Khmer Smart Books

The development of SmartBooks is to improve the reading scores of young Cambodian children in grade 2 and grade 3. It focuses on the providing the experience on using a technology-based approach by developing basal electronic readers which children can gain confidence by reading at the proper level and replace one-size fit all approach. This e-readers will also include digitized quizzes and test exercises to increase the efficiency and validity of teacher assessment. Moreover, we believe that each of these elements of SmartBooks are not only innovative in and of themselves but offer unique synergies that will be transformative. For example, the existence of basal readers will for the first time help to modulate reading instruction for children based on their reading level while the electronic form of the readers will provide opportunities for interactive features and time-saving digital testing. SmartBooks contain features such as audio narration, sound effects, and animations are effective in helping young children to decode new words and improve their reading comprehension. Such interactive features make reading a very attractive activity to children, thereby enhancing their motivation to read without the fear of failure that many children associate with reading tasks in hard print. Many of the self-help of SmartBooks are word definitions or pronunciation which ensure that children who might otherwise be shy of asking the teacher a particular question can readily access the desired information through this interactive features.
In short, Smart Books are electronic reading textbooks with content based on Ministry text books for Grades 2 and 3 at three reading levels. Kampuchean Action for Primary Education (KAPE) has developed a technique for analyzing readability levels for Khmer text, enabling children to move from one level to the next based on their reading proficiency. The basal readers boast interactive features, multi-sensory learning, animations, and electronic questions at the end of each unit. The content, developed in close collaboration with the Department of Curriculum Development. It will promote the individualized learning experience by using technology, to re-emergence of basal readers to match children’s level of reading, to create rigorous assessment of impacts on reading acquisition, and to enable of using electronic materials even in poor rural environments.