by Colin McElwee

I was in mid explanation mode last week in a meeting with a senior director of one of the largest publishing houses in the world, who also happens to be a well-known journalist. During the presentation of what worldreader.org is doing, he exclaimed,  “At last, at last. Some good news I can finally associate with e-readers!”

During the last 24 months, publishers have associated most things to do with e-readers as something of a threat. They have collectively had to come to terms with the implications of Digital Rights Management, free books, delivery on request, potential piracy, not to mention squeezed margins. There have been more than one or two analogies with the music industry and the initial mismanagement of digitally distributed music.

Given that context, it is understandable the reluctance of the publishing industry to proactively embrace what is happening.

Publishers are sad to see this go

The good news for publishers is that worldreader.org will be correcting the fact that many people in the world have never had access to a genuine choice of reading.  We aim to encourage the development of a literary culture in every market that we enter. We will implement systems to assist people to write and to read in their own language. Beyond that, we will be effectively contributing to the education of a whole generation of new readers.  What does this mean for publishers?  Quite simply, it means a creation of a new market.  No wonder my publisher friend had such a positive reaction!

This is good news for publishers worldwide. It is obvious that established publishing companies will have to adapt their business model, and they should.  According to a recent article in The Economist, publishers who sit back and do nothing stand to lose a lot in this critical moment in history.   The other day, a colleague of mine illuminated the current publisher’s dilemma with digital books with the following question: “Does Airbus hate the fact that there is gravity?” If publishers work with Worldreader.org, together we can open up new markets.

For the publishing industry a “new” reader is a new potential consumer. But as anyone following this blog will know, a new reader is a walking, talking and digitally connected asset for any country or community that wants to compete for and make influence upon their own future. And that also is good news.

Worldreader conducted the first-ever trial using e-readers and digital books in a Sub-Saharan Africa classroom, at the OrphanAid Africa School in Ayenyah, Ghana.  Phase 1 of our trial is complete, and the full 39-page report of our findings is now available for download here: Worldreader E-Reader Trial Report Ghana.

Our experience using e-readers in classrooms in Ghana leads us to believe that digital books have the potential to make a real impact on reading and literacy in similar communities and schools in developing countries.  During this trial, we found that the Kindle e-reader and digital books helped new readers learn to read, got the kids reading more, and gave access to hundreds of thousands of books, in less time and at lower cost than printed books.

Below is a summary of our observations from the trial, and the potential challenges to deploying current technology more widely.  We are now in the planning phase of additional pilot studies in Ghana public schools, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, and we are looking forward to learning more and to finding solutions to many of these challenges, so that more children can read books that engage and inspire them.

Key observations from the report:

• These 6th-grade students in a village in Ghana, who had used cell phones but had no experience with computers, were all able to learn to use the Kindle successfully after several hours of training and several days of practice.

• Reading digital books was an acceptable alternative to reading paper books, and the kids quickly forgot they were using a device and became absorbed in the stories they were reading.

• Kids were excited to read using the device, in part because it was novel and fun to use, and also because it was less intimidating due to the built-in dictionary which helped readers decipher the meaning of new words.

• Kids also read more using the Kindle because of the variety of books on the device and the instant availability of thousands more, as well as local and timely material like Ghana football scores.

• The Kindles supported the process of learning to read, especially for new language learners, due to the built-in dictionary to look up words, and the text-to-speech capability for pronunciation (although mechanical-sounding).

• The infrastructure already in place for mobile phones supports e-readers:  Low-power Kindles successfully charged from solar-powered car batteries in an hour, we were able to download books via the satellite internet link in 45 seconds, and there was cell phone coverage in the village.

Potential challenges:

• The preparation and setup of the e-readers – buying, unpacking, charging, loading with books, etc. – was time-consuming and will be challenging to scale without developing new methods, in cooperation with the manufacturers. There was also a lack of tools for managing many devices; for example, there was no central way to see which devices had which books loaded.

• There were a number of usability issues with the Kindles that, while not barriers, increased the learning curve, such as several ways to accidently hide books, and a setting that drains the battery quickly.  A light was also commonly requested, so the students could read at night.

• The current cost of e-readers and books, along with DRM (digital rights management) policies, would need to be adapted to the market and to educational use.

• Content for this trial was purchased using personal credit cards, but new payment methods will need to be supported for widescale deployment, such as educational invoicing, and the scratch-off cards used for mobile phones.
• There is currently a lack of local content available on e-readers, so local publishers would need to be encouraged to digitize their content.

• While ruggedness of the devices was not a problem in our study, the conditions we observed – dust, dirt, rain, and the rigors of child handling -  will need to be considered by e-reader manufacturers.

And finally, we discovered that the importance of buy-in by the school administration, and the support of a local champion, cannot be understated.  In our trial, the headmaster, Earnest, and the 6th-grade teacher, Philip, were extremely enthusiastic and supportive, and this contributed to the success of the trial.

A guest blog post by Christianna Pierce

While many people enjoy portable e-readers as a convenient luxury, I believe e-readers have the potential to transform lives on an unprecedented scale. Here’s why:

One of the greatest assets of the e-reader is the near-instant access it provides to thousands of books.

Available topics range from classic literature to rocket science and everything in between.  Also, the growing number of titles available in local languages increases the accessibility of books to people in developing countries.  E-readers are a terrific source of books for children and adults who would otherwise have limited access to written material.

Having increased access to books leads to increased reading and literacy.

This idea is born out by several studies.  A report from the IEA Study of Reading Literacy highlights the fact that the availability of books is a key factor in reading achievement. Researcher W.B. Elley studied the reading achievement of children in 32 countries. He concluded that the highest scoring countries provide their students with greater access to books in the home, in the school, and in nearby community libraries and bookstores.

Similarly, Sanford Newman and his team found that the most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to written material. An abundance of books in public libraries, easy access to books in the community at large and a large number of textbooks per student are found in communities ranking highest in reading achievement tests.

Improved literacy leads to an improved quality of life for the individual, for families and for society.

The Department for International Development (DFID) evaluated research from studies in more than 30 countries.  The conclusion: effective literacy education can improve skills, increase productivity and improve income. Further, literacy education has been shown to enhance confidence; contribute to personal development; and promote improved family hygiene, nutrition, health, and social and political participation.

The EFA Global Monitoring Report: Why Literacy Matters (2006) lists additional benefits of literacy.  These include:

• Decreased infant mortality
• Increased gender equality
• Economic growth
• Improved self-esteem
• Socio-economic empowerment
• Increased political participation
• Positive impact on peace and reconciliation in post-conflict situations
• Cultural transformation
• Preservation of cultural diversity, particularly in programs that make use of minority languages.

Tying it all together

Improved quality of life due to increased literacy hinges on the increased availability of written materials. But the reality is that many households in developing countries have few literary resources. This presents a marvelous opportunity for the distribution and utilization of e-readers.  They are portable; convenient; offer access to thousands of books, magazines and newspapers; and are a feasible solution to getting printed matter into the hands of new and developing readers.

Christianna Pierce

Christianna fell in love with reading the minute she began following the fun adventures of Dick and Jane and their scappy dog, Spot. She also remembers watching the Jetsons cartoon and dreaming about how wonderful it would be to read books on a computer someday.  She is thrilled that day has finally arrived. Christianna can be found online at elegantsimplelife.com.

by David Risher

Worldreader.org’s social goal is pretty simple: we want to put a library’s worth of books into the hands of everyone in the developing world, so all can share in the world’s ideas. To achieve that goal, we’ll need to make it is as easy, inexpensive, and common to get a book anywhere in the developing world as it is to get a phone call.

Well, that’s all well and good (we think), but as we begin to raise money, funders will inevitably ask: what are you measuring?  What is your metric for success?  Everyone (ourselves included) who works hard or invests in programs wants to understand the impact of his or her work or money, and that requires clarity on not just the goal, but on how it’s measured.  Otherwise, how can we know if you’re working on the right things, or making the right investments?

Mike recently attended TED, and saw “short French person” Esther Duflo speak compellingly on the importance of measuring one’s results.  As we’ve been designing our next trials, we’ve been grappling a bit with whether and how best to quantify the cost side of the equation (e-books are less expensive to create and distribute) or the increased reading side of the equation (e-books give greater access to books, so kids read more.)  But in the end, our real opportunity will likely be to measure both, and drive them in opposite directions.

So: we want to lower the cost / book read in the developing world.  On the supply side (cost), we’ll work with e-reader manufacturers and book publishers to reduce their pricing for the developing world.  And on the demand side (# of books read), we’ll increase the quantity and availability of local and international content, so people can easily get books they like.  It doesn’t matter how many books are in the developing world unless they’re books people want to read!

By the way, whenever retailers think of how to increase sales and profits, they turn to their sales mix.  We, too, can play with the mix of content to help work towards our goals.  For instance, e-readers have access to hundreds of thousands of free books, as our friend (and volunteer researcher) Christianna Pierce has pointed out.    By testing and varying the availability of relevant free books alongside paid-for books, we can have a dramatic impact on the cost of the books in the developing world… again, as long as they’re the books people want to read.

We’re not yet at the point where we ‘re ready to set a precise goal—there’s much to learn before that.  But we’re confident that we’re beginning to understand the key levers we have and the directions we want to pull them.  In a few weeks we’re off to Ghana again to design the next set of tests… and starting soon, we’ll talk to funders to see who wants to help.