Bible Islands offers on-line adventures for children

The partnership between Compedia and the Jerusalem Christian Embassy has led to the development of a safe internet environment for kids.

By KASEY BARR
bible island311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
bible island311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Compedia, an Israeli company that has become a leader in the global “edutainment” field, recently partnered with the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem to create Bible Islands, a safe Internet environment where parents can oversee their children’s journey through an engaging animated world of educational games, projects and adventures all drawn from the Bible.
Gil Ilitowich, executive director of Compedia, founded the company in 1988. Today it is a leading game publisher around the world. Everything is developed in Israel, but the products are sold in 50 countries in 40 different languages. Compedia’s newest venture combines cutting-edge technological skills, vibrant animation, and gaming experience to teach children Bible stories, instill family values, and improve skills in a variety of subjects, including math, history, writing, Hebrew and more.
Compedia works in cooperation with leading pedagogical advisors and child psychologists to develop their products.
For the new virtual world of Bible Islands [], Ilitowich also consulted with the Christian Embassy on content.
“To create Bible Islands was a real challenge in many aspects. I was introduced to the Christian Embassy and Dr. Jürgen Bühler by a friend,” said Ilitowich. “When Jürgen saw this product, he said the Christian world is not far away. This meeting opened a new world to me, and although my background is in Jewish philosophy, I began to study before developing Bible Islands.”
Bühler, himself a father of preschool and primary school-aged children, sees Bible Islands as a “fantastic tool, which allows parents to safeguard the learning environment of their children.
“Bible Islands is built on a unique software which enables children to use new media tools. They can learn in a very playful way about the Bible and the land of Israel,” explained Bühler, the ICEJ’s international director.
As part of the program, a parental webpage is provided to allow control of what the children are learning.
Parents can track how long their children are using the program, and on what subjects they are focusing.
They can monitor how much time is spent on a particular subject, and where the child needs improvement, and can then customize the program to meet the child’s needs. If parents choose to emphasize certain subjects, the on-line program will generate more games according to the parent’s wish.
Bible Islands is an ever-evolving virtual world. It allows children to proceed only when they have learned something. The more they play, the larger their virtual world becomes. The game also allows for content related to holidays and historic events, such as Christmas and Easter.
“There is nothing in it that contradicts the Bible,” assured Ilitowich. This is a very important facet, since Compedia recently signed an agreement with Sunlight, a leading homeschooling company in the US. “More than one million kids are learning at home because parents don’t want what their children learn at school to contradict the Bible,” said Ilitowich.
Over the years, Compedia has worked with giants in the children’s entertainment world, such as MGM, Disney and National Geographic, and holds the rights to several known brands, developing games like “Casper the Friendly Ghost,” “Lassie,” “Pink Panther,” and “Lazy Town.”
“From a business point of view, it is a narrowing of the market,” Ilitowich admitted in reference to a Scripture-based game directed at the Christian market. “But there are lots of values for us that are more important.”
Compedia has also decided to donate part of the proceeds from Bible Islands to Jewish and Christian charities in Israel. “I believe in that way we are also building a bridge,” he said.
“We are really thrilled to be partnering with such a great project,” said Bühler, “It’s also lots of fun.”