On a recent visit to India, I was videotaping in a preschool. During a music lesson, I flipped the viewfinder on my camera around, so the children could see their own faces. The effect was immediate. Faces became animated, and eyes started to sparkle, and the teachers wouldn’t let me leave until everyone had a turn. The event was a reminder of how powerful it is to see yourself on a screen. This trick is being exploited by both Microsoft Kinect and the Sony PlayStation Move, with titles like EyePet (page 16) and Kinectimals (page 18). What does this expanding form of human computer interface (HCI) mean for children? Here’s a starter list:
• New exercise, sports and dance games will watch, score and rate a child.
• The line between concrete and abstract could blur with augmented reality techniques (see http://bit.ly/9h0rva). A traditional block, toy, book or playing card could jump to life, inside a 3D screen.
• Point, click, drag and drop will be replaced by a voice and motion.
• Skype-like plugins could make game sharing as routine as starting up a game and giving a voice command.
• New motion-based methods could help children learn to read and hard-wire abstract math relationships to their hand.
This welcome step away from abstraction has created a new set of research questions for educators and designers. There’s never been a better time to ask “how can we tap this power for the benefit of children?”
Here’s a video that shows off the latest features of the Sony PlayStation Move.
Enjoy our Back to School issue!
Togetherville, the Facebook powered social site for kids, is finally figuring out that it can’t get between kids and communications. So, as of today, it is giving children the ability to type their own messages.
The features in called Me-Text, is moderated and can only be seen by existing Facebook friends. You can still use T-Text, which uses constructed chat.
Zoodles is an Adobe-air based app that is designed to put pre-selected materials at your child’s fingertips; while keeping everything else out. The idea is to provide a safe, virtual playground that can be adjusted to your child’s age and skills. Once it’s installed on your Mac or Windows computer, your child sees games from popular children’s sites like PBS Kids and Starfall.com, stripped of any advertising content. The service is free for the basic service; the Premium Membership is $6/month. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
We tried the PS3 version of this game (with a load time of nearly 10 minutes!) and found the game to deliver on the kinds of battles you’d expect to find in a Transformers game. In the story, your goal is become the ultimate weapon as a Transformers character in the final, epic war that will determine the survival of their entire race. Features include a variety of weapons, and the ability to convert from robot to vehicle at any time for air or land battles. There are different multiplayer modes and you can play through story missions, using the drop in/drop out online co-op play. Prices are $60 for Xbox 360 and PS3, and $40 for PC. There are also two versions available for the Nintendo DS — Transformers: War for Cybertron Autobots and Transformers: War for Cybertron Decepticons, rated E10+ and priced at $30 each. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Available in both free and “Pro” ($.99) versions, TonePad lets you compose rhythmic simple songs by arranging dots (or notes) on a 16×16 grid. Like the pins on a music box, each dot activates a tone, making it easy to make rhythmic and melodic patterns. The Pro version lets you compose your own ringtones. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Following the historical battles of the infantry division The Big Red One, you play through some of the most famous battles of World War II. The game features 72 missions in total. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Singing Fingers starts with a blank white screen, then you drag your finger slowly across the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad’s screen. A microphone is required. As you move your fingertip, you notice that your “ink” is powered by sound. The louder you sing, the fatter your line. And the color is associated with the pitch. So if you sing a scale, you make a rainbow pattern. After you’ve made a doodle, trace your finger back over your drawing, to hear your captured audio. If you drag quickly, you make a drawing, to play your sound back. If you trace your finger quickly, the sound plays back quickly, like fast-forwarding through a file. The app was created by doctoral students Eric Rosenbaum (who spoke at Dust or Magic 2009) and Jay Silver of the MIT Lifelong Kindergarten Group. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Seek Your Own Proof is a web-delivered detective adventure that follows the story of three investigative siblings – Aidan, Milanie, and Heiko Munro on a series of missions. Each Flash-based mission is sold for $4 (the first one is free, after you register); or you can buy ten for $20. Created by Canadian-based Rocketfuel Productions, in partnership with Discovery Kids. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Play as Grace Styles, a young designer at the Satisfashion Design House. You travel about to different famous cities around the world, displaying fashions at two shows in each. Each show consists of three parts – the first is where you put clothing and makeup on your models that match the theme and season of the show (each piece of clothing has two symbols associated with it). The next phase is the show itself, which is again, matching symbols. Then you determine which buyers to present your clothing to, once again, matching symbols. Finally you can create your clothing by coloring inside the lines and connecting the dots on the touch screen. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Road Trip Bingo turns your iPhone or iPad into a bingo board. Instead of numerals, the 5 x 5 grid contains a random assortment of items you might see passing by your window, ranging from common things — a cloud, tree or exit sign, to the more unusual — a horse, sailboat or a police car (may your sightings be rare). Once you spot an item on the board, you give it a tap to mark it with a virtual marker. Five in a row in any direction wins, an event marked by a chime and a sticker. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Turn your iPad or iPod Touch into a balance beam scale with this math app. There are three modes of play, each with three challenge levels, and it is possible to alternate between ounces and grams. The challenge is the same — to see if you can pile on just the right amount of weight on one side of the scale, to balance it with fruit on the other side of the scale. There are 9 types of fruit, from the 10g cherries to the 490g melon. The weights come in six sizes. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This time-telling app offers four activities from the main menu. The first lets you freely move the hands of an analog clock with your finger, to see if you can make the time match a digital am/pm clock below. The background provides clues about if it is day or night. Correct answers provide a round of applause. The second lets you change the numbers in the digital display at the bottom to match the time displayed by the clock hands. The third is a free mode, where you can move the clock hands or the change the numbers at the bottom to see the time instantly change. The fourth turns the clock into a real, functioning clock, in a clever twist. Part of the “Learning is fun” collection. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Mixing a side-scrolling collecting adventure with multiple-choice workbook problems is nothing new, and this title is no exception. Children guide a Penguin through simple levels, earning badges as they kick rats, collect popcorn and complete activities. This title covers basic math content — such as comparing quantities, solving tangram shape puzzles and completing addition or subtraction problems. Created by InLight Entertainment for Leapfrog. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This new format Leapster cartridge (for Leapster Explorer only) targets girls with seven princess-themed games. As you flip through pages of the book, reading-related challenges come up. For example, you are asked to touch items that help clear the path, to get into a castle. Created by Other Dream for Leapfrog. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Of the three new format Leapster cartridges this one, targeting older children, seemed the most fun and was the best designed, perhaps due to some of it’s side-scrolling game play which looked passable on the small, crisp Leapster Explorer screen. In the story segment of the game, you try to defeat Dr. Animo to free Ben’s friends, working through five levels, each with a science/geography related activity. Designed by Virtuos for Leapfrog. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The size of a typical door mat, this folding cardboard map of the United States has been coded to work with the $50 Tag Reading System — Leapfrog’s fat, talking stylus which has been out for several years. The stylus is not included in the $20 price of the map, and using the interactive features requires downloading and installing Leapfrog’s free, 50 MB or so “Leapfrog Connect” software utility on your Mac or Windows computer. This is required, along with a USB connection to transfer the audio files to your Tag. This process takes about 30 minutes, and only has to be done once. The map has two sides — each with two modes of play and several hide-and-seek types of games. One side deals more with state identification and the capitals, and the other has cultural highlights, with snippets of state related trivia, and music. Both sides feature a racing game, where you try to touch as many states or capitals before the music runs out. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This maze game app is part of the “Learning is fun” game collection. Your goal is to help the UFO find the exit by following a predetermined path with your finger while avoiding being electrocuted during your trip. It features 60 levels divided into easy, medium and hard. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Like the other Oceanhouse Media Dr. Seuss titles, Green Eggs & Ham follows the same formula of pulling the text and illustrations from the original Dr. Seuss story, and presenting it, one page at a time. The story can be presented in three modes: Read to Me (each page is presented, one at a time), Read it Myself (touch the words or pictures to see them labeled) and Auto Play (which presents the story, slide show style). To turn the page, you swipe the screen, which either presents a new page, or zooms in to highlight one of the features. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Fresh from Disney, a children’s virtual world based on the movie Cars, making it possible to drive into Radiator Springs, chat with other car avatars, enter races, or just explore. If you have a Mac or Windows computer, you can have a car up and running by the time you finish this article by visiting www.worldofcars.com. There are three areas to explore, each with a different theme, stores and four player racetrack. Features include two types of chat, the ability to make friends and have private chat sessions, and subscription access to special areas of the world. In addition, Mattel is selling a set of die cast vehicles that come with special race codes. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Book Buddy is a small, mouse-sized digital audio player and a book. The idea is to start the audio, and follow along with the text; listening through the included headphones. The stories are narrated with a human voice with sound effects. Two books come pre-loaded on the device, and are included in the $30 price: Home Run (reading level 3-4) and Touchdown (Level (5-7). There are 15 titles in the series including Bold Moves: A Dancer’s Journey, Full Speed Ahead, and The Biz. Prices are $30 for the Book Buddy with one title (two levels), $70 for six copies of any Future Star Series title, and $300 for the entire library of 15 titles. Includes batteries and headphones. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Barbie Video Girl Xray
At first glance, Mattel’s Barbie Video Girl Doll ($50, Mattel, for ages 6-up) looks just like a regular version of the doll. But a closer look reveals a camera in her pendant, and a postage-sized color screen on her back, peeking through a square space in her blouse. To make a video, you insert a AAA battery into each leg; a tricky process that involves a clothing change and a screwdriver. The three button interface on Barbie’s back makes it easy to know when you’re filming, and you can transfer footage in AVI format to your Mac or Windows computer by way of the included hot pink USB cable (a first for us). The accompanying editing software is Windows only, however.
According to Mattel Spokesperson Michelle Chidoni, Barbie first talked in 1968, when you could pull a string to hear her say six phrases. She’s since had fiber optic clothing, and an impeller that pushes glitterized fluid through her wings. Her vocabulary development nicely maps onto microprocessor speed, from six words to Teen Talk Barbie’s 270 phrases, with a moving mouth. This edition comes with 256 MB of memory (30 minutes of video) and the 2 AAA batteries last just over an hour. See the sample video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3ZcgE_K4D8
Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Like any public WordPress blog, this one attracts more than its fair share of spam. Like political advertising in New Jersey, spam like this seems to be one self-afflicted human condition that we all can’t avoid. This one arrived on Monday from Topping@gmail.com. I’d congratulate him or her, for being the first spam message to have writing entertaining enough to make it through the filter.
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Volume 18, No. 8, Issue 125
Tutor, Tool and Tutee, Revisited
Here’s some good news. Helping a child learn to program a computer has never been easier. Why is this important? It helps to recall a bit of history.
In 1980, Robert Taylor, a professor at Columbia Teacher’s college, put together a collection of essays on educational technology (see http://bit.ly/d8bR8w). In the book introduction, he defined three roles for computing in education: as a tutor (something that teaches you), tool (something you use to enhance your abilities) and tutee (something you teach or program). Now remember — back then, computers had 1 MHz processors and floppy drives.
Thirty years later, children are walking around with more computing power than NASA had to land on the moon. One of Taylor’s classifications, the computer as tutee — is once again very useful. That’s why, for this month’s LittleClickers column (p. 4) we took a closer look at helping children become teachers of the computer, aka programmers, a job made easier thanks to Scratch, App Inventor for Android (page 12) and Singing Fingers (page 10) and TonePad (page 10). See page 4 for more tips on helping children become programmers.
Buckleitner, W., 2010. Book Review: Engineering Play: A Cultural History of Children’s Software. American Journal of Play, Spring 2010, page 485-486.
Engineering Play: A Cultural History of Children’s Software
by Mizuko Ito
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2009. References, index, photographs, tables. 234 pp. $24.95 cloth. ISBN: 978026203352
If you’re looking for a thrilling tale of corporate espionage and rags-to-riches (and rags-to-rags) careers, you need look
no further than the business of making children’s software over the past two decades. In Engineering Play: A Cultural History of Children’s Software, cultural anthropologist Mizuko Ito opens the door for a closer look at children and
technology during this time period. Limited in scope for reasons described below, the book breaks new ground in the way it attempts to interpret what happened during this period of optimism and frustration, when publishers were competing to produce and market 979 commercial products per year during the peak year (2001) and trying to market them in retail settings.
VTech’s completely re-engineered MobiGo is an important new addition to the handheld learning category. There is no backward compatibility with the age-old V.Smile cartridges, a break from the past for V.Tech. Fortunately, the included Touch & Learn game cartridge offers six fun games. Powered by four AA batteries or AC power (neither included) there are also ports for earphones and a USB connector for saving progress online. Additional $20 cartridges feature characters from Toy Story, Dora, Mickey Mouse and Shrek. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
A kindle for the kindergartners? V.Tech (www.vtechkids.com) hopes so, with this week’s release of V.Reader (formerly called FLiP), a $60 ebook player targeting early readers with a clear touch screen and a membrane QWERTY keyboard. To read a book, you snap in a cartridge, or, if you’ve downloaded content from a Mac or Windows computer, you can touch the backpack icon. You can listen as the story is narrated in slide show fashion, or touch any page to discover hidden hot spots. When plugged into a Mac or Windows computer by way of the USB port, it will be possible to download additional stories from www.vtechkids.com, a feature not available until August. Stories in the library will include The Little Engine that Could, Disney/Pixar’s Cars, Shrek, Dora the Explorer, Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3, Disney Fairies, Mr. Men and Little Miss, Scooby-Doo and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Five activities — each previously released as separate apps — have been combined into one $4.99 universal app. See the individual reviews of each app, with ratings. Sound Shaker is a sound making game that uses the accelerometer, so you move the screen to make musical patterns (see the full review). Field Flier lets children control a flying bird. They touch spots on the screen to hear activities like sleeping, resting or hiding labeled. Count Caddy lets children count by 1s, 2s or 3s, by dragging and dropping items into a large circle. Sort Slider shows two objects, and asks children “which one matches.” To make a match, you can either swipe with your finger (left or right) or tilt the screen. In Pattern Painter, children are asked “which shape comes next” and are then presented with three options, multiple choice style. They are then asked to trace the shape on a template. If they have trouble, a short tutorial automatically starts. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
thinkSMART for the Wii and DS is a collection of exercises paired with a record keeping system. After you sign in and make an avatar, you choose from a series of mental challenges that include math, logic, memorization, language, and spatial reasoning. These are organized into free-training exercises, a daily routine, a test, and a multiplayer mode. All include the same challenges, but the free-training and multiplayer modes allow you to set your own difficulty. Created by dtp young entertainment for Mentor Interactive and Conspiracy Entertainment. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This racing game consists of an eight inch tall talking dog, with 12 bones that fit in a container in his back. The idea is to follow directions, and try to be the first to slip the bone into the dog’s mouth. After setting up the game by randomly placing the twelve bones around the floor, you press Red Rover’s nose and he calls out which bones he wants. You must run to find the right bone and feed it Rover. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
These 1/2 inch thick musical instruments are good for pretend jamming. There are three components — a guitar, a drum set, and an amp. Each is powered by batteries. The surface of each instrument is touch sensitive, covered with a capacitive paper Wowee calls “Active Graphics Technology.” This allows you to strum the guitar or tap on the drums by merely brushing the tip of your finger across the surface of the instrument (not unlike an iPhone or mousepad). Each instrument includes 3 songs that you can play along with, and there are six versions of the guitars and drums, for added variety. You can also control the guitar & drum rhythm for each song. There are 18 songs in Series One (3 per guitar/drum pad) including Sweet Home Alabama, Hey There Delilah, All Star, Born to Be Wild, Rock Star and others. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Part of the “Learning is Fun” line, this $1.99 app includes 36 tangram puzzles. The idea is that you drag-and-drop the puzzle pieces, scattered on the bottom of the screen, onto the outline. Incorrect matches self-correct by dropping to the bottom of the screen. Correct matches snap into place, as if by some magnetic force, to the sound of a crisp bell. When all the parts are put together, you hear a round of quiet applause. You can then return to the menu to select another puzzle. We reviewed version 1.4. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Five bite-sized games feature a chatty, quirky little monkey, who serves as the coach and instruction giver. Content includes concentration, color matching (touch all the green fruit), jigsaw puzzles (drag-and-drop puzzles), odd one out (which fruit is not the same), find the fruit that starts with the letter B. Every three activities earns you a sticker,which can be saved on a flannel board. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This gimmick-free app offers free-form letter and numeral tracing, with narration in English or Spanish. Content includes upper and lower case letters, and numerals 1 through 100. Other features include the ability to set the size of the line, and a “shake to erase” feature. The menu that controls the features is shown on the main screen, but it can be hidden. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The second of two letter tracing apps (the first is Letter Writer: Oceans), this App combines a set of lower case letters with real space facts. For example, after you trace the letter ‘m’ three times, you are presented with a short narrated presentation all about the planet Mars. To complete a letter, you must follow a pulsing line of dots with your finger. See also Letter Writer Oceans for practice with upper case letters. Note that both apps are designed for the smaller iPhone or iPod Touch app (they are not iPad native). Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
The first of two letter tracing apps (the second is Letter Writer: Space, that deals with lower case letters), this App combines a set of upper case letters with real ocean facts. For example, after you trace the letter ‘W’ three times, you are presented with a short poem about the Whale, as a large whale swims across the screen. To complete a letter, you must follow a pulsing line of dots with your finger. See also Letter Writer: Space for practice with lower case letters. Note that both apps are designed for the smaller iPhone or iPod Touch (they are not iPad native). Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Completely re-designed around a Flash-based format (the same as the didj), this year’s Leapster Explorer ($70, for ages 4-9) won’t run older Leapster cartridges. But it will run older didj software, making this a new beginning for the trusted Leapster line. The didj has been discontinued. The games we tested featured characters from Toy Story 3, Dora, Star Wars, SpongeBob and the NFL. A USB link lets you download additional “Leaplets” (or apps), including ebooks from Leapfrog’s TAG library. Requires 4 AA batteries. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
After you sign into one of the three game-save slots, you can select the gender of the pilot in this flying game. You then begin a tutorial that helps you learn to fly through some rings by holding the controller like a pair of handlebars. Next you try putting out a fire with a water canon which involves carefully buzzing a building, and then clearing sheep from train tracks with carefully aimed buzzes. There are 40 missions including hunting for lost pirate treasures, abducting cows in a UFO, and eventually becoming the Sky Captain. You can play alone, or invite a friend to fly cooperatively (in split screen) in any of the missions. You can also compete head-to-head in mutliplayer mode. Developed by Torus Games for D3Publisher. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This fitness game for the Wii features 18 games. After a brief introduction by a real personal trainer (Brooke Burke) you are asked to sign in and design an avatar. Next, you can choose a mode of play; either quick play or routine. The quick play option lets you jump right to a game; the routine mode gives you a sequence of activities. If you play in two player mode, you see a split screen — this could be fun for parents and children to play together. The game requires a Nunchuk, and a Balance Board is optional. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Featuring Diego, this musical app includes six simple songs like Jingle Bells and Mary Had a Little Lamb, each set in a different environment (e.g., the Savannah or the Arctic). Made for Nickelodeon by Chewy Software LLC. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a drag and drop creativity space for collages. After you choose a background color and a head shape using as set of slide-open menus, you can freely drag and drop different items into place to try out different looks. Finished products can be saved or shared on social networks. The program look and runs fine on the iPad although the version we reviewed was not universal. The clip art library was developed by illustrator Hanoch Piven. Content includes 20 face outlines and 100 objects. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.