100%
Customer Success Rate
100%
Customer Success Rate
100%
Customer Success Rate
About Project
GoRead.pk is a socially conscious, nationwide movement of registered volunteers (GoReaders) who dedicate one hour a week of their time to read culturally and developmentally appropriate stories to children in underprivileged communities. Their goal is to bring about social change through joyful story read-aloud sessions, with an emphasis on Tarbia (character development), Ehsaas (compassion) and Adab (literature).
Region
Pakistan
Industries
Education
Technologies
Technology, UX Design
THE CHALLENGE
Envisioning a Pakistan where all children love to read
GoRead.pk wanted to promote reading amongst students from lower and lower-middle socioeconomic classes. To achieve this, they needed to digitize their volunteer onboarding and session management processes.
Pakistan today faces an education crisis of unprecedented proportions. With a public-school system rife with dilapidated facilities, chronic teacher understaffing and absenteeism, the importance of providing children with access to attractive and engaging stories is not a priority nor is it even a consideration.
Children in the majority of classrooms in Pakistan do not have the opportunity to listen to developmentally appropriate stories with strong learning outcomes, which can help them gain a deeper insight into their culture. The most impactful way to achieve that is through read-aloud story sessions, conducted by caring adults who are articulate and expressive in the languages the students speak and study.
GoRead.pk realizes that in order for children to develop a love for reading, story listening experiences must be reinforced by the opportunity to read independently. Children must have access to storybooks that are appealing and joyful. Research shows that joyful story read-aloud sessions develop students’ language skills, contribute to their personal development and play a role in improving their future, one story at a time.
THE SOLUTION
Adopting automation via web portal & mobile apps
To expand the scope of this project, the leadership at GoRead.pk reached out to VentureDive, expressing an interest to go digital. Their requirement was a mobile app and a web portal, where people could interact with GoRead.pk and signup to become volunteers. GoRead.pk, through the same platform, could verify their credentials and grant them access to sessions. In addition, volunteers would also be able to select their preferred sessions and book them on-spot. Before they joined forces with VentureDive, GoRead.pk carried out all these processes manually.
For children, security is essential. GoRead.pk needed to make sure they only register and onboard secure and legitimate volunteer instructors. The development team at VentureDive built an Admin Web Platform using React JS, backend using Java and iOS & Android Mobile Apps using Flutter technology. Through the admin portal, GoRead.pk is able to verify, onboard and train the volunteers, as well as assign them reading sessions that match their schedules.
Furthermore, volunteers can use the GoRead.pk mobile apps to access the numerous study materials related to the assigned books, available with GoRead.pk, and prepare for their sessions beforehand. What’s more, is that the apps contain videos that help volunteers learn about the books and issues being discussed therein. At the end of each session, they can use the same apps to leave feedback for the GoRead.pk management team, which helps them improve upon future sessions.
Transforming the user experience at VentureDive’s world-class design studio
During the development phase, we had continuous check-ins with the GoRead.pk team. The user experience designers at VentureDive learned their pain points and designed a solution to meet their needs. We made sure to make the transition into the digital space a smooth one for GoRead.pk, through immaculate and interactive experiences. Side by side, we made wireframes and prototypes, and got them approved by the team as we went along. GoRead.pk required a solution that was easy and simple to use, and intuitive to navigate — we delivered exactly that and more.
THE RESULTS
Moving forward: Future roadmap
Currently, GoRead.pk conducts reading sessions at government-funded schools, old age homes, and orphanages. These sessions differ in nature depending on the audience — while read-aloud sessions at schools and orphanages are fairly structured with volunteers reading to the same children for six consecutive sessions at an assigned time, once a week, the GoRead.pk volunteers also accompany The Robinhood Army on their food drive visits to slums and read stories to the children there. GoRead.pk plans on creating an online library for students. The goal is to make books accessible to underprivileged students across the subcontinent, educate them, connect them with each other, and impress upon them the value of education & reading experiences.
VentureDive looks forward to continuing to work with GoRead.pk and helping them grow and evolve within the EdTech industry and beyond.
