APP development company ezLearner found a way to get students more interested in using the tablets distributed under the Government of Jamaica’s Tablet in Schools programme: launch a competition that ties rewards to use of the software and equipment.

Called ezWin Challenge, the competition encouraged both students and teachers to use the ezLearner app in a pilot project in four Corporate Area schools: Clan Carthy Primary, Chetolah Park Primary, John Mills All-age and Rennock Lodge All-age.

Developed by Bajan Tony Weekes in collaboration with e-learning Jamaica, ezLearner has four components: Compute — which helps students practise mathematics; Compose — which sees them writing stories; Comprehend — which engages them in comprehension exercises to develop critical thinking skills; and StoryVille — where students listen to stories being told by a digital narrator.

Two months after the April launch of the competiton, Clan Carthy Primary emerged as the top school and was awarded with the Phoenix Award for having integrated not only the ezLearner application, but technology on a whole, into its curricula. Eve Silburn of Chetolah Park Primary was the top student user. The Innovator Award for the top teacher went to Andre McPherson of Clan Carthy, while the Helping Hand award for the teacher who liked the most stories went to Martesha Laidley of Chetolah Park.

Clan Carthy student and participant in the competition Ajani Bennett said the app is very helpful, especially with story writing.

“I’ve learned a lot,” he said, “I learnt more than I thought I would learn.”

Yanique Brown, one of two field officers who conducted the pilot here in Jamaica told the Jamaica Observer at the award ceremony on June 24 that she and her associate, Andell Houghton, had to work with the schools to ensure that the students and teachers were comfortable using the application.

“It was a competition geared toward ensuring that the students and teachers used the application. We had our training sessions where we went in and showed the teachers the different elements of the application. Then, to ensure that they used it, we brought it in the classroom and had them use it,” she explained.

“So the ezWin competition made sure the students used it, and the teachers used it to ensure that they learned. So we wanted to see which teacher, and which student would emerge on top. We made it fun,” she continued.

Brown added that the app was well received on the part of the students.

“They loved it. I remember we had an experience where we actually went into their lunchtime because the students were so engaged,” she recounted.

Founder of ezLearner Troy Weekes is optimistic about going full-scale with the app, as the results of the pilot project are encouraging.

“I am very optimistic. Feedback from students and teachers has been considerable. Writing skills have increased. In terms of students sharing creativity, [that] has increased. For instance, students moving from writing stories with one paragraph to now five paragraphs,” he said, giving an example of the app’s impact.

Students’ performance improved progressively as they continued to do the various activities in the application, he added.

Jamaica is the third Caribbean country in which the project has been piloted, having been previously tested in Barbados and Trinidad.