Impact of Browzly on reading and reading engagement in Dubai British School after 13 months of usage
A Case Study
Reading
Engagement
3X
Number of
Books Read
2.5X
Number of
Reviews
2X+
Our Process
Dubai British School, an outstanding rated British curriculum Taaleem school in Dubai had been using Browzly as a student led reading for pleasure program since July 2018. It’s called student led because teachers are neither required to use Browzly during lessons nor do they need to use assessment and progress data available in their school portal for measuring their students. After an initial launch which included a student assembly, reading challenge and subsequent teacher and parent presentations, users were left free to use Browzly out of their own initiative and interest in reading. Since July 2018, students could record the books they read and their reviews, swap books and also had the chance to participate in 2 rounds of Browzly Summer Reading Challenge in 2018 and 2019. We studied the reading data generated between 5th July 2018 to 1st Sep 2019 (424 days or 13 months) to understand the impact of Browzly on reading habits in DBS students. Browzly Reading Challenge is an annual event that allows students to stay connected digitally with their school friends to share their reads, reviews and enjoy reading more as they connect and compete even when they are not meeting at school.
Sample & Analysis
The findings of this study are based on the activity of a total of 147 students who used Browzly atleast once over the 13-month period (5th July 2018 to 1st Sep 2019). The analysis was carried out at the end of the 13-month period. All the users were members of Dubai British school, Springs only. The long duration of the study presents great depth of data & study focus in one school allows us to isolate the effect of Browzly on reading as all other factors remain constant. Students are from 1 school therefore present a matched panel with similar demographic profiles.
Summary of Results
Continued use of Browzly saw year on year higher participation in the 2019 summer reading challenge in DBS with more students reading more books with more engagement. In the 2019 challenge, the number of participating students from DBS doubled, number of reviews added grew by 55% and we saw a 35% increase in number of Books marked read. Haneya M, a student of DBS, became reader of the highest number of books in the Browzly Reading Challenge 3 times in a row between 2017 and 2019. Number of students from DBS participating increased every subsequent year between 2017 and 2019. The reading challenge runs only in the 2 months of summer holidays. Comparing first half (5th July 2018 to 2nd Feb 2019) with the second half (3rd Feb 2019 to 1st Sep 2019)- each half was 212 days long
On an average per student - the engagement with reading tripled in the second half of the 13 month period, per student 2.5 times more number of books were read and the number of reviews added more than doubled even though the absolute number of readers came down to half as initial launch fervor subsided and Browzly was not used in class. Engagement being defined as students doing any of the following activities- reading, reviewing, adding a book to swap or asking for a book in swap, liking a friends reading activity or talking about it, adding a book they wish to read or requesting a book from their school library