MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name

Me Books

One-line solution summary

Wonderland of children's books with built-in, customisable audio. Listen to narrations from world-renowned figures and record your own voice.

Pitch your solution

Problem Statement

South East Asia is blessed with multiple ethnicities, culture as well as languages. However, there is a curse within this blessing where South East Asia residents often have a strong accent to their native language while speaking English. Besides taking a look at the EF English Proficiency Index among all 100 countries ( source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ) , South East Asia countries are mostly at the bottom with a ranking of
i. Cambodia - Ranks 94th/100th - GDP $26M
ii. Myanmar - Ranks 86th/100th - GDP $70M
iii. Thailand - Ranks 74th/100th - GDP $509B
iii. Indonesia - Ranks 61st/100th - GDP $1T
iv. Vietnam - Ranks 52nd/100th - GDP $340B

Solution

Me Books aims to solve this by providing world-class audio books that comes together with built in and customisable audio from world-renowned figures. Me Books aims to instil values beyond pages by providing accessible, affordable and enjoyable for every child in Southeast Asia (Subscription). It comes together with patented trace and record technology that allows users to record their own voice and craft their unique storytelling books. There are multiple reading levels and recommended english literacy levels catered to Me Books readers. Me Books is also available offline for low internet connectivity access.

Film your elevator pitch.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Increase equitable access to quality learning opportunities through open sourced, offline, or virtual models, especially for underserved learners in low connectivity environments

Where our solution team is headquartered or located:

Selangor, Malaysia

Is your solution working in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and/or Malaysia?

Thailand
Malaysia

What specific problem are you solving in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and/or Malaysia?

We are improving english literacy of children ranging from 3-12 years old via accessible world class content with trace and record functionality.

Our source of channels come from :

1. Public/Private Institution

We work together with educators by providing storytelling resources and tutorials where it's being used as a guideline for English storytelling/drama workshops

2. Parent

Parent subscribes to Me Books to access to audio books, analytics help parents to understand learning progress ( Reading time/Voice recorded) by their children

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Our user's segment mainly consists of

1. Educators - Educators uses Me Books to teach English/Drama materials in schools

2. Parents - Parents with regards of high or low income in Thailand and Malaysia are able to subscribe to Me Books to enjoy a variety of world class content ( eg Oxford Reading Tree )

3. Public Libraries in Malaysia - Public users of Malaysia are able to access to Me Books content provided that they are a registered library user

How does the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge?

We are focusing on the problem statement of Octava Social Innovation Challenge of the following :

Across the region, the private school sector has grown,
especially those offering an international, Englishlanguage education. Very low-cost private schools that
serve the bottom of the pyramid do not appear to be
widespread, and the most disadvantaged groups are
predominantly served by public education systems.

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Growth: An initiative, venture, or organization with an established product, service, or business model rolled out in one or, ideally, several contexts or communities, which is poised for further growth

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Tam Hao Jiin - CEO

Louis Ong - Technical Lead

More About Your Solution

If your solution has a website or an app, provide the links here:

mebooks.co

Which of the following categories best describes your solution?

A new application of an existing technology

What makes your solution innovative?

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Me Books consists of publishing tool where it allows our team to add in built-in audio from voice actors to improve English literacy. Our readers are able to record their own voice to create their own voice overs to spice their confidence up in speaking English. Besides, they are able to trace new areas to add on sound effects such as recording nature sound etc.

Have you tested your solution’s approach? If so, how?

Me Books is available on UK since 2014 (Play Store & App Store). We have rebuild a new version of Me Books and launched in Southeast Asia ( Subscription-based) in 2020. Southeast Asia - New Me Books App is available at https://download.mebooks.co

Describe the core technology that powers your solution.

Our software tech stack comes with

- React ( Web Dashboard for education access )

- React Native ( Cross platform IOS/Android App)

- Google Cloud ( Our server for storing databases )

What is your theory of change?

The theory of change comes from the importance of English language. English language is normally being used as the "lingua franca" for business or communication. The adoption of English in Asia has been increased with the exposure with Western countries. Me Books hope to tap on this opportunity to improve English literacy in South East Asia.

Which target population(s) does your solution address?

Learners to use in classroom
Learners to use at home
Parents to use directly
Parents to use with children
Teachers to use directly
Teachers to use with learners
Used in public schools
Used in private schools
Used in ‘out-of-school’ centers

If you selected Other, please explain here.

-

What are the key characteristics of your target population?

Women & Girls
Children & Adolescents
Urban
Poor
Low-Income
Middle-Income
Refugees & Internally Displaced Persons
Minorities & Previously Excluded Populations

If you selected Other, please explain here.

-

Which categories best describe your main EdTech product or service?

Communication, collaboration, and networks
Personalized and adaptive learning
Platform / content / tools for learners

If you selected Other, please explain here.

-

In which countries will you be operating within the next year?

China
Malaysia
Thailand

How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?

Metrics that we are measuring

- Reading time by our users

- Number of subscribers/users

- Number of educational institutions onboarded

- Voice recorded by our users

What are your impact goals for the next year, the next three years, and the next five years? How will you achieve them?

We wanted to build a few crucial features where

- Educational dashboard that allows educational schools to create storytelling competition or homework materials for English assessment

- Read to Me features where we transform book viewing experience into a video viewing experience ( This will motivates users to record their voice more to craft their unique storybook )

- English assessment tool

What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your impact goals?

Financing
Legal

If you selected Other, please explain here.

-

Describe these barriers as they relate to your solution. How do you plan to overcome them?

Financing is one of the challenges as there are costs involved in purchasing rights of Me Books content.

There are two ways of Me Books are approaching to solve this

- Me Books' own content - We are crafting unique Southeast Asia content by local talents

- Increasing more subscriber - Partner with educational institutions

More About Your Team

Please provide a brief history of your organization. What was the motivation behind starting your organization and/or the development of your solution?

Me Books was founded by 2 founders originated from the United Kingdom. Eventually, it's acquired by 10 friends in Malaysia with the aim of providing accessible education - English literacy to everyone. As a results, Me Books is transformed from Perpetual access to subscription access now.

What type of organization is your solution team?

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

How many people work on your solution team?

The team currently consists of

- 3 Full time artists

- 1 Full time marketer

- 2 contractor Software Engineers

How long have you been working on your solution?

2 years in revamping old Me Books to new Me Books App

How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?

Hao Jiin, CEO comes with a decade of advertising industry experience where he has worked with major brands like Samsung etc. This experience also provide adequate background in managing designing team to craft Southeast Asia content in improving English literacy of the readers

Provide an example of your Team Lead’s ability to conceptualize and implement a new idea.

Me Books has transformed in UI/UX experience with tech lead from Malaysia after the change of management of Hao Jiin.

What organizations do you currently partner with, if any? How are you working with them?

Some organisations that we are partnering with :

- MBO Cinemas - Me Books is promoted at storefront of cinemas to educate English literacy and storytelling importance in Malaysia

- Thailand - We have partners in Thailand we are working with to promote English Literacy

- Netease - Me Books are collaborating with Netease in China to improve English literacy of China's users.

Partnership & Growth Opportunities