New app helps Literacy Mid-South volunteers connect to resources

In March, Literacy Mid-South put a wealth of educational resources at its volunteer tutors’ fingertips. With the launch of its first mobile app, LMS now offers the only adult education program in the country that equips its volunteers with mobile technology, said LMS Executive Director Kevin Dean.

"We spent what seemed like ages looking at every similar adult education program we could find out there, hoping for some kind of a model so we wouldn’t have to invent the wheel, so to speak," Dean said. "We were unable to find one."

The new app, which is available at no cost on both Android and iOS platforms, will allow tutors to submit progress reports through their mobile devices, access valuable tutoring resources, watch YouTube videos featuring tutoring tips and success stories, connect on social media and keep tabs on the LMS calendar of events. It also includes an icebreaker library scavenger hunt for tutors and students to complete together.

"When LMS decentralized, we put 250 volunteers out into 31 different libraries throughout the Mid-South," Dean said. "In doing that, we gave our volunteers access to more resources that are available in the libraries, such as books and computers. But since then, we’ve faced the challenge of keeping in contact with them, making sure they have direct access to us and making it easy for them to connect."

The mobile app was created with the help of Mobile by Conduit. The company offers an easy-to-use format that allows professionals to build their own apps – selecting the design, content, features and functionality – before committing to buying them. Once Dean and his team finished building the app to their satisfaction, they hit that "purchase" button. The cost? An extremely economical $700.

"At first, we were going to create a bigger training handbook for our tutors, but the more we looked into it, the more we realized it was cost-prohibitive. It used a lot of paper, it wasn’t a green approach and it probably would have been information-overload for our tutors," he said. "Plus, we want our volunteers to have resources from us at their fingertips whenever they need it."

Although this is the first app for LMS, it won’t be the last. Currently in the works is an app for the upcoming inaugural Mid-South Book Festival on Sept. 27.

By Erinn Figg