The AmritaCREATE Team of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, is one of eight semifinalists advancing in the $7 million Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE presented by Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The Adult Literacy XPRIZE is a global competition, challenging teams to develop a mobile application for existing smart devices that results in the greatest increase in literacy skills among participating adult learners.
Teams from around the world have been developing apps since 2015, vying for a chance to win the $7 million prize. 109 Teams from 22 countries registered to compete; 41 of these teams turned in a final submission—a fully functional app designed for adult learners reading at or below the equivalent of a third-grade level. The eight semifinalists will begin a 15-month field testing phase across three partner cities that include 12,000 participants who read English at a third-grade level or below. The highest gains in literacy will be a factor that will determine who gets the grand prize.
“With the announcement of these semifinalist teams, we are one step closer to transforming the lives of 36 million adults with low literacy skills in the U.S. by putting today’s cutting-edge learning tools directly in the hands of those who need them most,” said Shlomy Kattan, the senior director of the Adult Literacy XPRIZE.
Dr. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, said, “Reaching the semifinals of the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE is a very proud moment for us. We could achieve this success because of years of research work at our education technology lab, AmritaCREATE.”
Inspired by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Chancellor AMMA, Dr. Prema Nedungadi and a team of educators and developers have created Amrita Learning, a personalized learning app along with engaging, culturally appropriate e-content linked to life skills.
AmritaCREATE has pioneered technology enhanced learning for K12 Schools & Higher Education in both formal and informal settings and in Health Awareness and Monitoring Systems. Large scale projects developed and deployed across India include Amrita Rural India Tablet enhanced Education (RITE) in remote villages, Intelligent Tutoring Systems for School Education, eGovernance Systems for Schools, Big Data Analytics in Education, Health Awareness and Monitoring Systems and Simulations and CASE Based environments for Medical Education.
AmritaCREATE, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, is the recipient of the Digital India Award from the Hon’ble Minister of MeitY, in the Category – Digital Empowerment (2015). Other awards include best journal paper, IEEE Transactions in Education (2014), IT Excellence Award for eLearning and Education, Computer Society of India (2013).
