The Use of Mobile Phones to Support Children’s Literacy Learning

The goal of this study was to develop a mobile-phone based intervention that would encourage parents to engage their children in daily literacy-learning activities. The intervention content included text messages for parents, audio messages for parents and children, and Sesame Street letter videos for children. Messaging to parents suggested real-world activities that they could use to engage their children in learning letters. Pre- and post-interviews indicated a significant increase in the frequency with which parents reported engaging their children in literacy activities after participating in this study. In addition, 75% of lower-income participants and 50% of middle-income participants reported that they believed watching the Sesame Street letter videos helped their children learn letters. More than 75% of participants reported believing that a mobile phone used in this way can be an effective learning tool, since mobile-phone delivery made it extremely easy to incorporate literacy activities into their daily routines.