Enhancing early reading and literacy skills through digital parenting interventions

Thursday 19 September 2024; 11:30 - 12:30 BST | 12:30 - 13:30 SAST | 13:30 - 14:30 EAT
Online

Event details

How can parents leverage technology to promote literacy skills and reading practices at home? Opportunities to read and learn at home are critical to improving children’s literacy skills, yet millions of children and their families still lack access to books and supportive programmes to assist with making learning easy.

Recognising this challenge, the Global Parenting Initiative (GPI), in collaboration with IDEMS has developed an innovative solution, the Early Family Math  app. This app is designed to make mathematics accessible and enjoyable for children up to 8 years old by integrating play into learning. This webinar will explore how digital solutions can help to address this challenge in low resource settings, sharing examples from the ParentApp for Kids Tanzania project.

The Early Family Math app offers a series of offline, playful activities and storybooks that encourage parents to engage in maths-related conversations with their children. By focusing on fostering a positive relationship with maths, the app helps families develop essential mathematical skills through joyful, shared experiences. The app is specifically designed to be effective in low-resource settings, supporting caregivers with low maths and digital literacy.

This webinar, in celebration of World Literacy Day, will explore results from an early pilot study of the Early Family Math app in Kenya, led by INNODEMS and supported by the Lego Foundation. Presenters will also explore how digital parenting interventions like ParentApp for Kids in Tanzania can impact children’s literacy as well as parent-child engagement.

This event has passed, watch the recording below:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/7uxmAKHhfdQ?si=BHisvzOIp4W-UV89

Speakers

zach mbasu

Zach Mbasu leads and supports the INNODEMS team to implement project activities on time and within budget, strategically managing risk, in line with funder and policy requirements. Zach has experience implementing innovative student-centred educational programmes and learning technologies that turn today’s classrooms into active learning environments. His research interests include innovating and understanding teaching and learning in technology-enhanced learning environments to facilitate meaningful learning and engagement.

 

 

 

maryann mueni

Maryann Mueni is a Software developer at INNODEMS, she combines her programming and analytical problem-solving abilities and has played a key role in developing digital offerings such as ParentApp for Kids, Parenting for Respectability App, and WASH App (control app for ParentApp for Teens randomised control trial). With a background in Applied Statistics and software programming, Maryann integrates statistical thinking to generate insights and make data-driven decisions. She is excited to support projects that make use of her expertise to meet objectives.

 

david stern

Dr. David Stern is the Innovate Lead at the Global Parenting Initiative and a member of the Executive Team. As a Mathematical Scientist with extensive experience, he leads IDEMS International, a not-for-profit focused on innovations in development, education, and mathematical sciences. David oversees the development of digital parenting tools like ParentText, ParentChat, and ParentApp. He has played a key role in educational initiatives across Africa, including founding AMI and SAMI in Kenya, and is dedicated to empowering young African coders and developing technology for low-resource settings.

 

 

 

marguerite marlow resize

Marguerite Marlow is a Senior Researcher in the Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She specialises in the implementation and evaluation of programmes to improve parenting and child development, with more than ten years of experience in implementing shared book reading interventions in resource-constrained settings. She also leads the parent engagement activities for the World Bank’s Read@Home initiative, which supports multiple countries to source and distribute quality children’s books and promotes parental engagement in children’s reading activities at home.