Empowering Shared Reading: Tandem and Nesta's Research Partnership

Written By Tori Cooper

At Tandem, we believe every child deserves a fair start in life. That's why we partnered with Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good, to see if our early prototype generative AI-powered story creation app could help families, especially those from low-income backgrounds, create lasting reading habits. This collaboration involved two initial test-and-learn cycles followed by a one-month pilot study (test-and-learn cycle three) with nine of the eleven participants to track reading behaviours.

Reading regularly with young children is crucial for a positive home learning environment and is linked to increased vocabulary and future achievement. Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that children were less likely to be read to on a daily basis if their mother has lower educational qualifications and if their family has a lower income. The same research also found some differences based on ethnicity. 

The overarching goal of these studies was to understand how technology could offer a high-quality, scalable, and low-cost solution to encourage shared reading within low income families across the UK.

The conclusions of this research collaboration between Tandem and Nesta suggests that our app holds significant promise in empowering shared reading, particularly for low-income families, by fostering new reading habits and engagement, although considerations around overstimulation and cultural representation remain important for future development. These initial findings underscore the potential of innovative generative A-powered tools to address disparities in early literacy and provide accessible support for families to build strong reading routines.

Read more below to see the details of what we learned from these collaborative studies.

What we learned from the initial cycles


How to better shape our app in its development, such as;

  • Reducing the loading time while storybooks are being created

  • Improving image consistency across the same story

  • Adding features that acknowledge the cultural context of communities using the app, for example, multilingual support and adding a culturally representative imagery of people and foods

  • Inspired by the Design Patterns Catalogue by Project by If, we worked to clearly emphasise to users that the story is AI-created and that they should  review before sharing 

Many of these changes have been implemented now but those more complex issues around representation and culture are better, but still need improvement; something we’re working on now. 


Tandem’s potential is for low income families to support reading: 

  • Caregivers new to regular reading reported an increase and establishment of consistent shared reading habits after using the Tandem app daily.

  • The app helped establish consistent reading routines for families who didn't have them before.

  • Tandem fostered stronger bonds between some parents and children through shared reading.

  • Tandem offered an opportunity to shift children's screen time from passive entertainment to a more educational and interactive experience.

  • Early-years experts were positive about Tandem's usability, design, conversation prompts, and multilingual features.


A further understand of the barriers to reading, such as:

  • Experts identified significant barriers: lack of access to books, time constraints, language challenges, chaotic home environments, and lack of parental confidence.

  • For example, Nikki O’Hara from Home Start Glasgow North and North Lanarkshire noted significant barriers included lack of accessible books and language challenges.

  • Katie Oliver from Ark Start said, “There are many barriers to reading at home: external pressures on parents, such as time constraints and other responsibilities, not just a lack of access to books.”


What we learned from the one month follow up

Overall the pilot study demonstrated that Tandem played a significant role in shaping family reading behaviours. 

Positive outcomes

  • Creation of New Reading Moments: Tandem successfully introduced shared reading to families who previously lacked established routines.

  • Complementing Existing Habits: For some families with strong reading habits, the app served as a valuable addition to their existing practices.

  • Disrupting Passive Screen Time: Tandem effectively diverted children's attention from passive digital consumption towards more active and educational engagement.

  • Facilitating the Start of Reading Habits: The app proved to be a useful tool for families transitioning into reading with their children.

  • Strengthening Family Bonds: Some participants reported that using Tandem deepened their connection and engagement with their children.

Key Insight

The research, including the pilot and workshop, led to the identification of five distinct reading personas, highlighting the diverse ways families interacted with the Tandem app:

  • The New Readers: Those who established reading routines for the first time using the app, sometimes leading to an interest in physical books.

  • The Stronger Bonders: Individuals who found that Tandem enhanced their existing bond with their children through shared reading.

  • The Overstimulated Readers: Families with established reading habits who experienced occasional disruptions due to the app's engaging nature, especially before bedtime.

  • The 'Hiding the Vegetables in the Meal'-ers: Parents who successfully used Tandem to shift their children's focus from passive screen time to a more educational activity.

  • The Tech Transparency'ers: Caregivers with varying levels of comfort and concern regarding data privacy and the transparency of the app's technology.

Challenges

Potential for Overstimulation: The engaging nature of our app occasionally led to overstimulation, particularly disrupting bedtime routines for families already reading physical books. To mitigate this we have implemented time reminders as part of the app to encourage users to change activity and put it down. Future developments could also include calming themes for bedtime use.

Who are Nesta?

Nesta is the UK’s innovation agency for social good. They believe that meaningful change is possible through innovation, even when faced with immense challenges like climate change, inequality, and ill health.

What They Do:

Nesta designs, tests, and scales innovative solutions to societal challenges by bringing together diverse teams to collaborate with public and private sector partners 

A Shared Vision:

Tandem is proud to collaborate with Nesta, an organisation committed to a brighter future. Their dedication to innovation for social good aligns with Tandem's mission to enable every child to experience the early stimulating interactions and strong relationships that will set them up for life

Read all the articles published by Nesta on this study:



Tori Cooper