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About Radish Lane

Mission: To make reading materials accessible to all kids

no matter their econmonic standing.

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Where will this project start?

This project will begin by targeting the 922,835 children in Western New York in particular the 140,271 living in poverty.

 

Here is what we learned: 

1 in 5 Erie County residents is functionally illiterate.

In Erie County, there are 85,565 children who do not have access to books at home. Yet 98% of these same children have access to internet.

This March 2016, the Smart School Bond Act allocated 2 billion dollars in funds for NYS public schools to purchase technology hardware: Chrome Books, high speed internet connections, and iPads to be delivered for use Summer 2016. However funding cannot be used to purchase software including apps and books.

 

Literacy is truly the most basic survival skill one can teach to help another survive: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;  teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Teaching someone to read allows them to grow and adapt throughout their lifetime: let's go fishing. 

Can we help in your community?

 

Radish Lane Features and Benefits:

 

Clickable icons and universal symbols

Users know where to tap or click on the page to navigate. Navigation does not require english literacy because universal symbols are used. Ex. Directional arrows.

 

Content with you, when you need it.

We understand that it is important to have a book that is impervious to ripping, bending, and forgetting at home. Where ever there is connection to the internet, you are connected to your books.

 

Download-free books

Books are always available on the Radish Lane website: no download necessary. 

 

Free Content

Free content ensures that low income students and classrooms with limited funding are able to access high quality content at no cost.

 

Distraction Free Pages

Book pages can be navigated through using arrows to ensure only one page will fill the viewer screen at a time. Each web page is equipped with only the absolute necessary components needed for a great user experience. 

 

Homepage map

When you land on Radish Lane, we don’t want our users to have to dig around to find what they are looking for. As soon as you enter the site, you are where you need to be… start reading! 

 

Automatic Updates

We want to remove anything that could get in the way of a young one learning to read— we will handle updates and will alert you when there is something new.

 

Email Alert Updates

Teachers, parents and young ones do not have to be hindered by the need to update an app to access their content. When Radish Lane is updated, an email alert will be sent to notify you of new content and fixes.

 

No account necessary 

Account creation means passwords and management— Radish Lane content will always be available, barrier free, for those to who want to read it.

 

Social Media Support

We believe that amazing things happen when great minds come together. That is why we created our Learning Community dedicated to promoting literacy and the sharing of best practices. We have a lot to learn from parents and teachers, and we have so much we are excited to tell you about! We can’t wait to get to know you!

 

Web, Print, eBook

We’ve got them all! There is a time and a place for each medium and we understand the importance of keeping what you need available to accommodate all needs large and small. 

 

Read-to-Me books

We know that the fundamental necessity in learning to read comes from having someone read to you. We also know that many of our readers may not have the opportunity to be read to. Automatic screen readers lack cadence, emotion, and the warmth of a human voice. Each page can be read to the reader with the tap or click of the audio button. Readers can read-along as they hear the audio.

 

Observation-Audio

Along with the Read-to-Me feature, readers can click on alternate audio options. This audio includes observation and counting challenges that help them go further with the content on each page.

 

Interactive Web-books

Learning is tackled when all three learning-types are accommodated within a learning environment. On Radish Lane, we have created a tool addressing all learning types visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. 

 

Interactive Art Studio (Beta, full version launched in Radish Lane Phase II)

Creativity is an important part of problem solving and human expression. We think it is important to go behind the scenes to expose how content is made to get our users inspired, thinking, and imagining to empower the creative thinkers of tomorrow. 

 

Art Gallery (Beta, full version launched in Radish Lane Phase II)

Art is an important part of culture and can bring about wonderful positivity in the world. Schools may have art programs cut and may be challenged to expose their students to humanities oldest tradition: creativity. We want to make a walk through a gallery a possibility for all users no matter where they are what they may be doing. 

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