Edubeacon

It’s fascinating to read about the trial distribution of Kindle ebook readers to school age children in Ghana.  The non-profit organisation at the centre of the project, Worldreader, was co-founded by David Risher, a former Amazon senior vice president.  We’ve seen how mobile phones and Nicholas Negroponte’s  one-laptop-per-child project have changed the face of learning and connectivity on the African continent. This momentum is now spreading to e-books which are being seen as an opportunity to leapfrog ahead in confronting literacy issues.

• A Kindle for every child in Ghana
• Non-profit tries one Kindle per child in Ghana

This week in Australia we celebrate CBCA Book Week as an opportunity to focus on quality Australian writing for the young.  In our school libraries we welcome such events as a week or two to nurture reading enjoyment and literacy.  It’s worth spending a moment or two considering how our programs compare with the learning that is being explored in developing countries such as Ghana and other African regions.  The similarities and the differences, all with literacy as a focus.