Independent Study Shows Magic Planet® Digital Video Globes Yield 17 Percent Increase in K-12 Student Comprehension

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Imagination^®, maker of the Magic Planet^® digital video globe, today announced the results of a major international study on the educational efficacy of the Magic Planet in K-12 classrooms.  The study, performed by The Chinese Ministry of Education's Educational Equipment Research Institute (EERI) in Beijing, China, determined that using the Magic Planet increased overall student comprehension by an average of 16.5 percent across a broad range of subjects.  Moreover, class participation increased by an average of 25 percent.

The EERI of the Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE) is responsible for developing and evaluating curriculum standards, as well as for evaluating all new equipment and technologies that enter Chinese schools.  As a result of the study, the Magic Planet is now part of the MoE's recommended equipment standard for China's 440,000 K-12 schools.  To date, approximately 1,000 schools have been trained on the Magic Planet and 1,500 units have been purchased.  The Ministry of Education expects to train approximately 20 percent of their K-12 schools on the Magic Planet over the next five years.   

The study consisted of 1,400 students over the course of a year – 700 students with the Magic Planet in class (the "Magic Planet group"), and 700 using the traditional lesson plans (the "control group").  The two groups were balanced to achieve comparable average GPA and learning ability, as well as comparable male/female ratio. Moreover, the same teachers taught both groups.  The study covered 15 different topics that reached well beyond geography and science. Topics included: World War II history; weather; language and religion around the globe; day/night cycle; residential area and the environment; biomes; and others.  Groups of 80-100 students were tested for each of the 15 lessons.

In post-lesson testing, the control group's test scores for topic comprehension averaged 79 percent across all lessons, while the Magic Planet group's scores averaged 92 percent - an enviable increase of 16.5 percent.  In addition, retention of individual facts increased by 6 percent in the group using the Magic Planet.  The most impressive result, however, was the fact that in the control group, 80 percent of students participated in class, while in the Magic Planet group, 100 percent of students participated in class.  Moreover, there was a substantial increase in students' appreciation of the benefits fostered through teamwork and collaboration.

"Global Imagination's mission is to revolutionize the way people learn global information - to make it much more engaging and intuitively understood.  When you see a Magic Planet live, it's easy to understand that the product increases both engagement and comprehension," said Mike Foody, CEO of Global Imagination. "With the Ministry of Education's study, we now have hard data to back up how substantial an improvement the Magic Planet can deliver." 

"These results far exceeded our expectations," said Dr. Liu Qiang, the professor in charge of the Science and Technology Department of the EERI. "We look forward to implementing the Magic Planet across our curriculum, and are confident that we will continue to see the substantial improvement in student comprehension continue as the Magic Planet helps give global context to education."

About Global Imagination®

Global Imagination makes the Magic Planet™ digital video globe - the digital display with a sphere shaped screen. The company also supplies software, content and services that enable schools and public, private and government organizations to present global information and global context in the most compelling way possible. The Magic Planet amazes students, holds their attention, and keeps them fully engaged in the learning process; it also makes teaching easier, and helps students understand any subject with a global context. To learn more, visit www.globalimagination.com

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SOURCE Global Imagination