4 ms·

https://onebillion.org.uk/apps https://onebillion.org.uk/apps

by ook 12y ago

DanBC 12y ago
Holy moly - the "maths age 3 to 5" app is expensive. £15.99 for "all topics". That's $25.
- bottled_poe 12y ago
  Or cheap, depending on what it is actually worth.
- Silhouette 12y ago
  So these apps reportedly get a child the equivalent of 18 months of mathematical development in 6 weeks of short, fun sessions? In that case, it does seem the £15.99 price is off by at least an order of magnitude, but I suspect we disagree on the direction.
  - vidarh 12y ago
    For comparison, there are UK private primary schools that will cost you about GBP 12k/year that deliver far less measurable benefit (if any) than that, that are still wildly successful at attracting students.
    - makomk 12y ago
      The benefit of those is generally teaching kids how to pass the entrance exams for good secondary schools.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    If it works. The BBC don't link to this study. It's not linked on Dr Pitchford's website - http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/staff/njp/research.html http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/staff/njp/research.ht... There's a PDF called "unlocking talent" on the onebillion website, but that crashes iOS Chrome so I haven't been able to read it. It's not peer reviewed. It's not blinded. https://onebillion.org.uk/downloads/unlocking-talent-final-report.pdf https://onebillion.org.uk/downloads/unlocking-talent-final-r... I can find plenty of published research for stuff which is pure horseshit - brain gym - or for stuff approachig horseshit in the way it's applied - Omega 3; learning styles; a lot of "cures" for dyslexia. So far I have a press release from a company saying "trust us, our app works" with nothing to corroborate it. What do you get for £16? Sorting and matching Counting to 3 Lines and patterns Counting 4 to 6 Where is it? Counting 7 to 10 Patterns and shapes Counting 1 to 10 Comparing Add and take away. That's an under whelming list. It's the bare knuckle minimum you'd tolerate if you had a 1:90 teacher:pupil ratio. Tldr: give them the money because educating Malawian children is good, but for your own children buy a book and do it yourself.

https://onebillion.org.uk/apps https://onebillion.org.uk/apps

by ook 12y ago

https://onebillion.org.uk/apps https://onebillion.org.uk/apps

DanBC 12y ago

Holy moly - the "maths age 3 to 5" app is expensive. £15.99 for "all topics". That's $25.

bottled_poe 12y ago
Or cheap, depending on what it is actually worth.
Silhouette 12y ago
So these apps reportedly get a child the equivalent of 18 months of mathematical development in 6 weeks of short, fun sessions? In that case, it does seem the £15.99 price is off by at least an order of magnitude, but I suspect we disagree on the direction.
- vidarh 12y ago
  For comparison, there are UK private primary schools that will cost you about GBP 12k/year that deliver far less measurable benefit (if any) than that, that are still wildly successful at attracting students.
  - makomk 12y ago
    The benefit of those is generally teaching kids how to pass the entrance exams for good secondary schools.
- DanBC 12y ago
  If it works. The BBC don't link to this study. It's not linked on Dr Pitchford's website - http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/staff/njp/research.html http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/staff/njp/research.ht... There's a PDF called "unlocking talent" on the onebillion website, but that crashes iOS Chrome so I haven't been able to read it. It's not peer reviewed. It's not blinded. https://onebillion.org.uk/downloads/unlocking-talent-final-report.pdf https://onebillion.org.uk/downloads/unlocking-talent-final-r... I can find plenty of published research for stuff which is pure horseshit - brain gym - or for stuff approachig horseshit in the way it's applied - Omega 3; learning styles; a lot of "cures" for dyslexia. So far I have a press release from a company saying "trust us, our app works" with nothing to corroborate it. What do you get for £16? Sorting and matching Counting to 3 Lines and patterns Counting 4 to 6 Where is it? Counting 7 to 10 Patterns and shapes Counting 1 to 10 Comparing Add and take away. That's an under whelming list. It's the bare knuckle minimum you'd tolerate if you had a 1:90 teacher:pupil ratio. Tldr: give them the money because educating Malawian children is good, but for your own children buy a book and do it yourself.