New iPad software to help teachers talk to students about bullying

A new book by internationally acclaimed author Martin Baynton has become available as an interactive story exclusively on iPad, and is being lauded as a great tool for children to learn about bullying and violence in an education environment.

Aimed at 3-7 year olds, Dragon Island is a collaboration between Baynton and his daughter Terri that deals with the difficult issue of saying no to violence. The story can be used by parents, teachers and children to talk about aggressive behaviour in a way that is 'child centric, life-affirming and engaging'.

The book has been developed as an interactive story for iPad, with a child-friendly user interface with several interactive features. Auckland experiential book publisher KIWA has created animations and sounds for each illustration as well as interactive features like swipe-to-read, touch-to-hear, touch-to-spell and read-to-me and read-it-myself options.   Parents, teachers and children can customise Dragon Island by colouring in the pictures with a Paint Mode that includes a palette, adjustable brush width, and move, zoom and undo abilities.

Educational software is becoming increasingly popular in schools, with eBooks, apps and websites commonly utilised by teachers and other education providers to aid children's learning.    "The life messages of Dragon Island about having the courage to remain true to yourself are timeless but how they are presented need to be relevant to the iPad generation," says Baynton. "The interactive features in the new iPad version give more options to parents and teachers when talking with young children about how to deal with bullying and saying no to violence.

Dragon Island Book App is now available on iPad (iOS 7+) for $4.99.