What is Monkey Tales?
Educational experts testing the adaptivity mechanics of Monkey Tales
Monkey Tales Games not only help children master what they learn at school, but also motivate them to actively engage with the topics they need to study at home, without stressing the parent-child relation.
In Monkey Tales, children have to win educational mini-games and compete with in-game characters to get ahead in the game and discover more about the intriguing narrative. To progress through the game world, children need to solve fun and immersive logic puzzles and demonstrate that they master topics they've studied at school.
Who created Monkey Tales?
Developed by European schoolbook publisher Die Keure and award winning game developer Larian Studios, Monkey Tales is based on years of research and was developed with the active participation of teachers, schools, universities and educational method-makers.What does years of research mean ?
Exactly that. The technology behind Monkey Tales has been in development for over 4 years, and has been field tested with over 30 000 children and across several schools, with very active engagement from both teachers and educational method-makers. Additionally, a two years research project is underway in which the universities of Ghent & Leuven are participating to measure the efficiency of the methods used within Monkey Tales.What is the educational goal behind Monkey Tales?
Monkey Tales' aim is not to instruct, that's what teachers and schools are for. Instead it aims to help children rehearse and improve skills they should have, by motivating them to do drill exercises with increasing time pressure.Because the abilities of children are very diverse, the algorithm behind the game first tries to establish where a child is on the learning curve, and then stimulates the child to make progress. This way frustration is avoided, and the child makes progress without realizing that it's being pushed forward.
There's a demonstrable effect that playing the game helps mastery of arithmetic. Parents can experience this themselves by trying out the games.
What can my child learn from Monkey Tales?
Currently there are five games available, covering grades 2 to 6, covering the field of mathematics in line with state standards (Common Core Standards and the 2009 DoDEA standards). Future games in the series will cover language and science.
Flemish Minister of science and innovation Ingrid Lieten gives Monkey Tales a try (with assistance from the kids :) )
What's special about Monkey Tales?
A key feature of Monkey Tales is its unique algorithm that allows the game to automatically adapt to the level of children so that they feel comfortable with their ability to complete the exercises, removing any stress they might feel. From there, the game then presents progressively more difficult exercises, all the time monitoring how the child is performing and adapting if necessary. One of the most remarkable achievements of Monkey Tales is its ability to put children under time pressure to complete exercises without them complaining about it!How is Monkey Tales being received by the educational world?
At the 2011 European Media and Learning conference, a jury consisting of 54 education professionals from 22 countries awarded Monkey Tales the main prize for Best Professionally Produced Educational Media. Additionally, an audience consisting of educational and media experts rewarded the Monkey Tales Games with the MEDEA 2011 Audience award.
Monkey Labs, the precursor to the Monkey Tales series was already nominated once for the MEDEA awards in 2010 and the jury praised the game for its ability to guide the learner into doing exercises in a very inconspicuous and unobtrusive manner that is completely different from classical math drills.
The experts also noted that the high quality math games adapt to the level of the player, making it possible for players to win while at the same time enjoying personal improvement. The concept was further praised for finding the right balance between fun and learning.
More information on what the jury thought of the game can be found at
www.medea-awards.com/showcase/monkey-labs
Children convincing their parents that Monkey Tales is what they want
Where can I buy Monkey Tales?
Monkey Tales is available for digital download from www.larianvault.comIs there a demonstration version?
Parents interested in trying out Monkey Tales can download a special demonstration version hereHow can I contact the developer?
If you have further questions, please send an email to MonkeyTalesGames@larian.com and we will respond at the earliest possibility.What computer do I need to play Monkey Tales?
Monkey Tales is currently available for PC. A Mac version is scheduled for release early 2012.System requirements
| Operating system: | Microsoft© Windows© XP with Service Pack 2, Microsoft© Windows Vista©, Microsoft© Windows 7 |
| Processor: | 1.6 Ghz or higher |
| RAM: |
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| Graphics card: |
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| Soundcard: | DirectX©9.0c compatible |
| DirectX: | DirectX©9.0c |
| Free disk space: | 800 MB |