"Education has been identified as one of the most important ways to achieve national development. With 3 million nonliterate adults in Lagos State, the commercial nerve center of the nation, radio becomes a veritable medium to teach such adults who, for several reasons including economic, do not hav
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e the opportunity of formal schooling. The study assessed the effectiveness of educational radio broadcasting for adult literacy in Lagos State, Nigeria. Five hundred and five (505) adult learners participating in Lagos is Learning Project were purposively selected. Findings showed that a majority (62.4%) of the study participants used the instructional radio program, Mooko Mooka, to prepare for classroom instruction, while 53.5% of the study participants used the program for revision. Findings also revealed that 40.6% of them listened to the program three times per week and this implied that frequency of exposure could influence literacy skill. The study concluded that radio instructional techniques were effective in promoting adult literacy and therefore recommended that the radio listening sessions should be increased as part of efforts to reduce adult illiteracy in the country. Also, community media centers should be created in different communities to encourage group listening where learners can be supervised." (Abstract)
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"Reading the past, writing the future: Fifty years of promoting literacy" takes stock of youth and adult literacy interventions which have been implemented since 1966, when UNESCO held its first International Literacy Day. The publication sheds light on the literacy-related challenges the world is n
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ow facing, as it embarks on the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The publication begins with an analysis of trends in literacy rates at the regional and global levels, and identifies fifty countries that have made notable progress. It then reflects on emerging conceptions of literacy, from ‘literacy as a stand-alone skill' to 'functional literacy’ for work and livelihood, to 'literacy for empowerment’ of poor and marginalized populations and finally to 'literacy as social practice’, shaped by the cultural context in which it is applied. These four conceptions are illustrated by a wide range of literacy campaigns, programmes and policies, implemented within the fifty selected countries. Finally, the publication envisages the possible future of literacy from the perspective of sustainable development, lifelong learning and digital societies, with a focus on the need for urgency of action." (Back cover)
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"This publication provides a selection of literacy programmes that use radio, TV, mobile phones, tablets and computers to support the development of literacy, numeracy and language skills. Due to continuous demand, the second edition of the publication has been updated with new case studies. All pro
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grammes included in this publication are also available on UNESCO’s Effective Literacy and Numeracy Practices database (LitBase). This database allows users to identify trends, challenges and lessons learnt in applying ICTs to literacy teaching and learning worldwide. The programmes share valuable examples of how ICTs can be used creatively and innovatively to complement face-to-face adult literacy teaching. They highlight the prerequisites that must be met to reach the full potential of ICTs." (Foreword)
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"This book offers a view of the cultural, family, and interpersonal consequences of mobile communication across the globe. Scholars analyze the effect of mobile communication on all parts of life, from the relationship between literacy and the textual features of mobile phones to the use of ringtone
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s as a form of social exchange, from the “aspirational consumption” of middle-class families in India to the belief in parts of Africa and Asia that mobile phones can communicate with the dead. The contributors explore the ways mobile communication profoundly affects the tempo, structure, and process of daily life around the world. The book discusses the impact of mobile communication on social networks, other communication strategies, traditional forms of social organization, and political activities. It considers how quickly miraculous technologies come to seem ordinary and even necessary; and how ordinary technology comes to seem mysterious and even miraculous. The chapters cut across social issues and geographical regions; they highlight use by the elite and the masses, utilitarian and expressive functions, and political and operational consequences. Taken together, the chapters demonstrate how mobile communication has affected the quality of life in both exotic and humdrum settings, and how it increasingly occupies center stage in people’s lives around the world." (Publisher description)
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"The first part sets out the four key concepts of literacy (as skills, tasks, social practices, and critical reflection), and describes associated approaches used throughout the world. The second half covers preparation and planning, offering practical guides for each key element of literacy-program
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me development. Using case studies from literacy programmes in many countries including Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mali, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Uganda, the authors demonstrate the importance of literacy and its power to improve lives. They also show that the role literacy plays in social and economic development is not a simple one, and literacy is never a quick-fix solution." (Oxfam website)
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This report records the experience of literacy workers in India and Zambia who, with support and technical assistance from COL, used modern ICTs to design, create, develop and deliver literacy programmes in the rural parts of these two Commonwealth countries over a three-year period.
"Is today’s changing media landscape in the Middle East empowering women? This is the first book to address the dynamics of media ecology and women’s advancement in the contemporary Middle East. The book spans both the region and media forms, from Iran’s women’s press, via Maghrebi women fil
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mmakers and Egyptian political films, Palestinian TV and Hezbollah’s TV station, Al-Manar. It takes as its starting point the diverse experiencees and multi-layered identities of women and treats media institutions and practices as part of wider power relations in society. By analysing media production, consumption and texts, it reveals where and how gender boundaries have been erected or crossed." (Publisher description)
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"An extensive discussion of the role of Christian publishers in book provision, and Christian publishing and book distribution in the countries of the South. It examines pertinent issues under three major areas of activity: (1) general Christian publishing, covering, for example, the problems of cre
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ating and maintaining a ‘commercial’ publishing house in the Third World, including aspects of training and scholarship programmes; (2) publishing for newly literates and new readers, which includes a case study of the Adult Literacy Organization of Zimbabwe (ALOZ), its achievements, strengths and weaknesses, its funding, and relationship with partners, etc.; and, (3) theological education and the development of theological libraries. The book concludes with some practical proposals on the way ahead and a possible agenda for development." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1712)
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