Hapan - A Review

by Vishmi Dharmasiri

HAPAN: A FUN-FILLED LEARNING ADVENTURE

Specifications:

Name: Hapan - Kids Learning App

Ages: 3-7

Developer: Bhasha

Language: Sinhala

Available on: Google Play and Apple App Store

Compatible across: Smartphones and tablets

Privacy settings for parents: lock soft keys/ turn off notifications from other apps

Most parents in Sri Lanka vehemently refuse to give their children access to digital devices.

Maybe you are one of them.

You would probably change your mind if you saw what Hapan, the Sri Lankan educational app for children, has to offer. It is an interactive mobile gameplay that can make your child’s screen time fun and productive.

Pros

Did you know that many scholars have declared the importance of integrating images, words, sounds and actions in children’s learning environments, especially in the digital age? (Learn more). Hapan does this perfectly by bringing letters and words, music, verbal cues and animation together.

• Top-notch graphics, vibrant colours and smooth controls enable children to engage seamlessly with activities.

• Hapan has 8 categories in its activity panel: Sinhala alphabet, Sinhala letter writing practice, numbers, number writing practice, English alphabet, colouring book and picture puzzle game. The developers have done a remarkable job in creating a compilation of activities that contribute to early childhood development skills.

How exactly does Hapan do this? Here’s how!

• If you are familiar with child language theories, you would know that B.F. Skinner associated positive reinforcement with language learning (read about it here). To simplify what he said; children love to be rewarded! Every activity and game in Hapan is reward-based. Once your child completes a task, he/she will not only be applauded and praised, but also be given digital gift boxes with beloved cartoon characters like Pinocchio, Tinkerbell and Dora popping out of them! Further, there are hidden games that appear if the child successfully completes several tasks in a row.

• The app includes verbal cues that stimulate responses and reassure children they are doing a good job. Mistakes are corrected aptly.

e.g. Using verbal cues: “Eka nemei” (Not that one)

“Wena ekak balamu” (Let’s try a different one)

These encouraging verbal nudges help your child stay focused even if you are not around.

• Hapan offers two modes in letter and number writing practice:

1. Teaching mode: Verbal and visual guidance on writing

2. Self-learning mode: Shows letter outlines / Offers an option to allow/ not allow stop between points

The two options assist in developing language skills, in which the child will learn to first follow guidelines, and then write and remember letters.

• One great advantage is that the app has a female dubbed voice as the assistant, instead of the boring technical voice assistants used by many other childrens’ app developers in Sri Lanka! In her book “First Language Acquisition” Eve V. Clark writes that when adults talk to children, they directly or indirectly offer them extensive information about their language (Clark’s chapter on language acquisition). Hapan’s voice assistant who speaks reassuringly to children plays a role akin to a parent or a teacher, even if the verbal prompts are limited and the responses are not mutual.

• As the app allows unlimited retries and sets no time limits to finish games, children can engage in stress-free educational gameplay

Cons

• Considering that Sri Lanka has two national languages - Sinhala and Tamil - it is unfortunate that this app operates only in Sinhala. Upgrading the existing version for Tamil would be beneficial for Tamil-speaking children as well as those that learn Tamil as a second language.

• Hapan has an option to input the age of the child and promises a customized lesson for each age, but there is no difference between the lessons designed for children of 3-5 years.

• The biggest downside of Hapan is that users only get a free trial for two lessons from each category. Other lessons must be unlocked via in-app billing (cost- Rs 5 + tax daily). A more flexible trial version that allows users to unlock more lessons would be a major improvement.

Final thoughts

Hapan’s strengths seem to outweigh its drawbacks. Hopefully, future bug fixes and updates will optimize this great app for a larger and more diverse user base. Overall, it serves its purpose of improving basic skills of children below seven years of age.