Millee’s mobile phone educational games strive to break the cycle of poverty through English literacy skills. Over 5 years of substantiated research, Millee has developed a number of mobile phone applications whose core framework is molded around the lifestyles and identities of rural children in India.
A study conducted by RNCOS in June 2009 reports India saw an addition of an average of 10 million users per month in its mobile subscriber base during 2008 with penetration reaching saturation in urban India. It goes on to report the mobile market in rural India is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of around 32% during 2009 to 2012. This study shows the impact and traction mobile phones have had, and will continue to have world wide- at the base of the pyramid all the way up to the top.
The Space Hero game uses graphics paired with vocal phonetics and written words to teach students English using an iterative and immersive methodology that they can identify with.
Millee adopts a human-centered approach to designing immersive, enjoyable, language learning games on mobile phones, modeled after traditional village games that rural children find familiar. Millee has received several competitive grants and seen extensive field tests. It was featured in the press in India (where the last ten rounds of field studies took place), a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television documentary and ABC News.
Millee recently received funding from Nokia to build out from pilot project phase to sustainable social enterprise in India. As Millee’s benefit is assessed in collaboration with the Byrraju Foundation and Asset Foundation in rural India, Millee will continue to research the efficacy of mobile phone educational games in rural villages throughout China and Kenya.
