We are proud to announce our partnership with start-up Scientific EdTech, which will help the development of a game app helping children learn math. This week, the app was tested in Massive’s Games Lab for the very first time.
“Except the games we’re working on, this is by far the most interesting project I’ve had the opportunity to be part of,” says Robert Jansson, Games Lab Project Manager and one of the people now involved in the Massive-EdTech partnership.
Scientific EdTech works with digital educational materials based on scientific research. The company has developed a gamified app teaching basic math to children, based on game design and CBT.
“This collaboration with Massive means so much to us. It gives us the opportunity to use their Games Lab to study how the children react when they use our math app. For example, we can follow their eye movements and measure their reactions, which is incredibly valuable to us in the continued development,” says Martin Hassler Hallstedt, CEO of Scientific EdTech.
Today the app will be tested in the Games Lab for the very first time by Martin’s daughter Birgit and Robert’s daughter Ella.
As Martin takes place in the observation room, Robert boots up the app in the Lab.
“The very core of the app is scientific. And with Massive’s help, we can now make sure the app is also fun – not only for the children, but also for their teachers and parents. It’s so important that they want to play it, not just in school, but also at home,” explains Martin.
It’s so important that they want to play it, not just in school, but also at home.
In his doctoral research in psychology at Lund’s University, Martin was able to show that 8-year old children who learnt mathematics in a game environment could catch up on a whole term’s worth of critical knowledge.
On the other side of the screen, Ella starts up the app for the first time. They can see her move around in the game and stop by one of the checkpoints where she starts doing some counting.
“We want them to explore the world as they learn. Most of the time spent in the game should be about learning, of course, but like I said before, we also need the element of fun, which we hope that we can create with the help of Massive,” says Martin as Ella successfully finishes the checkpoint. On the screen, the characters are doing a little dance. Martin laughs.
“We’ve added a little dance every time they solve a problem – it’s important to celebrate successes!”
Massive and EdTech is in for the long-run. In the future, they plan to help educate not only children, but also teachers who struggle with digital material in class.
“I believe that through this collaboration between Massive and EdTech, we can help change the conditions for millions of children who struggle with math,” concludes Robert.
