TEACHING kids how to read and write in Cebuano while playing traditional games virtually bagged a group P100,000 as their prize for winning the first App Challenge Cebu 2016.
Team Magtutudlo Bisaya from Iligan City developed the mobile game app "Magbisaya" for children aged five to seven years old to help them learn elementary Cebuano language with the help of games.
A third year marketing student from Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), 19-year-old Jonie Jumamil Jr., combined the power of traditional games and Cebuano language in one mobile application.
The app challenge is part of Globe Telecom and Molave Development Foundation's App Challenge Cebu 2016 to encourage the creation of educational Android apps that will teach K-3 pupils about reading and writing in Cebuano.
Mother tongue literacy
At present, Globe said a lot of students have minimal-to-no usable material for in-classroom learning or for self-study especially for fundamental skills like mother tongue literacy in K-3. The telco believes that while they are able to speak and to understand their main language or dialect, the children’s reading and writing abilities are limited.
Cebuano, in particular, is among the pre-identified major tongues for instruction and the second most widely-used language, after Tagalog, used by 21 million Filipinos, according to the Department of Education (DepEd).
Prototype
The “Magbisaya” prototype, which was presented yesterday during the Globe App Challenge Cebu at the Cebu City Public Library, had incorporated nine games namely Kingking Bikaka, Takingking Krus, Sagudsod, Kasing, Halap-halap, Labay-Tunga, Dampa, Paon-paon, and Taguanay. In the process, players get to learn the Cebuano language.
Jumamil was joined by two developers in the team namely Genesis Lagacan and Vahn Marty Cagalawan as well as an education graduate Airam Abigaile Pirante.
By April 2017, Globe head of education and digital learning Michelle Tapia said Team Magtutudlo Bisaya will have to complete the app and have it published to the Google App Store.
Tapia said the team, who will have full control of The Magbisaya app, can also commercialize it. If they decide to do it, she said, Globe Labs can help them under a revenue-sharing system.
The Globe official said they will expand the app challenge to other languages including Ilokano and Hiligaynon.
The winning apps in the App Challenge are expected to help address the problem by teaching children their native alphabet and helping them build their vocabulary and comprehension through various activities.