What if we gave them the key?

 What if we gave them the key?

I read about a Houston teacher who discovered that some of his 17- and 18-year-old students were struggling to read and write.

It made me think about what comes next.

How do we bring them up to speed?

I have an idea.

There is already technology that allows a person to tap a word with a special pen and hear it spoken aloud. You can read the sentence, tap the word you don't know, hear it, and keep reading.

Now imagine creating that specifically for teenagers and young adults who are struggling with literacy.

Not children's books.

Books about the world they actually live in.

Climate change.
Politics.
Justice.
Human rights.
AI.
Housing.
Money.
Employment.
The environment.
Social change.

Because we don't learn to read simply so we can say, “I can read.”

We learn to read because we want to know something, understand something, imagine something, question something, participate in the world, seek justice and fix things.

Reading is the key.

So here's my challenge to teachers, educators, employers, universities—and especially students:

Why don't we let the kids invent it?

Have a hackathon.

Bring together high school students, college and university students, teachers, programmers, designers, writers, publishers and employers.

Let the students who understand technology build the technology.

Let the education students figure out how it should teach.

Let the artists and designers make it beautiful.

Let the young people who struggle with reading tell us what would make them actually want to use it.

And let employers ask themselves:

What could we do to help create the next generation of capable, confident workers?

This doesn't have to be about remediation.

It can be about possibility.

Give a young person a book about something they care about.

Give them a tool that quietly helps when they get stuck.

Let them read along.

Let them learn.

Let them discover that they can do it.

And then keep opening doors.

We don't need to leave anyone behind.

We have the technology.

We have the students.

We have the educators.

We have the ideas.

Now let's put them together.

Time to lift everyone up. 🔑📚

#Literacy #Education #YouthEmpowerment #Reading #EdTech #InclusiveEducation #Innovation #StudentInnovation #Hackathon #LiftEveryoneUp