EduApp4Syria is a partnership between the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development (ACR GCD), the Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU), Orange, and the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) that aims to ensure Syrian refugee children have an opportunity to learn to read in Arabic. The partners conducted an international innovation competition, funded by the Norwegian government, to incentivize the development of open source smartphone learning games that build basic literacy skills in Arabic and improve the psychosocial well-being of Syrian refugee children. In March 2017, two games were announced winners of the competition and launched as open beta versions: Antura and the Letters (developed by a consortium led by Cologne Game Lab – TH-Köln in Cologne, Germany) and Feed the Monster (developed by a consortium led by the Apps Factory in Bucharest, Romania).

These reports share the findings of an evaluation of the impact of using Antura and the Letters and Feed the Monster on the literacy and psychosocial well-being of children with little to no schooling living in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. A longitudinal quasi-experimental design with control groups was used to estimate impacts. Results of a technical evaluation of the games—to assess game use and engagement, refine key game evaluation questions, identify usability improvements, and provide feedback on the open beta versions—are also discussed.

The evaluation was conducted by Integrated Services, Indigenous Solutions (INTEGRATED) in collaboration with the Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education (CREATE) of New York University, and was co-funded by DL4D and ACR GCD.