Deepend were tasked with the unique challenge of developing an interactive, educational platform to increase engagement, connection and well-being for children and young people educationally at-risk. Children often feel scared and isolated during their stay in hospital, and can face substantial disruption to their usual schooling program. The Royal Children’s Hospital Education Institute is committed to providing a rich learning experience so that their education continues during their stay. The App was to be a collaborative learning tool that covered a vast range of topics, would appeal to broad age range of children (3-18), and would create greater awareness of the different roles the hospital staff play in the care of children.

Deepend worked closely with the Royal Children’s Hospital and their resident teachers to develop a mobile and tablet application called  “Ed and the Curious Crew at The Royal Children’s Hospital”, fondly referred to as, The Ed App. Kids can follow hand-drawn illustration of ‘Ed’ and his friends as they learn, watch, play and explore a variety of topics, whilst the individual app characters bring the less-recognised teams of the Royal Children’s Hospital to the forefront. We combined beautiful design, immersive storytelling and great functionality to provide an engaging interactive environment that complements a child’s learning in line with the Reggio Emilia Educational Approach, which encourages exploration and discovery through nurturing the child’s curiosity.

“Ed and the Curious Crew at The Royal Children’s Hospital” has been rolled out throughout the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Education Institute, and has been met with great support and  praise, from both the Institute and the wider Royal Children’s Hospital. It has so far received an approval rating of almost 100% with plans to be launched nationally. It currently has an average engagement time of over 7 minutes. Thanks to “Ed and his Curious Crew” education for youths continues during their hospital stay, and children can experience a seamless return to their learning environment. The immersive storytelling with our hand-crafted characters have made the transition from the hospital back to school as easy as possible.