Fonetti gets Department for Education Approval
Fonetti becomes the UK Government’s Approved Platform for Practising Reading!
Fonetti becomes the UK Government’s Approved Platform for Practising Reading.
Last summer, Auris Tech entered our product Fonetti, an interactive reading practice app, in a competition hosted by the UK Government who were out to find the most engaging learning apps for children to use at home and in school.
After much anticipation and suspense, we are proud to share that Fonetti is one of the 6 apps chosen to be part of the Hungry Little Minds campaign. This was made public in a press release today from The Secretary of State for Education The Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP.
What is the Hungry Little Minds campaign?
Hungry Little Minds is a government campaign to kickstart children’s learning within homes. The team at HLM have worked hard to be able to provide only the best and most effective learning tools. They aim to aid parents in making informed decisions about how technology can be used for learning in a way that is effective, fun, and encouraging.
Jonathan Douglas, judge and Director at the National Literacy Trust, says that "the apps which we have chosen will help parents feed their children’s hungry little minds with great stories, exciting and fun experience of language and offer the support for the early reading experiences which provide the foundation for a lifetime of learning."
Where does Fonetti come in?
The Fonetti app, powered by Auris's unique automatic speech recognition (ASR) engine, helps children build their literacy and accuracy in reading through an ever-expanding library of listening books. These books listen to young readers as they read aloud, with words lighting up green when read correctly for immediate gratification. Children can also double-tap on trickier words for help with pronunciation.
The exciting apps featured on Hungry Little Minds are focussed on instilling in learners an understanding of phonics. These apps are an incredible starting block for little ones just beginning to recognise words and sounds. Fonetti complements these apps, targeting slightly older children who have picked up basic reading and spelling skills and encouraging them to become confident, enthusiastic readers!
Lingumi (For children aged 2-5): Sets of learning games, speech recognition games and video-based games to help with a child’s grammar and getting them speaking their first words early on.
Kaligo (For children aged 3-5): The first digital handwriting exercise book using a stylus and tablet, built using AI and co-created with teachers, occupational therapists and neuroscientists.
Phonics Hero (For school-aged children): Over 850 fun, varied and motivating games take a child step-by-step through the 44 sounds, the reading and spelling of words, and how to conquer sentences.
Teach Your Monster to Read (For school-aged children): Covers the first two years of learning to read, from matching letters and sounds to enjoying little books, designed in collaboration with leading academics.
Navigo Game (For school-aged children): Focuses on developing skills that underpin reading, including phonics, letters and sounds, designed by UCL Institute of Education and Fish in a Bottle.
Fonetti (For school-aged children): The world’s first ‘Listening Bookshop’ interacting with children by giving visual cues in real-time as they read aloud and highlighting where the most support is needed.
Fonetti can be used with adult supervision or by a child on their own. Fonetti offers the child a safe space to practice their skills, whilst enjoying some fantastic original content. For many learners, this, together with the real-time visual assurance that they are reading exactly what’s on the page, and the rewards and reporting sections, encourages them to improve their skills and read more.
“We are thrilled to receive this Accreditation and Approval from the UK Government for our first product Fonetti, an App we have created using our unique speech recognition technology designed to work with children’s voices. We look forward to playing our part alongside the British Government, with their ambitions to improve primary aged literacy, and to having a continued positive impact on children literacy in this digital age by encouraging them on their individual journeys towards a love for reading”
Kim Antoniou,
CEO, Auris Tech Limited