With societies becoming increasingly ‘tech’ dependent, young children often grow up surrounded by mobile phones and tablets. A question that immediately springs to mind is ‘can this exposure be made a positive in terms of childhood development?’
I'm pleased to report that the ‘My Sound Stories’ app provides a resounding ‘yes’ to this question, as it serves as a prime example of an area of education – ‘digital app-based learning’ – that is advancing at a rapid pace. According to the app developers, it has been designed to support young children's listening, speech, language and creativity, with an emphasis on accessibility for children who may be deaf or have communication challenges – I think they've cracked it. I thought this app was brilliant, but to be sure I collaborated with practitioner and musician Daisy Evans to see what others in the sector felt about the resource, and our discussions confirmed this.
The app immediately launches into the contents page, which has four main sound stories to choose from. Each story is unique and two of the stories, Jasper and Ling Ling Bird, are based on experiences of deaf characters. There are different ways of engaging with the stories: reading the English text, watching British Sign Language (BSL) videos, or looking at the superb illustrations.
I loved having the choice to decide which combination suited my individual learning needs in-the-moment and to change what I engaged with over time, due to various options and depending on what I wanted to understand. This app function may even encourage autonomous learning processes in young children.
Throughout the stories, there are circles on different objects in the illustrations. An enjoyable feature is that the user can select the sound they wish to engage with. You are given three pre-recorded sounds to listen to that split into two categories: environmental sounds (i.e. real sounds from the environment) and, secondly, creative sounds (music or sounds composed to represent an idea or concept).
For me, a particular favourite sound circle was the ‘Hush Little Baby, Do Not Weep’ illustration in Ling Ling Bird, which included twinkly glockenspiel sounds, relaxing meditative music and the song being sung in a lilting female voice. These different interpretations encouraged me to imagine how the storyline could play out in several ways, enabling me to create different story paths each time I worked my way through the stories. I'm certain that this should prove particularly engaging for young children as it introduces an element of surprise with each reading!
Initially, I wondered how the app claimed to promote further accessibility for young deaf children, as the focus is on listening to pre-recorded sounds. I quickly realised, however, that the app beautifully addressed the potential challenges by having an option to record your own sounds in your immediate surroundings. This could be extremely beneficial for young children with hearing and communication challenges, as they may rely on sensory inputs such as touch, smell and sight to consolidate their learning.
I must admit I also found this app function very engaging as a fully grown adult, as it inspired me to see objects in my offce in new ways. Who would have thought that rolling my coloured pens across my desk could sound like a toy train on a train track? Well, they did, and they are now part of my own recorded sound story! It is truly wonderful how the app has managed to blend digital sound experiences with real-world sensory environments, and I've been inspired to look at everyday objects in a new light ever since.
Ultimately, I believe My Sound Stories is a shining example of research-led digital app-based learning for young children. Through active listening activities, it promotes auditory discrimination and sound exploration, which have been shown to support the development of aural perceptual processing systems. This is clearly beneficial for all young children, particularly those with speech, language, and communication needs. I would highly recommend downloading My Sound Stories for free from the app store. Let's embrace technology and use it as an educational tool to make the future of learning even more fun and interactive!
