WENCHI, Ethiopia -- The kids in this volcano-rim village wear
filthy, ragged clothes. They sleep beside cows and sheep in huts
made of sticks and mud. They don't go to school. Yet they all
can chant the English alphabet, and some can spell words.   The
goal is to find out whether children using today's new
technology can teach themselves to read in places where no
schools or teachers exist. The Massachusetts Institute of
Technology researchers analyzing the project data say they're
already startled.  "What I think has already happened is that
the kids have already learned more than they would have in one
year of kindergarten," said Matt Keller, who runs the Ethiopia
program.    On a recent sunny weekday, nine months into the
project, the kids sat in a dark hut with a hay floor. At 11,000
feet above sea level, the air at night here is chilly, and the
youngsters coughed and wiped runny noses. Many were barefoot.
But they all eagerly tapped and swiped away on their tablets.
The apps encouraged them to click on