Filip Brož The iPad itself offers hundreds of different educational apps and games thanks to the App Store. Modern technology has progressed to such a level within a few years that it is quite common for the iPad to be integrated into the curriculum in all types of schools. Abroad, its use is even slightly greater than in our country. However, if children want to study and learn at home, they are dependent on separate applications that they have to download individually.
At the same time, such learning often does not have an order, because the applications are not connected in any way, the curriculum does not follow each other and, above all, everything is done differently everywhere. However, an exception is, for example, a Czech act True4Kids SmartPark. This application offers a complete school on the iPad for children of preschool and school age and, at least in the field of Czech education, it has practically no competition. It is not just study materials, but added value in the form of a special MagicPen.
The True4Kids SmartPark application is closely linked to the MagicPen, as the pen is an integral part of the learning process. The application itself is free to download, but only after purchasing the pen, which costs a little over one thousand crowns, will the complete educational content be unlocked. Then you don't have to buy anything, everything is ready. SmartPark is mainly intended for children from 3 to 12 years of age, but thanks to the range of activities offered, it can be used earlier or even later.
The educational content of the application was created in cooperation with professional educators, and thanks to interactive programs, children can learn not only to read, write, draw and count, but they can also learn the basics of the English language or sing their favorite songs and nursery rhymes.
Magic pen
Of course, the application can also be controlled classically using fingers and touches. However, SmartPark with a special pen makes much more sense, especially because it gives them feedback. The MagicPen is ergonomically and design-designed so that it fits well in the hand of children, despite the fact that at first glance it seems quite robust. Interestingly, the communication between the pen and the iPad is solved - everything is based on sound waves, so no pairing via Bluetooth or anything similar is necessary.
The MagicPen is powered by two classic AAA batteries. These are stored in the upper part of the pen. On the MagicPen itself, we can find several buttons that work differently, and children will only discover what they are for over time. Underneath this magical control "wheel" are four rubberized buttons for switching between writing, erasing and step forward/back. The MagicPen must be turned on with the top button.
Although pairing is not necessary, the activation code must be entered at the first start-up, which can be found on the back of the attached instructions in the MagicPen package. You will then create your own account with a password for possible application recovery. All content and individual learning materials are then downloaded from a special developer cloud.
At first glance, the MagicPen behaves like a regular stylus, thanks to which you can scroll and browse the content in the application. The joke, however, is that the pen, for example, provides feedback to children in the form of vibrations while drawing. This feedback works very simply – if the child makes a mistake while completing a task, for example writing individual letters of the alphabet, the pen alerts them by vibrating. Although this principle is not at all complicated, it results in a significant increase in the effectiveness of education, as the child remembers the correct solution more quickly.
MagicPen also offers a lot of interesting and hidden gadgets, which are not only described in the attached Czech manual, but can also be discovered while using the application. Personally, what I like most about the SmartPark app is that it provides parents with a complete service of what the child is doing in the app, including his results and progress. Various individual plans and personal schedules are an integral part of the application.
We are learning
The SmartPark application is very intuitive and simple. The main menu is divided into several categories: Library, Drawing, Study corner, Drink with me, Listening and Parental control. All study materials are logically divided into different sections, with children always starting with the simplest subjects and working their way up to more advanced skills.
The main part of the application is the Study Corner, which contains, for example, interactive books for teaching mathematics, logical thinking, science, language, art, culture, social sciences or the English language. However, only parents can download the study material itself. Every time you click into the cloud, i.e. into the library, where new materials are found, parents have to solve a simple math problem and only then can they download the new curriculum for their children for free. This principle of parental control works in all sections and ensures that children in the application focus on the selected task and do not look for others.
The second important part of the application is the Library, which serves to develop children's imagination and knowledge of the surrounding world. Children can look forward to thirty stories and fairy tales that will keep them entertained for hours. All texts are spoken by actor and presenter Karel Zima in an engaging way, and some stories also contain interactive puzzles. In addition to stories, various thematic encyclopedias from the world of animals are also available here.
An important part of the SmartPark application is the writing, drawing and listening section. Thanks to this, the children can acquire new vocabulary and improve their expression skills. In the drawing section, there are various pre-drawn images for the development of creativity and art, various coloring books, fillers and blank papers where children can realize themselves. They use a set of tools and color palettes for this. Thanks to the MagicPen, they can also erase, blur or shade in various ways, including the use of magic wheels, which are used, for example, to change colors. All created works can also be saved to the cloud to show off to parents or postpone the work for later.
During writing, on the other hand, children learn to write individual letters and simple words. Of course, children write everything using the MagicPen, which gives them the already mentioned feedback, thanks to which they remember and master the letters faster. Listening is also an interesting section, which contains lots of songs and nursery rhymes. Children can thus improve their pronunciation.
School in iPad
The MagicPen itself is available in three colors, and together with the SmartPark application, they offer dozens of educational materials that will keep children entertained for hours. Although the pen may not seem very attractive and practical at first glance, the developers did their best to make it as ergonomic as possible and to hold the child as well as possible.
The key is that the teaching materials are completely in Czech, so they are easy to use here. And if parents want, there is no problem to switch to English and improve in a foreign language. True4Kids SmartPark in combination with MagicPen represents an excellent and comprehensive platform for children's education, which, thanks to the responsive pen, offers something more than other solutions. In addition, parents have a perfect overview of their child's development.
On the website MagicPen.cz you can learn more about this educational program and also buy a MagicPen here, it costs 1 crowns. Together with the amount of teaching materials that you get for this one-time price, and above all the concept of how the child will be educated, it is definitely worth considering. If you are looking for a modern way of learning that can appeal to a child in other ways than just by learning something, then MagicPen is one of the most interesting options on the Czech market.
Brrr when I got measles, maybe all the experts in the world invented that pen, but none of them looked at it :D
The price is also funny, I click on 1190 and the price is 1490 :-D.
If that seems like a lot, buy an Appen
Since I watched Heureka, Appen is not much of a miracle. By the way, my wife and I bought this pen for our son for Christmas and it's really great, now we sit at the tablet every evening and listen to fairy tales, there are a lot of them and according to the manufacturer, all the others will be free in the future.