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Math Power! Explorer
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Games

Research indicates that children in developing countries are not learning sufficient mathematical skills for the rapidly evolving 21st century.

Through Math Power!, we are advancing several activities to spur the joy of math and to reach learners through a variety of innovative approaches. One of these activities is Math Power! Explorer (MPE).

MPE is designed to use interactive voice response (IVR) to deliver engaging math games to primary-aged learners in households in low-resource settings.

What is Interactive Voice Response?

IVR is an automated phone system technology accessible on basic mobile phones that allows incoming callers to access information via a keypad and voice response without having to speak to a live person. The back end uses an interactive decision tree structure to allow front end users to choose options to navigate through math game adventures. The front-end interface can be in any language, but we have experimented with both English and Kinyarwanda, the local Rwandan language. 

The MPE games are developed as branching story narratives which the users navigate with a keypad and audio narration and are designed to help learners connect math concepts they are learning in school to the real world in games designed to engage the family. Since 2022 and with seed funding from Cisco Systems Global Impact Cash Grants, we have partnered with Viamo, Save the Children, Peripheral Vision International, Wilfrid Laurier University, AIMS-Rwanda, and with input from the Rwanda Education Board to disseminate five IVR-driven math games to support primary-aged grade students in Rwanda.

Sunny Days Ahead

In 2024, we rolled out MPE 2.0 by working with partners to develop Sunny Days Ahead, a  narrative-driven game focused on percentages for P3-P6 (grades 3-6) learners.

Voice actors played and recorded the roles (in both Kinyarwanda and English) of Keza, a primary aged girl, having a conversation with her Dad about planning a picnic. During which, the narrator invites listeners to make choices on topics based on percentages. For example:

Impact

In just four months (October 2024- January 2025), Sunny Days Ahead, had reached close to 250,000 unique listeners across the country. Of these, 150,000 played the 10 minute game and/or tutorial all the way through.

We were quite encouraged  by the initial feedback from our online survey results after the first two months of game play, including the following results:

  • Out of 31,842 respondents, over 90% said the game was very fun or fun. 
  • Of 30,617 respondents, over 41% said the game was just the right length and 53% said it could have been longer.
  • Of 30,092 respondents, over 90% said they preferred it in Kinyarwanda; 4.8% in English, and 3.6% in both languages.
  • Of 29,194 respondents, close to 95% said they were very likely or likely to recommend the game to a friend.
  • Of 28,681 respondents, close to 94% said the game helped them understand math concepts.

Help us Create More IVR lessons!

We are looking for partners to help us scale IVR tool use for learners in multiple grade levels by developing an engaging repository of math (and other subjects) game content paired with formal M&E assessments and aligned with national curriculum and international frameworks, such as the Global Proficiency Framework in Mathematics.  

Want more information, including how to partner with us on this initiative? Please email us at: [email protected]. 

Help Spread the Love of Math Worldwide by Financially Supporting our Activities!

Visit Our Sponsorship Page

Co-sponsor the 2025 Math Power! Prize

The Math Power! Prize, part of our suite of Math Power! activities, is designed to draw attention to the importance of mathematics and numeracy skills and to publicly recognize the amazing work of exceptional organizations working in their communities and globally to promote the joy of math.

We want to turn this into an annual award and are looking for co-sponsors for the 2025 Math Power! Prize call. 

Interested? Please email us at [email protected] 

Learn more about the Prize here.

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The Mobiles for Education (mEducation) Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit focused on the evidence-driven and sustainable role of technology in education to advance quality educational outcomes. Initially formed in 2010, the mEducation Alliance is a unique, multi-stakeholder convening platform for government and donor policymakers, other investors, researchers, and practitioners to work together, particularly in lower-resource, developing country contexts. For more information about the Alliance, including about our signature activities, visit the organization web page. Read Full Disclosure and Policy Statement Here

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Jax Chaudhry

Jax Chaudhry leads Project Invent, a national nonprofit that empowers youth with future ready mindsets for individual success and global impact, through invention. Originally from the Southside of Chicago, Jax loves working with students, families and partners to ensure every student can attain success as they define it. For more than 10 years, she has worked with elementary schools, high schools, education nonprofits and led regional teams and operations to ensure student success.

Michael Leventhal

Kenneth Y T Lim operates at the intersection of neuroergonomics, the learning scienceMichael Leventhal is co-founder of RobotsMali, a pedagogical and AI4D laboratory and STEM education center in Bamako, Mali. RobotsMali has trained thousands of students from elementary school to high school in computer science, robotics, and artificial intelligence, coached national robotics teams that have won 32 medals in international competitions, and developed technologies using AI and robotics for the social and economic development of Mali. Before becoming an educator in Mali, Michael worked as a technologist in Silicon Valley.s, and cognitive psychology. In 2023, he and his team were identified by UNESCO to share their work on the affordances of Generative AI for meaningful teaching and learning, during UNESCO’s first annual flagship event Digital Learning Week, international forum on the implications of Generative AI for education, in the session on ‘Preparing students and teachers for responsible use of AI’.

Enouce Ndeche

Enouce Ndeche is the founder and Director of Vijana Amani Pamoja ,VAP a community scheme based in Nairobi Kenya that uses the power and the popularity of the game of soccer/football as a catalyst for social, educational and economic empowerment.Enouce holds a degree in sociology from Egerton university and he is also the 2020 individual award recipient “Diversity and Inclusion Eminent Leader Award Enouce is also a certified Sports Philanthropy and Executive, George Washington University and is a 2023 Gratitude Network fellow.

Kenneth Y T Lim

Kenneth Y T Lim operates at the intersection of neuroergonomics, the learning sciences, and cognitive psychology. In 2023, he and his team were identified by UNESCO to share their work on the affordances of Generative AI for meaningful teaching and learning, during UNESCO’s first annual flagship event Digital Learning Week, international forum on the implications of Generative AI for education, in the session on ‘Preparing students and teachers for responsible use of AI’.