Nintendo - start addressing the challenge from Apple
Nintendo DSi
Nintendo have launched a new version of their handheld console (DS) called the DSi.
The two main features of the device are 2 built in 0.3 megapixel cameras and an SD card slot. There will be software for playing MP3 software included as default as well as camera software. The Gameboy cartridge interface has now been removed so it is no longer backward compatible with the Gameboy. There is a Nov 1st launch in Japan and Spring 2009 for Europe.
This is an interesting move - especially if this is part of an evolution for the DS. I hope Apple are paying attention to this - and not just because Nintendo have put an i in their product name. As I wrote a few weeks back - Apple have started to position the iPod Touch and iPhone in the gaming marketplace in addition to the MP3 market and phone market. The DS has always had Wifi - but in most cases this is under used by games and software - but it is slowly getting there. I think the DSi as a gaming and MP3 platform will be very attractive to younger children and it is a real pity that the DS doesn’t have an open way for 3rd parties to write and distribute software to compete with the iTouch/iPhone/iTunes model.
The addition of the SD card though removes a fundamental problem that the DS has and that was that games could not be downloaded because there was not enough writable storage to put them on - not any more.
I hope that this is the first step in the evolution of a great and innovative platform - and that it will be opened up in the same way that the Wii has - and gets a good delivery platform also. It will be interesting to see if they start making the OS updatable too.
Tags: ds-lite, handy education, iphone, iPod, iPod Touch, learning, mLearning, mobile-learning, nintendo
02.Oct.08 
devices, education, handy education, m-learning, mLearning 
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How effective is Dr Kawashima at increasing maths attainment?
A Study by Learning and Teaching Scotland has compared before and after maths test scores for 3 groups of children, one of which was using Nintendo’s Dr Kawashima Brain Trainer (see report details here). The study has shown that users of the Nintendo software had a significant increase in their test scores before and after the test.
The other two groups in the study were a control group who had no access to any brain training software and a group who used the Brain Gym methods to increase ability. Three variables were assessed both before and after tests, the student’s perception of themselves as learners, their scores in a maths test and the time it took them to complete a maths test.
What is interesting is that for the control group and Brain Gym group the student’s perception of themselves as learners significantly decreased over the 10 week period, but the perception of those using the Nintendo software increased.
All the student’s average scores increased over this period but only the Nintendo group showed a significant increase in score. Surprisingly all of the groups showed a decrease in the average time taken to complete the test but the Nintendo students showed a significant decrease in time taken.
So what conclusions can we draw from this? Before drawing any conclusions worth acting on the study should be repeated on a larger scale. It would also be worthwhile to keep teachers constant across groups to eliminate any effect they are having on the groups they are tutoring, and rather than just comparing with Brain Gym it would also be useful to see the effects of other software (for example Sums Online).
Tags: ds-lite, mobile-learning
06.Oct.07 education, m-learning, mLearning Comments (0)