Competition incentivizes mobile learning solutions to bring low-literacy adults to basic literacy within 12 months

(SAN DIEGO) July 18, 2017 – Learning Upgrade, an innovative ed tech company providing digital, differentiated literacy curriculum designed for learning breakthroughs, has been named a top eight semi-finalist in the $7 million Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE presented by Dollar General Literacy Foundation, a global competition challenging teams to develop mobile applications for adult learners that result in the greatest increase in literacy skills in just 12 months. Leading up to today’s announcement, Learning Upgrade, headquartered in San Diego, CA, was among 109 initial teams competing for the Adult Literacy XPRIZE.

“We are honored and excited to be named a semi-finalist in the XPRIZE adult literacy competition and to help low-literacy adults make learning breakthroughs using their own smartphones,” said Vinod Lobo, co-founder and CEO of Learning Upgrade. “By providing anytime, anywhere instruction to more adult learners, we can improve our economy—and help individuals reach their full potential and live the American dream.”

The Learning Upgrade app provides learners access to 300 sequenced, high-interest lessons on topics including phonics, decoding, comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, writing, and listening. The curriculum includes engaging songs, videos, games, and rewards that encourage all learners to achieve mastery. Each lesson provides practice activities accompanied by immediate intervention and remediation with multimedia supports. Learners can repeat lessons to mastery and earn a gold certificate when they become proficient in the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) for that level.

With the app, Learning Upgrade aims to improve students’ time on task by no longer limiting them to sitting in front of a computer. Learners of all ages are now able to work through lessons anytime and anywhere.

“With the announcement of these semi-finalist teams, we are one step closer to transforming the lives of 36 million adults with low literacy skills in the U.S. by putting today’s cutting-edge learning tools directly in the hands of those who need them most,” said Shlomy Kattan, the senior director of the Adult Literacy XPRIZE.

For more information about team Learning Upgrade, please visit LearningUpgrade.com

For more information about the Adult Literacy XPRIZE, visit AdultLiteracy.Xprize.org.

About Learning Upgrade
Founded in 1998 by educators, musicians, artists and programmers in San Diego, Learning Upgrade designs innovative, engaging lessons to support struggling students in reading and math. Through the incorporation of songs, video, games, and educational research, Learning Upgrade has helped more than 1 million students make learning breakthroughs. For more information, please visit LearningUpgrade.com.

About XPRIZE
XPRIZE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the global leader in designing and implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grandest challenges. XPRIZE utilizes a unique combination of gamification, crowd-sourcing, incentive prize theory, and exponential technologies as a formula to make 10x (vs. 10%) impact in the grand challenge domains facing our world. XPRIZE’s philosophy is that—under the right circumstances—igniting rapid experimentation from a variety of diverse lenses is the most efficient and effective method to driving exponential impact and solutions to grand challenges. Active competitions include the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, the $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, the $7M Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE, the $5M IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, the $1.75M Water Abundance XPRIZE and the $1M Anu and Naveen Jain Women’s Safety XPRIZE. For more information, visit www.xprize.org.

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