Google launches Bolo learning app

New Delhi: As the smartphone penetration expands in vilalges, Google is hoping to piggyback on it to help children with their reading skills. The company on Wednesday unveiled its new Bolo Android app that is a speech-based reading-tutor app aimed at rural kids, who would otherwise may not have access to a good education support system. Being released in India first, the Bolo app is now available for free via Google Play and can work offline.

The government-back school system in most states leaves a lot to be desired and it is often the only available avenue for getting an education in rural areas as well as for children from financially struggling families. Google is hoping to change that by using smartphones, which are increasingly becoming a common sight, even in rural areas. “

We believe technology has the power to help transform teaching and learning, and have been actively directing our products, programmes and philanthropy to ensure that all students are able to benefit from it,” Google said in a statement. Built for native Hindi-speakers in its current avatar, the Bolo app helps the children improve their Hindi and English reading skills by encouraging them to read aloud. 

It comes with a large number of engaging stories, which the company hopes, will help the children in improving their comprehension skills. The app has been designed to make sure that children don't need any help in using it and can read all by themselves. Google notes that all the reading material on the app is free and it is working with other companies to bring more content to Bolo.

The app relies on Google's speech recognition and text-to-speech technology. To entice the children to use the app, Google has added in-app rewards and badges to Bolo as well as word games. The company says the app includes an animated digital assistant called Diya. This assistant can read the text out loud for the children and even explain the meaning of the English text. Diya can speak English as well as Hindi and will encourage the kids by giving them compliments when they finish a task.