Ever since preschool, children encounter time concepts such as before and after, yesterday, today and tomorrow, they can list days of the week and seasons, and retell a series of experiences or a story they have heard in the correct chronological order. Nevertheless, it is very difficult for children to understand the concept of time as a continuum in which each event or time between events lasts for a certain period, and that it can be measured and accurately expressed in hours, minutes and seconds.

The ICT-AAC What time is it application is intended for children with developmental disabilities, but also for children of typical development, to help them understand time by displaying the duration of events in time units. Also, the purpose of the application is to enhance the connection of the number and quantity as well as it improves the understanding of sequence of events in time.

Using the app

The app offers users the ability to learn time recognition on analog and digital clocks. Therefore, there are two main game modes: learning time on a digital clock and learning time on an analog clock. By selecting one of the two options, users are shown a large clock in the middle of the screen (digital or analog, depending on the mode). Users need to recognize what time is shown on the big clock and find that time in the provided answers - clocks displayed in a different mode. This creates a connection between the digital and analog clock representations. In addition to modes, the game has several difficulty settings that are determined by the range of minutes that can occur in tasks. Therefore, the easiest tasks require the user to recognize quarters of an hour (15 minutes each) while in the most difficult tasks any combination of hours and minutes can occur.