Converge Weekly

In an ambitious new project, the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) is harnessing the latest communications technology to provide English language learning for over 50 million mobile users in Bangladesh.

The first of its kind in the world, this project will provide high quality English learning tools using mobile, television and the internet to millions of people, many of whom live on less than £2 a day.Central to the project is BBC Janala (“Window”) which uses the mobile phone as a powerful low-cost learning device by offering over 250 audio and SMS lessons to the growing 50.4 million mobile users in Bangladesh.

According to the Financial Times, 70% of employers in Bangladesh are looking for workers with “communicative English” skills.

More than 300,000 people in Bangladesh have rushed to sign up to learn English over their mobile phones, threatening to swamp the service even before its official launch on 13th Nov, ’09. Part of a UK government initiative to help develop English skills in Bangladesh, it marks the first time that mobile phones have been used as an educational tool on this scale.

To make the lessons affordable, the BBC has teamed up with all six of Bangladesh’s mobile operators who have agreed to cut the cost of calls to the service by up to 75%. Each lesson is a three-minute phone call, costing about 3 taka (4 PRK).

Lessons will also be online via www.bbcjanala.com, where a virtual community will be able to access learning content for free, upload their online profiles and interact with other learners both in Bangladesh and around the world. Audio and video will also be available on social networking and video sharing websites such as Facebook and YouTube.

While using cell phones for educational purposes is nothing new, this is certainly the largest project we’ve ever heard about. If BBC WT can keep its servers up and running under the crush of the massive response, Janala could prove that cell phones are a legitimate educational tool, and not just a gimmick stealing students’ already short attention spans.