Jumpstart.com
MMO for Kindergarteners
Educational Game for Kindergarteners.
Entrance to Jumpstart!
Example of an Avatar entering a "world."
What is Jumpstart?
Jumpstart.com is a MMO for children aged 3-12. Parents must register their child. Children make their own avatar, choosing the features they want. After making an avatar, children are directed to the entrance of Jumpstart, and given a brief overview of how things work and what different buttons do. There is a map children can click on to jump to different "lands," such as Adventureland, Storyland, etc. Each land is for a different age level. Some lands are just for fun, such as Madagascar, while others are educational and use fun games to have students use literacy, math, and science skills.
Overview:
- Use literacy, math, and science skills to play games.
- Earn coins and points to purchase items throughout the game.
- Add buddies to communicate with.
- Create avatars and an identity.
- Be responsible for virtual pets.
- Play quests to earn points and coins.
Multiple avatars playing in Jumpstart.
Responsibility: Taking care of a Pet!
Choose Your Avatar!
Features that Support Learning
- Learning games are included, such as Storyland and Adventureland. Children must use literacy and math skills to get through these games. Other games incorporate science skills. Creativity is also incorporated with certain art based tasks.
- Games are fun and creative, allowing children to feel comfortable practicing their educational skills.
- Children earn coins for completing tasks, which can later be used to purchase items for the avatar.
- Children must follow oral instructions to complete tasks.
- Young children can learn the basic ethics of playing a MMO game safely.
- Creative outlet to allow children to create an online identity and avatar.
- Teaches responsibility! Children must take care of their own "Mythie" and keep it happy and healthy.
Features to Add
- Team tasks! Children can communicate with one another, but there are no team tasks that require collaboration.
- Capability to use microphones to speak to other members playing the same game.
- Features that track a child's progress in educational games to choose the appropriate skills for that child.
Features that Inhibit Learning
- Too many "lands" to choose from on the map. Children may get swept up in the less educational games (Example: Madagascar).
- Bandwidth usage- it takes a long time to load each time you switch to a new land, and in the more popular lands freezes occasionally.
- Jumpstart is for children 3-12, so some games are not educationally appropriate for all children playing. Some may be too hard while others are too easy.