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Google has launched a new reading app called “Read Along” for elementary students, and it uses speech recognition and text-to-speech technology to help children learn to read or improve their reading skills.
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, schools had to close for an uncertain period, and that has affected students of all age groups worldwide.
The learning process of primary school children has been particularly affected, and there is great concern among parents about the delay it will cause in the learning and development of these children.
Last year, Google launched the same app called “Bolo” in India, which helps children improve their reading skills. Read Along is an improved version of Bolus.
Now Read Along will help children stay educationally involved in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and keep them busy while providing an interesting way to spend quality time at home and continue learning.
There’s a built-in reading assistant called Diya, which provides feedback when kids work through various reading messages and games in the app. When children read aloud, Diya helps them with difficult words, passages, pronunciations, and meanings, while encouraging them to continue and not quit.
Through puzzles and mini-word games, Diya helps kids focus on positive reinforcement in the form of in-app rewards as their skills improve.
Google has made this app very kid friendly. Voice data is analyzed in real time only and is not sent to Google’s servers. The app is fully functional without Wi-Fi or data connectivity, making it easy for children to use it in all circumstances, whether they have Internet access or not. Google also claims that this app does not use children’s voice samples to make it look better.
There are no ads or in-app purchases, so parents don’t need to worry about these issues, either. They can download additional stories at no cost by connecting directly to the Internet. The app already has a 500 story catalog and will continually expand with new stories and books.
It is freely available on Google Play for children 5 years and older.
Bolo launched in India with English and Hindi as the primary languages, but Read Along now supports over nine languages and has an improved library, additional features, and an improved user interface with new games.
With all these changes, Google expects to receive a lot of positive feedback from parents in the 180 countries where this app is available, especially during these already distressing times when everyone is going through a difficult phase.
But Read Along is not currently available in the Philippines, Columbia, and Denmark. It is not sure when it will launch in these countries as well.
In addition to this app, Google has strived to make continuing online education for students as easy and seamless as possible. You have extended free access to some of the advanced features of Google Meet, G Suite and G Suite for Education until September 30, 2020.
Google has also donated 4,000 Chromebooks to rural California students, along with launching resource pages for teachers and parents to educate children who use Google products during these unprecedented times.
Read below: Now you can copy and paste your handwritten notes to computer with Google Lens
