READ
LEARN GROW app for kids
In a nutshell
There is overwhelming evidence that literacy has a significant relationship to people’s life chances. Children and young people who do not achieve expected levels of literacy are likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds. We face huge challenges in encouraging the rising generation to engage positively with reading. Parents are the most important role models for children and young people. (National Literacy Trust, Reaching Out with Role Models, April 2009) It is vital that children enjoy reading - motivation is essential for acquiring literacy skills. Reading for pleasure is more important than either wealth or social class as an indicator of success at school. Therefore, we are struggling to find solutions to engage children and make them eager to learn and develop through reading. After a brief market research 5 top children educational app tendencies that can be implemented have emerged:
vocabulary enhance
parental controls
digital book games
lecture communities
reading report
Business requirements Vocabulary enhance • • • •
dictionary word search learned word mark vocabulary challenge after each chapter word pronunciation
• • • •
audio book preference character and chapter review phrase and quote highlight vocabulary builder with searched words
parental controls • • • •
time limits (eg. play 2 hours until 8pm) books review parent user remote control reading schedule
• • • •
create quizes based on daily read send notifications viewing restrictions based on age book shopping
• • • •
character knowledge games story animations write your own story using graphics book annotations
digital book games • vocabulary games based on current read • story reconstruct • interactive chapter games
Lecture communities • specific book discussions moderated by parents • sharing impressions on books • recommendations from kids
• • • •
interactive group book challenges community book competitions progress profile (books read, interests) book annotations
reading report • detailed report on reading speed and vocabulary improvements • discovered words list • graphs on read time and performance on a specific time span
• book recommendations based on early reads • details on child’s interaction with the book
REPORT ON FEATURE PROPOSAL
As seen before, the application will have 5 main cluster features. Each cluster contains a list of possible implementations for the final product. By studying the market offer and user need we can draw the conclusion that most services don’t contain the full package. Therefore, a multitude of apps has to be used in order to fulfil the user demand and child education needs. The solution the app will bring focuses on gathering the best features on the market, while adding new ones as well in order to create an environment that encloses all desired requirements. In brief, the app’s main goal is to increase the child’s desire to read, through associating development and learning with fun, games and social activities. Vocabulary enhance, the first cluster emphasizes the development a child can make through reading in areas like reading comprehension, fluency, phonics and vocabulary. By using the features within the cluster, the children have the possibility to learn by themselves, all the help being already included in a user friendly interface. Another extra feature would help children learn new languages through simple and with lots of graphics books. The Parental Controls cluster is used mainly for the child’s safety and for the parent’s peace of mind and also used for book shopping. The third cluster is about games. The main idea would be that after every book, the child can play a different game based on subject of the before mentioned book. The games should contain information and visuals from the book and also focus on the characters and story. Book Communities cluster is based on the book clubs idea. By using the feature kids from all around the world can meet and exchange opinions while also challenging one another to read more. The fifth feature shows the parent a detailed report of all the child’s activity in the app by generating graphs and recommendations.
market research 1. Tikatok StorySpark. Kids write and illustrate their own books, using a catalog of art or their own photos or digital drawings for the backgrounds.
7. Farfaria is basically like a digital library of books. The app is free to download and you can get a trial that allows you to read 1 book per day for free.
2. Bookster. Young readers can find new literary faves with helpful narration from kids their age.
8.Dr. Seuss ABC’s. This is basically an electronic version of the beloved classic by Dr. Seuss. There are three variations to this app: Read to Me, Read by Myself, or Auto Play. There is also a voice recording option where your child can read it aloud and record his/her voice (or a parent can record also).
3. Tales2Go. A Parents’ Choice Gold Awardwinner that streams on-demand, unlimited access to more than 1,000 stories. Scroll through and sort by reader age, genre, and more. 4. A Story Before Bed. More than 300 stories in this app’s library for an interactive read-along experience with your child. Record video of storytime so that your little one can watch it again in the morning, while paging through and following along! 5. TouchyBooks. Quirky sounds, animation, and flip-book usability offer a realistic experience and a touch of magic for toddlers and tweens. 6. MeeGenius. Highlight words for review and use the MeeGenius audio playback to keep your little bookworms engaged.
9. Question Builder. Appropriate for children who are already reading, this app helps a child develop critical thinking skills and comprehension. It also encourages abstract thinking and inferring, a difficult skill to reinforce at such a young age. 10. A multitude of Vocabulary, Comprehension, Spelling, Writing and Reading Apps offering the same features on different books.
user scenarios
John ####age 8
John is fond of reading. He recently recieved a tablet and installed the app. He gets into the main menu and picks the first option: Library. There, he find the books his father bought for him. He goes through the books’ descriptions and chooses one.
While flipping the pages he gets tips on features he can use. He touches and holds a word so it can be looked in the Dictionary or Wikipedia and he is excited to find out that he can go back and check all the words in the future. He also enjoys highlighting quotes and sharing them.
After finishing the first chapter he gets a popup asking if he would like to try a chapter challenge or a fun game. It is specified that the challenge gets him points in the reading community of the app. He is highly competitive so he chooses the challenge this time.
There he can see all the games the books in his library have but can only play the ones related to chapters he read. He plays the game for the first chapter and goes to the Challenges section where he finds 2 more to complete. He then gets back to reading.
He notices the book forum and decides Watching it so he gets notifications on new comments on the chapters he read. The app doesn’t allow users to see comments on chapters they didn’t yet read. He gets back in the menu and goes to the Games section in the menu.
He answers 9/10 questions correct, gets the explanation for the wrong one and his score is transformed into points. He is then redirected to his profile where he can see his achievements and his performance compared to other kids reading the same book.
mary ####age 10 Mary heard about the app from a friend from school. She decided to install it so she can go through the school lessons again and then try the games and challenges provided by the app to practice her knowledge. Her friend mentioned the app helped him raise his grades.
She opens the app and goes straight to the library, picks the Math Workbook and starts reading the lesson. When she gets to the exercises part she is asked to get pen and paper for calculus. Then, some interactive examples show and she gets to understand the lesson better.
She soon gets a better feel on how the app works and how she can get tips for solving the exercises and get points when trying harder not to use them. It takes her a while to finish all the exercises and the she is redirected to her profile to see how she performed.
She then goes to her mom to let her know how she did and how fun it was to get prepared for the test tomorrow. Her mom shows her a different section where she can try a new test on the lesson so Mary gets to work on the app again. She is excited to get way better results.
Mary sees some of her colleagues on the forum and decides to share her opinions on the lesson a well. She is then asked if she wants to try a Math Game based on her age and knowledge and she accepts. She actually likes it so she tries differet difficulties.
She gets feedback on results and sugesstions on what she can improve. The app is not focused on showing where she did wrong but on her strengths and how to use them in the future in order to get better results. She especially likes her colored performance graph.
bob ####age 37 Bob has an 11 year old son. He heard about the app from a work friend and installed it to see what it is about. From the main menu he goes to the Shop section to see what books he can find. He filters the search on his son’s age, eagerness to read and education.
He realizes you can choose whether you want the books to be classic, more interactive, to have more graphics, games or challenges. He buys 3 books for his son: one classic, one with extra chellenges and one with extra games. He then goes on to surf through the other options.
The first use tips explain how a parent can see all his children’s activity and even control the hours in which they use the app for reading or games. Also, parents can remotely control the child’s account and send notifications to their kid. He creates the kid’s account.
They read book reviews and based on the apps suggestions they buy 2 more books for the kid. They also create 2 challenges and send them the child’s account. They go to the parent Community section and Follow some forums to be up to date to others opinions.
He creates an account for his wife and they both surf through the information the app gives about their son’s abilities: vocabulary, comprehension, writing, reading speed, engagement in the book and many others.
He then lets his son know about the app and explains to him how it works. His son starts reading and completing challenges and games so now the Reading Report section is available. There, Bob can see how his son is performing based on different quizes.
design and concept FLavia Husar