E-Reader Trial Report: OrphanAid Africa School
Worldreader
March 2010

Executive Summary

This report details the findings of our e‐reader trial involving the use of 16 Kindles by sixth grade students at the Orphan Aid Africa School in Ayenyah, Ghana, which ran from March 16 through March 26, 2010. Below are the key observation that lead us to believe that e‐readers have the potential to be deployed successfully in similar communities and schools in developing countries.

Key findings

• 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 children 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.

Here are the main challenges we observed that could affect adoption in developing countries:

• 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 accidentally 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 wide-scale 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.

Read the full E-Reader Trial Report: OrphanAid Africa School.