Strategic marketing to raise GDL profile
Sopra Steria also developed a web platform to host all learning resources and uses artificial intelligence to translate and produce new assets.
Sopra Steria is also boosting the Library’s accessibility, and visibility through strategic marketing, direct contact with key partners and workshops, and their software engineers have created interactive games to make learning more fun.
The project has also worked on reading training resources for children who cannot read, initially in English. These were published in 2024. The project now focuses on building interactive books, combining text, audio, illustrations, and animations using various AI tools. These interactive books guide learners through their reading development.
The project collaborates with partners to translate books and math games into different languages but also to increase the use of resources.
Today, the Library has more than a million users, mainly across Africa and Asia.
Cloud tech to create a sustainable digital library
Although the Library currently has content in around 170 languages, it has the capacity to grow to 300. And since the interactive books can be translated into any language, that growth is well within reach.
Over the last couple of years, the "Translate a Story" translation campaign led to the production of more than 1,000 children's books, translated into 31 languages from countries including Indonesia, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Burundi, and Vietnam, to name a few. This was done in close collaboration with UNESCO HQ in Paris, UNICEF in Vietnam, country-level UNESCO offices, and respective governments.
User testing and resource use have always been a priority. In late 2024, we launched a 6-month pilot project in South Africa and Ethiopia to ensure resources are tested consistently over time. Several schools have used our resources weekly. We've collected data through teacher, student, and parent interviews, direct observations, and usage data from mobiles and tablets.
The goal is a sustainable library and interactive books that can be maintained and operated by partners, schools, and teachers. Assets are designed to be used in schools and in children’s free time, in libraries, and at home.
Test-and-learn methodology
Regular feedback from teachers and students using the resources will give us opportunities to continuously improve and develop the resources.
Sopra Steria developers improved the GDL platform, adapting H5P interactivity and facilitating download and sharing solutions. We use a test-and-learn approach to implement feedback from users, and in collaboration with designers and content teams, we work to make the platform and the interactive books as user-friendly as possible and tailored to the target audience.
Insight, illustrations, and landing pages UX designers create flow and display both on the platform and in resources based on regular user tests conducted by children and youth in Africa and Asia. We have contributed thousands of illustrations used on the website, landing pages, and social media campaigns.
The target audience is far from Norway geographically and, in many cases, culturally, and being close through conversations, interviews, observation, and user testing has provided valuable insight into the development process.
Data-informed marketing strategy
Our marketing specialists have been running data-driven marketing campaigns targeting the markets of Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya for several years. The goal has been to reach parents and teachers to create awareness, traffic, and boost platform use. With a data-driven approach, we build strategies based on data and insight.
Sopra Steria has produced videos and dynamic ad content with visual material for campaigns such as Hey teacher! and Hey parent!, using different formats and ad placements that play on the strengths and characteristics of each location in channels like Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, Display, and YouTube.
Numbers and statistics are collected and analysed in Google Looker Studio so we can adjust Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and assess success based on the goals set for each campaign.
In addition, campaigns are synchronised to run alongside relevant international educational conferences with geographical targeting. For example, we set dedicated social campaigns alongside Digital Learning Week in Paris and the MEducation Alliance in Washington, to build brand awareness for the platform for possible partners.
Sopra Steria also produces content for weekly posting on social media, to highlight content in the platform.
We want more users, more reach, and more content, especially games and interactive learning resources. The potential for tech to contribute is huge.
Tech offers an unprecedented chance to democratise education. Because in the end, every child deserves the right to learn, regardless of where they live.