Kenyan app development firm Thirst Interactive has launched an Android app, MyTichaa, to teach young children Swahili through a range of picture puzzles.
MyTichaa, available on smartphones and tablets, looks to turn passive learning into an active experience through technology.
The free app utilises picture puzzles featuring different object groups, such as animals, fruits, furniture and utensils, to capture the attention of children aged three to nine.
“Games or any other interactive module makes the language content easy to understand since kids find them fun and engaging. Simple text is not so attractive so addition of certain things makes it interesting,” Allan Clinton, product developer for MyTichaa, told HumanIPO.
“When children are using technology such as games to learn, they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of information transmitted by a teacher, textbook, or broadcast. The kid is actively making choices about how to generate, obtain, manipulate, or display information.”
Clinton said technology use allows more children to actively think about information, make choices and execute skills than in more traditional teacher-led lessons.
The app is currently available for free, and can be downloaded via the Google Play store, while paying editions of the game will also be released in the future with more extensive categories.
