We created a universal and exciting simulator (e-Manual Book) for kids and teens to study and practice the road rules. It is a multimedia computer programme (video, photos, tests) which is easy to install in each classroom. Kids will like it.
The ideas
We live in a small town, Kogalym, which is located in the north of Russia. Our town is very young; it’s only 30 years old. It was founded in 1985 by brave people who arrived here to explore the north, looking for gas and oil. The main industry here is oil production. Now nearly 50,000 people live here. Life has begun to be more active and comfortable: people have built homes, infrastructure is being constructed – hospitals, schools, kindergartens, businesses and of course, roads...
In general, all roads are perfect in Kogalym. They have two sides for traffic, there are a lot of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, but even more there are schools, kindergartens and, therefore, there are also young children who play near the roads or run across them in the wrong places. That’s why, nowadays, the number of accidents involving children has begun to increase in our town and all over the country, too.
Since our town is modern; teachers at our schools use a lot of new technology and equipment. It is very difficult sometimes to surprise and interest children in something, especially boring safety road rules and regulations. So, we decided to create a special textbook for kids and teenagers. This book needed to be very interesting for them and attract their attention. It needed to have a brilliant design and also bright and memorable content.
In the beginning, it was difficult for us to create an e-manual, so our computer science teacher, Sergey Chernov, gave us some wise advice. Special thanks to our coordinators Olga Shumkova and Svetlana Eskaeva for their support and understanding.
The initiatives
We made this project for kids and teenagers who are not following the road safety rules. And so we did the following:
1. We found photos and videos of road accidents with kids, and information about road accidents in our region.
2. We analyzed the statistics of road accidents with kids.
3. We conducted a survey in a primary school and learnt the reasons for road accidents involving kids.
4. We studied how to use the software of Adobe Flash CS6, AutoPlay.
5. We created an electronic manual book on road safety rules.
6. We practiced and tested our e-manual book on primary school kids.
Nearly 120 children from the fifth grade classes of our school took part in this project. They painted pictures of Road Safety Rules (R.S.R), took part in questionnaires on R.S.R., checked their knowledge of R.S.R. using the e-manual book. They liked the "Review" section the most because of the flash-test and funny cartoons. We also set up lessons on Road Safety Rules in different grades of our school, where teachers discussed with students the advantages and disadvantages of our e-manual book.
