Version 3.4 adds subtitles so that children with hearing difficulties can use Learnia.
It also seems useful for hearing kids to help improve their reading skills. The subtitles closely follow the spoken word so reading along is easy. Subtitles are 'on' by default but can be turned 'off' in the settings. There are now 7 currencies to do the money exercises in. In addition to American Dollars there are now British Pounds, Euros, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, New Zealand Dollars and South African Rands. There is now a setting for American English/ British English. (ie Color & meter / Colour & meter)
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Version 3.3 went live today (iPad and Android).
The main addition is that of calm yet stimulating background music during the exercises. The music is carefully picked to appeal to young kids and to be pleasant and not distracting. It creates a happy atmosphere for learning. There is a new volume setting in the front end. Enjoy. Version 3.0 is now available on iOS, Android and Browsers.
Students now have the option of setting a password (obligatory on browsers). The password improves privacy in the classroom and allows students to easily work on different tablets/computers. When a new account is set up (on a tablet) the student can leave the password blank. This way the account is only accessible from the tablet the account was started on. When improved privacy is needed a password can be set. This also allows the student to use the account on different tablets and computers. Even when a password is set, the student can opt to allow login without the password on trusted tablets (ie at home). This way students can choose their level of privacy and login convenience. In version 3.0 setting up a coach account and linking a student to a coach account is simplified. This unleashes some powerful monitoring tools allowing teachers/parents to keep an eye on progress in real time. It also allows coaches to review missed questions with students at any time. Version 3.0 has a useful help page in the front end. Oh yes. In version 3.0 all content is free. Existing users may have to (if they do not have auto-update set) manually update to version 3.0 in the App Store or Google Play. Several schools told us they liked Learnia but they had all but moved over to Chromebooks. It made sense to produce a browser version of Learnia so that it would run on chromebooks as well as Macs and PCs. This version is now live and can be reached via the links on learnia.lol's front page.
Design wise the challenge was to modify the interface for grade 1, 2 and 3-ers without the touch screen of the tablets. The touchpad of Chromebooks is ok but the button (pressing the touchpad) can require a lot of force. This is why the CTRL and ALT buttons act as additional mouse buttons. Often the exercises require objects to be moved around. To make this easier the space bar will make objects straight to their destination. The Browser version does not need an install and is free. It made sense to release an Android version also. It only took about a month to compile on Android, fix all the issues with different screen ratios and set up in Google Play.
The Android version is functionally identical to the iPad one. They use the same database so that kids can work on an Android and an iPad tablet without problems. The Android version went live on February 23rd 2018. Yay! Early 2015 work began on Learnia. The educational apps around just weren't 'fun' enough. The graphics are 2d, the exercises are monotonous and the input methods clunky. It is time for a big step forwards....
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ObbeAfter a career in games Obbe moved on to educational apps. Archives
May 2019
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