The co-winners of the 11th edition of the UNESCO King Hamad bin Isa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education has been announced.
The Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said that the 2020 award recognized a writing skill programme from Brazil and a dyslexia reading application from Spain.
The theme of this year’s award focused on the use of artificial intelligence for innovation in teaching and learning, in line with the UNESCO drive to promote effective and ethical applications of artificial intelligence in education, and make it universally available.
The 2020 laureates were selected out of 113 nominees from UNESCO member countries, based on the recommendation of the jury which included prominent international education experts.
The Brazilian innovative programme aims to reduce illiteracy in the Portuguese language by improving training opportunities for students and teachers in secondary school.
The programme also students in developing writing skills through an assessment workshop that integrates artificial intelligence and human intervention.
Over 65,000 students from the twenty-six states making up Brazil have been using the programme ever since it was created and launched in 2017.
The Spanish company -Change Dyslexia – conceived the Dytective, a tool designed to detect dyslexia within 15 minutes among Spanish-speakers.
The Dytective tool, which combines online entertainment experiences linked to predictive machine learning applications, has so far benefited 270,000 children from 43 countries, who underwent free introductory diagnosis of dyslexia. The company has also provided grants to poor families with children who need orthodontic education for dyslexia.
Education Minister Dr. Majid bin Ali Al-Nuaimi stressed the importance of the prize, which was launched by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and adopted by the UNESCO.
The prize which was first awarded to laureates in 2006, aims to promote the use of information and communication technology in education and encourage initiatives that provide and guarantee the right to education for all.
He paid tribute to HM the King, hailing the royal initiative to launch the award, which reaches this year its eleventh session, establishing itself as a prestigious global award.