Fun learning has been around for probably centuries now, and it has evolved through time. Fun learning uses gamification techniques, which holds our attention even more than the traditional way of learning. Humans tend to enjoy games, which is why investment firms and tech companies spend billions studying and perfecting gamification. Not all games are fun though, and only a few can boast that they can hold the attention of nearly the entirety of its audience. Only a few fun learning apps can boast to be able to hold the attention of its audience and make learning effective. One of these apps is Fact Mountain.
Made by Foothills Education, Fact Mountain is an app bundle which targets mainly students. These apps teach students different subjects by way of fun trivia games. The iPhone and iPad apps come in four flavors: University of Colorado Football, US Presidents, Russian Literature, and 19th Century American Literature. The University of Colorado Football app was made in collaboration with University of Colorado, and hopefully more Universities and organizations will jump in and make their own versions.
The University of Colorado Football app is very special as it teaches the long 125 year history of the Buffaloes. When you open the app, you can either play the game straight, or use flash cards to help train and jog the memory. The format of this app is pretty much the same in all versions.
When you tap on “Play Game” on the home screen, you are given a set of answers in which you have to select the correct one. When you guess an answer correctly then you gain points, and the harder the question, the more points you gain. The second option, which is “Learn Trivia” on most versions of the app, lets you choose a topic to study. In the 19 century American Literature version of the app, you are able to choose from 36 works to study. Each factoid has hyperlinks which you can click to get even more information. Once you have learned everything, it is time to test your knowledge. The third option on the home screen, “Use Flash Cards”, lets you select a flash card based on difficulty. Unlike the first option, you are given control of the questions that are given to you, even though the game is scored the same way. It is great that the same app that tests the knowledge of students, gives them knowledge as well.
The iOS app will only work on version 8.0 and up, which means that you will not be able to use the app from your iPhone 4S and lower. Luckily, since most schools have Windows machines, there are apps for that platform as well, even though they are slightly different from the iOS version. The iOS app costs around 99 cents. The app is pretty simple, and the subject offerings aren’t much right now. But if you are a student of history, then this is definitely the app for you to help you learn about 19th century American literature and past US Presidents.
