Yodigo

Delivering literacy is not a new challenge. In fact, it's quite old.

Delivering literacy broadly, in adverse conditions, and on a limited budget is a new challenge, however. It's a challenge that modern educational systems can find difficult to meet, even when they are staffed with the best teachers and the most talented administrators.

Yodigo

Yodigo is a new system for delivering literacy in the most difficult conditions. Yodigo is an interactive, video-based system that can be accessed via a broadband connection to the internet. Where internet is not available, Yodigo can be accessed from server on a local area network or a DVD or CD. Yodigo uses new digital technologies, but technology is not why it works. Yodigo works because it is based on incentives.

CCT-based Literacy

When a student begins a Yodigo session, she knows that every completed exercise comes with a conditional cash transfer (CCT) incentive. This incentive is represented by points, and once she is done working, she can convert the points she has earned to cash or to another reward that is locally appropriate, as determined by her teacher.

The Total Package

Yodigo provides the lesson content, grades student response, provides positive feedback, and tracks total incentives for each student. Students work at their own pace, and cannot easily compare their progress with that of other students. A Yodigo session can last for minutes or for hours. Because it is impossible for students to gain points at Yodigo by cheating, teachers can devote their full attention to the students who need it most.

Enticing Students, Cheaply

Very simply, Yodigo works by enticing students. Yodigo provides a steady stream of video entertainment, feedback, and direct incentive. Because it is an application service, Yodigo is also extraordinarily cost-effictive. Yodigo can be deployed to any broadband-enabled PC or local area network client at a very low cost per seat.

A Trusted Partner

Yodigo is developed by Web Networks [www.web.net]. Web Networks has provided information and communication technology services to individuals, large organizations, and governments for over 20 years. Based in Toronto, Canada, Web Networks currently serves over 2,000 clients, large and small.

Why Incentives?

Yodigo is based on the conditional cash transfer (CCT) incentives model because it has been proven to be highly effective across many domains of service delivery. You can learn more about CCT here.

Will Yodigo work for my school?

Yodigo is based on the following assumptions about your school:

• The school budget is small
• The class size is large
• The teacher's time is at a premium
• The students do not have a supportive environment in which to do homework
• The school has access to some PC's 5 years old or newer

What languages does Yodigo support?

Yodigo is currently available on a trial basis in Latin American Spanish.

What instructor training is required to use Yodigo?

Yodigo is extremely simple to use, and does not require any maintenance or setup by the teacher. A computer-literate teacher can easily get up to speed with Yodigo in a day.

What age student is Yodigo for?

Yodigo is for students ages 10 and up.

Why would I NOT use Yodigo?

Yodigo requires at least one instructor to have basic computer literacy skills. If your school does not have this, it will be difficult to get going with Yodigo. If your school does not have access to PC's (or Macs) that are 5 years old or newer, or if you do not have relatively stable access to electricity, that will also be a problem.

How can I get Yodigo?

If you are interested in trying out Yodigo in your school, please talk to us. You can email or us at 1-800-932-7003. Yodigo is currently being offered on a trial basis for native speakers of Latin American Spanish ages 10-13, and in Tamil Nadu, India, to Tamil and second language English speakers.