Ninety eight percent of the world’s population has been or is currently afflicted by earworm. Don’t worry, it’s not as weird and scary as it sounds! Earworm also goes by the name of musical imagery repetition, stuck song syndrome, and involuntary musical imagery. Have you ever had a song stuck in your head for days on end, driving yourself (and whomever is around you) crazy with constant and repetitive singing of that one part of the chorus you remember? That’s earworm. Now imagine if it wasn’t some pop tune currently topping the iTunes charts, but was instead a song that taught you the difference between height and length or what numbers add up to 10. That has been my life with UMIGO, because I’ve got earworm and I’ve got it bad.
An educational program that features a wacky cast of characters and insanely catchy music videos, UMIGO partnered with FableVision to revamp their website. With content created exclusively for UMIGO.com, this DHX Media-based website is a place for kids to learn, explore, and play. Told in a series of narrative-driven “appisodes,” early elementary-school-aged students interact with the UMIGO crew -- Bit, Dizzy, and Bean -- through math games, music videos, and of course, animation.
In one appisode entitled “Nobody Rides the Soakster,” the user meets the characters in a quick intro animation and “ride the soakster” to the next adventure.
When the ride stops, kids can click on icons to replay the story, jump into the game, watch the music video, or move to the next appisode. Aligned to Common Core State Standards, the UMIGO site is filled with games and interactive content to encourage children to get excited about areas such as addition and measurements. FableVision also created a section of the website dedicated specifically to grown ups. This area allows parents and educators to learn more about the site, the company, and the pedagogy, and encourage both online and off-line iterations of the content.
Featuring beautifully rendered animations and UMIGO’s trademark humor, FableVision has created a website that lives and breathes edutainment. From their interactive games to their wacky music videos, FableVision and DHX Media have collaborated to make a truly fun and engaging experience. That is, as long as you don’t mind earworm.
