Teaching
kids to be creative with technology
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| Monster Moogle |
The adoption
of technology for entertainment, learning and developmental assessment amongst children is expected to increase in South Africa
significantly as a result of the rise of smart device usage in the
country.
This
is according to local artist and entrepreneur Danielle Orkin,
who says that using a tablet or similar device to develop a child’s
skill set has become a highly effective method of education globally,
and can result in improved hand-eye coordination, increased cognitive
skills and creativity.
She
says that using an iPad can also improve a child’s technological
intelligence, which is becoming a
fundamental pillar of learning for children and a requirement
equivalent to reading and writing.
According
to a report by research firm VisionMobile, the global app economy was
worth $68 billion last year and is projected to grow to $143 billion
in 2016. World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck said recently that
the app has become the single most significant tool driving the
mobile economy in South Africa. Orkin says that it is clear that
children of today are
living in a rapidly developing digital era and the increase of smart
device usage for education and entertainment purposes is, therefore, a
natural progression. “As a result, children’s edutainment
apps are
being built on sound learning principles to offer 21st century tech
skills and learning opportunities.”
Orkin
is the developer of South Africa’s first of its kind
locally-developed edutainment app for children, Monster Moogle,
which was recently launched by Colormeclever Digital Kids, a
partnership formed between Orkin and tech start up accelerators
Fontera Skunk Works (a division of Fontera Digital Works) and
SeedEngine. Monster Moogle forms part of the popular edutainment app
category, and can be made use of by children between the ages of four
and 12. The Monster Moogle interactive storybook brings the story to
life through art, rich content, sound, interactivity and colourful
animation.
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| Monster Moogle |
She
says that the
app aims
to add to the traditional educational and entertaining aspects of
storytelling by adding a deep level of interactivity for the reader,
and will not only stimulate
a child’s
creative instincts and develop artistic creative
design skills, but also assist with early stage development.
The
interactive component of the app is based on the same thinking and
logic as design programs such as Adobe’s Photoshop and
Illustrator and will help children develop an early
understanding of how digital design programs work.
“Art
and design in its digital form is a fun and enticing way to introduce
various skill sets to children and help them to develop a tech-savvy
way of thinking.
My
experience as an artist and art lecturer has taught me that art and
design can help children in many ways, including how to think
creatively, to acquire the skills to observe, assess and to
understand, to express feelings without relaying them verbally,
problem solving and critical thinking skills.”
The
Monster Moogle Collage Maker app, which accompanies the Monster
Moogle storybook, allows children to create their own characters and
to write their own short stories using elements from the book. “The
reason why I chose monsters as a topic is because I want children to
let go of any preconceived ideas of how things should look and be.”
On
completion of creating the collage, the user may save it to their
in-app gallery where they then read their own stories with their own
illustrations.
The
Monster Moogle storybook and Collage Maker concept stems from a
creative collage teaching method which Orkin developed when lecturing
Fine Arts at a tertiary institution, which aims to develop creative
problem solving techniques among business students. She says that the
collage method helped many of the students overcome their perceived
lack of creativity.
Monster Moogle was recently introduced into local classrooms in South
Africa and in response to a Monster Moogle workshop, grade one
teacher, Donna Dribbin says, “As a classroom teacher, I thoroughly
loved the Colormeclever workshop and I am so glad that I had the
opportunity to witness my students broaden and deepen their
creativity in such a fun, child friendly way. I loved how my students
were able to come up with their very own monster idea and had the
opportunity to take ownership of their monsters by naming and
creating them.”
The
full Monster Moogle pack includes the storybook, an interactive
story, meet the characters and the Monster Moogle Collage Maker. The
app is on sale now on iTunes for iOS 7 and can be downloaded on iPad
2 upwards. It is also available on Amazon in non-interactive book
format, which was developed for the Kindle.
*Look out for a review of Monster Moogle in Supernova vol. 3.5!
Press
release by Epic Communications (Pty) Ltd.
