5 min - Songs and interactive audio features support young learners
- Game-like learning process enhances motivation and has a positive impact on students’ performance
- Individualisation and assessment to meet each students’ learning needs
Novakid has released a new course Get Ready! for learners who are 4 to 5 years of age. The course is part of the Novakid Game World story-based immersive learning environment that is filled with educational games, songs and beloved characters.
Get Ready! is an English course for children with no prior knowledge of the language. From their very first lesson, young learners are exposed to colour, sound and music features as well as interactive technology to help them speak, listen and master basic English words and phrases.
“With a strong focus on speaking, our Get Ready! course offers a variety of activities to engage young learners. The main difference between Get Ready! and our other courses is that Get Ready! is for children who are only just starting to learn English. It therefore provides all the necessary support that young students need to build a solid foundation, gain confidence and have fun while learning,” comments Simon Andrew, educational content developer at Novakid.
Songs and interactive audio features support young learners
Songs are a proven way to develop speaking skills, reinforce vocabulary and practise grammatical structures in a meaningful context. Moreover, studies show that the use of music and songs in teaching a foreign language helps overcome a language barrier and make young learners feel more confident in their skills thanks to the stress-free learning environment.
That’s why each unit in Get Ready! features educational songs and music videos with animation and illustrations. This content ensures that the young ESL learners are immersed in English in an engaging and stress-free way.
Game-like learning process enhances motivation and has a positive impact on students’ performance
The research “Benefits of story-based curriculum and gamification to young ESL students’ learning outcomes” (Novakid Inc., 2022) showed that the gamified learning environment and the story-line increase students’ motivation and engagement rate resulting in 39% better learning performance.
That is why Get Ready! as well as other ESL courses at Novakid is based on gamification to maximise students’ engagement through a wide range of different gameful activities and a reward system. The mini-games are based on the student’s level and can be played before or after each lesson. Get Ready! games feature colourful visuals and audio- and, mostly importantly, do not rely on text.
“This is important for young learners, as they aren’t expected to be able to read yet. However, the absence of written words doesn’t negatively influence the educational value of mini-games but still allows students to practise the topics studied in the lessons,” comments Simon Andrew.
Individualisation and assessment to meet each students’ learning needs
Novakid emphasises personalization using ML-assisted data extraction and analysis to cater to the unique needs of our young learners. Using a data-driven approach, the platform gathers detailed data on each student’s level of achievement and learning styles to create individualised curriculums. We monitor how well the child has mastered a particular grammatical structure, whether they often forget words or pauses in their speech.
The technology-driven approach neutralises external factors in the assessment. However, the involvement of teachers in the grading process and individualisation is extremely important, especially during the lessons.
“As part of our efforts to help each student with their individual learning needs, we’ve introduced pop-ups to help teachers give students the best support possible. They allow the teacher to easily switch between the parts of the learning content, directing them to activities most suited to the student’s needs,” commented the Novakid’s Educational Content department.
