Why develop a digital reading game to boost literacy?

Reading is the foundation of knowledge, creativity, and active social participation. With the aim of supporting children's reading skills and addressing the significant decline in reading and reading comprehension, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the country's municipalities signed the so-called National Pact for Literacy in the fall of 2015. According to the agreement, the goal was for at least 90% of all students in 10th grade to be able to read for meaning by 2018, whereas only 79% of students reached the minimum criteria at the time of signing. Latest figures from the OECD PISA survey show that 40% of Icelandic students do not reach basic criteria in reading comprehension, compared to 26% in the Nordic countries, which is an unacceptable situation. At the same time, research abroad indicates that children's interest in reading for pleasure is rapidly decreasing, which underlines the importance of finding new ways to spark interest and improve skills.

What is LESA and what is the goal?

That is where the LESA project comes in. LESA is a reading game and educational technology solution (EdTech) designed to reverse negative trends in literacy and boost children's interest and skills. The goal of the project is to develop and scale a digital solution in the form of an app where children practice reading on their own terms. Instead of trying to adapt the child to the system, LESA aims to adapt the reading environment to the child through motivation, interactivity, and active participation.

The goal of LESA is simple but big: To increase children's reading for pleasure and reach the goals set in 2015 supporting children's education and strengthening the Icelandic language for the future.

Generative AI harnessed for good causes

Innovation LESA and the solution's primary competitive advantage lies in LESA Story Engine (Sögusmiðjan). The Story Engine is a custom-built solution that utilizes generative AI (ai) to produce a large amount of high-quality reading material that follows strict professional criteria in collaboration with the Center for Education and School Services and professional editorial staff.

The innovation of LESA consists of:

• Graded material: The Story Engine produces 365 stories in the first year, each in three different difficulty levels. The Story Engine is unique globally.

  
  

• Professional criteria: The material follows the criteria of the Center for Education and School Services (MMS) regarding vocabulary, phonetic introduction (letters), sound usage, and text length.

  
  

• Statistical measurements: We measure data and child progress (advancement) and display information as part of the game in the form of "scoring"– which again aims for the child to experience success which is a motivation to continue to READ. It will be possible to adjust the difficulty level of stories.

  
  

• Gamification (Gamification): A comprehensive character world and reward system ("The Playground") that turns reading exercises into an exciting adventure.

  
  

Business value lies in the scalability of the solution. The Story Engine enables LESA to produce a large amount of quality material in a more economical way than traditional publishing. The core system is designed so that it is easy to adapt it to other languages, which opens up significant growth opportunities in international markets.