VINCI Tab M
© 2012 Rullingnet Corporation
Designed for the very first users of technology (children aged 18 months to 4 years) Vinci Tab M is the little brother to last year's red-handled Vinci Tab, with a clear 5” screen. For $20 more, you can get a model with cell phone connectivity called the MV. Both run Android (the edition we looked at was version 2.3.5). Features include 8 GB of internal storage, plus a MicroSD card slot for expansion, a back-facing camera, tilt sensing, a micro USB charger and a set of apps that include the Vinci preschool curriculum. The Vinci app library has grown a great deal in terms of numbers, however, many are bite-sized, to the point that there are apps for each letter of the alphabet. As we browsed through the library, we had to search to find even a single quality app. In addition, as early childhood educators we were nothing short of horrified by an app called Vinci Assess L1, which asks children a series of poorly constructed questions. For example we saw two T/F questions matched with questions with no possible answer (at least to a young child). These were "are you a big or little person," and "how many people in your family?" Thankfully there's a disclaimer, but publishing this type of tool in a "genius" wrapper is irresponsible. If there were such a thing as educational malpractice, this would probably qualify. A parents mode can be accessed by entering a password, giving you access to mainstream content and the Google Play app store; features we did not try. Besides the highly didactic, poorly designed apps, other weaknesses we noticed include a slight hum to the speakers and a poorly calibrated screen that made it hard to hit targets like the spacebar or the continue button. The best part? The red rubber silicon handle.
$170, Android
Teaches: logic, language
CTR Rating: 54%