DJ Cunningham is the co-founder and CEO of LEARNstyle, a company that offers coaching in assistive and adaptive technology to both students and teachers in special education. The company’s goal is to help all teachers and students become more confident in the use of educational technology in order to foster independence and increase efficiencies. Website: https://learnstyle.com/
DJ, as a child, was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD and experienced a lot of difficulty in his own education growing up. He was able to gain more confidence and achieve success with the help of educational technology. This was the motivation behind the founding of LEARNstyle, where DJ can use his knowledge and passion to help students with special needs to learn more effectively and achieve their goals through technology, just as he did.
I was actually offered a position at LEARNstyle a few years back, and while I did not take the offer at the time, I was thoroughly impressed with DJ’s philosophy and leadership of LEARNstyle. He is surrounded by a team that is a mix of experienced professionals and young, energetic talent, who all very evidently share DJ’s passion and mission. The team was truly an inspiration and a breath of fresh air.
DJ Cunningham’s story sounds a lot like many former students who have had learning difficulties in schools. I’m glad he has been able overcome his challenges and use his experiences to build a successful business. Having taught special needs for a few years, using assistive technology can be wonderful for children who are struggling in school but as a teacher it is challenging and frustrating at times to find the right technology for each student. A company like LEARNstyle could help with this so I think this is where DJ found the gap. Having looked at their website, DJ seems passionate about what he does and helping young students who struggled like him must feel very rewarding. He seems like he has the makings of a strong entrepreneur. However, I am curious about how his business works. In Nova Scotia, we have technology specialists who are hired by the public school system to coach/work with teachers and students in a similar fashion. What are the costs associated with his services? Do the school boards pay or the parents? etc. Inspiring story and interesting business but I’m just curious about how it all works. Thanks for sharing Yannick!
Hey Grant! To answer your question, LEARNstyle is contracted by public school boards to do this kind of training for their students and teachers. It’s somewhat like bringing in expert consultants to filll the ed tech knowledge gap in the board. I would imagine without the patronage of school boards, it would be quite difficult to maintain a business at the size that they are at.
What a great story and wonderful example of innovation in response to seeing a problem and a solution.
I’m dyslexic as well, and I think that is actually part of what has fostered my entrepreneurial mindset and start up junkie in me. But in order to see your dyslexia as a gift and utilize the different way of looking at the world that it gives you, you need to have people that instil a sense of confidence in you and teach you that there is a different way of achieving your goals than the so called ‘normal’ route. Good for DJ in helping others to discover that for themselves.