80 schools test an app that helps children learning to read playfully
In order to further improve reading among Hamburg's schoolchildren, the school authority will be using the reading app kluug in the future. The app was developed in cooperation between the Hamburg school authority, scientists from the University of Wuppertal and the Hamburg-based startup LEAD Lernen digital GmbH. The school authority is investing around 160,000 euros in the app by the summer of 2023, starting with licenses for about 10,000 students at 80 Hamburg elementary schools.
The app is geared toward the most diverse needs of pupils
The app is designed to help puplis learning to read in a fun way. They can play a total of eight reading games on their cell phones, laptops or tablets, each with up to 65 levels of difficulty. These range from putting together individual letters in the easiest reading game ("Making letters") to analyzing and understanding complex texts in the most difficult reading game ("In the labyrinth of riddles"). The program is thus unique compared to other language and reading apps in the German-speaking world. The structure of the app is simple and self-explanatory. Children play the reading games best in pairs. Short videos explain the games in different languages.
The complexity and level of difficulty increase from game to game: Games one to three lay the foundations and are aimed primarily at pupils who are still unfamiliar with the German language and the writing system. Games four to six are aimed at normally reading children who want to train their reading fluency and expand their own vocabulary. In games seven and eight, pupils can learn more complex reading strategies and thus better understand more difficult texts. Due to these different levels of difficulty, everyone can be supported according to their learning level. In the process, kluug also determines the learning progress and then continuously adjusts the level and difficulty of the games.
To monitor the app's success, the Hamburg School Authority and the Hamburg Institute for Educational Monitoring and Quality Development (IfBQ) are working closely with Prof. Gailberger of the University of Wuppertal and his staff. LEAD Lernen digital GmbH provides all metadata for this purpose and is actively involved in the evaluation. Participants will also be involved in the evaluation with interviews and questionnaires.
