Technology has penetrated nearly every aspect of modern human life. From large-scale bullet trains to little gadgets such as the iphoneXsMax, technological inventions have been considered the pinnacle of human achievement, combining intelligence with ingenuity to solve many of society's problems.
With regards to exposing my little ones to technology, I however, have my reservations and am very cautious during selection. I don't deny that throwing them the ipad or turning on netflix does give me a breather, but things have to be in moderation.
With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, as well as the development of a buffet spread of social media platforms, schools are also embracing technology in a big way. Some schools provide students with an ipad each for their studies while most will have e-learning once every term. It is unavoidable. And this reality has finally dawned upon us. Big K has entered Primary school this year and while I have always knew that students would need to use the computer for their work, I didn't expect it to be this soon. Big K frequently has homework from Koobits, a portal where Mathematics homework is set by the teachers. As much as I resent that, I have to embrace and adapt.
When Smartick contacted us for a review, I was excited. Reason being, Big K was bored of Koobits and to be honest, a little scared. I had only myself to blame as there was once an avalanche of homework and we had to work on our online homework as well. The questions were rather repetitive and when Big K did not know her work, I snapped. Since then, she had a phobia and I was hoping to find another programme to redeem myself! Afterall, which kid doesn't like to deal with the computer? Kindof weird in this technological era right?
After a 3-month trial, I'm proud to announce that Big K loves the programme. Let me bring you through the programme.
What is Smartick?
It is Singapore’s first truly artificial
intelligence (AI) driven online enrichment platform. Fronted by its award-winning AI
mechanism, Smartick adapts to your child’s level of understanding and learning in math
accordingly with a variation of approaches and exercises – including mental calculation,
arithmetic, logic, and word problems. It is ideal for children aged between 4 to 14 years old
Features include:
- AI mechanism which allows Smartick to adapt to your child’s level of understanding and learning in math
- Daily bite-sized 15-minute online session
- A dashboard for parents to keep track of the child's progress
- Email reminders should your child not complete the assignment
- Virtual games
Awards and recognition:
Smartick is recognized by the MIT G-Lab (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), published by the Harvard Business Review and featured by Apple as a smart educational learning platform, and is currently used by thousands of children in over 100 countries
" By incorporating the AI algorithm formulated by our team of engineers and math experts, it enables us to serve children who can go further than the average student at school and, at the same time, help the ones who are falling behind,” said Daniel De Vega, Co-founder of Smartick
We were given the opportunity to review both at a Primary 1 and 4 level. Here's our take:
PRIMARY 1
Before you commence, the child is able to create an avatar of their choice. This was a great way to entice a young child.
Initially, while testing out the system, I was appalled. The first few questions were so easy! I mean 2+1? Seriously? You will never find that in a Primary 1 test paper. However, it does progressively get more difficult and if you notice, the vibrant interface and the use of various ways like the rekenrek allow the child to visualise better. Children this age are very visual, hence having little ducks or beads, will help them in having a deeper conceptual understanding. In anycase, the level of difficulty does increase.
If the child is tired, she can also opt to take a break and continue later.
It isn't all about addition and subtraction. There are also logic questions which help develop critical thinking skills. This is sadly lacking in many students these days.
Upon completion, you will receive your results. Stars are accumulated and awarded as a form of reward. And here's the fun part! After completing the day's challenge, the child is able to enter the Virtual World and have some fun! This is the reason why Big K was motivated! It was such a game changer! Before you start thinking that gaming is a vice, I'll let you in on a little secret -- I personally like these games too! They aren't your typical Beat Saber or Rober Recall or Counterstrike, these are intellectual games we are talking about!
They are categorised accounting to various genres: Memory, reasoning, attention and perception. Under each section, there are several games and levels to choose from.
MEMORY GAMES
Even for the games, things get progressively difficult. Starting with just a few squares for the memory game, the intensity heightens with more grids after a while.
REASONING
Tic Tac Toe. This must be one of Big K's favourite! She is familiar with this game but the cute animation made it a novelty for her.
ATTENTION
There are 3 level of difficulties: Easy, Medium and Hard. For Big K, she was sufficiently challenged at level 1. For some of these attention games, one has to work on not only attention but cognitive flexibility -- A skill which is quite difficult to train should you simply plough through tons of assessment books.
PERCEPTION
Big K particularly love this section. Perhaps it has to do with her good visualisation skills which is tested in the game Entangled. Bubble Pop was another favourite of Big K's. In this game, you work on perception and spatial reasoning.
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| Bubble pop |
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| Entangled |
The game will become more difficult. Higher levels will test your memory capacity as figures become more complex. To make things a little more challenging, the child is also timed. This further enhances the child's ability to process quickly. A skill essential for the Math papers as time is always not enough particularly for the upper levels.
These games are fun for the younger ones but I can envision that a 12 or 14year old may not find joy in such games. Due to the lack of time, we were not able to do the questions on a daily basis. It is however a system which allows independent learning should your child have access to the computer even when you aren't around.
PRIMARY 4
We also had the opportunity to review the system with a Primary 4 child. The content is in line with the Singapore's Math Syllabus. However, one thing to note is that we aren't able to zoom into a particular topic and work more on it. Hence if you are looking at reinforcement of certain concepts, this programme won't do the job.
Using the computer to drag those dots for a symmetry question beats using a pencil to draw.
Once again, the programme started out really easy for the child.
Things do get increasingly challenging with new concepts like exponential being introduced. This isn't something which a typical primary school would be teaching, however, having such knowledge aids your ability to solve questions for topics such as Area and Perimeter. For this purpose, I had to give a bit of explanation to the child for her to understand. Don't fret if you don't know how to explain. There is a "I don't know" button where you can seek assistance.
Little nugget of reward is injected.
As before, after completing the questions, the child is able to proceed to the Virtual World for some fun! I was particularly delighted when I spotted a Tangram game. You would probably already know that I am quite big on right brain and visual training. Skills are subtly imparted through such games.
Over and above, I do think that it is a good system to supplement should you have the time to spare. Afterall, 15minutes isn't a lot isn't it?
Psst: look what I have discovered! Should you wish to give it a try, key in the above code and receive 25% off your first subscription!
Technology never stands still; it is always on the move. When utilised wisely, benefits can be reaped.
Smartick is indeed a new way to engage and educate!
Disclosure: We were given a 3-month trial to review their programme. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and written according to my experience in using the products/ services.
