Hamiltonian developers of an innovative educational application

An innovative educational app created by a Hamilton company is about to become a reality.

Jason Metcalfe, founder of AL-Oose Rhyming House, revealed that his story app The brave little worm will soon be ready for mobile release.

The app is designed for children aged 3 to 7. It is narrated in common rhyming English inspired by Dr. Seuss, and presents players with entertaining tasks and puzzles to help them learn visually, audibly and interactively.

Metcalfe started working on the app in 2012 on the premise that if kids were to be online, it made sense that they would learn as well.

“This is about quality screen time,” said Metcalfe.

“If you can get a kid to play something they enjoy, but actually learn a few basics, that’s a pretty exciting area to explore.”

During his second year studying digital media at Wintec, Metcalfe began to create a traditional story, like a book.

Then Apple’s iPad was launched and he realized that it would be a great interactive medium to make the story available.

The brave little worm is not so much a journey story, but a story where the user can touch the screen and interact in a way that allows them to become more engaged.

“I guess it’s that old battle of analytics versus the visual,” Metcalfe said.

“We now live in a world where apparently two-thirds of children are visual learners.

“Some kids don’t feel like they’re still and forced to focus on words. Personally, from my own learning journey and my wife’s learning journey and with our children – we have struggling to read, spell and stuff like that. “

The family also has a childcare business, in which they realized that the children largely follow play-based learning until they start school.

To begin the final stage in the development of The brave little worm, AL-Oose rhyming house runs a Launch campaign to push for a final boost of corporate funds through the Waikato Company.