Kids in Barcelona discover TinyTap

A group of children in a town called Cunit just outside Barcelona recently discovered just how fun learning can be when their teacher used the TinyTap iPad app to turn moments into games.

The teacher, Pilar Soro, then created a series of short YouTubes clips which demonstrate just how simple it is to integrate this platform as a learning tool in the classroom.

We spoke to Soro about her experience of the platform as a learning aid. Here’s what she had to say.

Q: As a teacher, how effective did you find the TinyTap app as a teaching tool in the classroom?

Soro: It’s a great tool. I think students should produce their own educational content too, and being able to do it by creating a game it’s wonderful. They learn to structure their thinking: they have to think what to do before doing it, and organize their ideas before creating the game.

Q: What was it like to teach a lesson using the iPad app?

Soro: Kids enjoyed it a lot. Even the next day, at their free time, some asked if they could create another game.

Q: Could you tell me a bit about the lesson. How did you introduce the task to the children? What did you ask them to do? What were your teaching objectives for that lesson?

Soro: We told them that their mission was to create an educative game, and we showed them some examples. My teaching objectives were that, by creating the game, the kids practiced maths, natural sciences, geography and foreign language (in their case, English).

Some kids chose to search a map in Google, download it and show with TinyTap where their their country was.

In order to learn natural sciences they also picked photos from different animals and asked questions like ‘Tap on the fish, tap on the lion.

Some kids searched for photos of the parts of the house, the body, etc. and they used them to create a Tiny Tap game in English (their foreign language) with questions like ‘Where is the hand?’.

The younger kids (4 years old) took a picture of their face and they created a game with questions like ‘Tap my nose, tap my hair, etc.

Q: How did the children respond the app?

Soro: TinyTap is a very intuitive app. Kids learned very fast how to use it and they started to create more games after they’ve created the first, just because they wanted to. They even created TinyTaps about their favourite football players, favourite singers.
They also were very happy to show their creations to the other kids.

Q: Do you think you’ll use the TinyTap app in future lessons?

Soro: Of course! It stimulates students creativity and motivation. They can easily share their creations with the other kids and that increases their self-esteem.

Q: Any advice for teacher who wishes to incorporate the TinyTap app into their lessons?

Soro: I strongly recommend that they use it. It’s very easy and intuitive to use. If they leave their students alone with the app, kids will discover themselves how it works for themselves. The educational possibilities are endless, just like children’s creativity.

To Learn more read Soro’s post about TinyTap