At age 14, Chance Wilson saw a need for additional literacy resources to his community after noticing how his peers struggled with reading and writing.
His new app, Lyra, named after the brightest constellation in the sky, is setting out to continue his mission to help reduce the number of people who cannot read or write.
Wilson started his efforts by creating in-person literacy classes in his hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is the origin story of his educational organization, WGI Worldwide.
In founding WGI, he set out to “transform how the world learns,” according to the company’s website.
Under his leadership, WGI has grown to encompass a global digital strategy through a partnership with GE.
The two entities recently announced the launch of Lyra, a new education platform in a downloadable app.
The app, co-developed by WGI and GE, uses touch screen and speech recognition technology to provide users with literacy learning right on their phone.
“We realized that while there will never be enough teachers, there are enough mobile devices, and they are already in the hands of people who can benefit from literacy training,” Wilson said in an interview with TechxMedia.
The app’s development is timely as schools in the US and around the world are working to provide online instruction in the midst of a global pandemic.
Its space theme engages users with sound and visual cues to learn letters, phonetic sounds, and words. Lyra can also recognize a user’s voice to provide feedback on pronunciation.
According to the report, WGI and GE have plans to continue working together. GE Global’s President and CEO, Nabil Habayeb said, “Looking at the impact this app has the potential to make around the world, GE is fully supportive of this effort.”
Lyra is now available for download on Apple and Android app stores.
Photo: Getty Images