Mobile app development is by itself a complicated process, as it requires multiple stages of planning and execution. It gets even more complicated when publishers are targeting the current generation of children – the digital natives, the kids of the tech revolution. And, guess what – twice as complicated considering they’ve got to target also parents, as parents are the ones most likely to download educational apps.
And what’s the parent’s biggest challenge? How the choose the right apps for the kid. That being said, app developers have realized that an app dedicated to children has to be both educational and entertaining.
Children possess a great natural sense of wonder and curiosity, so the trick is finding the best way to nurture these traits; this is how your effort to develop a mobile educational app will pay off in the end.
Educational apps for children – learning at your fingertips
Youngster app development – sometimes called kids edutainment – is a huge industry. It’s also a competitive one, as educators and parents are concerned about the amount of time children spend in front of a screen, so they choose carefully the apps kids can use, even if we’re talking about educational ones. However, the rapid growth of mobile apps with educational purposes cannot be denied.
Apple has thousands of educational apps in the app store, grouped in categories – Language Development, Mathematics, Science, History and Geography, plus many others.
Google will launch this fall Google Play for Education – aiming to making it easier for teachers to implement mobile learning in school. The platform will have apps organized by subject and grade level, also containing educator’s recommendations in order to ensure product quality. Amazon App Store also has a category dedicated to educational apps.
Growing popularity of mobile apps among children
Will mobile devices transform education for better or for worse? It’s a hot question right now amongst both teachers and parents as this is not news: children, even preschoolers, are using apps on theirs or their parent’s smartphones and tablets.
A report published earlier this year by Grunwald Associates and the Learning First Alliance with support from AT&T, found that 45% of U.S. parents report that they plan to buy, or already have bought, a mobile device to support their child’s learning.
According to the same research, the majority of parents believe mobile devices and apps offer fun, engaging ways of learning, connecting and communicating.
We dare to say there’s a great potential on using mobile devices and thus apps for learning and education, both at school and at home, as parent and educators begin to see benefits.
Tips on developing educational apps for children
Which are the key-requirements of developing a mobile educational app that teachers, parents and kids will appreciate and use? Here are some of our thoughts – the list is probably not complete, feel free to add your ideas in the comments.
Research is a must. Testing is a must to. If you don’t have the resources to pay market research consultants, do it yourself, at a smaller scale. Really knowing your audience goes a long way, you’ll learn greatly from the experience. Just do not skip this step.
Make the UI simple and user-friendly, just like adults – children will respond to intuitive design. Keep menu options and settings at minimum and use engaging graphics and colors. Children tend to be clumsy, do don’t make it hard for them to use your app.
Make your app challenging and rewarding, so the child is kept in a positive mood while learning. This also helps the kid not losing interest in the subject, keep using the app to learn and keep coming back for more.
Kids learn better when they are engaged, so play elements are a must, whether your app is focused on language, math, science or any other learning subject.
You can also focus on providing group learning experiences, by making your app likely to be used in groups. Kids learn more when others join in, so an app that promotes collaboration, playful interaction and group learning between children or between children and adults, could prove to be extremely successful.
Kids love to learn, provide a great platform for learning and you’ll make an impact on the marker.
Do you think apps could be solid tools for learning? Exploring children app development ideas? Maybe we can help you creating an educational app children will love and feel connected to. Say hello here.
