Waving his hand before a game console, software developer Andrew Pace draws large colourful letters and shapes on a blank wall while carefully following a series of dots.

“Like this, kindergarten children will stand in front of a white screen and work on their motor skills in a fun way,” Mr Pace, a final year student in the B.Sc. Hons Software Developer degree at the Malta Council for Arts, Sciences and Technology, said.

Using the Kinect, a console created by Microsoft that gives computers eyes, ears and the capacity to use them, Mr Pace demonstrated his thesis project in the colourful living area at the Microsoft Innovation Centre at Skyparks.

“Young children use a lot of gesture-based skills and I used these gestures in the programme, which will help them practise,” he said while drawing the letter C by following the dots, under the watchful eyes of his tutor, Ranier Bonnici.

He decided to go for a game-based approach to remove the passive element of learning and engage the children, something that is promoted in the national curriculum framework.

The educational activity improved children’s motor skills, focusing on eye coordination and hand dexterity and improving their pre-writing skills, Mr Pace said.

The Kinect, provided by Microsoft for his project, picked up the hand movement and translated it to the white screen. Children will be able to draw shapes, letters, write and follow the game – all this while learning.

Mr Pace presented the demo for the first time last month during a roundtable discussion hosted by Microsoft and chaired by Microsoft’s director of education, Kati Tuurala, who was in Malta to visit some schools.

Mr Pace explained that the teacher would be able to change the level of the programme according to the children’s needs. “This is a prototype but it can be further developed,” he explained.

His project falls under the Microsoft’s Partners in Learning programme, which provides professional development to government officials, school leaders and educators.

For more information about available courses please visit www.mcast.edu.mt.