ParentvilleMom Parentville received this ItzaBitza software by Sabi to try out, and it is at the top of my list for learning. It was started by former Microsoft employees who were looking for a better way to empower children’s creativity and promote the love of reading. Children use drawing recognition technology called Living Ink – to bring objects to life (e.g., tree, house, sun) when requested by the main character, Sketchy.

Sketchy’s verbal requests become on-screen words that can be highlighted red and called out slowly when moused over. Sketchy and the child use these drawn objects when interacting with his/her surroundings (e.g., draw a cloud to make rain and Sketchy pull out an umbrella). There are five different themes -- home, camping, space, haunted house and farm. Here are links from YouTube and the site to see a demo and more information about how kids learn. You can download the web version from the site, http://www.itzabitza.com (Windows XP or Vista only for now).
Keywords: ItzaBitza, learning, reading, development, educational, tech, Parentville Fave Five, Sabi Updated on: 12/13/2009 - 5:17pm