AN EYE ON THE ENDGAME Developing Effective Educational Apps
Shalom M Fisch has used the term ‘spinach television’ to refer to programs that take a didactic approach and have little entertainment value, pointing out that, while these programs can of course teach young children a lot, children might not be willing to deal with them.
Mobile devices are now available in almost every household; as a result, children have very early access to mobile phones and tablets. While older children use them independently, even toddlers and young children have access to mobile devices due to the ‘pass-back effect’, wherein parents hand their devices to children for a short period of time in order to keep them occupied. Hence, there is no doubt whether children have access to media on smartphones and tablets; the question is, rather, what they play on them.
The market for apps is huge, and it has a clear focus on children – especially in the educational sector. As tablets are usually intuitive and therefore easy for even younger children to use, and as educational apps are widely available, the combination of the two offers promising educational potential for younger children. Even toddlers can learn from educational apps, but the construction of the app should be taken into consideration when assessing its capabilities in this area. In a 2014 paper, researchers Donell Holloway, Lelia Green and Carlie Love point out the need for more research into the use of mobile devices in families (for example, in regard to their use as ‘the new pacifier’ ) and that parents are generally unguided when they choose apps; but that, nevertheless, there are many benefits to children using tablets or smartphones (for instance, for video communication and educational purposes ). According to a paper in the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, many educational apps are available, especially in prosperous countries, but the age range targeted by these apps is often far too big to ensure that the particular needs of certain developmental stages are taken care of. As such, there should be a focus on the responsibilities of app creators and the processes required for the production of quality apps. This article offers an overview of essential theories about learning with media relevant to kindergarten students and preschoolers, looking at television as well as mobile devices. These ideas are then discussed in terms of the game Die Bienenretter (‘The Bee Savers’), a German as a Second Language app aimed at English-speaking children in preschool, kindergarten and early primary school, and the app on which it was based, Squirrel & Bär. Advantages of this app include its compelling narrative and characters who talk to the children directly and encourage them to continue with their quest.
