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Review by Common Sense Editor, Common Sense Education | Updated March 2014

Klikaklu Player - Scavenger and Treasure Hunts

A world of situated learning possibilities awaits

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • English Language Arts
  • Social Studies
Skills
  • Communication & Collaboration
  • Creativity
  • Critical Thinking
  • Character & SEL
Grades This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.
4–12
Great for:
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (1 Review)
Privacy rating (How we rate)
Not yet rated
Platforms:  iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

Take a look inside

5 images
Main page allows you to play an existing hunt, create a new hunt, or review played or created hunts.
Create Hunt page lists clues and their attributes.
Hunt Overview page offers sweet and simple design and access to basic info like host name and number of clues.
Clue Location system allows users to determine if they are in range and get a lay of the land.
Using the clue image, users hold the device camera up to the actual object to match them.

Pros: Sharp interface, thorough functionality, and thoughtful privacy facilitate endless creative options.

Cons: Text is small and photo matching is a bit too tricky.

Bottom Line: Empowering take on old fashioned fun puts kids in the driver's seat creating and leading others.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Klikaklu opens up a whole new world of possibilities in the realm of situated learning: from orienting green team members to the school garden to a project documenting media outlets in a community. You could assign your history, science, language, or even math students to create hunts as elements of group projects, or leadership club members to orient transfer students to their new campus. Younger students could learn the location of supplies in the classroom or gather supplies for a project. High school students performing volunteer internships could create and lead a hunt as a way to document and report on their experiences.

Collaborative or team hunts offer up huge potential for students to build social skills. Student hunt creators can also practice leadership by monitoring progress real time and reviewing requests to override photo matching. If creating the hunts themselves is the focus, pre- and post- comparisons could be made between a beginning hunt made with no instruction or preparation and a final hunt created after practice and reflection. The ability to include video clips as rewards would boost the possibilities enormously. 

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Editor's Note: Klikaklu is no longer available.

Klikaklu brings old-fashioned scavenger and treasure hunts to life through GPS-associated clues. Kids over 13 create hunts by snapping photos of recognizable objects along a route as clues, adding hints, virtual rewards, and time limits along the way. Next, they can invite peers or others to find the clues using GPS maps matching the clue photos with real life locations. It's possible to play anonymously, but to save hunts for sharing kids must create a profile. A self-reported age-gate allows younger kids to follow hunts but not create them.

If a hunt is made public, anyone in the vicinity can find it so kids will need to leave out personal locations. To keep it private, kids can send a link to their hunt via email or print a QR-code invitation poster (with the Premium package) that peers can scan from within the app. Since GPS is always a bit off, the app allows kids to fine tune the location associated with each clue, plus GPS locations for clues can be ignored or revealed in hints only, features useful for hunts in familiar locales or limited spaces.

Klkaklu is a great way to get kids out of their seats, out of the classroom, and ultimately more involved in the world around them. Following clues requires kids to make deductions by comparing hunt images and text to the real world. Creating hunts impels kids to design and describe geographic explorations applicable to any number of situated learning experiences. Klikaklu's step by step demo shows kids how it works and the FAQs and tips sections offer useful information like the need to choose permanent landmarks rather than, say, a parked car or a bird flying by — things that can and will disappear any time.

Photo matching for clues can be unreasonably tricky — shadows, angles, and focus all play a huge role. Thankfully, kids can easily override the photo matching and submit an unmatched photo to the hunt creator. Text is on the small side and having some real hunts already available in addition to the demo would really help to jump start the experience. Considering the high fun factor, a hunting community is likely to sprout up quickly despite these shortcomings. 

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Potentially huge fun because kids love snapping photos and challenging their friends. Adventurous adults will love it, too.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Empowerment factor galore! Kids can create almost anything and get experience leading others.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Tips section is just right but hunting community is still sparse.

Common Sense Reviewer
Common Sense Editor Educator
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Teacher Reviews

Featured review by
Lynn S. , Other
Other
The Montclair Kimberley Academy
Montclair, United States
Digital treasure hunt with image matching has great potential for learning and fun!
It is summer now, and I can't wait to try Klikaklu with my students. I've already created a "getting to know our tools" hunt with items from our classroom and nearby locations, and I am excited to find opportunities for students to create their own hunts. There was a little bit of a learning curve in setting up the hunt due to the number of options available, but the tutorial was helpful and the app lets you know if photos are likely to match easily or need to be retaken. I know my students will be ...
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