As you may know, I’m a fan of the way that Osmo uses your iPad to mix physical objects and digital play. Osmo has tackled arithmetic, spelling, coding, and drawing. Its latest set, Coding Jam, mixes its coding blocks with music.
Like Osmo Coding, Coding Jam uses programming blocks that string together to control the various musical creatures on-screen. The walk, jump, and hand icons will be familiar with those who have played Coding before—each one has a directional arrow that can be turned in one of the four cardinal directions, and a number can be attached to the side to repeat the action multiple times. There are also loops, pauses, and other options as well.
You can get an idea of how the app works from Osmo’s video:
I haven’t gotten my hands on one yet myself, but I know from the Coding set that the plastic tiles are really fun to play with. They’ve got magnets in them that let them snap into place, and the Osmo base and mirror attachment work pretty well to turn the extend the play area of your iPad to the surface in front of it.
From the looks of it, the app makes music loops that can be customized, saved, and combined. It reminds me a little of other looping music apps (most notably Loopimal, since that also uses funny animals), but the physical code blocks are a new way to build out the musical phrases.
The Coding Jam set will be released on May 25 and is available for pre-order now for $59.99.
I have a student stuck at 170 points and can’t get to 180 no matter what he does to try to unlock the next level. Can you help him?
On Coding Jam.