Our newest project, in production now, is a customizable K-5 Family Literacy website with the navigation and feel of an app. This website will have materials appropriate for all ages of family members, and has scaffolded curriculum from the alphabetic level through grade 5. The core materials for the website will come initially from our existing android app, Amrita Learning App, which is currently available at the Google Play Store (search on all 3 words to get the U.S. edition). We will also be adding music and other features to make the learning more accessible to all learners. The website will be customizable to schools and nations that want to provide image files and sound files to create alphabet lessons and other primary lessons where the alphabetic system is different than English.
We are actively seeking partners to expedite the production, distribution and development of both domestic and international versions of the website. This website will make the learning available to people across all kinds of devices – phones, tablets, laptops/Macbooks and desktop computers.If you are interested in partnering with us, or would like more information, please contact us at amritalearningapp@gmail.com
The Amrita Learning App is built by AmritaCREATE at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. Amrita is an established leader in technology enhanced education, winning awards such as:
Videos & Printable Resources for Amrita Learning App (Updated regularly). We can customize printable resources for your community. Contact us at AmritaAppHelp@gmail.com
If you are not an XPRIZE community competitor, but interested in using the app for your learners,
we are happy to create a community code for you.
Amrita Learning App is designed for low-literate adults and supports family literacy. It can be used by Adult Education organizations, libraries, schools, prisons, and businesses. It can also supplement Special Education for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.
We hope your users enjoy learning while improving their skills with Amrita. The award-winning Amrita Learning App is offered free of cost for learners, even beyond the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE competition!
All spoken language is a continuous stream of sound, with the perceptible beginning and endings of the words only truly clear with the first sound uttered at the beginning of speech and the last uttered after the entire sentence or phrase is completed.
For this reason, it is imperative to over-emphasize the beginnings and endings of words within sentences, at least in a subtle way, for beginning readers and second language learners to be able to hear individual words within a sentence. It follows that this is also needed for students to track text with their eyes while listening to audio.
Why is audio so important in accelerating and scaffolding student achievement in reading?
Actually, if the student listens to the audio first, without tracking the text of the passage, then the comprehension of the passage may occur to the same extent as if she had read the passage silently with full comprehension.
Afterwards, if the student returns to the text and tracks it with her eyes as she listens, she can relax and more easily process the symbol-sound correspondences she is witnessing receptively. If she then reads the passage a third time, decoding the words herself without audio, the process of decoding more difficult words is greatly reduced or erased altogether.
The symbol-sound-meaning integration occurred to such a great extent in the first 2 readings that the student has truly imbibed the reading on the 3rd round. A 4th round of reading aloud can put the student 10 steps further toward complete mastery of the words and the syntax patterns of the text, permanently. Repeated reading with Audio support is a powerful way to accelerate student achievement in reading.
All of the stories and passages on Amrita Learning App feature optional full voice audio at a slow-medium pace. Each word is spoken clearly and very gently emphasizes the beginning and ending of each word while modeling the natural English cadence of speech. This way, the English Language Learner may follow the written words while imbibing the natural sound of spoken English.
Amrita Learning App for Adult Learners is made to accelerate the learning of all learners while using stories and articles to model the soft skills needed to survive in the workplace. The app currently supports levels from non-reader to our expanding 6-8 grade Popular Science series. Our Serena and Leo – Family and Friends series (grade 3-6) features abundant Spanish support including vocabulary and phrases with audio. Our Life Styles USA stories (grade 3-6) feature stories based on current issues in the lives of small town, rural and city dwellers. Useful skills for navigating everyday life are integrated in the story lines. Values of kindness, caring and having an open mind are also woven into the stories.
All stories include vocabulary lessons, vocabulary bingo games with lesson vocabulary, and assessments.
New series on the app and still expanding are the Jazz Series, featuring Cam, a young jazz drummer; and the Popular Science series, which makes key science concepts accessible and teaches real vocabulary needed to pass High School equivalency exams.
All of our stories and passages feature optional full voice audio at a slow-medium pace. Each word spoken clearly and in the normal English cadence, so learners can easily follow the reading, and imbibe natural modeling of spoken English.
For this reason, it is imperative to over-emphasize the beginnings and endings of words within sentences, at least in a subtle way, for beginning readers and second language learners to be able to hear individual words within a sentence. It follows that this is also needed for students to track text with their eyes while listening to audio.
Audio is the great equalizer and ultimate scaffold for readers. Students can make triple the progress in reading if they listen only to the audio first; then read the story with audio while tracking the text with their eyes; then reading the story silently with their eyes a third time; and reading the story out loud a fourth and fifth time.
This technique will foster mastery of reading and greatly accelerate student success. The use of story “series” scaffolds success doubly, as the student already knows how to pronounce the name, and inferential comprehension is easily developed when the student knows the idiosyncratic behavior of each individual character over time.
Amrita Learning App Support Team
Email: AmritaAppHelp@gmail.com
The OLabs is based on the idea that lab experiments can be taught using the Internet, more efficiently and less expensively. The labs can also be made available to students with no access to physical labs or where equipment is not available owing to being scarce or costly. This helps them compete with students in better equipped schools and bridges the digital divide and geographical distances. The experiments can be accessed anytime and anywhere, overcoming the constraints on time felt when having access to the physical lab for only a short period of time.
The ‘learning-enabled assessment’ through OLabs facilitates in the assessment of; the procedural and manipulative skills of the experiment, the concepts and understanding of the experiment and a student’s reporting and interpreting skills.
The development of OLabs includes the study and use of mathematical techniques to demonstrate the various complex functions in diverse areas of science. The labs make use of cutting edge simulation technology to create real world lab environments. Thorough study and research is done by research personnel for better understanding of the experimental procedures. Real lab scenarios are captured through live demonstration of the experiment so as to assimilate information on the procedures and lab equipment. Visualisation and development of the graphical symbols are done based on realistic situations and compared with the respective real equipment. Simulations are made interactive using various authoring tools, thus recreating and simulating a real lab environment.
The OLabs are hosted at www.olabs.edu.in. Access to OLabs is free for Schools upon registration.
