Date: Jun 03, 2014 Source: SBIR.gov (
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On June 3, 2014, New York City-based education technology firm Teachley won a 2014 Apple Design Award (see: https://developer.apple.com/design/awards/) for their app, Addimal Adventure. Each year, Apple hosts the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, during which they recognize outstanding iOS apps. Teachley: Addimal Adventure, available free for iPad, was 1 of 12 apps to win this award. The research and development of this app is supported with funding from a 2012 Phase I and a 2013 Phase II award from the IES SBIR program.
Addimal Adventure is a research-based game that supports grade school students in using multiple strategies to learn mathematical concepts aligned to Common Core standards. To play the game, students use and manipulate blocks, linker tubes, number lines, and interact with engaging pedagogical agents such as parrots and sloths. The system provides immediate formative feedback on performance, including cues when students do not know the answer to a question. A teacher management system supports classroom integration and produces reports for to guide teacher instruction. Pilot research on Addimal Adventure in the fall of 2012 demonstrated that gameplay was associated with more efficient strategies and improved fact fluency on posttest measures among a sample of struggling 3rd graders (see White Paper). A larger efficacy study to demonstrate the impact of the game is planned for the 2014-2015 school year.
To view a video demo of Addimal Adventure, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly_3IitxBFo
Teachley was founded in 2012 by Kara Carpenter, Dana Pagar, and Rachael Labrecque, former teachers with PhDs in Cognition and Learning from Teachers College, Columbia University. Teachley was the runner up in NBC's Education Nation Innovation Challenge in 2013. Teachley recently launched its second app, Mt. Multiplis, which focuses on multiplication, which is also available on the app store for free download.
The IES SBIR program within ED's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) provides funding to firms and partners for the research, development, and evaluation of commercially viable education technology products, including interventions, tools, and games, to support student learning or other relevant outcomes in regular or special education, or to support teacher practice.
