read, and that train local book creators and translators to produce high quality books in local languages for the Let’s Read platform. 

OUTCOMES 
Children proficiently connect literacy skills from their home language to the language of instruction.   

Parents and communities become skilled partners in their children's literacy learning, regardless of their own education levels.  

IMPACT 
Children in the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and the Asia Pacific region develop language and literacy skills to be successful in school.  They become curious, motivated readers and lifelong learners. 

The Asia Foundation uses robust analytics generated by the Let’s Read platform to measure progress. These include but are not limited to number of visitors, number of return users, number of books read, number of app installs, and number of new books added to the platform. Since many families use a combination of Let’s Read books in digital and print formats, reading frequency is also measured by surveys with a sample number of participating families.  

The Asia Foundation uses skills assessments to measure improvements in reading. We use surveys to measure changes in attitudes toward reading among participants in reading programs supported by our networks of staff and partners.  

Since the Let’s Read model seeks to build sustainable ecosystems to catalyze children’s publishing in underserved markets, we also measure the number of book creators, translators, and reading advocates we train.  

The Asia Foundation’s goal with Let’s Read is nothing short of catalyzing an inclusive reading movement across the Asia Pacific region. Through our efforts we expect to increase knowledge among parents, educators, and governments about the learning links between reading enjoyment and reading performance and between home and school languages.  

Though our solution we intend children’s books in local languages to become abundant and children to be supported to develop reading skills across their ecosystem of home, community, and school.   

To accomplish this, we designed Let’s Read as a shareable and adaptable model with openly licensed content for replication and independent adoption. Let’s Read is introduced to users by teams of local staff based in Asia Foundation country offices and networks of partners that include national and local governments, national library systems, and formal and informal education organizations.  

Across Asia and the Pacific, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam we intend to achieve the following growth: 

Impact Goals

Number of books read: Current: 5.6M; 3 years: 20M; 5 years: 100M 

Number of app installs: Current: 38.4K; 3 years: 200K; 5 years: 600K 

Number of readers/month: Current: 50.2K; 3 years: 250K; 5 years: 750K 

Number of books on platform: Current: 7.4K; 3 years: 15K; 5 years: 30K 

Number trained reading advocates: Current: 5.9K; 3 years: 12K; 5 years:25K

Notes: K = thousands; M = Millions 
Currently = September 2021
Number trained includes reading advocates, book creators, and translators.

Financing: Let’s Read’s enjoys the support of The Asia Foundation for ongoing maintenance fees and for support in public and private fundraising to scale adoption. Nonetheless, financing is insufficient to scale to meet demand for Let’s Read from language communities and formal and informal education institutions across the Asia Pacific region. While the platform and reader apps are freely available, underserved language communities and poorly connected learners require on-the-ground engagement. This requires financing to: support project teams and partner institutions to build supportive programs for parents and formal and informational education organizations; train content creators and reading advocates in undeveloped markets; and support design sprints that respond to user analytics and continue to push the envelope on accessibility  

Cultural: The most difficult and expensive barriers to increase children’s literacy tend to be cultural, especially in geographies where positive parental engagement in children’s learning and reading habits are not well established. Let’s Read invests in a variety of strategies to raise awareness among families, communities, and educators about the  positive links between parental engagement in learning, reading enjoyment, and school performance, as well as the learning connection between home and national languages. Strategies include partnerships with respected formal and informal education institutions and community organizations, in person activities to provide positive reading experiences with Let’s Read, creative reading campaigns, social media outreach, and highly relatable, cultural content that engages not only children but also adults. 

Let’s Read was launched in 2016 to build a world where curious and educated readers create thriving societies through fun and impactful learning experiences. In our first year, we designed and tested our solution with minority language communities in low bandwidth areas. We are motivated by our goal to help children become fluent readers by creating and making available storybooks that children can see themselves in, read in their own languages, and enjoy. Our model nurtures reading habits that enable children to reach important developmental milestones, families to share stories that affirm their culture, and communities to flourish and grow inclusively. 
 
Let’s Read is a solution created by The Asia Foundation, a nonprofit international development organization founded in 1954 committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia Pacific region.  Working through offices in 18 countries and informed by deep local expertise and six decades of experience, the Asia Foundation address the critical issues affecting Asia in the 21st century by: expanding economic opportunity and education, strengthening governance, increasing environmental resilience, empowering women, and promoting international cooperation.  

The Let's Read team comprises 33 national staff based in Asia Foundation offices in 15 countries and five individuals based in San Francisco headquarters. We iterate our technology in collaboration with Hamro Patro (Nepal), Procraft (Mongolia), Accessible Web (United States), and receive in-kind support from ZenDesk for customer support. 

The Let’s Read team is comprised of individuals with experience in education and teaching, human centered design, universal design for learning,  accessibility, technology, project and financial management, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning. National staff lead Let’s Read’s implementation in all 15 countries where the solution has been introduced.  Let’s Read teams regularly engage with local partners and users to collaboratively develop adoption strategies that build on local strengths and fill gaps to meet local goals and overcome challenges.  

In 2016, The Asia Foundation designed the Let's Read platform through a human centered design process involving minority language communities in northern Thailand. In 2020, we redesigned the platform based on user analytics and conversations with learners and partners. Our redesign team comprised five country-based staff (Philippines, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Nepal, United States) to cost-effectively represent as many of the cultures, contexts, and life experiences of our users as possible. Our staff team tested a redesigned prototype with children and parents in their countries. Based on their feedback, the redesigned platform was released in September 2021. 

Our Team Lead, Kyle Barker, developed and executed the successful strategy to redesign Let’s Read’s platform. Kyle was determined to increase usability, engagement, and accessibility for our target population: non-majority language speaking families who may struggle with literacy and internet connectivity. And, without resorting to stripped-down reading apps that would not engage them. Kyle was able to reconceptualize the user interface in ways that make readers feel at home in their own languages yet enable us to take advantage of economies of scale by using a single database/platform for all functions. 

Kyle’s creative conceptualization of the design process itself addressed significant challenges: Let’s Read is a regional platform serving learners across a wide variety of languages and contexts and with a limited R&D budget. To represent many user cultures and life experiences, Kyle assembled a redesign team comprising Let’s Read staff based in five countries and coordinated the input of an accessible web design firm in the United States and a UX/UI design agency in Mongolia. The team reviewed user analytics, reflected on conversations with learners and partners, and tested a redesigned prototype in their countries culminating in the release of our redesigned platform in September 2021.   

Globally, Let’s Read collaborates with the Global Digital Library, UNESCO, Pratham Books, Room to Read, SIL, RTI, Save the Children, and All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD) Founding Partners (the United States Agency for International Development [USAID], World Vision, and the Australian Government) in collaboration with the Global Book Alliance.  

In the 15 countries where we currently implement Let’s Read, we design and deliver children’s content and reading programs in collaboration with Ministries of Education and over 100 national and local teacher associations, literacy organizations, national library systems, community organizations, writers’ associations, and publishers. 

In the Philippines, we collaborate with the Department of Education, the Philippines Library Association, the National Book Development Board, the University of the Philippines, the Guimaras provincial government, and the municipality of Jordan’s Sangguniang Kabataan Federation (Youth Council) and Local Youth and Development Office. 

A partnership with Octava and MIT Solve could especially assist Let’s Read with two barriers: financial and cultural. Access to resource partners and coaches across industries and sectors would be extremely valuable.  Since Let’s Read operates in 15 low income countries and  scales with modest resources, a barrier to growth is insufficient financial resources to invest in persistent on-the-ground outreach and training to change attitudes and behavior to establish reading ecosystems. 

Let’s Read originated as a philanthropic intervention and is supported by grant financing. Assistance to explore social enterprise models could be extremely beneficial. 

We recently engaged consultants in Southeast Asia and the Mekong region to explore our product-market fit and potential opportunities to scale Let’s Read. We could benefit from assistance in evaluating the information to refine our strategy and business model. Regarding financial goals, as described above, Let’s Read originated as a philanthropic intervention and our team does not have expertise developing social enterprise approaches or pitching to investors. We would greatly benefit from mentoring to develop these abilities. We also seek partnerships to expand connections in the private sector, including telcos. Finally, the opportunity to work with communications and marketing experts to develop a more precise and actionable public relations strategy would be extremely helpful.