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Teacher Review for Cato's Hike: A Programming and Logic Odyssey

Wonderful idea, needs some improvement.

Clarissa J.
 Classroom teacher
Out of the Box Child, Seattle, WA
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My Grades Pre-K, K, 1, 2, 5
My Subjects English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Arts
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My Rating
Learning Scores
Engagement
Pedagogy
My Students Liked It Yes
My Students Learned Yes
I Would Recommend It Yes
Setup Time Less than 5 minutes
Great for Further application
Knowledge gain
Practice
Small group
Teacher-led lessons
Great with Advanced learners
Special needs
How I Use It
Typically one on one. I have used this app with up to 3 students, but explaining what to do takes longer and they each want a turn to choose commands. I would not use with children who do not yet understand abstract meaning of symbols. It does encourage further abstract thinking. I have had one student, age 5, point out that the picture of a person walking used as a command for "move forward" is the same figure on a crosswalk sign. It has encouraged students to think ahead in steps. Some students who have excelled with this game talk about sequences more and may relate sequencing their actions back to the game. Such as "If I throw this ball, I will knock over those blocks, and those blocks will hit my friend's head."
My Take
This app has some bugs and crash frequency. The typos make it difficult to read, however the creator is not a native English speaker, so I acknowledge high fluency for an adult ELL. The program requires and adult to read the text and explain the directions to younger children. With assistance, I have had children ages 4-6 understand the concepts and successfully dictate to me which commands to enter. They are building the basic building blocks for programming. Certainly the best programming education app I have used thus far. I wish the app developer would continue improving this product.