The teachers and the principal of 137th school "Angel Kanchev" in Sofia, Bulgaria shared their experience with Jumpido over the last one year. The school is one of the few mentor schools in innovation of Microsoft's "Innovative schools program - Partners in learning".
Naturally, this means they have great experience with different educational technologies. This unique view point allows them to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of Jumpido and Kinect for Windows, which is now their favorite and most used software. The main reason for this is, of course, the children, as the principal Mariana Zakova puts it:
Now [with Jumpido] the students come to school with increased interest... They learn better than when using the standard approaches.
Ms. Zakova believes that one of the main responsibilities of any principal is to provide better learning environment and make pupils feel comfortable at school. From this standpoint, she is convinced that the investment in Jumpido is well worth it for any school:
The investment is worth when we [the principals] create high achieving environment where
the work of the teachers is appreciated and the students come to school with desire to learn
and leave with good results. I highly recommend it to all my colleagues.
In this respect Jumpido is a wonderful tool that helps educators create the school setting they want.
Societies around the world are facing the most rapid changes in human history. Innovations in the educational sector are not just desirable, but necessary in order for today's children to be competitive in tomorrow's world. Therefore, educational technologies have to adapt rapidly in order to stay useful, practicing e-tests or exploring virtual 3D models is not enough anymore. The new technologies have to develop not just the academic skills of the students, but also their non-academic traits. Jumpido in combination with Kinect, has been focusing on combination of strong educational benefits with developing team spirit, responsibility in students and increasing their concentration. As the teacher Desislava Milenkova, who is Microsoft Innovative Schools coach, says:
The increase in the math results are obvious, [because] their motivation to learn is higher now.
The students become more responsible and thoughtful towards what they do... I see this changes all the time,
not only when we play Jumpido.
When using any educational product, two factors are most important for the teachers - does it help with improving the results of the students and does it increase their motivation and overall attitude. According to the teacher Maya Tisovska this game-based approach of Jumpido brings these two factors together:
The new approaches such as Jumpido inspire the students and increase their willingness to learn.
Her colleague Klavdiya Petrova prefers to use the software when she is evaluating the students:
I think Jumpido is especially useful in summarizing and exercising lessons.
The students think of it as a game, but in the same time we [the teachers] can evaluate their results.
Other very important aspect of Jumpido is the collaboration it fosters between students. Most of the games are specifically designed in order to make the students work together and help each other during the games. This allows them to learn better, be accountable in front of their peers and learn how to work together. The teacher Stanislava Nikiforova managed to include these features beyond the students who are playing at the moment and make the whole class participate:
Everyone participates in the games, nobody is bored or forgets why they are in class...
Everyone is into the game!
At a recent study among 105 teachers using Jumpido, all of them say that they recommend Jumpido to their colleagues. When asked whether other teachers should use Jumpido in their classrooms Desislava Milenkova says outright direct:
The words are unnecessary... All I say to my colleagues is come, see the reaction of the students,
feel the emotion, and I am sure you will want Jumpido in your classroom as well!
“We recently started to work with Jumpido and I am happy to share that it has established itself as one of the preferred and most effective ways of classroom learning. We noticed significant improvement in the engagement and math skills of children. In my opinion, Jumpido is a great asset to every primary school. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is looking for ways to improve the results and the overall experience of students.”
School principal
“I like the program because it makes math interesting!”
7 years old
“Regular physical activity is important for children because it helps to prevent obesity and improves energy levels. The motions that Jumpido requires have been carefully selected in order to be safe for pupils. Playing Jumpido helps children to have an active lifestyle and enjoy mathematics.”
Kinesiologist
“Jumpido represents what educational technologies should bring to the classroom - increased engagement of students, real value in terms of content and a product which is suitable for all students.”
Advisor to the Minister of Education and Science, Republic of Bulgaria
“In 2011, the team behind Jumpido was the first company in Central and Eastern Europe to become partner of Microsoft's Technology Adoption Program (TAP) for Kinect for Windows. This recognition is offered to only the most motivated and innovative companies after a careful selection process. This makes Jumpido one of the pioneers of using the technology.”
Education Industry Lead, Microsoft
