When Suraya completed a Master of Creative Writing (MCW) with the University of Auckland she formed a global community of writers. To support their endeavours, she created the first version of Stylefit, a technology that analyses writer’s work and gives them feedback. Its popularity prompted her to test it with students. She was delighted to see students immediately engaged with writing using Stylefit.
A young Chinese boy, who had just arrived in New Zealand, caught her attention. His struggle to write his first story was rewarded when he suddenly understood what he was doing and his short piece landed on Stylefit’s grid, signifying success. His face broke out into an incredulous and delighted grin. He looked around to show his classmates what he had achieved. He was hardly able to sit still.
This and other examples of student engagement prompted Stylefit to approach Callaghan Innovation for support to develop a version for students. They agreed and this version is now being introduced to schools.
The team also tutors students around the country using Zoom. This shows how a mix of technology and human intervention can result in student enjoyment of and engagement with writing.
Before creating Stylefit Suraya worked in various roles. These include broadcasting (television and radio), public relations and managing communications for a group representing New Zealand’s top IT and telecom providers.
Suraya is an accredited PLD facilitator as well as the founder and creator of Stylefit.
This is a link to the website https://www.stylefit.co.nz/
