Pora Ora
Learn. Play. Grow.
Welcome to Pora Ora!
Pora Ora is a 3D Virtual world that was created for children ages 5 to 12. Children can explore, interact with friends, and play educational games. All users have an avatar they design when registering. They also choose a virtual pet, known as a Pora Pal. The survival of their pet depends on how well they complete games and quests. When students succeed they are rewarded with coins they can use to customize their avatar, buy food for their Pora Pal, decorate their home and garden, and buy gifts for friends.
Customize your new avatar
Explore the virtual world
Earn coins to feed your Pal
Strengths of Pora Ora:
- Pora Ora is free to play!
- Users can play one time without an account.
- Once childen create an account, they can complete math, geography, spelling, problem solving, and basic literacy activities.
- There is a wide variety of games and plenty for kids to do so they don't become bored.
- Students develop creativity, which is critical at a young age.
- Pora Ora is a safe and highly moderated social networking site. Parents can monitor their child's activity through the Parent Dashboard. There are visibility settings, news feeds, and mail and chat settings.
Weaknesses of Pora Ora:
- The educational material is linked to the UK National curriculum. Most of the content is similiar to the content U.S. schools teach however, teachers would have to make adjustments.
- All games are selected based on the child's age. Some games may be too easy or too hard for children who work on a different level.
- Not all the games are school friendly. For example, the objective of one addition and subtraction game is to save the chicken from falling into traps, spikes, and buzz saws.
- Like other virtual words, there is a fee for extra features.
Pora Ora in the Classroom:
- Pora Ora offers a variety of math, geography, spelling, problem solving, and basic literacy activities.
- All games are linked to an objective.
- As students participate in activities, difficulty levels increase upon completion of skills.
- Teachers can set up individual accounts and monitor student's progress through detailed reports.
- School Mode is a feature that locks down security and allows students to only interact with their classmates.
- In the future schools will be able to link with other schools, creating opportunities for global connections.
Solve mathematical equations
Practice weekly spelling words
Develop geographical skills
Testimonials:
"I've been using Pora Ora for the past 2 weeks with my students. They LOVE it. I really do appreciate the opportunity for my students to use this free site. The graphics are great, the students really enjoy seeing each other as they roam about. I know a site like this takes a lot of teamwork, and I can tell you have people there that are working from a child's perspective. Keep up the fine work."
"This game is a great find. It is free and fun and a lot of thought seems to have gone into the content. We haven't played all the games yet as there are quite a lot but Bubble Trouble is great for reinforcing number order and Spellfire has gone down well even with reluctant spellers."
"I came across this site today and was blown away. I have recommended it to the primary school".