Rakuten, Inc. (headquartered in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo; Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO; hereinafter "Rakuten") has relaunched its online English education service for children, "Rakuten ABCmouse.
Expanding the target age range to 3-11 years old to meet the needs of elementary school education, where foreign language education has been made an early and subject matter.
With this renewal, Rakuten has redesigned the Learning Path (hereinafter referred to as the "Learning Course") while maintaining the concept of "developing English brains (brain circuits that think and understand English in English without Japanese) while having fun playing," which is the most important feature of "Rakuten ABCmouse". The new Learning Path has evolved into a service that allows children to listen to English and learn English words and phrases through four approaches: selecting, practicing, speaking, and reviewing what they understand, thereby developing their English brains in a more natural and efficient way. The service has expanded the target age range from 3 to 8 years old to 3 to 11 years old, with a variety of activities and learning contents (Note 1) to keep children motivated. The new program also responds to the needs of students for pre-emptive and supplementary learning. The new school is designed to meet the needs of students for pre-emptive and supplementary learning of the skills required for the early and subject-based foreign language education under the new guidelines for elementary schools starting in 2020.
In addition, "In terms of functionality, the program has been changed to be centered on operation on tablets and smartphones, and the UI/UX, including the size of text and illustrations and the effective range of touch and click, has been reviewed to make it more intuitive and comfortable to operate. On the management screen for parents, the display of acquired vocabulary, study time, and level of progress was revised. This allows users to grasp progress at a glance and in more detail.
In addition, an update scheduled for mid-November will allow parents to review audio recordings made by their children during speaking and other activities. This is a great opportunity for parents to learn about their children's learning experience.
The service provides "learning content that allows students to experience English not simply through classroom lectures, but also through picture books, music, puzzles, and other activities that give them a game-like experience, and through a redesigned learning course and a system with enhanced operability and convenience. The service "enables students to receive a full-fledged English education at home by providing learning content that is not simply classroom instruction, but rather allows them to experience English like a game through picture books, music, puzzles, and other activities.
To commemorate the renewal, a "Renewal Campaign" will be held from November 4, 2020 (Wednesday) to January 8, 2021 (Friday), offering this service at a special price.
Rakuten will continue to strive to provide services that support more learners by expanding its content and improving the convenience of its services so that learning can be more efficient and enjoyable through the power of technology.
(Note 1) Activities and content will be added sequentially with each update.
(Note 2) From FY2020, English will be introduced as a foreign language activity in grades 3 and 4 and as a subject in grades 5 and 6.
Foreign Language Activities, Foreign Languages: Commentary on the Courses of Study for Elementary Schools (Notification in 2017):
https://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/micro_detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2019/03/18/1387017_011.pdf
Outline of "Rakuten ABCmouse" renewal
Renewal date: Wednesday, November 4, 2020 *Updates will be made sequentially thereafter.
URL: https://english.rakuten.co.jp/app/abcmouse/
Ages: 3-11 years old
Compatible models: Tablets, smartphones, PCs
Price:
1. Rakuten ID payment (renewal campaign price)
One month plan: 1,480 yen (tax included)
1-year plan (12 months): 9,800 yen (tax included) *About 817 yen per month.
*One "Rakuten Point" will be awarded per 100 yen when using Rakuten ID payment.
*The renewal campaign will run from Wednesday, November 4, 2020 to Friday, January 8, 2021 at 11:59 pm. After that, the regular rates will be 1,980 yen (tax included) for 1-month plan and 14,800 yen (tax included) for 1-year plan (12 months).
2. Apple ID payment
1 month plan 2,200 yen (tax included)
1-year plan (12 months) 18,800 yen (tax included) *About 1,567 yen per month.
Apple ID payment is not eligible for this campaign.
Details of "Rakuten ABCmouse" renewal
(Course of study)
Changed to a program centered on operation on tablets and smartphones. The UI/UX, including the size of text and illustrations and the effective range of touch-clicking, has been revised to make operation more intuitive and comfortable. New recording and voice recognition functions have been added to some of the activities in the learning course to provide individualized feedback to help students learn correct pronunciation.
(Ticket Town)
New Ticket Town available with tickets given for completing each activity in the learning course. A variety of activities to keep children motivated are now available, including games and puzzles [images containing cake, birthday, table, indoor automatically generated description]. Many Disney-related books will be added to the ticket-free digital ehon in the future.
(Management screen for parents)
[graphical user interface, application automatically generated description]
The display of acquired vocabulary, study time, and level of progress has been revised to provide a more detailed, at-a-glance view of learning progress. Also, with the mid-November update, children will be able to listen to audio recordings during speaking and other activities.
About Rakuten ABCmouse
Rakuten ABCmouse is an online English language education service for children that Rakuten is developing in November 2019 through a business partnership with Age of Learning, Inc. (Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA; CEO: Paul Candland). The service allows users to learn English vocabulary and phrases through thousands of motivating and engaging English learning activities. The service adopts an approach that allows children to learn English in the same way that children in English-speaking countries learn English in their own language, and by fostering an interest in English through picture books, music, puzzles, and other activities, children can naturally learn English in a fun and authentic way. The most important feature of this service is that it allows children to learn English in a fun and authentic way by fostering their interest in English through picture books, music, puzzles, etc. The ABCmouse.com® Early Learning Academy, which forms the basis for the development of this service, is the No. 1* learning curriculum in the United States developed by Age of Learning in conjunction with a team of officially recognized child education experts in the United States. It has been installed in more than 150,000 schools and more than half of all public libraries in the United States.
*It became the No. 1 selling children's app in both the Kids and Education categories in the U.S. App Store provided by Apple Inc. (as of October 24, 2019).
About Age of Learning, Inc.
Age of Learning® is a creator of cutting-edge technology-based early education content, creating and developing engaging and effective digital learning materials with the goal of building a solid foundation for academic success for children worldwide. Based in Los Angeles, CA, the company creatively combines its expertise in the field of education with the latest technology to "bring learning to life. ABCmouse.com® Early Learning Academy, the company's flagship product in the U.S., is a comprehensive learning curriculum for preschool through second grade that has been used by tens of millions of children on all major digital platforms. The program has been used by tens of millions of children to date. In 2019, the company will also release "Adventure Academy™" as the industry's first MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) designed for education, allowing elementary and middle school students to safely and enjoyably learn through thousands of learning activities in a spectacular virtual world. The company provides safe and fun learning content for elementary and middle school students through thousands of learning activities in a spectacular virtual world. For more information, visit the company's official website at www.AgeofLearning.com or follow the company on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.
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