Life Apps

Gr 7 Up—This captivating five-part series shares stories of young people around the world using apps and other social technologies to overcome adversity. Farmers are able to cost-share in Kenya. In Brazil, mobile phones help raise ecological awareness. India's widespread farming communities find a virtual meeting place in the third episode, while a small community in Namibia are skeptical about cell phones (with poor connectivity). The series concludes in South Africa and London, where access to reproductive health resources and an app to prevent police harassment challenge conventional ideas of community safety. Although each episode stands alone, the collective whole provides a unique international cross-section demonstrating ways low-cost technology can increase global equity. The series is highly recommended for school media centers as well as technology programs at the secondary and university levels.—Vincent M. Livoti, University of Maine, Augusta