Educational App Q Racer Helps Master Terms

Educational game makers are faced with the challenge of inserting pedagogical content that is direct and appropriate. Typically the challenge is met by either making the actions in the game require thought processes that guide the player to useful conclusions, or seek to actionize traditional worksheets.

Apple’s iPod and iPad products immediately caught the attention of educators, and parents have discovered they serve dual purposes as productivity tools and gaming platforms, even for younger children.

I’ve been corresponding with Ben Tao over at Hug a Panda about their new educational app, Q Racer. Designed for kids, the app lets user avatars race against the computer’s characters as they master answers in various categories. Lists include fun items like celebrity quizzes and NFL teams, to more serious items found on tests like state capitals or inventors and their inventions. Avatars can be customized for boys or girls, and users can play their own music during the races. Here’s the trailer video for Q Racer:

Q Racer is available in the App Store at the moment for $.99. Learn more at Hug a Panda’s site, here.

Is Apple’s New Tablet a Game Changer?

Lately Apple has dominated any market outside of PCs the company has chosen to enter. It wasn’t always so; I still remember the Newton and the shellacking it took in public opinion. (Even the political cartoon strip “Doonesbury” made fun of it.) But those days are all behind the company, and the iPod and iPhone dominate their segments. The markets for Apple software have become just as important, with 99 cent songs and varied-priced apps.

Next up is the Tablet, a new computer that has Apple fans salivating. Plenty of programmers have been willing to devote time to developing games for the iPhone, so it’s probable that games will continue to roll out for the Tablet, especially considering Apple’s lucrative revenue sharing system.

Apple will be interested in exploiting the educational market, for the respect dominance there lends as much as the lucre. One of my favorite reporters, Yukari Iwatani Kane, co-wrote an article this week in The Wall Street Journal about the Apple Tablet, which touched on the academic aspects of the product:

In the academic arena, Apple could face hurdles wooing universities if the tablet doesn’t meet their needs or isn’t compatible with other computing devices that students are using.

Amazon had been hoping to target the market with its 9.7-inch screen Kindle DX e-book reader, for example, but schools said the device wasn’t sufficiently interactive and lacked basics such as page numbers and color graphics.

Another hurdle facing any new technology at the university level is the need for accessibility features to be built into the product. After pressure from the Dept. of Justice, several universities agreed to stop promoting the use of the Kindle DX for students, or any other e-book reader, until features making it more accessible for the visually impaired have been implemented.

As always, it would be very nice to see good educational programs and games come out for the Apple Tablet, and not merely repackaging of classic texts or some such. Stay tuned.

References:
Gonsalves, A. (2010, January 14). Universities agree not to promote Kindle DX. InformationWeek. [Online.] Available: http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=222300989

Kane, Y.I., & Smith, E. (2010, January 23). Apple sees new money in old media. The Wall Street Journal, B1.