Mobile Learning and Digital Games in School

Preschool Learning

Tiptoy is an interactive, audio and learning game series made by Ravensburger in Germany. It consists of games, for all ages, 3-D Puzzles and books for children from three up to ten. Different topics and school subjects can be chosen, for example: Farm, music, numbers or geography and a digital pen with sound. The pen recognizes pictures and produces their respective sound, when you hold the pen on the picture of a river; you can hear the sound of water. The pen also recognizes various symbols at the bottom of the page, each symbol has a different function, e.g. by tipping the ear symbol a voice starts explaining what a river is. Tiptoy is ideal for teaching English as a foreign language as well because it helps develop listening skills at a young age. (read also Interactive Dictionary)

Experts recommend teaching languages at a young age as the learning speed is higher in children between three and six years than in older children. One of the games to learn English is Englisch Detektiv  Tiptoy games are fun for the whole family. The combination of software and paper book is great for children. The books can be used without pen. Once you have bought the pen, you can download all software for it from the homepage. Tiptoy games and books are very popular with children and parents in Germany. An American version of Tiptoy can be found with the company Leapfrog, which has  a wide range of educational products for babies to grade school pupils including tablets, learning apps, e-books, books with tag reading system, games, play stations and DVD’s. All toys come in practical bundles but can be bought separately as well. Further advantages of Leapfrog are that parents can connect and see learning paths and levels their children have achieved using educational games (math, science, etc.), furthermore parents can download printable worksheets, games and coloring pages, there are also ideas for birthday parties. Parents and teachers will certainly appreciate preschool learning videos like numbers or letters and its sound. The most valuable products for parents are probably the tips that help develop life skills for children, creativity, for instance. Leapfrog products are of educational value in GB as well, as a professor at the University of Nottingham localizes the products to fit local curriculum standards. Leapfrog is also sold in Canada and Mexico for speakers of English, French and Spanish. Tiptoy and Leapfrog toys (both award winners) can also be used at school in many ways, I can think of three right now:  

1. Give children homework to do on the tablet, or build teams that have to play a game or watch a video as homework and answer questions about the game or video next day.
2. Another possibility to use Tiptoy or Leapfrog games could be making motivation workshops after school or motivation lessons once a week letting children play the game they like during one hour and then asking them to explain to others what they have learned.
3. Let children find ways of using the games in class.

Creativity has no limits.