Local Tech Company Partners to Help Struggling Young Readers in India

Published on: 2021/04/28 - in Releases

This past week, a pilot of Canadian-made ReadON launched at 12 schools in India, to evaluate the effectiveness of this online therapy platform in helping struggling readers become fluent readers.

“With the move to online teaching, the pandemic has shone a light on disparities in addressing the needs of diverse students,” said Dr. Vinay Singh, CEO of Orange Neurosciences in Kingston. “Everyone is struggling, but students with learning differences are struggling even more. We want teachers and parents to have an effective tool they can draw upon to help students of any age succeed. This pilot will help us measure the effectiveness of ReadON to be this tool.”

The pilot is being conducted with its partner, Global Inclusive Education Network (GIEN), an organization in India with a mandate to promote inclusive learning opportunities by refining teaching practices and conducting research into the field, among other things.

Satish Kapoor, founder of GIEN explained that part of GEIN’s mandate is to evaluate the effectiveness of innovations that are developed to help students with learning differences. “We provide advice on available supports and students’ developmental needs to encourage and support educators in providing an inclusive learning environment. Our research also helps governments develop stronger policies around inclusivity in classrooms. With what we have seen to date, ReadON looks to be a promising tool that teachers – and parents – can use to help students and are keen to run this evaluation pilot.”

Reading is a key indicator of an individual’s success at school and of their ability to earn when they are in the workforce. With this as his driving force, Singh, a former professor at Queen’s University, launched Orange Neurosciences that developed ReadON with a team of global experts in the fields of education, medicine, cognitive science, neuro tech, computer engineering, business intelligence platform development and others.

ReadON is a science-based digital cognitive therapy software that uses the brain’s neuroplasticity to teach skills that support the ability to improve reading fluency and comprehension in significantly less time than traditional methods of training. ReadON can be used as a remotely managed online model where schoolteachers can support learning for special needs students at home.

Fifty teachers in twelve schools in India have been trained to use ReadON and the pilot is expected to reach up to 2,000 neuro-diverse learners. The pilot began on April 12 and will run for one month. The results report will be available shortly thereafter.

“Many teachers have limited access to tools to help their students and now that much of classroom learning has been moved online, parents are having a hard time helping their children, particularly parents of children with learning difference,” said Singh. “ReadON gives them an hour when their kids are actively engaged in a gamified environment where they forget they are learning.”

Orange Neurosciences is a digital healthcare company from Kingston, Ontario, Canada that brings next-generation cognitive therapies to address the needs of struggling readers with its online platform ReadON, and to target the core symptoms of ADHD and Autism with Titli, which will be released in summer 2021.

The Global Inclusive Education Network (GIEN) in New Delhi works to achieve inclusive education by refining practices, conducting research, promoting collaborations and supporting educators.


Photo: PXhere (cc)
Release source: submitted