We believe that technology only makes sense if it serves people and meets their needs. We strive to provide the teacher with a package of ready-to-use materials that will save him or her time in preparation and applications, provide children with joy, fun while teaching.
With this in mind, we headed to Schule Elfenwiese, which is located in Hamburg, Germany. We wanted to see the Knowla Box, along with the Educational Universe, in its natural, school environment and meet the everyday characters: teachers, rehabilitation workers, therapists and educators. The passion and commitment we found in this school momentarily transferred to us as well.
Schule Elfenwiese – a school that gives disabled children a chance
Schule Elfenwiese is a state educational institution with a unique mission. It specializes in the comprehensive support of students with physical and motor disabilities. The school combines an individually tailored curriculum with a wide range of therapeutic services, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
The overriding goal of Elfenwiese’s staff is to develop each child’s potential and prepare them for as independent and active a life as possible. Thanks to the efforts of teachers, tutors, rehabilitation specialists and therapists, students have a chance to develop and fulfill their educational or professional dreams, which at the very beginning of their journey seem very distant.
First impressions
After stepping inside the school, the first thing one noticed was the large lobby space and the wards with various disabilities who were engaged in their therapeutic activities. Standing next to them were their caregivers, from whom passion and professionalism emanated. Although we arrived there, slightly disrupting their daily life, we were not given to feel it. From the threshold we were warmly invited into their community.
During the tour of the school, we had the opportunity to see various classroom and therapeutic spaces where the children practiced their skills assisted by educators or therapists. There were also spaces for playing, cooking or independent learning. The corridors were filled with many wheelchairs, because, as we quickly learned, the school not only strives for the ability of its charges to live independent and satisfying lives, but also for their motor mobility.
Knowla Box in action
We spotted Knowla Box through the window when we went outside to inspect the playground. Even then we noticed three children energetically throwing balls at one of Knowla’s activities. The children’s joy in clever play immediately dawned on us.
In a room filled with various rehabilitation devices, we were greeted by a therapist who uses the Knowla Box for her classes on a daily basis. According to her schedule, students come to her, practicing their skills using our solution.
At the very beginning, we watched the efforts of boys with different types of disabilities. The three of them were playing bowling(Planet Fruu). Most of them were sitting, but one of them stood on a balancing platform to further practice keeping his balance. Each of the boys tried to throw as accurately as possible, and despite their own difficulties (including difficulties in controlling their body movements or deep sensation) they competed actively and committedly against each other. It was amazing to see how the boy who, at first, seemed to have the greatest difficulty in executing the ball throw, eventually won over his colleagues thanks to his own work, determination and focus.
We also had the opportunity to observe a boy with lower-body paralysis and attention deficit disorder. He, in turn, worked on the floor and with a marker or (an innovation of this facility) a ball hooked up to an overhang trained his cognitive skills, including those that required prolonged focus on an activity. He excelled at every application presented to him. We also learned that this boy also had problems with spatial thinking. Which was quite a surprise to us, because he was doing fine in applications with arrows (e.g., Code the Way, Planet Spe). The boy approached the next challenges with joy, clear commitment and attention, having a lot of fun in the process. Together with us and the therapists, he counted the popping characters in the Numbers(Planet Hops) activity, to then catch them quickly and efficiently, despite his motor difficulties. Such learning through play appealed to him very much. Sam admitted at the end, however, that he most enjoyed the Complete the Row (Planet Hopsa) application.
Finally, we also looked at a boy with ADHD, who had symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity, manifested by an inability to stay still for long periods of time. In a conversation with us, the therapist admitted that the year-long and systematic work with Knowla Box had done him a lot of good. Knowla’s activities made him able to stop in one place and focus on performing a given task. At the very beginning he would get distracted after just a few minutes, and at the time of the visit we saw him working in the activities for more than 20 minutes and still ready for the next challenge.
In all these observations, it is impossible not to appreciate the hard work of the entire team of this school, which has been very active in supporting the children so that they are able to achieve the kind of successes we have seen.
Conversations that stay in the memory
Unsurprisingly, during conversations with various specialists working at the school, we heard good things about our solutions.
They all emphasized the simplicity of using the Knowla Box and how many possibilities they have to display the image on the wall and on the floor. As a result, they are able to adjust the mode of operation to the capabilities of their subjects.
We also received a lot of positive feedback for the Educational Universe app, and through the observations and conversations we made, we received inspiration for further updates to the app to best support children and their caregivers. We were also able to present therapists with new activities and opportunities for greater accessibility to the app, such as color version choices and the ability to move activity elements on the screen.
It was also important for us to hear about the effects that working with Knowla Box has on the students. The therapist emphasized how eager and engaged the children are in the movement they make while working with the apps. It was also important to keep the child’s attention on the learning task, which is not always as easy. She also emphasized the broad development of a variety of skills, such as focusing on a task, physical fitness, encouragement of movement, training of cognitive skills, spatial thinking, reasoning, computational thinking, mathematical skills, healthy competition, and cooperation, which support work on the students’ deficits.
However, not all of our conversations with school staff were solely about Knowl. We were able to gain a slightly better understanding of education and the education market in Germany, as well as the rehabilitation needs of the children and their therapists or educators.
We also listened with interest to the plans and innovations being developed at the school. Some of them also concerned the use of Knowl’s solutions. For example, about the aforementioned idea of mounting a ball on a cantilever, so that children with mobility problems would be able to play efficiently with Knowl’s devices, or about the design of the multimedia room. It made us proud to be part of such initiatives.
Reflection and conclusion
Observing the solution in its natural environment, where you can see the active work of teachers and therapists and the happy and smart play of children, is an important experience for us.
We are able to see, hear and talk about the real needs of users, see the actual use of our solutions in daily practice. This allows us to react and improve applications or devices and inspire each other to create more activities. Such meetings also foster our better understanding of education (in different countries) and the challenges of children with various special educational needs.
It is amazing for us to also observe practitioners who are passionate and fully committed to their work and their students. We are continually reaffirmed in our belief that the combination of dedicated teaching staff with the right tools produces amazing results, which are seen in both the results and well-being of students, as well as their approach to learning or life. Such things inspire and stay with us for a long time.
We would like to sincerely thank Schule Elfenwiese for the invitation to your doorstep, the warm welcome and the meeting full of many inspirations. A visit to your facility is a motivation for you to continue working and creating even better solutions.
