eXe Workshop

The new and improved LubutoLiteracy lessons are moving to a new platform! The original 700 reading lessons in 7 Zambian languages were created in eToys, but during the past month Lubuto developers began re-creating an improved set of lessons in an HTML5 platform called eXe. This means the open source lessons can be adapted for use on mobile phones as well as big-screen use and that user data will be automatically reported. EXe’s author, Mike Dawson of Ustad Mobile, has held two week-long training workshops with our lesson developers. Prior to this, Dr. Joseph Mwansa, a mother-tongue literacy expert and designer of the new government reading curriculum, redesigned the LubutoLiteracy lessons so that they will be extending the curriculum to a digital environment. 978 children used eToys-based LubutoLiteracy in our libraries in 2013, and now that lessons are improved along with the new reading curriculum and will be available in an engaging new format with built-in progress assessments, we are eager to see and measure how effectively they teach children to read!

Movie Night at the Library!

Along with new Lubuto services for teens, like the book club we wrote about in our February newsletter, Lubuto has begun hosting film nights for the many youth who visit our libraries. Not only do these films attract children who may have limited literacy, they also demonstrate to young viewers how inspirational stories can be told in a variety of media, not just books. Recent showings were Red Tails, George Lucas’ historical film on the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII, and Themba, a South Africa film about a boy who hopes to join his country’s football team, despite a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. While films like these are great entertainment for children at Lubuto Libraries, they are also narratives of overcoming real-world obstacles and finding leadership within, topics which these youth reflect upon in the post-movie discussions.