Literacy goes digital at Levana Primary School

Living through Learning (LTL) is bridging the digital gap in a world where technology and literacy meet and launched their first digital literacy programme at Levana Primary School in Lavender Hill last week.

The NPO assists with foundation phase literacy at various schools across Cape Town.

On Monday May 17, the digital pilot went live at Levana’s Reading Adventure Room, which was sponsored by LTL, where Grade 1 pupils played literacy games and read stories on tablets at a station set up in the special room.

The digital hub, which consists of a Pencil iPad Tower with five tablets and headsets, was made possible by a donation from neaMetrics, a technology-driven distribution company, and on a daily basis, 160 Grade 1 pupils rotate through the Reading Adventure Room.

At the launch, LTL managing director Natalie Roos said the aim of the project is to bridge the gap of the digital divide and give pupils the opportunity to explore pre-loaded literacy content in a digital form. She said teachers will be using it to aid the content already covered in their LTL workbooks.

“As part of our drive to cultivate the love of reading from a young age, the learners can share between tablets and storybooks in our mobile library corners. We don't want our children to fall behind because they don't have the opportunity at home to engage in digital content.”

Everything is digital, said Ms Roos, and it’s a fun way for the children to engage with literacy and have it come alive on tablets.

Levana Primary School deputy principal Nicole Bailey thanked the organisation for their contributions to the school and said they are exceptionally proud to be part of the pilot project.

“I’ve been a part of the LTL programme and we are blessed and grateful to have them on board. We have many learners who are underprivileged and they won't get this opportunity at home so with the tablets we can have that practical experience in the digital world for our learners.

“The organisation hopes to expand the project to other schools and will engage with teachers to improve the programme if necessary.”