Origins

We believe that every child deserves an equal chance to succeed and flourish in education. We take advantage of the digital medium as a powerful tool for inclusion. DigiSmart was conceived in 2000 as an online learning programme designed to improve the literacy of under-achieving children aged 9-11. An initial pilot took place in 2001 with 3 schools in South London. By 2004 we were partnering with more schools and were invited to extend the trial to Manchester.

Results

DigiSmart was successfully trialled and expanded over 15 years, eventually working with 1,000 schools, 3,400 teachers and 20,964 children across the UK. Children’s performance in reading was tracked and assessed — before and at the end of their participation. A large body of data amassed between 2002–2016 evidenced that all children improved in their reading, 90% made strong gains and over 50% exceeded age-related expectations

Impact

DigiSmart’s positive impact on children’s reading and literacy attainment was confirmed in an External Evaluation by the University of Roehampton, London. Report author Dr d’Reen Struthers stated: “It is clear from the data collected during the research that pupils participating in DigiSmart achieve real progress in literacy. Impact is quick and sustained, and there is overwhelming evidence of pupils’ increased confidence in themselves as readers.”

Evolution

Starting in 2016, in order to extend the benefits of DigiSmart to even more children and in response to increasing requests from teachers to use it more flexibly, DigiSmart resources from the original programme were remodelled as apps for iPads and made available on the App Store. Throughout this transitional process we continued to work closely with schools to trial, monitor and assess impact, gaining helpful feedback and strong testimonials.

Core basics

Fundamental skills at the core of our literacy programme are the focus of DigiSmart Reading. This teaches proven reading techniques that create a breakthrough for struggling and/or reluctant readers, motivating them to give reading a go and achieve success. The complementary writing, researching, speaking and presenting section of the original programme has become DigiSmart Writing. This uses the topic of animals to grab children’s interest, with activity projects designed to develop a variety of writing styles.

New territory

Completing our portfolio in 2022, DigiSmart Comprehension is a content-rich extension of the core reading programme, building on children’s acquisition of key reading skills while exploring a theme that plays a recurring role across history. To date there have been over 100,000 downloads of DigiSmart educational apps, some free to download, others low cost (with a 50% discount for educational institutions) to support continuing publication and reach of the DigiSmart body of work so that many more children are able to benefit.

Complete portfolio