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Digital technology driving early education and taking agriculture to the next generation

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Dirtgirl World has now been sold to 129 different countries.(ABC TV)
A young boy interacts with farm animals at the Royal Melbourne Show.()
Bob the Builder and Postman Pat are famous, but you might not have heard of George the Farmer, an app designed to engage Australian children with agriculture and teach them about life in the country. It’s just one of a new generation of educational games harnessing the power of play to help children learn, writes Monique Bowley.

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Simone Kain was lying on her bed, heavily pregnant with twins with her toddler George by her side. Looking for something to distract him, she grabbed the iPad.

George was obsessed with tractors and trucks—his dad is a farmer—but scrolling through the options, Kain couldn't find any Australian farming content.

'How can we have a Bob the Builder and a Postman Pat but no Australian farming character?' she thought.

Little more than a year later the George the Farmer app and website were launched. 

The aim is to bring agriculture into the lives of preschoolers.

In 2012, a survey by Australian Council for Education Research found that that 75 per cent of children in their final year of primary school believe cotton comes from an animal, while 27 per cent think yoghurt grows on trees.

George is designed to address that knowledge gap.

A fun-loving character who tackles day-to-day life on the land, George seeds, harvests, puts up fencing and makes hay, all through creative stories and games which subtly highlight farming life.

'The big goal is to connect children with country Australia and educate them about food and fibre production in a fun way,' says Kain.

'Providing education for children about farming will support primary industries. Not only for their own knowledge, but to consider farming as a worthy career choice.'  

Some parents will no doubt see the launch of another tablet app for kids as a negative. 

Conventional wisdom around so-called screen time is that it hinders mental development. However, according to new research, screen time may help children's development.

Sara de Freitas is pro vice chancellor and professor of learning and teaching at Murdoch University, but before she came to Australia she founded the Serious Games Institute at Coventry University in the UK.

The majority of her research has looked at how digital technology is changing the way we learn. She says that game-based learning technology is extremely powerful.

'There's been quite a lot of research over the last few years looking at the issues of play and narrative,' she says.

'Narrative can be very powerful in terms of engagement and motivating children to learn and the research is really very positive around the use of these kinds of tools.'

Meet George the Farmer

Game addiction attracts a lot of rhetoric, but according to de Freitas, the evidence shows technology empowers rather than hinders learning.

'In terms of online content and narrative, it's hard to see the negative side in the research. There is a perception that it can be isolating but overall it seems the opposite trend is the case.'

She says with a massive growth in e-learning and social networking, games have the potential to move into high schools, academia and workplaces.

Dirtgirlworld is another example of technology being used to teach children about sustainability.

Taken together, the TV show, website and app are a multi-platform education tool, teaching children and families about the value of sustainable living.

Creator Cate McQuillan says the approach was always to create something meaningful; the trick was to make it as entertaining and engaging as possible.

'With kids, you are competing with huge brands so you've got to give them something great, you've got to look good and you've got to have a big attitude.'

McQuillan, who started dirtgirlworld with no experience in TV production, says with children's short attention spans, education has to be as engaging as possible.

In five years, dirtgirlworld has expanded to 129 countries and has a myriad of clever apps, website content and outdoor projects.

'Pre-schoolers have enormously persistent personalities,' says McQuillan. 'They really know how they feel about things.'

'So now we have stories coming though of children saying to parents, "do we really need that?" or "that doesn't go in that bin".  We've taken the pester power and turned it into a positive.'

She says that while pre-schoolers are too young to engage on social media, it still plays a crucial role in dirtgirlworld's engagement process.

'Facebook has been a big hit for us. That's where the parents go. It connects us with an international audience, but then we've found they connect with each other. We keep it very much focused on sustainability and fun, and it's like a family.' 

'Our company motto is "move viewing to doing", so having people engaged and the community sharing ideas and supporting each other is what it's about.'

'We ask ourselves; are we TV producers or are we educators? The reality is we are both.'

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Mount Gambier, Rural, Rural Youth, Education, Television, Digital Art