Research findings from the MTA-AVKF research group indicate that developmental games and exercises are not being organically integrated into school learning processes. To move forward, we are enhancing the system of methodological materials by combining them with digital technologies – https://www.cogniplay.com.

CogniPlay, previously introduced here, is a next-generation STEAM model targeting children aged 4–10, where play is the core space for learning – not a supplementary element. It uses carefully designed physical and digital games in a structured way, following a learning arc: Assessment → Play (Understanding and Generalization) → Practice and Measurement → Development. The model aligns with current school structures. Its components – games, task banks, and methodological guides – can be used independently or as a coherent system, allowing gradual implementation (module → topic/unit → grade → school).

The ecosystem is built around interconnected domains: PlayMath (current focus), PlayWord, PlayAbility, PlayAgility, PlayScience, PlayArt, PlayCraft, and PlaySocial. The games intentionally link these domains to build and transfer concepts through action, movement, and social interaction. CogniPlay assesses and, if needed, develops foundational learning skills both before and during the learning process, with teacher oversight and control. Data collected by the system will be made available anonymously to students, parents, educators, and researchers. To ensure quality and sustainable scalability, CogniPlay is seeking institutional partners – primarily teacher training organizations – to establish and operate Regional Methodological Centres.

We have submitted a manuscript to the Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education titled “Promoting Teacher Adoption of a Digital Tool for Early Mathematics, Language, Technology Learning Assessment: Insights from the Sensory Motor and Cognitive Profile Test”. The manuscript ID is UJDL-2025-0112.

The article explores how the advancement of technology has increased teachers’ access to digital tools for education, yet their adoption remains low due to a mismatch between tool design and teachers’ practical needs. Using the SCPT (Sensory Motor and Cognitive Profile Test) as a case study, our research investigates how digital tool uptake can be supported in early education. Findings highlight the need for comprehensive professional support, culturally relevant technological solutions, and clear pedagogical rationale. The study contributes to the development of human-centred, sustainable educational technologies.

The collection of methodological materials used in our research is now print-ready. It will be published at the end of September as a joint release by Móra Publishing and Apor Vilmos Catholic College. The volume will be presented at the Early Childhood Education Conference in Vác this October.

The international online research journal Educatio, focused on Christian education, in collaboration with the research sector of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), has issued a call for contributions under the theme: “Is Education an Act of Hope? Catholic Education Stakeholders and the Global Compact on Education.”

“In a world shaken by multiple crises – social, environmental, economic, and spiritual – can education still offer hope? With Pope Francis’s Global Compact on Education as its backdrop, the 16th issue of Educatio invites scholars to explore how Catholic educational institutions at the primary, secondary, and higher education levels are responding to this call.”

We responded to this call and were given the opportunity to publish our research.

One digital solution for methodological development is the use of flashcards in board games in class. We have further developed a tried and tested method and started testing the cards on a wider scale.

You can sign up to try the method with Dr. Bertalan Forstner at: Forstner.Bertalan@aut.bme.hu

We will be ending our participation in the MTA Public Education Research Programme in August this year. However, our research will continue. We have invited teachers who participated in the programme to continue following their students. Children starting Year 4 in autumn can now be tested in groups using the online Sensorimotor and Cognitive Profile Test. This will make the process much easier for their teachers.

The problem is that there have been several changes of teachers, meaning that in many places, the classes included in the research are no longer led by the original teacher. Nevertheless, we hope that we will still manage to follow a sufficient number of children. From next year onwards, this will become more difficult as the classes will change significantly as the children move into the upper grades. Children may change schools, for example to eight-year-secondary schools. It is therefore important that we obtain data in the follow-up now, to ensure we have information on these children from the time they start school until the end of lower secondary school.

This year, our research group was represented by Imre Kökényesi, Bernadett Micskei and Mór Antal Szűcs at the workshop of the MTA Public Education Development Research Programme in Mátrafüred.

Imre Kökényesi gave a presentation on “Transforming the learning environment – Are we playing or learning?” on Saturday morning.

Our research, supported by the Public Education Development Research Programme of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, will result in several new collaborative research projects. One of them is in the field of teacher training, on the topic of developing mathematical thinking through experience-based learning in the kindergarten and primary school. On 29 April, we held a special workshop with the participation of lecturers and the Rector of the Apor Vilmos Catholic College involved in this topic. The solutions we presented met the ideas of the rector and the lecturers, and we hope to start a research collaboration involving the Catholic Schools Authority of the Diocese of Vác.

Several research teams consisting of teachers, special-needs teachers, psychologists, and students have been established to continue the research. In Theme 1, the area of behavioural problems, three interrelated groups are working: the classification of problems, the development of a protocol for the assessment of problems, and the practical application groups have started work.

In addition, a more in-depth study of finger awareness was launched with the development of an online hand and finger awareness test with the contribution of Imre Kökényesi and a group of interested teachers, students, and specialists.

Today, we talked to a publisher about publishing the methodological materials used in the project and incorporating the teachers’ experiences in book and online form. The plan is to have nine units focusing on the development of sensori-motor, language, and thinking, i.e., the cognitive area, three units on spatial organisation and one comprehensive unit on learning organisation. This ratio follows the teachers’ preferences in the choice of methodology. Although we are aware that the methodology of spatial and learning organisation i.e., classroom organisation is at least as important as the integration of cognitive development in the classroom, the project has revealed the direction in which teachers expect professional materials. However, in the publication, we strongly emphasise that the learning environment necessary for developmental teaching must be balanced across all three areas.