Common Sense Note
iQuest is a comfortable fit for children these days, because it allows them to study in a manner similar to the way they play video games. Parents should note that the iQuest is most effective when it is used to study specific textbook materials. To set that up, parents will need to spend additional money on either add-on cartridges or the Mind Station Connector. There is also a possibility that your child's textbook is not covered by the iQuest materials--check before buying.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
iQuest Handheld is a small interactive device for preteens and early teens that offers test preparation help as well as organizational features typically found in handhelds. Not only can kids prepare for tests, but they can keep their calendar, address book, notes, calculator, and a dictionary in their iQuest.
The iQuest is a little bigger and heavier than most handhelds, but it talks to the student, and it has a place to insert cartridges to expand its educational material. For the PDA functions, kids input information using its full QUERTY keyboard, and they navigate the LCD display by using a multi-directional keypad typically found on gaming consoles.
To use the test preparation materials, kids must insert a cartridge. The iQuest comes with a "Starter Pack" cartridge that features over 1000 curriculum-based questions covering math, science, and social studies material for 5th-8th grades. Children have two choices of how to study the academic material available. They can select "Chapter Challenge" or take a "Pop Quiz."
In the "Chapter Challenge" mode, kids select their grade level, the subject matter to study, and then review academic material by answering multiple choice questions. A hint option is available for each question. A typical question found under 5th grade social studies is: "What was New York known as before it was renamed for the Duke of York in 1664?" If the students don't know the answer from a list of four possibilities, they can get the following hint: "The name of a European country was in the name." The answer is "New Netherland."
In the "Pop Quiz" mode, kids are challenged to answer as many questions as they can before time runs out. The type of question varies, but includes true/false, and multiple choice.
Additional cartridges are sold separately for $14.99, and they focus on specific subject matter in grades 5th-8th. What is helpful about the add-on cartridges is that they enable children to select their specific textbook, so that the Chapter Challenge and Pop Quiz questions are based on the material covered in their own textbook. If they know they have a test coming up on a specific chapter, they can set up the iQuest to quiz them on that specific material. While over 250 textbooks are covered, you should check the back of the package to see if your child's textbook is listed before purchasing the additional cartridge. There is also a separate cartridge set available to help high schoolers study for the PSAT/SAT/ACTs.
Another way to expand the material available for the iQuest is to purchase the $24.99 Mind Station Connector, which is a Leapfrog gadget that syncs the iQuest to the Internet via a computer. With this device, kids can print outlines from textbooks as well as download the textbook-specific audio quizzes for the iQuest. After the initial 6 months, Mind Station Connector has a yearly fee of $24.00.
Tweens and early teen testers liked the iQuest because it was easy to use and it was "cool" to own. Its sleek blue-and-gray appearance made these adolescents feel like they were grownup. A minor gripe was that the iQuest talks to them too much while in the study mode. Nonetheless, kids liked the interactive nature of the studying, and found the Merriam Webster's School Dictionary to be very helpful. iQuest is a comfortable fit for children these days, because it allows them to study in a manner similar to the way they play video games.
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