Parents and children agree, SmartyCard is educational and entertaining. If you have a user story to share with SmartyCard PR, contact us here. If you're a member of the media and you'd like to speak with SmartyCard, contact us here.
What the Media has to say...
"If anything, I love the name behind this educational online game for the tween market. The youngsters not only supposedly learn stuff, but they can earn points good for cash card rewards, iTunes purchases and more."
Edward Baig, USA Today
"Every parent knows it's often hard to motivate kids to learn. The benefits seem, well, abstract. A startup called SmartyCard has one answer-let's pay them."
Don Clark, The Wall Street Journal
"In China, teenagers already use their online game points to buy everything from cell phones to official government currency. In the U.S., virtual currencies have gained traction online in the past several years through efforts of virtual worlds like Second Life and games like the World of Warcraft. The kajeet-SmartyCard deal is another move in this direction."
Olga Kharif, Business Week
"DreamBox is one of a number of companies, with names like SmartyCard, Brightstorm and Grockit, that are pitching a new generation of online educational products aimed at supplementing students' education at home. The programs, which parents pay for by subscription, target learners from kindergartners to high-school seniors. The companies hope their interactive programs will draw students wanting to get ahead at a lower cost than hiring a professional tutor."
JOSEPH DE AVILA, The Wall Street Journal
"When I first heard about SmartyCard, the online learn-earn-play educational gaming site for kids, I knew it would be a hit in my house. My son is about to turn 7, so he's younger than the target age for the site (kids in grade 3-6) but that hasn't stopped him from logging on and challenging himself with vocabulary, spelling and arithmetic games."
Erin Kane, Real Simple
"Attention all parents who are tired of arguing with their kids about whether or not educational games are fun. If you've found that the "bribe" system works great with your kid, then SmartyCard is for you."
Gary Schultheis, sCommerce
"As you can see, I like SmartyCard. I really, really, LIKE them. (Sally Field flashback!)"
Amy Jussel, Shaping Youth
"While not all parents believe in the reward system to encourage their kids to participate in learning games, SmartyCard not only offers education, but it also teaches kids about setting and accomplishing goals, and having a light at the end of the tunnel which will only further their education (joke's on them) can't hurt!"
Beth Hodgson, InventorSpot.com
"SmartyCard would've been a MUCH more cost effective solution for my own daughter than small group tutoring in any of the revered 'supplemental' programs of yesteryear."
Amy Jussel, Shaping Youth
"SmartyCard's reporting feature gives out REAL data (rather than peer pressured-angst-driven bluffing one's knowledge) because kids challenge themselves at their OWN pace, at their OWN level without peer judgment, so you see what they really know and don't know"
Amy Jussel, Shaping Youth
"SmartyCard shares Scholastic's mission is to help motivate kids to learn."
Ann Amstutz-Hayes, Virtual Goods News
"Kids can use SmartyCard to learn how to purchase their own virtual stuff, and their currency is learning."
Robin Raskin, Raising Digital Kids
"While some virtual worlds are using SmartyCard as another monetization method, some are finding benefits of being part of SmartyCard's network, which is then presented to its users, and gaining a boost of educational content."
Joey Seiler, Virtual Worlds News
"We wish SmartyCard well and hope they succeed. This is really an untapped area, and could very well steal children to more appropriate age game sites."
Wade, Gamers Daily News
"SmartyCard takes an old idea: 'kids play games and earn points' and makes it new."
Liam O'Malley, Press Any Key
"If more reward systems like this are created and the existing ones expand, there will be a gradual shift to physical goods as people get more used to it and see it as less virtual. I'm actually excited about what resume-worthy SmartyCard is up to in general, but do feel this will likely shift in time. As a side note, if SmartyCard and others do well, the whole virtual school-rewards thing could balloon - imagine what deals could be made with schools to create virtual incentives?"
Steve, Fan To Pro - The Blog of Professional Geekery
"Who says video games don't teach out children valuable life lessons? Whoever does clearly hasn't heard of SmartyCard and their learn-earn-play games service."
Luc Ippersiel, 2GAAB
"We all love free stuff, and we all like to see our children getting the best start in life possible. SmartyCard have stepped in to provide tweens the chance to earn points doing online education, and redeem those points for both virtual world and real world stuff."
Mike Bantick, iTWire
"This looked like a really good way to handle a kid's allowance, when compared to just handing them some money and setting them loose"
TechZulu Viewer, TechZulu
"It's sort of like the carrot approach, getting kids to eat their veggies before enjoying dessert."
Dean Takahashi, VentureBeat
"The SmartyCard site offers an interactive and tween-center experience that's sure to please parents and prodigies alike. Since parents can use positive reinforcement and game play to satisfy their child's Web curiosity and temper their toy demands, both parties are guaranteed to have tantrum-free experiences."
Jennifer Van Grove, Mashable
"Every family has different needs, but I found that the digital world is here to stay. Children interact with media rich environments on a daily basis - and it has become part of how they interact socially. I am a big supporter of parents educating themselves and their children on the digital world, make educated decisions for how and what websites your children interact with - then have fun. SmartyCard falls in the supplemental education, incentive and 'have fun' boxes for me. I also appreciate the graphic rich environment that adds to the experience."
Beth Blecherman, Techmamas.com
"Every day I see a new company funded and wonder why, then once in a while I see a new site/service launch and think to myself brilliant!"
Brian Longest, Longest.com
"The confluence of trends--a rise in educational online entertainment, virtual worlds, and virtual goods/currencies--is definitely a sweet spot. While there are plenty of other payment options out there, I think SmartyCard may be one to watch."
Staff Writer, Virtual World News
"I love the bright colorful characters on the site, they succeed by being kid friendly without being too babyish. We know that incentives work, and SmartyCard has done a great job at signing up partners with stuff kids want. The questions are multiple choice, sort of 'Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader' style and surrounded by lots of fun animation."
Anastasia Goodstein, Ypulse
"I'm not advocating a Skinnerian education where material goods become the reason for learning. But, kids work is schoolwork; and their job is to do it well. Everyone expects compensation for a job well done and that means both the knowledge that they've done good work and a little salary, too. You go, SmartyCard. You learn. You earn."
Robin Raskin, Raising Digital Kids
"Some may say that this system is more like bribery, but I disagree. Kids are motivated to learn in different ways (I used to get rewarded by a trip to a favorite restaurant for good grades), so I don't think this is much different. In addition, we now live in a culture that rewards 'points' and other such things for succeeding in different things (such as Xbox 360 Achievements in the gaming world), so it doesn't bother me here."
Keith Shaw, Network World
"As parents know, 'tweens' are hard to please. Children ages 7 to 12 want to explore the world and have fun doing it. But what might be fun to tweens, like surfing the Internet unsupervised, does not square with responsible parents' desires to safeguard them and help them learn in a constructive way."
The Green Sheet, The Green Sheet
Press Releases
July 29, 2009
SmartyCard Takes Direction from Moms, Offers New Subscription Service Pricing, Better Value
June 30, 2009
SmartyCard Expands Tween Virtual World Rewards with Zwinky Cuties
June 16, 2009
SmartyCard and Kajeet create new means for tweens to earn mobile phone privileges
May 28, 2009
SmartyCard joins the Scholastic Summer Challenge™ to help families beat the "Summer Slide"
April 30, 2009
Kids Cash in on Virtual Worlds
March 26, 2009
March 3, 2009
