After four years of National Science Foundation-funded research and development, the Next Generation Preschool Math team launches the first of eight game apps today. The iPad app Gracie & Friends Birthday Café is now available in the Apple App Store.
A randomized control trial demonstrated significant learning gains among the children who used the apps. The app is part of Early Math with Gracie & Friends™— a new, mobile app series and math curriculum supplement developed by the First 8 Studios at WGBH team.
First 8 Studios at WGBH partnered with the Education Development Center (EDC) and SRI International to iteratively development the Early Math with Gracie & Friends apps, curriculum that integrates the technology, 46 original hands-on activities, and the digital Teacher’s Guide that will be released in early 2015, all with the goal to explore developmentally appropriate uses of tablet technology in preschool classrooms.
Christine Zanchi, Executive Producer, says, “The Gracie & Friends apps are laying the research foundation for how to use technology with young children. Our research and preschool partners, the teachers and children, are integral to this process. As this and other projects demonstrate, public media has an incredible role to play in setting the bar for mobile learning.”
Digital Things! 