Batibot now on App Store
Educational app develops essential thinking skills among
children
Parents using iOS-powered smartphones and tablets can now
download for free the Batibot mobile application, an interactive version of the
beloved TV show that helps enhance learning among children.
Earlier launched on the Android platform, the app features
fun games that teach kids basic learning concepts like matching, sorting, and
grouping. The app also lets children practice tracing letters with the proper
strokes, and helps them identify shapes, colors, numbers, and letter sounds.
The app’s “Awiting Batibot” feature enables kids to sing
along to Batibot songs, while “Kuwentong Batibot” contains local stories that
promote good values.
What makes the Batibot app stand out from other
educational apps is that it is the only app in the Filipino language that is
aligned with the kindergarten curriculum of the Department of Education.
The Batibot app is the product of a collaboration among
Smart Communications, Community of Learners Foundation, and developer startup
OrangeFix. The app jumpstarted Smart’s efforts to work with various communities
and organizations to create literacy apps in local languages.
Smart public affairs head Mon Isberto said that since the
Batibot app was launched on the Android platform, a lot of parents had inquired
as to when it would be downloadable on iOS devices.
“Many parents based here and abroad said their kids had
grown up speaking English, and that they wanted their children to be proficient
in the Filipino language too. The Batibot app will certainly help them brush up
on Filipino in a fun, interactive way,” he said.
“When you search for educational content online, you’ll
find that most of them are in English. There is a need for digital learning
content that promotes the Filipino language as well as Filipino values. The Batibot
app addresses that need,” Isberto added.
To bring the Batibot app to remote, underserved
communities, Smart installs the app in the tablets it donates to public schools
under the TechnoCart and School-in-a-Bag programs.
Smart TechnoCart, which is donated to public schools with
electricity, is a 2x2 ft mobile laboratory containing 20 tablets for students,
as well as a laptop, projector, and mobile Wi-Fi with starter load for the
teacher. The School-in-a-Bag, which is meant for remote public schools without
electricity, is a backpack containing a solar panel, a laptop, five tablets, a
mobile phone, a pocket Wi-Fi with starter load, LED TV, and learning modules.
Smart as well as individual and corporate sponsors have
so far donated TechnoCarts to 40 schools, and School-in-a-Bag units to 18
schools all over the Philippines.
Teachers of the recipient schools are given training on
tablet basics and on child and curriculum development.
“Combined with guidance from elders, mobile devices and
the internet can be powerful tools in enhancing learning among children,”
Isberto said.
“Batibot helped shape a generation of Filipinos, many of
whom are now parents and teachers. They now have an opportunity to share the
Batibot learning experience with their children and students through the
Batibot app,” he added.
To know more about Smart’s initiatives to use technology
for the development of different social sectors like education, please follow
the Smart Communities page on Facebook. Those interested to sponsor Smart
TechnoCarts or School-in-a-Bag units may send an email to
TechnoCart@smart.com.ph for more information.
The Batibot app is the first educational app in Filipino
that is aligned with the kindergarten curriculum of the Department of
Education.
The app features local stories that promote Filipino
values.
No comments:
Post a Comment