Why Hong Kong is becoming a hub for educational mobile apps

It's difficult to separate youngsters from their smartphones, as they watch videos, play games and chat with friends. But what you seldom see is children using their phones as learning tools. That's because very few educational apps are available in the mobile format.

All that may be about to change, however, as a group of software developers look to take advantage of the huge potential for mobile educational apps in a city that has the seventh highest penetration rate of smartphones in the world, according to a recent Google survey.

One of them is Leung Wai-fung, the founder of Artemis Digital, whose e-book series on popular travel destinations has been downloaded in 67 countries since last year. Equally popular are his company's interactive books. About 60 per cent of them have ranked in the top 10 in the Apple Store's education category. However, 99 per cent of the apps for children in the Apple Store are games, Leung says.

To keep users focused on learning, his team developed a feature that sends an alert when a user has spent too much time on a device, to prevent possible deterioration of their eyesight. To protect target users - primary students - from negative influences, there is no access to cyberspace. "Our books are not linked to social media like Facebook," says Leung.

Mobile devices are especially useful for learning languages because they allow for frequent practice anywhere and at any time. Qooco, a Beijing-based mobile learning technology company, has tapped that possibility, incorporating cloud-based technology in its apps for learning English and Putonghua. The apps have speaking and listening exercises, and vocabulary banks for students to use. Teachers and parents can monitor their progress by accessing data on their practice sessions stored in the cloud.

Qooco chief executive David Topolewski expects an explosion in the use of tablets on the mainland in the next few years, including at schools.