A new app facilitates number and arithmetic learning in children with special educational needs

Researchers at the Campus de Alcoi of the Universitat Politècnica de València have created a new app that facilitates number and arithmetic learning in children between five and eight with special educational needs.

The project has been funded by the Norwegian Directorate for Education. Bergen University College and Statped Vest, a public institution in the Scandinavian country specialised in education for disabled communities (Statped Vest), have also participated in the development of this research work.

This application includes Spanish and Norwegian versions and comprises more than 250 small games with which children can learn the fundamentals of arithmetic and numbers in a fun way. The role of the research group VertexLit of the Universitat Politècnica de València in this project has been focused on the graphic design of the application and the programming and implementation for Android and iOS.

"Facilitating mathematical learning in this community was an ambitious challenge; the joint work with our Norwegian partners has been a great success and has enabled us to develop a very useful, efficient and fun application", explains Jordi Linares, representative of the VertexLit Group.

The application is already available for Android and Apple mobile devices in their respective markets and is completely free of charge. It can be downloaded from the website tella123.org.

This is the most ambitious project developed by the VertexLit Group and it was successfully presented at the Norwegian Directorate for Education in Oslo on December 3rd.

New projects

The UPV researchers are now working on developing a new English version of Tella, as well as on the adaptation of the app to other educational formats such as interactive blackboards.

In addition, as a product of the good results obtained in the Tella project, the VertexLit Group of the UPV, together with Bergen University College, is working on a new application to encourage children to play sports.

"This application will encourage sports and a healthier lifestyle among children; it is designed for children to play sports in a more interactive way in front of a videogame", explains Jordi Linares. The project is in the last stage of development and it was assigned directly to the work team of the UPV and the University College of Bergen by the National Centre for Food, Health and Physical Activity.