onecourse

In developing countries, lack of funding can mean understaffed schools and under qualified teachers. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a rapidly increasing school-age population means that almost 69 million new teachers need to be trained by 2030. Classes tend to be very large, with the average class in Malawi containing 70 children, meaning children must share textbooks as well as the attention of the teacher. This impacts a child’s education and life chances.

onebillion is a non-profit organisation with the goal of bringing quality maths and literacy education to one billion children in need worldwide.

The innovation – onecourse – is modular, giving the child a personalized and comprehensive learning experience. The child learns at their own pace, building the literacy and numeracy skills gradually.

In 2019, onecourse was announced joint winner of the $15 million Global Learning XPRIZE, a competition designed to challenge teams from around the world to develop a learning solution which allows children to teach themselves to read, write and do basic arithmetic. The competition involved a 15-month testing phase which saw 2,000 children from 141 rural villages in Tanzania using the finalists’ software until April 2019.

Research conducted by UNESCO and the World Food Program found that "at the beginning of the Global Learning XPRIZE field test, less than 10% of the participating children could read a single world in Swahili. After the field test, 45% of these children could read a word, with 30% reading full sentences."

onecourse takes a play-based, holistic approach to getting children literate and numerate, creating joyful and calming experiences that include socio-emotional learning and creative skills to ensure children are in a sanctuary of learning. A digital teachers supports and encourages the child at every stage, and the software adapts to the level of each child on the fly, providing structured teaching and practice in areas where they need it most. onecourse is currently available in 6 languages – Swahili, English, French, Chichewa, Bahasa Indonesia, and Portuguese for Mozambique – with more in the pipeline. 

One of the central goals is to develop a love of reading, so onecourse includes a graded library of 300+ stories suitable for different reading abilities. The library provides a 'mirror' of the world the child is familiar with as well as a 'window' into other ways of life, and includes stories that are authored in-country. We also run story co-creation sessions with neurodivergent children and refugee populations to ensure their voices are represented in the software. 

Consistently, the academic research shows that boys and girls in Malawi learn maths equally well through onebillion's app, countering a global trend of gender differences.

onecourse is delivered on onetab – a dedicated learning device that offers reading, writing and numeracy in one simple package. It is robust and comes in a durable protective case with an optional solar charger. It boots straight into onecourse, in the correct language, and gives extra tuition on tablet usage for first time users. onetab is already being implemented at scale in Malawi, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Jamaica and the United States in both school and community settings.

onebillion is now supporting partners to scale onetab exponentially to reach children across the world, empowering them to learn autonomously whether they have access to formal schooling or not.