12 of our Favorite Apps for Enhancing Learning

We spent lots of time investigating the many educational apps at the iTunes store. So many choices....
It was hard to pick just 10 so here are 12 of our favorite apps:

Clay-B-Cs Released September 30, 2011 $ 0.99 compatible with iphone, iPod touch & iPad	This colourful app is an interactive picture book which is designed to help children learn the alphabet in a creative manner through the use of colourful clay animation. It involves an interactive touch experience that encourages the user to search for items on a page that begin with a letter of the alphabet. Users open to a screen for a letter of the alphabet: For example - C is for…. with animated objects that begin with C: pictures below show a car, a cow, carrots, circles, a caterpillar, celery & corn. Upon touching the object the word is spelled above the object. There are at least six objects per page and a countdown that shows how many objects are left to find. Voice activation (which can be enabled) will introduce a letter and repeat the name of the object as it is touched. What makes this app unique is that the handmade clay pictures are very attractive and colourful. This relatively new app has been very well received with many five star positive comments in the iTunes store.	This app is suitable for young and old alike. It can assist in developing pre-reading skills: learning the alphabet, development of a rich vocabulary, awareness of print and skills associated with decoding such as creating a mental picture of a word.
R U APT? Parts of speech Released November 10, 2011 $ 0.99 compatible with iphone, iPod touch & iPad	This app is designed to help users learn and reinforce the parts of speech used in spoken and written English such as; nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns prepositions conjunctions and interjections. A game format is used for this app whereby a question is posed and a multiple-choice list of four responses is listed below. Selecting this correct the answer results in moving forward in the game. Three wrong answers ends the game in a high score is recorded as the game is played over time. Students need some prior knowledge of the parts of speech and an ability to read independently.	Very beneficial for a student to learn about writing conventions in the English language. Especially beneficial for Language Arts and English courses for middle school and high school students.
Sight Words Released June 28, 2011 $ Free compatible with iphone, iPod touch & iPad Spelling Notebook Free Released November 4, 2011 $ Free compatible with iphone, iPod touch & iPad	This app is designed to help children learn the most common words used in the English language otherwise known as the Dolch words (sight words). Edward William Dolch PhD compiled this list containing 315 "service words" that he determined to be necessary to know in order to achieve reading fluency in the English language. It is recognized that many of the Dolch words can't be "sounded out" using common sound-to-letter implicit phonics patterns and have to be learned by sight. Although the app is aimed towards pre-primary, primary and upper elementary grades, it would be very suitable for students with exceptionalities and ESL students alike. Features include the ability to add new words and make your own cards using your voice (as opposed to using the programmed voice). A multi-sensory learning app using audio, voice and written words that is designed in a fun, game style manner. Five out of five stars at the iTunes store. A really fun app for all learners. A very helpful app for assisting with spelling skills, this app allows creation of individualized wordlists. Additionally, the app contains a built-in spelling dictionary, a database of over 100,000 words with the option to individualize by adding more words, text to voice as well as the ability to record one’s own voice for practicing words and a feedback system whereby stars are given for correct spellings. Many, many features in this app that would assist in learning to spell the written word. This app was designed to replace the pencil and paper method of learning to spell new words and encourages independent learning. A really great new free app in my opinion.	This app is very useful to prepare children to read; it helps to develop an awareness of print, rich vocabulary, and decoding skills. Also, voice to text helps with auditory learning. This ‘learn how to spell’ app can promote an awareness of print, a rich vocabulary and assist with decoding skills. Also, voice to text helps with phonemic awareness though auditory learning.
Math Bingo Released March 10, 2011 from www.ABCya.com website $0.99 compatible with iPhone, iPod & iPad, a universal app	From the critically acclaimed www.ABCya.com website, Math Bingo offers children math practice in a game format that includes player profiles and rewards. There are four categories: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; three levels of difficulty – easy, medium and hard; choice of eight different avatar cartoons; and a personal scoreboard. The object of Math Bingo is to get a pattern of five Bingo Bugs in a row by correctly answering math problems. The score is determined by the amount of time it takes to calculate a correct answer plus a two second penalty for incorrect answers. Animated, interactive Bingo Bugs are rewarded for achieving a high score. Engaging sounds and animated effects. Math bingo usage	Effective app for practicing basic math functions. Player profiles and timekeeper ability document student progress over time. Three levels of difficulty provide for differentiation of instruction. Lessons not included.
Rocket Math $0.99 and free version Compatible with iPhone , iPod & iPad, a universal app	An educational app that reinforces math functions by building an online rocket with 56 fun math missions that are different every time, 90+ colourful rocket parts, engaging sound effects and music, three levels of difficulty, choice of 15 space-themed avatars; create 5 player profiles; rocket simulator is powered by realistic physics engine. Math functions include: numbers, fractions, decimals, counting, telling time, money (US), shape (2D, 3D), patterns, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square roots, etc). Interactive animations have touchable objects floating in space.	Recommended for all ages. Three levels of difficulty provide for differentiation of instruction; engaging and interactive practice for several math skills. Lessons not included.
Mathemagics – Mental Math Tricks $0.99 (sale price) Compatible with iPhone, iPod & iPad, a universal app	A fun application that teaches and practices mental math tricks. The three components – lessons, practice and play – train your brain to break down math problems into smaller more manageable pieces in order to find solutions. With various levels of proficiency, the numerous mental math calculations include: multiply as high as 20, multiply any number by 25, multiply any number by 99, squares from 41-59, sum of first n even numbers, square number sin the 60’s, evenly divisible by 7, square numbers in the 800’s, check division by casting nines, check subtraction by casting nines, etc. http://youtu.be/c6uV8JRiHeE	An instructional and engaging practice app for all ages and grades. Mental math lessons included. A practical resource and instructional tool.
Story Builder $3.99 Compatible with iPhone, iPod & iPad, a universal app	Designed to help children write/create narrative stories. Supports three writing goals: improves paragraph formation, improves integration of ideas and improves higher level abstractions by reference. Use of audio clips promotes improved auditory processing for special needs children with autism spectrum disorders or sensory processing disorders. Children can record narrative stories using their own voices. Features include: three levels of play, simple intuitive interface, recorded answers are attached together to create a complete narrative, 50 different story lines from which to choose, 500 audio clips to use to create narratives, optional question and answer introduction support, e-mail recorded stories when finished. Colourful cartoon graphic stories.	Recommended for ages 6-10, 10+ special needs. An engaging and helpful instructional support tool for reluctant writers and non-verbal students.
Elmo Loves ABCs $4.99 Compatible with iPad.	Available in a lite version for free. Lite limits you to 3 letters but is a great way to see if the app is right for you. In the full version, (which my 2-year-old is in love with) there are 3 main activities. In one, you choose a letter to trace and 3 objects that begin with that letter appear. You can then watch videos about these objects, colour them or play hide and seek with them. In another activity, you are presented with different letters and Elmo asks you to find a certain one in upper and lower case. Then you have to choose an object that begins with that letter to be rewarded with another short video. The third activity is a variety of videos to accompany a variety of ABC songs. Kids love this app because Elmo chatters away to them throughout their tasks and they get quick glimpses of other Sesame Street characters in the brief videos. I enjoy it because kids have to work for the quick videos and because many of them are “old school” clips from when I watched Sesame Street as a kid.	Recommended for any kid who likes Sesame Street! Younger kids (or those with fine motor issues) may need a bit of assistance to trace letters. Used and loved by our school’s speech-language pathologist.
Super Why $2.99 Version 1.4 compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad $3.99 Version 1.5 Compatible with iPad	As far as I can tell, versions 1.4 and 1.5 are quite similar, if not identical. Both offer 4 different games and the chance to earn reward “stickers.” Kids can use the stickers to decorate different backgrounds on their iDevice. The games correspond with the 4 main characters on the PBS show Super Why, including Alpha Pig’s Lickety Letter Hunt, Wonder Red’s Rhyme Time, Princess Presto’s Wands Up Writing, and Super Why’s Story Saver. The games focus on letter identification, letter sounds, initial sounds, letter formation, comprehension, and word families.	I would recommend this app for pre-school or school aged children. The show itself was very popular with my primary class and I would have loved to have this available for them as well.
Beginning Sounds Interactive Game Free Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.	This app is a fun way to get kids to practice their initial letter sounds. 18 sounds are available and represented by pictures. The user can choose 3 sounds to work with or can have a random selection chosen. Once chosen a device that resembles a slot machine appears with 3 columns, one for each of the sounds. The user is then given 12 samples to sort. The samples appear as little balls that tumble out of the side of the device. The samples are also represented by pictures. You can click on the samples or on the sounds chosen to have the names of the objects said aloud. There is no text shown. If a sample is placed in the wrong slot, it is simply placed back in the sample section so the user can try again.	Although listed as being suitable for ages 4-7 years, this app could be used with a wider age range to help with letter/sound difficulties.
Letter of the Day Interactive Activities Free (until Dec. 31, 2011) Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.	Great app for letter identification sounds and printing practice. The user can choose any letter of the alphabet to work with. A chant appears and can be read to or by the child. There are then 4 boxes where the user has to choose from 3 options. Incorrect choices disappear while the user is cheerfully told to try again. There is also a space to practice letter formation, with a simple demonstration of proper techniques. It would be nice to see some feedback though, in case students aren't attending to the tutorial.	Recommended for ages 4-6 years.

New toy originally developed for Autism Interaction

I came across this interesting article about a fairly new 'toy' that is selling like crazy for this Xmas season that was 'originally designed as a robot (to be) used in autism social behavior therapy' according to Jack Kieffer from the Autism Plugged In web site:

 http://www.autismpluggedin.com/2011/08/keepon-dancing-toy-therapeutic-for-kids-with-autism.html.

According to the site there was documentation that 'kids who had autism were making more eye contact and physical embraces with the toy than they did with normal people' and 'these social skills transferred over into the real world'. Its inventor Hideki Kozima  made the original version that was more expensive than this Toys Are Us retail model which incorporated facial recognition software in its body. More research is needed to definitively declare it a tool to help kids with autism according to Kieffer, but it appears to be a hit with kids young and old for the upcoming holiday season. Check out its moves in this YouTube video

Creation of a 60sec commercial using ReelDirector

Saturday’s class turned out to be a lot of fun, even though the technology in the NSCC campus building was having ‘issues’. Our group of Amy, Bev and I were tasked to create a 60 second commercial on Assistive Technology using the iPod touch and the app ReelDirector from the Apple iTunes store. This app is listed as a powerful video editor for the iPod touch, iPad and iPhone and is in version 3.2 as of November 15th. Its reasonable price of $1.99 makes it an affordable app for purchase. I’m including a couple of YouTube videos that show how to use the app. The shorter clip gives a simplified (and funnier) version


 

 while the longer video is more comprehensive.


 

This screen grab shows some of the features  for the iPod or iTouch.

Reflection on the Creation of the Commercial

As a group of three we all had ideas to contribute and therefore we brainstormed separately, wrote down our thoughts and met to discuss and consider each other’s ideas. Once the main idea was selected, we again refocused on how to get our message across: we wanted the commercial to be engaging, entertaining and memorable and with that goal in mind we found ourselves making a storyboard list and problem solving for who does what, location in the building and time allotment. Throughout the process, we revised constantly as issues arose – all the while checking in for a consensus where everyone’s input was valued. In the end, we considered it a group production where we were all valuable contributors to the successful goal of a commercial on the benefits of Assistive Technology.

Although we were not able to share the video with the class as a whole, we were able to see another group’s video which we enjoyed. Hopefully, this coming Saturday, the ‘issues’ with internet in the building will be remedied so as to see the other group’s commercials as well.

 The actual task of creating the commercial involved much more than using the app; it involved a group effort that began with the question ‘What are we going to do?’ and ‘How do we do it?. When all was said and done, we were happy with the result but at the same time realized that the actual ‘filming’ and processing of the video using the AT ReelDirector was only possible after collaboration among us that involved many processes - some taking more time than others - to get from start to finish. It is one thing to assign a project but another to really analyze what steps need to be done to get from point A to point B. Teachers often assign group projects to their students across the curriculum with the awareness that subject specific outcomes are being addressed. The following list touches on some of the outcomes and skills that were addressed in the process of creating this commercial:

Problem solving skills/outcomes: ex. organizing information	Project based learning outcomes: ex. using AT apps such as Pictello
Communication skills: ex. negotiating to achieve consensus & comparing and analyzing ideas	Language Arts outcomes: ex. expressing ideas clearly and fluently
Collaboration/leadership skills: ex. showing initiative & accepting feedback	Planning/sequencing skills: ex. taking an idea and composing a storyboard
Social skills: ex. ability to successfully interact as part of a team	Research skills: ex. using the internet to find specific information
Literacy skills/outcomes: ex. ability to convey ideas in print form	Technology skills: ex. the ability to successfully operate a software app
Visual Arts outcomes: ex. creating images for a variety of purposes	Writing & Reading Outcomes: ex. decoding and comprehension skills

Five creative ways to use Pictello

On Saturday afternoon (October 22), our class explored an app called Pictello. It can be used on the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad. The larger screen on the iPad is really the best way to go in my opinion as in this case, bigger is better, especially for students with visual differences. It is $18.99 on the iTunes store. Basically, it is an app that enables a person to create a talking photo album and talking book. It is truly an amazing app that can be used by all students but also can be very beneficial to students with learning differences. The description on the app write-up states that Pictello is developed for all ages and skill levels, is easy to use and requires no reading skills to locate and read stories. There is a ‘wizard’ built in that allows the creation of a story to be interactive and enjoyable. Pictures for the story can be taken in real time and put into the template or can be retrieved from other sources. A very versatile AT app.

As a Family Studies/ Core subject teacher in secondary schools, I can think of many ways to use Pictello - here are five ways:

1. For a student new to Canada: Use Pictello to tell a story about a student's life before they came to Canada. Can show former town/living environment,customs, traditions, extended family, trip to Canada itself. Examples of picture pages can include a geography picture (from google earth, their house, relatives, traditional dress. Narration can be by the student with relatives from home speaking on some pictures as well. Could be finished with the new friends they have made in school since they have arrived. Outcome: students, teachers and other school workers would learn about the student’s previous life and thus contribute to a collective understanding of inclusiveness. Could be shared in Social Studies, PDR/ Healthy Living or homeroom/assembly.

2. For a student in a Lifeskills class, such as Family Studies: Pictello would be great for me to use with a student identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder to teach cooking skills (life skills). I had such a student in my class last year and Pictello would have been an awesome AT tool. I made many food products last year from spaghetti to smoothies and it would have been great to have a ‘storyboard’ that showed the stages of the process with  visual pictures and voice. Examples of pictures pages could include pictures of the Foods Lab itself, of ingredients to be used, of students demonstrating the technique. Pictures could also be added by the fellow students working with the ASD student culminating in eating the finished product. Outcome: ASD students will learn about following procedures, new foods, new hands-on ways to manipulate food and working collaboratively. Classmates will learn positive ways to interact with students with differences. Could be shared in a learning center environment prior to a food lab experience for comprehension purposes or used as reinforcement during or after the experience.

3. For an ESL student: - Pictello would be great to use specifically for a student that is in the process of learning English as a second language. Pictello would be good for use as a visual/auditory dictionary. Pictures associated with basic language to subject specific language could be used with recorded pronunciation to enhance language learning. Could be used for every class as an AT device and carried on their person throughout the school (would be a bonus if the student could take the device home as well). Examples of picture pages can include just about anything that is relevant to the language requirements in the school environment – examples: social greetings to science pictures with the ‘translation’ spoken and written for the object. The student could be encouraged to ask classmates to assist in picture taking and labeling in English to encourage positive social interaction. Outcome: ESL students will be able to learn a new language more easily and become better prepared to actively participate to achieve school learning outcomes while classmates will learn to become accepting of students from other cultures.

4. For a class of students who are about to undertake a new experience: Pictello would be a great tool for teachers to use to record a visual story from a previous year with last year’s group of students. For example, a school trip to another part of Canada which the school visits every May/June. Pictures could be taken during the entirety of the trip; casual pictures along with pictures of buildings, places and activities. The teachers could incorporate a mark for this aspect of the school trip where each student makes one page with a comment about their favorite or most interesting part of the trip. This video “diary” would be shown to the class as a whole in advance of the trip the following year and could relate to expectations, rules, and other trip objectives. Outcome: the following year’s students will be ‘educated’ as to the nature of the trip with its stated expectations which will contribute to a positive, successful experience.

5. For the school to make a presentation to the community: Pictello would be a useful tool, potentially offering a more personalized experience than PowerPoint to engage a school community audience for a persuasive presentation. An example of this would be the case of a school needing the community to financially support a fundraising effort to purchase equipment for a school program. Specific example: Physical Education program needs new sports equipment for a new-to-the-school winter outdoor activity. Snowshoes, cross-country skis and boots are needed for this program to succeed. Students can take an iPad or ipod and make their own story of why they would like to have this equipment and what it would mean to them to participate in outdoor sports as opposed to always being inside in the gym. Individual students could have a page each with their own picture and audio recording. A fun, light-hearted touch would personalize the experience. The Pictello story could be displayed on a PC and projected to an audience in the gym. Parent-teacher night or orientation night at the beginning of the school year would be a good time to share a school need with the community at large and hopefully associated fund-raising activities. Outcome: a win-win situation with an end result of motivation to fund-raise for equipment and a shared feeling of community with the school.

(6.)  For a student who struggles with anxiety disorder/has great difficulty with changes in routine:  Pictello could be used to provide a visual story (a social story) to show upcoming events. ASD students, cognitively challenged students and students diagnosed with severe anxiety would benefit from a visual/audio story that would prepare them for an upcoming event. Reinforcement of ideas, familiarization with routine and ability to inject themselves into the storyboard with their own picture, prior to the actual event, would go a long ways to desensitize an anxious student and strengthen the probability of a successful outcome with ASD and other cognitively challenged students. For examples, picture pages could include telling the story of a visit to a museum. A sequential step by step picture/auditory story showing the student getting ready, going on a bus, a picture of the museum, pictures of the exhibits etc. would be shown in advance. Outcome: the student will be less anxious and have a positive experience with less stress and minimal disruption to others.

3 Favorite apps for the iPod touch/iPad: Reflection on Saturday afternoon

The afternoon was spent in a very enjoyable app exploration with iPod touches. I  was interested in seeing what the iTunes store had for AT in relation to language acquisition and motivational apps for  reading. As an owner of an iPhone for the past three years, I am quite familiar with apps but not familiar with the types of apps we were looking for today. I easily could have spent more time exploring the newer iPod and iTunes store as there are more interactive features than ever on the various apps.  Listed are some of the apps our group identified to be among our favorites:

I Like Books. Free on iPod 3G - 37 Picture books for Kids in 1 App.

Suitable for young readers. Has three options:
Read To Me - The text is read out loud - words are highlighted
Read By Myself - no automatic text reading but when word is touched it is pronounced
Auto Play - reads out loud and turns pages
Other features include: add your own voice- record the entire story in mummies or daddy's voice, word highlights - click on any word and hear it being read out loud, and picture highlights - turn on/off the ability to click on picture highlights to make the story either more immersive or less distracting.


abcPocket Phonics Lite: letter sounds & writing  + first words   Free (Paid Version $2.99)

Suitable for young readers- aimed at preschool kids and those aged up to seven years.
The free version of pocket phonics lite gives users the chance to try before they buy. The full version offers sections that address letter sounds, letter writing, and 170st words.
The user selects from different games- letter sounds, writing & word games. It helps children learn to read by understanding the sounds that letters make - (phonics).  It teaches letter writing by visually demonstrating how to write each letter. Children can practice writing by tracing the letter with their finger.  This app also teaches how to sound out  and spell over 170 frequently used words.  There are also customizable settings; one can choose lower case, uppercase, or cursive letters. This is a very visually appealing app that has also won awards.  And how to scan all the time at the front and in an


Strip designer $2.99

Appropriate for students of all ages.  This is a fun app that lets students create a comic strip/graphic novel. Pictures for the strip can be taken from your iPhone or iPad and inserted into the story. There are many templates to choose from and text balloons or speech bubbles can be added. Students can add their own words or words can be chosen from included vocabulary. Additionally, there is a sliding toolbar included that adds further functionality. This app offers a fun way for students to engage with printed language. Also an option to publish, share by email etc.

Other interesting and useful app discussed included:

SentenceBuilder
StoryBuilder - SLP's use them
Functional skills
FW animals
Shakespere in Bits series - ipod

Assistive Technology Program presentations: Review & Reflection on Saturday morning

MyStudyBar: http://thenextchapter-acadia5163.blogspot.com/ was presented by our group this morning. I believe the class found the Free shareware was useful for themselves and for students of all abilities. More presentations of AT continued throughout the day.

Kurzweil:  http://www.kurzweil-abs.blogspot.com/appears to be an amazing AT tool. It certainly was  a "cadilac" of a program with many features to assist students in many areas. It is a very detailed and to some degree, involved program that can take some time to become aquainted with. From the tutorial that was presented to the class, it was apparent that is is a very useful program for students of varying abilities. I especially liked the Bubblenote feature that could be inserted into a text document. We will be going over the features in more detail in our next class.

Wynn 3: http://wynnwizardtutorial.blogspot.com/ also offered some  similiar  AT features as Kurzweil that could be useful for students. I don't believe this program is carried in all school districts throughout the province. Visually, the appearance wasn't as attractive as Kurzweil but appeared to have some similar functions that meet the same AT outcome.

Natural Reader 10: http://naturalreadertutorial.blogspot.com/ was a free program for Mac and PC. A very efficient text to speech reader. Opens a minibar/miniboard that can be ignored after opening - text will be read when highlighted after opening. Open any text - Agnes, Alice or Albert will read the text to you. It was mentioned that Natural Reader is on every computer in the SSRSB for all students to use.  In the paid version of this app, the text can be converted to MP3 files and additional voices can be added. Natural Reader also  contains a pronunciation editor as one of its features.

Text help: http://assistivetechgroupies.blogspot.com/  Also called Read and Write Gold for Mac & PC. Speech Imput, Translator, PDF Aloud, Vocabulary List Builder and Study skills are addressed in this AT program. One neat feature of this program is a pronunciation checker which shows a picture of the mouth pronouncing the word. A fact mapper and fact checker is also an interesting feature (must be online for this feature). It was noted that PDF aloud needs Adobe 9, not 10 when reading text to speech.

In total, I really enjoyed the presentations from all  the groups this morning. I found that this was such an informative class and as I previously discussed on this blog, an eyeopening experience. I didn't really know about the many and varied AT software apps available to school students. I can see this type of sharing session becoming an inservice at schools since it offers such valuable information.