Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Ryan Geertsma.
Voice 2
And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
"The storyteller stands next to the fire dancing, acting, singing and repeating a story...Listening to him is a crowd of men, women, and children...In a mountain rainforest of the Congo, a village hears again the story of its favourite hero – Mwindo, the one born walking, the one born talking..."
Voice 1
These words introduce a story called "The Magic Flyswatter." The story is about a young boy who is a superhero. He has powers most humans do not have. "The Magic Flyswatter" is one of many stories told in Congolese culture. And today, it is helping people learn to read. An organization named Worldreader is using stories like "The Magic Flyswatter" to encourage reading. However, they are not using printed paper books. Instead, they are using new electronic books.
Voice 2
Reading is a powerful skill. It can help people learn a lot of new information - information that can change their lives. For many years, organizations like "Books for Africa," and "Better World Books," have provided books for communities in need. These organizations serve communities that have low reading rates or few books. They ship books to these communities, using donated money.
Voice 1
This model has worked. Recently, however, a few organizations have attempted to use a new model. They are using a new technology called electronic readers. Electronic readers, or e-readers, are small computers designed just for reading.
Voice 2
Using e-readers has many benefits. For example, it costs a lot of money to send books internationally. E-readers cost money to buy, but they do no cost a lot of money to send. And when a community or a family has an e-reader, there are many free or low-cost electronic books they can read.
Voice 1
For a village with few books, e-readers can offer many more literature choices. Normally, paper books are sent in large boxes to villages. A village does not choose the particular books they receive, so these books may not interest them. With an e-reader, people can choose from over 700,000 electronic books or e-books. So they can find the books that interest them.
Voice 2
A popular e-reader, known as the Kindle, also includes a dictionary. This means if people read a word they do not understand, they can look for the meaning of the word. The organization Worldreader is one organization that uses e-readers. It recently completed an e-reader test project in the country of Ghana. The students involved in the test had previous experience using mobile phones, but they had never used computers. Many students reported the e-readers were easy to use.
Voice 1
Another benefit of e-readers is their mobility. People can put books on their e-readers and carry them around anywhere. An e-reader with ten e-books is still a light weight – much lighter than carrying around ten paper books. So, students learning to read can take their e-books anywhere. Books are also easy to organize on e-readers.
Voice 2
However, all of the exciting advantages of e-readers and e-books present problems as well. For example, e-readers like the Kindle were not created to help people learn to read. Instead, they were created as a way to read without using paper books. Many e-books are for advanced readers – they use words that would not be understood by people learning how to read. And, the dictionary on the Kindle can be difficult to understand for basic learners.
Voice 1
Worldreader also found another problem during their test project in Ghana. Many students did not understand the cultures they read about in the e-books. This is because most of the books are from Western writers, and about Western culture.
Voice 2
E-readers have technical problems as well. For example, people must be able to use the Internet to choose e-books. But the Internet is not available everywhere. Even in areas that have the Internet, it is not always working. E-readers also require electricity. But many of the communities that lack books also lack electricity.
Voice 1
But Worldreader is looking for solutions to these problems. With the companies that make e-readers, they want to create an e-reader just for people learning to read. In fact, they have already found solutions to many of the problems.
Voice 2
One example is electricity. E-readers may require electricity, but they do not require a lot of it. This is because they are smaller than computers and are only used for reading. For example, a one hour charge can last for two weeks! Even in very small villages, services already exist for charging mobile phones. These services could also charge e-books.
Voice 1
Another example has to do with Internet service. E-readers like the Kindle can use the Internet with mobile phone technology. This means people can search for books and put those books on their Kindle e-reader without using a traditional Internet connection.
Voice 2
Organizations like Worldreader are also trying to increase the number of e-books written in different languages and by authors from different cultures. The story from the beginning of this program was called "The Magic Flyswatter." This story was used by Worldreader in their Ghana test project. Although this is a Congolese story, it was written by an Australian named Aaron Shepard.
Voice 1
Worldreader wants to help writers from every culture to have their books offered on e-readers. Already, people can purchase books by African writers, such as, "My Brother the Footballer," by Diana McBagonluri and "The Storyteller," by Nana Ama Afoa Osae. They can also find "White Tiger," by Indian writer Aravind Adiga, "Gate of the Sun," by Lebanese writer Elias Khoury and many more.
Voice 2
People are always creating and discovering new ways to help people learn to read. Organizations like Worldreader believe e-books and e-readers are the new best way to help people learn about the power of reading. David Risher is one of the people who created Worldreader. He told the Wall Street Journal newspaper,
Voice 4
"It is important that people understand that this program is not just for education. It is something that can be used for fun. The long term goal is that technology will help create a reading culture in parts of the world where that has not been possible before."
Voice 1
Do you think e-reader technology can change a community's culture of reading? Do you believe it can encourage people to read more? Tell us what you think. You can e-mail us at or leave a comment on our website.
Voice 2 The writer of this program was Corrie Haluga. The producer was Mark Drenth. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find this program and others on our website at This program is called "Reading Electronic Books." We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye! |