Unlocking new ways to support young readers 

The most valuable opportunities for innovation are often hidden in data that businesses don't have the time, or expertise to fully explore. For education company, Bookbot, partnering with Flinders University allowed years of user data to be turned into powerful insights that are shaping product development and improving outcomes for young readers.

It has always been the mission of education technology company Bookbot, to help children learn to read. But as the platform grew and thousands of children began using it, the team faced a deeper question: how does a child's emotional experience influence their ability to learn? And how could they build this into their product. 

The Flinders HAVIC (Human, Artificial + Virtual Interactive Cognition) lab, under the guidance of Principal Investigator Nathan Caruana, is helping Bookbot transform real-world data into practical insights that are improving learning outcomes and supporting children's wellbeing.  And now, through a Flinders PhD partnership, PhD researcher Sanchari Sengupta is embedded within the organisation to deep dive into the data even further.

Bookbot’s reading platform listens as children read aloud and provides guidance and support, complementing the role of parents and teachers. As the platform expanded, the company recognised an opportunity to better understand what happens beneath the surface of a child's reading journey.  

"We could see whether children's reading was improving, but we wanted to understand something deeper," says Adrian DeWitts, Founder and Head of Technology at Bookbot.  

"How do difficulty, engagement and emotional wellbeing shape one another? When does a tricky page build resilience, and when does it chip away at a child's confidence?"  

Answering those questions required more than product analytics. It required thinking outside the box to bring research capability into the organisation. 

A closer look at how children learn

For Sengupta, the question sits at the intersection of psychology, education and technology. Her research explores how AI-powered reading tutors can be designed to support not only reading ability, but also engagement, confidence and emotional wellbeing, particularly for children who find reading difficult.  

Bookbot collects extensive information about how children interact with its platform, from reading sessions to hesitations and self-corrections. Through detailed analysis, Sengupta is helping the company better understand what’s really going on. 

"My analysis is helping identify the patterns that may signal a child is struggling, growing anxious, losing confidence or quietly disengaging," she says.  

"Those insights are now guiding how Bookbot's reading tutor responds in the moment, encouraging self-correction rather than simply flagging errors, easing pressure rather than adding to it, and protecting a child's confidence rather than letting frustration take over." 

My focus is on making sure these tools strengthen children's confidence and mental health rather than undermine it."

Bringing evidence-based insights into product development

"The partnership with Flinders University and Sengupta has changed how we see our own product," says DeWitts.  

"The research has pushed us to look at the whole child: their confidence, their motivation and their emotional response when reading gets hard. That shift in perspective is now woven into how we evaluate the platform, interpret user behaviour and design future features."  

Beyond the immediate research outcomes, the partnership with Flinders University has reinforced the value of embedding researchers within organisations. 

"An embedded researcher gets to know the product, its users and the day-to-day realities of running an EdTech company, while still bringing the independence, specialist knowledge and methodological rigour of university research," says DeWitts.  

"Working alongside a researcher has encouraged us to challenge our assumptions, examine evidence more carefully, and think harder about what a positive reading outcome really means for a child."  

As organisations increasingly look for new ways to innovate, this kind of partnership highlights the unique value of embedded PhD research, bringing together academic expertise, industry knowledge and practical application. 

For DeWitts, the message to other organisations is straightforward. 

"An embedded PhD researcher can investigate the important questions that sit just beyond the reach of day-to-day operations, the ones you know matter but never have the time or expertise to pursue.

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This collaboration was made possible through the Flinders PhD Enterprise Scholarship scheme, which enables organisations to partner with researchers to investigate complex challenges and turn ideas into impact. If your organisation is interested in accessing research capability, find out more about partnering with Flinders through an Industry PhD.