PlayKidx is building a product that was inspired during the pandemic. The pandemic shifted the education from offline to online, which dramatically affected young children. Their young and developing minds require active interaction and offline play with their hands.
Kidx Classbox is unique because it allows children to use physical toys to interact with online learning. The core benefits of such as system include
Offline play for developmentally appropriate learning
AI for personalized and adaptive learning
Online for large content scalability
Portable for learn anywhere anytime
Interactive videos for real active engagement
I had a chance to interview Dhonam Pemba from PlayKidx to learn more.
Why was Kidx Classbox created?
The product was created due to the Pandemic. A little background on myself and my partner Jim. I have long history in AI edtech and brain sciences. My first company was all digital apps for children to learn languages based on neuroscience. The idea was to expose children to the world’s sounds to that they can learn a language better later in life. I also had a neuroscience based training company for athletes, we used real videos in an immersive manner to train team USA volleyball for the Rio olympics, as well as MLB, NBA, NCAA, NHL and other professional sports. My current company KidX is with Jim, and we were providing AI services for voice and conversation for children robotics companies, my experience was more closer to the AI and Jim brought the hardware and robotics experiences as well business relationships with many robotics companies.. Then the pandemic hit and all business models changed.. Jim my cofounder, his son is Monessori school, and it was shut own and had to turn to online learning. Jim actually monitored his son's online apps, and he came to the conclusion that they are just like games and he needs something better. Since Jim isn't a teacher, he ran out of ideas of how to intellectually stimulate his child offline. He wished there was a product that had the content and accessibility of online but used a more natural offline interaction. At the same time, my nieces were sent home from school as well, turning their school into a zoom experience. Also, my aunt is a montessori trainer, and her teaching had to move to online too, which was extremely difficult as montessori focuses on child centered hands on learning. Although, online education is sufficient for older kids and adults, it just isn't good enough for the developing child's brain. From my previous experiences of building video based immersion apps to children apps, and Jim’s experience with robotics and hardware, we felt it was time to combine the two and build a solution for the new education model for young children of the world.
We believe that Covid has changed the world forever and even after this pandemic, the world will always embrace online early education, and therefore it needs to improve. They thought about how they can bring offline learning to an online experience, and that was how KidX Classbox was conceived.
What are some characteristics of the Montessori philosophy that make it so appropriate and engaging for kids?
Montessori focuses on child centered developmentally appropriate learning. Developmentally appropriate learning refers to the sensitive period of brain development for a child and the crucial first 6 years of life where a child’s brain is like a sponge. This is critical for learning as children learn differently than adults, if it's too hard their brain won’t be engaged, if its too easy, their brain will be bored. The Montessori method tries to focus on the child and hit the sweet spot and engage them for optimal learning. We choose the Montessori math progarm and used the number rods because its a concrete way to learn math.
Montessori Rods allow children to learn through concrete touch, common sense and logic rather than through abstract route memorization. It allows for step by step child centered learning while also helping to develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. By using the rods a child can take an abstract concept like "length" and make it concrete by holding it in their hands.
What do you say to parents and caregivers who may be hesitant about using digital tools with their kids?
The key concerns for parents with digital tools are the effects on the eyes, attention span, and lack of physical interaction. The screen effects on the eye are reduced with our system because of the distance from the screen that our system is set up for play.
Attention span and impulse control are actually improved because they need to follow instructions and interact at specific times. Our product is more like real world human interaction rather than the instant gratification of video games.
With concerns around lack of physical interaction and no fine motor development, our whole product revolves around physical play, the screen is only the display, the majority of the time the children will be looking, thinking and interacting with their physical objects.
What is the benefit of combining toys with digital tools?
The idea to combine the two provides benefits of online learning with necessity for offline play. Online learning provides the benefits of learning anywhere anytime, large scalable content that can be updated with a simple download, and personalized learning and progress tracking. However, it lacks the hands-on play that is needed for young children’s development. By combining toys with digital toys, a child can learn in a more developmentally appropriate way, but also have access to better content. I believe having the best teacher with the child with good materials is better than online combining offline, but it’s impossible to have the best teacher, with constant curriculum and content updates for every child in the world. By combining the two we get an alternative version of being in a real classroom, playing with real toys and with a real teacher.
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