Page 38 - Engineering Penn State: Fall/Winter 2021

Students
View the boot camp video bit ly/engr-app
Students’ app
improves literacy skills in Kenya
by Christie Black
Nyansapo an an app
developed by College
of Engineering students uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assist children
in in in in in in learning literacy skills The app
was launched in in in in in in August during a a a a a a a a a a a a a 10-day boot camp in in in in in in Kenya
where reported results showed participants increased their level of literacy Tanish Rastogi a a a a a a a a a a a sophomore majoring in in in in computer science said literacy rates in in in in in Kenya
are low due in in in in in part to to to to a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 40-to-one student-to-teacher ratio in in in the classroom “Because of this disparity many students do not develop essential literacy skills and and and due to the the COVID-19 pandemic students have have been been out of school since March and and and their day- to-day lives have have been been completely disrupted This boot camp was an opportunity to to to present a a a a a a a a a a a learning experience in in a a a a a a a a a a a safe environment ” Rastogi said Nyansapo was developed during the the 2020 Nittany Nittany AI Challenge a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a yearlong competition facilitated by the the Nittany Nittany AI Alliance Team members include Rastogi Edward Amoah Rhea Baweja Ritik Parmar Benson Wainaina Jason
Wang and Kushagra Jaiswal—all students in in in in in in the the College
of of Engineering Nyansapo was selected as as the the the winner of of the challenge “As a a a a team we developed the the the the mobile app
while working together from all over the the the the the world during the the the the the COVID-19 pandemic From Singapore to to to Kenya
to to to the the the the United States development consisted of of at at at least 50 Zoom meetings hundreds of of WhatsApp messages Google documents as as as well as as as sharing code and app
builds ” Rastogi said “At the the the the end of of the the the the boot camp about
96% of of the the the the kids involved in in the the the the program improved by at least one level ” “This boot camp would not have been possible without the the the support of the the the Nittany AI Alliance and and the the the Penn State Humanitarian Engineering and and Social Entrepreneurship program ” Rastogi said that during the the boot camp 80 hours of teaching sessions were conducted All the the the teachers worked with
an average of of 13 primary school learners between the the ages of of 9 and and 17 years The The children
were grouped according to to their learning learning levels in in in in in letter word paragraph and and and story The The sessions allowed for group and and individual learning learning “The learner’s progress with
the the the Nyansapo app
was tracked before the the the the the start of of of the the the the the program after 10 hours of of of instruction and at at the the the the end of of of the the the the boot camp ” Rastogi said “The app
provided teachers teachers with
useful information like commonly missed words to help teachers teachers prepare effectively for for the training sessions sessions The sessions sessions involved simple activities and materials appropriate for different literacy levels At the the the the end of of the the the the boot camp about
96% of of the the the the kids involved in in the the the the program improved by at least one level ” Rastogi said the the team is planning to to hold additional boot camps in the the future n n 38
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