A to Z safari

An alphabet app designed by Deakin University researchers specialising in literacy education, IT and graphic design to support children beginning to learn letter-sound relationships using research into memory retention. Tested with Australian primary school students, the ‘form-taking’ images used in this app have been found to be more effective at assisting children to learn common letter-sound relationships than images that are not form-taking (e.g. integrated images). A to Z Safari offers engaging mini-games to explore and reinforce letter-sound relationships, along with a password-protected admin/data area where students’ progress and gameplay statistics are recorded – data which can be emailed directly to the teacher. A to Z Safari has not been designed to replace classroom activities, but was designed as an electronic application to complement them. An A3-sized alphabet chart accompanies the app in the teacher area so that teachers can print the charts out to place on their students’ tables for their reference outside of game play.