But put a Toca Boca game in front of a young child and they just start experimenting and finding their own fun. To an adult, these digital toys seem weird: we’re so conditioned to goal-oriented activities, in games as in real life, that the absence of direction is confusing. Toca Train lets children drive a colourful train around a track, picking up passengers and cargo Toca Store has them setting up a little shop and handing out change Toca Hair Salon involves giving characters wacky haircuts. Costing a few quid each, they are relaxed, well-designed and visually appealing, have no goals, scores or adverts, and present an imaginative little virtual sandbox for kids to play in. As a parent of a toddler, they are my go-to digital toys. 'There’s a place for that in an educational context but they are also things that can be just learned from doing completely different things,' he said.Toca Boca games aren’t like that.

Touching a bit on the character-education model that has been in the news lately, Jeffrey mentions how instead of focusing on education and what students can learn from a strict curriculum, we should be encouraging collaboration, imagination, and creativity.

They are almost completely the same thing in this context almost ignoring the rest of childhood in a way.' Jeffrey argues this conflation has resulted in a heavy focus on education being the solution to all child problems, when in fact there are other important solutions and approaches that technology can tackle.

While discussing his experience at SXSWedu, Jeffrey said, ' I think one of the big things that comes across at the conference is how many people have it as synonymous education and children. Jeffrey's poignant interview with offers an interesting and unique perspective on the current education obsession.

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