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This Osmo review is my true opinion of the product. While I do advocate for children to step away from devices and screen time, I can see this as a suitable learning opportunity that bridges the cooperative spirt of board games with the excitement of technology for young learners. Overall, I recommend this product as an educational product that does a good job of exciting children to learn through play. Osmo’s website says they are working on a base that will accommodate cases. The case at school is easier to remove, but with budgets stretched so tight, the responsibility of removing the iPad from its case weighs heavily on me as the responsible adult.
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The case we have at home is no small chore to remove and reinstall. Since iPads are not inexpensive tools, I’m not entirely comfortable with my children using the iPad without a case. The only deficit to this product is that the iPad must be removed from a protective case to work with the base and mirror. Going forward, I see this as a valuable tool for educational game play that will be featured in our learning centres! Plus, there was less crowding as more children could actively engage than if they were around just the iPad. The smart board did make it easier for others waiting their turn to observe players in front of them problem solve and offer advice. The games still had to be played down on the floor in front of the iPad. I hooked the iPad up to our smart board for a larger viewing screen, but since the iPad is not compatible with the smart board, we could not play using the smart board.
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Osmo does a good job of differentiating the levels so all abilities of students can play and feel successful and challenged. After the Winter holiday, I took our Osmo into my classroom to test drive it with a class of Grade 3 students.
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