
One Globe Kids – children’s stories from around the world, by Round by Design, has found a unique and undiscovered niche in the educational market and we think that they are onto something big! Children can “visit” friends from around the world and learn how different cultures operate. There are a total of eight friends at this time: Gabou and Valdo from Haiti, Jenissa from Burundi, Floor and Lars from The Netherlands, Luna and Lucian from NYC, and Aji from Indonesia. The developer,Anne Glick, plans to be adding more friends periodically and has two in the works right now. Each child tells their story of life, in a typical day format. The photography is fabulous (think National Geography) and that component alone makes this app well worth your time.
Anne Glick traveled extensively to develop this enriching app and did the gorgeous photography herself. The stories are available in three different languages and provide exposure to the native tongue of the children. After hearing real stories from around the globe, which are narrated by young, yet very professional sounding children, you are given a chance to record yourself speaking and counting in the new friend’s language. (Dutch, Creole, Kirundi, English, Bahasa). The app features other ways to interact with your new friends, the “Adventure” part of the story lets the child decide what course they want the story to take and what to do, activity wise. “Tell me about yourself” features listening and recording a conversation with new friends.
Teachers love this app! In addition to the varied cultures, students can learn interesting, kid-friendly facts about each country they visit. The potential for learning geography is a real bonus!
Recently, a New York Times article discussed the overwhelming positives to exposing children at a young age to different cultures, “…extensive interpersonal contact counteracts biases by letting people from hostile groups get to know one another as individuals and even friends.”
Each new friend invites you to play their games, learn their language and share their food – safe, international travel from your living room for world explorers 3 to 99 years!
The Globe We Share
•Designed to foster curiosity and openness, preparing children for success in the globalized world.
•Many educational uses – Ideal for classroom and home-based projects and discussions.
•Excellent way to bring international topics to life
Classroom Version:
Round by Design has just released a classroom version called, One Globe Kids 1. The developers behind these ingenious apps has been round the globe to bring you and your students a classroom version, which is void of any in app purchases! Perfect for the classroom, this app addresses much needed cultural diversity awareness in one gorgeous photograph after another!
In the Classroom:
•Each title is adaptable to student age and interest – keep topics simple or use it as a launch pad to explore complex international subjects;
•Social and emotional learning – discuss how children in the stories feel in different situations, what may be influencing their emotions and how students would feel in those situations;
•Compare and contrast themes and situations in the different stories with each other and with experiences of children in the class.
•Use titles as a starting place for student presentations and country research.
One Globe Kids 1 INCLUDES EIGHT TITLES:
•Valdo in Haiti
•Gabou in Haiti
•Floor in The Netherlands
•Lars in The Netherlands
•Aji in Indonesia
•Jenissa in Burundi
•Luna in New York City
•Lucian in New York city
This app has been thoroughly evaluated by our staff. Please click on the 'star ratings' tab above, to see how it fared in all nine of our rating categories. See synopsis tab for more details about the storyline.
This review was originally published by TeachersWithApps.com on October 15, 2013. Teachers With Apps was co-founded by Jayne Clare, a Special Education teacher, and Anne Rachel, an artist and Early Childhood educator.
Their goal is to be a credible resource for quality educational apps. Created to help parents, grandparents, teachers, administrators and anyone else, wade through the vast number of ”educational” apps being introduced on a daily basis.
Teachers With Apps was founded by two lifelong educators and is dedicated to the idea that quality mobile educational apps are the tools of the future but they need to be used responsibly. Remember, not all educational apps are created equal.
All reviews are of the app, not the platform/device. Based originally on iPad versions. Minor technical details may vary.
Author/Illustrator:
Round By Design
Developer:
Round by Design LLC
Length (time):
15 - 20 Minutes
Based on non-digital book: Yes
Allows Own Narration:
No
Uses Motion: No
Age: 6 - 12 +
Languages:
English • French • Dutch •
Length (pages):
44 Pages
From iTunes:
Spin the globe and learn about real children around the world with One Globe Kids!
Each new friend invites you to play their games, learn their language and share their food – safe, international travel from your living room for world explorers 3 to 99 years!
Put the World in Your Child’s Hands
•The Netherlands, Haiti, Indonesia, New York City, Burundi... you always have someplace new to visit!
•Custom localization and fully narrated in English, French and Dutch!
•Visit Valdo in Haiti for FREE, then travel the world via in-app purchase per friend.
The Globe We Share
•Designed to foster curiosity and openness, preparing children for success in the globalized world.
•Many educational uses – Ideal for classroom and home-based projects and discussions.
•Excellent way to bring international topics to life.
Features:
•Many activities with each friend!
•Hear real stories from around the globe, told child-to-child with full-color photographs and narration.
•Introduce new languages – Record yourself speaking and counting in your friend’s language (Dutch, Creole, Kirundi, English, Bahasa Indonesia…).
•Interact with your new friends – Choose “Adventure” story to decide what you want to do; with the “Tell me about yourself” feature record a conversation.
•Learn country facts – Learn interesting, kid-friendly facts about each country you visit.
•Learn geography – Put yourself and your friends/family on the globe and see where you are in relation to your new friends.
SAFE! i.e. NOT A SOCIAL NETWORK! Cool Mom Tech explained it best: "Rest assured One Globe Kids is not a social network--there's no way to communicate through the app, but it will still feel that way to your kids, which they'll think is cool. So as a parent I can let my kids freely explore the globe and learn to appreciate and respect people who live differently than we do."
Know What’s Inside:
•One Globe Kids is a proud MOMs with Apps Member.
•We follow the “Know What’s Inside” best practices for kid’s apps.
This app:
•Does NOT collect any personal information from users. Users can upload their own image, record their own voice (counting to 10 in Kirundi, for example!), and put themselves on the globe within the app, but this data stays on the device and is NEVER transmitted.
•Has NO advertisements in it.
•Does NOT include any social media links or plug ins.
•Does NOT link to other websites.
•DOES have optional in-app purchases.
•Has a positive view of the world, regardless the race, nationality, education level, gender, or socio-economic background.
•Believes diversity is to be celebrated!
If you enjoy traveling with One Globe Kids, please review our app and/or email us with suggestions on where we should visit next!
Orientation: Landscape
Format: Universal
Options:
Globe, Friends, My Stuff (Conversations, Stories, Repeat After Me), Language (Dutch, English, French) Links: In-App Purchase/AppStore (one free story)
App Release Date:
2013-08-07
Size: 12.4 MB
Version: 1.1
Lite Version Available: Yes