We are currently in the process of planning development of Tommy Teaches variants better suited for children with special needs.
Summary
Some time ago we released Tommy Teaches, an app aimed at helping young children learn a range of subjects in a fun and engaging way.
The app is free and it was very well received by parents and teachers alike. Engagement is good. Kids like it. It uses concepts such as spaced repetition and adaptive algorithms with the aim of producing better results faster than common approaches. A great deal of effort was devoted to making the app fun and engaging.
A surprising finding was that the Special Ed teachers and parents loved the concept and started to use it right away when they could. They quickly expressed the need for variants that would deal with the spectrum of disabilities they encounter. We've had a range of interesting conversations with both parents and teachers in order to further understand what's needed.
The conclusion was simple: We can and would very much like to help.
A typical Special Ed class might have a situation where nearly every child has a different disability or different degrees of the same disability. This is a significant challenge in that it is nearly impossible to create a single app that will best serve every child in the class. Because of this it is likely we will have to conduct dozens -if not hundreds- of experiments as well as hire specialists to help guide the effort.
We are excited about the potential to contribute to this community by taking Tommy Teaches –a technology inspired by our own kids- and adapting it to address the needs of children with special educational requirements.
Until then, please take a moment to download our current free app and give it a test run. You can send us feedback right from the app. Suggestions are always welcome.
Thank you.