Google has launched 'Bolo' app that features an animated character 'Diya'. This animated character helps children pronounce a particular word. According to Google, the app has been designed for primary grade students and is powered by Google’s speech recognition and text-to-speech technology.
The app contains 50 stories in Hindi and 40 in English. Google says that more stories will be added by other partners soon. Some of the features of the app include: it can be used offline, children can play word games and earn in-app rewards and badges that will make reading fun and a daily habit. Many children can use the same app and track their progress separately; the app also changes the difficulty level according to the reading skill of a particular student.
Also, According to Google, "Bolo" app is completely ad-free, has been designed with children’s safety and security in mind and keeps the data of the app on the device. The app works on devices with Android 4.4 (Kit Kat) or a higher version of Android.
Pratham's Annual Status of Education (ASER) report mentions that out of all the students enrolled in grade-5 in rural India, only about half can confidently read a grade-2 textbook.
Google tested the app and found that 64 percent of the children showed an improvement in reading proficiency in just 3 months. The app is still in a developmental stage and is expected to get better in the coming days. The link to download the app.
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Google