App Reviews

App Reviews

By. D. Kyrie Word

Alabama Reading Standard 1.22 ) Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. [RF.1.3]

a. Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs. [RF.1.3a]

b. Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words. [RF.1.3b]

c. Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds. [RF.1.3c]

SeeSaw

Review https://www.commonsense.org/education/app/seesaw-the-learning-journal

SeeSaw is a digital journal portfolio of student learning. Students can take pictures and videos of themselves and their work. When submitted to the teacher it can be reviewed by parents, teachers or peers. This app is great for documenting students applying reading skills learned in phonics. The app also allows students to practice digital literacy skills while working on content standards. The app is free. It is available on apple or android devices, and even on Chromebooks. Commonsense.org is a credible site because they thoroughly described the app in many different aspects. They also allow other 3rd parties to review the app based on their use of the app. I always like to know how another teacher used or liked something before I waste my time on it. 

Teach Your Monster to Read

Review https://www.ipadeducators.com/review-teach-your-monster-to-read 

Teach Your Monster to Read is a fun app that takes students on a magical adventure. While on the adventure, they must make choices using and building on their phonics skills. It includes grade-level appropriate sight words as well as letter and sound correlations. It is available on apple or android devices. It cost $4.99  but is free for educators. 

I chose this review from Ipad for Educators because of the background it gave about the app. As a teacher, getting the information of who collaborated with the app is important because I want my students getting real content as they “play.” This app  used people who knew something about phonics to create it! (Go Figure!) 

Kidz Phonics

Review https://www.topconsumerreviews.com/learn-to-read/review/kiz-phonics.php

Kidz Phonics is a comprehensive reading program on its own. It is broken down into several apps to cover many grade levels and phonics skills. This makes it a little pricey. The apps start as a free lite version and then you pay to continue. I checked into the full program and its $99/year for 20 students. So it is something that could be used in the classroom. It works on apple and android devices. I chose this review site because it seems to be one most parents would google and use. It is not as comprehensive as I would want as a teacher but still informative. 

My favorite of these apps is SeeSaw. I love that it can meet the needs of all my students as well as tie in digital literacy standards. I like that it is little hands friendly. The littles get left out a lot when it comes to technology. Teachers of younger grades usually only get apps because they do not require logins. SeeSaw has a QR code login. It got 5 stars on several of the different review websites and I can see why.

Ca'Layci Coffey--App Reviews

Standard:CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.OA.A.2 Solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.

Quick Math Jr.

Link to review: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/quick-math-jr

Quick Math Jr. is an educational app that has six games that focuses on six different number-sense skills through each interactive game. The skills addressed in this app include counting, subitizing, number memory, addition, number sequence, and place value. It is a free app that is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. It’s intended age group is PreK-Kindergarten. I would use Quick Math Jr. to help teach the Kindergarten Common Core standard addressing addition and subtraction because this app includes a game that allows students to drag digital manipulatives across the screen to match a given number in the “Count and Add Bus.” This would require students to know how many more “monsters” they would need to add in order to reach the desired number given in the game. This practice with digital manipulatives will help increase fluency and confidence with addition. Commonsensemedia.org is a credible source in determining the value of this app because Common Sense Media is the “leading source of entertainment and technology recommendations for families” (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/). This website has a specific process in which they rate and review educational resources, including allowing parents, teachers, and kids to provide their reviews as well. 

Khan Academy Kids

Link to review: https://www.commonsense.org/education/app/khan-academy-kids

Khan Academy Kids is an educational app that includes activities, videos, and songs intended for students Pre K-Kindergarten. This is a free app that is compatible with Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Kindle Fire, and Fire phone. This app includes practice with a variety of learning topics and foundational skills. There are activities in math, ELA, executive function and socio-emotional learning, and creative expression. Students can move through the topics and activities, earning digital “prizes” along the way. The app provides some limited feedback that will tell teachers which topics students have mastered, and which ones they are still working on. This app includes a collection of early learning videos, songs, and activities. I would use Khan Academy Kids to help teach the Kindergarten Common Core standard addressing addition and subtraction because I would be able to assign students specific topics and activities, and then monitor students’ basic progress with those topics. Within this app, I would specifically assign students to work on the activities that provide opportunities for practice with adding and subtracting within 5, and watch the videos called “Add with Toys” and “Add in Equation”. The supplemental videos would be highly effective in helping to teach this standard because they are demonstrating addition with an object (toys) which is noted as a specific goal in the standard. The third-party review for this app is also from Common Sense Media, and, as mentioned previously, this website has a reputation for providing quality reviews of educational technology and media.

DragonBox Numbers

Link to review: https://www.commonsense.org/education/app/dragonbox-numbers

DragonBox Numbers is an educational app that allows students to explore the concept of numbers through puzzles and entertaining game play. This app costs $7.99 and is compatible with Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Kindle Fire. DragonBox Numbers focuses on basic number concepts and allows students to engage with those concepts through puzzles, challenges, and free play. Made up of four different activities, DragonBox Numbers focuses on providing practice with “combining,” (adding) “slicing,” (subtracting), “comparing,” and “sorting.” I would use this app to help in teaching the Common Core standard on addition and subtraction for Kindergarten by assigning students to spend time in the “combining” and “slicing” activities. In these activities, students practice addition and subtraction. For example, in one activity, students make the game characters, called “nooms,” “eat” each other to practice addition. To show addition, the game instructs students to have the number 3 noom “eat” the number 5 noom to become 8. There is also a version of this app called “DragonBox Big Numbers” that provides more advanced practice with addition and subtraction but is still age appropriate for the chosen Kindergarten standard. This app extension would be appropriate for a late first semester or second semester Kindergarten student that is ready for enrichment in addition and subtraction. The included third-party review is also from Common Sense Media. This website has provided age-based media reviews that are trusted by parents and educators across the country. 

Out of the three apps discussed in this blog, I feel that Khan Academy Kids is the best. This app received the best reviews out of the three on Common Sense Media, and after downloading this app and exploring it myself, it is clear that this app provides the best opportunity for exposure to the skills in this standard, as well as other math skills across all grade levels. One feature I specifically like about this app is that you can change the “level” of the activities. From levels A to D, A being for beginners and D being the most challenging level, this feature allows for teachers to differentiate the activities based on the varying needs of students. There is also a feature that allows teachers to get basic feedback on student performance, which can be useful in helping teachers to know what concepts need to be revisited either as a whole group, small group, or individually. I like that this app includes games, videos, and songs, as the variety of content will hold students’ attention instead of students getting bored of the same content. The overall ease of use of this app, the features that are included, and cost of Khan Academy Kids are my main reasons for finding this app to be the best out of the three featured in this blog. 

Lakessiah Mosley-Franklin: Theories of Critical Thinking

We live in a society that revolves around technology.  Technology is utilized almost 24 hours a day.  I often share with my students that if they do not pursue a good education they will not be able to get a job not even on the garbage truck.  Waste management now only requires two men per truck because everything functions off of technology.  In my neighborhood the second guy only gets out to make sure that the garbage can is out of the street once it is put back down.  We can now track packages before they are delivered to us.  We have smart locks for our homes and garage codes.  Our phones are now able to be unlocked by facial recognition.  Technology is booming in this century!

All of the articles shared a great deal of information regarding technology and critical thinking.  However, in my current role as a literacy specialist Instructional Strategies would apply to my current role the most.  Instructional Strategies are powerful tools in teaching and learning.  This allows differentiation to take place in the classroom because we do not all learn the same.  According to (Bloom, Englehart, Furst, Hill & Krathwohl, 1956) teachers are teaming up to make learning engaging and real life problem solving.  This would not be possible without critical thinking and a deep understanding.  I also, use Bloom's Taxonomy on a daily basis in my current role.  I use it when training others as well as with my intervention group.  This is a great tool to help formulate those quality questions when assessing students.

I believe that if we all take the principles that we read about in the articles and apply them in our current role we would become very successful educators.  This would also allow results to surface on a daily bases.  Also, The articles shared research based strategies that are very helpful in my current role.  I believe that we must analyze data in everything that we do.  We can analyze data in our personal and professional lives.  I have always believed that without data all we have is an opinion.  If we propose an idea to someone we must be prepared to prove that it works.  I believe that we should take this same approach in educating others as well.

Alisha Craft- Theories of Critical Thinking

    The field of education is ever hanging, which is one thing that makes it so interesting! Technology has become a more and more integrated part of education as the twenty-first century continues. Education has become less about what the student and teacher actually knows and more and more about whether they can find the correct information. Students are now given so many more opportunities to discover learning for themselves as teachers are able to become better facilitators and are not having to present as much direct instruction as you would have seen before the age of technology in the classroom.
    Technology gives students the option to move past a simple comprehension and regurgitate method in the classroom to actually being able to synthesize and apply the topics that they are learning. Many times this is seen in Project or Problem Based Learning. (PBL). This allows students the opportunities to find and solve problems while moving up the Bloom’s Taxonomy pyramid. Students are able to learn the information by discoveries of problems and analyzing the problems to come up with solutions in an educational manner. Technology also gives the Evaluation portion of Bloom’s Taxonomy a whole new meaning. Students are able to use technology to judge or critique other works and be judged or critiques on their own work. Such as we are doing in this blog, it gives the opportunity for students and teacher to connect their learning across the globe as well as across the system and even the school.
     As I have seen in my personal school, innovation is a very long and extensive process. Innovation is not something that happens quickly or overnight. Studies need to be seen and an impact on learning have to be evident so that people will buy into the process. There are always people that are skeptical and have always done it the same way and “it works.” These are the people that are sometimes the hardest to reach. Encouraging teachers to step out of their comfort zone and try something new is very critical when trying to create an innovative culture in the school. Sometimes having an innovative classroom or school needs to happen by seeing another innovative classroom or school. Many times people work better when working with people that share the same interests or difficulties.  Knowing that someone has been through it and has come out on top can sometimes help them jump into the feel of working in the same direction.

Alex Bemis- Theories of Critical Thinking

Education is fluid, forever changing and adapting to the world around us. After reading through these articles, I couldn’t help but think about my role as a teacher and the impact of the choices I have made in the classroom. As an educator, making decisions and figuring out what is best for my students is something I am faced with everyday. New advancements in technology should be a crucial factor in that decision making. It is easy to place chromebooks, tablets, and iPads in schools and make the claim that technology is being used, but are the students using it as a tool to enhance their critical thinking skills and transform the learning experience? Or are they simply using it as a time-filler? It is our job as educators to make every interaction that students have with these new technologies meaningful.
As I read the article “A Rich Seam”, I thought about a time in college when I needed to print a job application from a website. My new printer would not connect properly to my computer and I spent hours on google trying to troubleshoot the issue. I have always been tech-savvy, and I was thankful in that moment that I could read and comprehend the terminology to solve the problem. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same success. Educators need to work together to provide students with meaningful experiences so they are able to be successful members of society. A recent study done in the United States stated that 59% of adults ages 18-35 claim that they learned and developed most of the skills they use in their current job outside of school (Fullan and Langworthy 2014). Putting all of the focus on teaching standards and test scores and less on real-world skills is harming our students in the long run because they are not prepared for what is beyond grade school.
It is important that educators are using technology as a tool to enhance the learning experience and not to replace old practices. After reading these articles, I thought about ways myself and my colleagues can practice using technology in meaningful ways in the classroom. One thing I have noticed that is a common issue among educators is the resistance to change. While some teachers may be excited to embrace new technologies and practices, others are hesitant to take the leap. It is important to stay current and up-to-date with the advancements around us, and I would like to push myself to be an advocate for meaningful technology use in the classroom.
References:
Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson.

Bobby Mikel - Theories of Critical Thinking

It was interesting to read the theories presented in the articles, viewing them through a non-educational lens. I was able to apply them to both my current career and what I anticipate my role will be like as an educator. Being able to apply the theories to both careers allowed me to draw some unexpected parallels between both roles. This gave me insight into the some of the thoughts and attitudes of people in my current profession and helped me to think about how I can adopt technology in my own classroom in an effective manner.

As the theories relate to my current job, I particularly liked Rogers's theory of the Adoption Process. Working in television/digital communications, technology can be fairly complex and is ever changing. As one would think, this type of work draws in people who are adept at using technology. After reading his Adoption Process, I can see how this can also apply to the subset of technically inclined professionals. The categories of innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards was of particular interest (Rogers, 1963). I have noticed these characteristics in colleagues over the years. Some are quick to adopt and want to be on the bleeding edge, while others are very comfortable in their current technology with little, to no, desire to change. Being resistant to change is a danger in both the field of communications and education. In both professions, the lack of moving, changing, and growing, makes a person become stale in their skill-set and run the risk of becoming irrelevant in their profession.

The concept of deep learning was of particular interest to me in regards to what I hope will be my future role as an educator. Being on the outside looking in, so to speak, I have been big proponent of having students apply their knowledge. Coming from a professional, and technical, background I have noticed that students seem to grasp concepts better when they can put them into practice. For example, it's one thing to learn about how to mix audio in a classroom; it is another skill entirely when tasked with mixing for live television. The deep learning concept takes it farther by not just applying the skills, but also encouraging the desire to grow and learn more beyond the classroom (Fullen & Langworthy, 2014). This method of teaching would help to both foster the growth of new students/professionals and hopefully dissuade their propensity to resist effective use of new technology later in their lives/careers.

No matter the role of an individual, adopting new technologies is almost essential in order to function in modern society. As this relates to education specifically, this cannot be understated. Students are growing up with technologies that did not exist when we were children. Not properly implementing technology in their learning environment is doing them a major disservice, potentially hindering their desire to learn.

Resources:

Rogers, E. M. (1963). The adoption process II. Journal of Cooperative Extension, 1(2), 69-75. Retrieved from http://www.joe.org/joe/1963summer/1963-2-a2.pdf

Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/about-pearson/innovation/open-ideas/ARichSeamEnglish.pdf

Merrill Dotson- Theories of Critical Thinking

Technology in the classroom is one of the most popular topics in education today. Educators, politicians, parents, and students see the role of technology in different lights, but all agree on its importance. As educators, we must be diligent in our research and implementation of these resources. Fullan and Langworthy (2014) stated that, “Digital access makes it possible for students to apply their solutions to real world problems with authentic audiences well beyond the boundaries of their schools” (p.4). We must strive to provide the best resources for our students, who are relying on the educational system to prepare them for a business market that is ever developing. 

Schools consistently struggle to keep pace with the business market, whether this be with technology, skills, or expectations. There is a great divide between these two fields, though they rely heavily on one another. Businesses need schools to prepare their future employees, and schools need businesses to employ their graduating students. Creating a partnership in communities is the first step in this process. When the local school understands the needs of the community and businesses, they can better prepare students for that environment. 

The strategies for the adoption of a new program or process must be planned in a thoughtful and intentional manner. According to Rogers (1963), there are “five adopter categories on the basis of innovativeness: innovators (first to adopt), early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards” (p.72). While presenting intriguing material to each group would be ideal, time and funds do not always allow this. Rogers writes on early adopters, “An hour of education effort spent with this adopter category will yield higher results in changed behavior than any other adopter category” (p.72). To see the greatest successes for our students, school leaders must be on the forefront of adoption and implementation. 

Resources

Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson.  

Rogers, E. M. (1963). The adoption process II. Journal of Cooperative Extension, 1(2), 69-75.

Stephane Stegen- Theories of Critical Thinking

As I read these articles, I began to think about my role as a teacher and how I use technology in my classroom. I work in a district that implemented one-to-one digital curriculum nine years ago. In the beginning we were expected to do everything on these digital devices. I had my doubts about how well it would work and how meaningful it would be for my young students. As I investigated the technology and began using it, I found that I agree that, “the differentiating power of educational technology makes meeting the needs of different intelligences or learning styles more practical in the day-to day world of a classroom teacher” (Kuhn, 2008). Technology is a powerful tool in the classroom when trying to meet the needs of many students with different abilities and learning styles. It has a way of engaging the student in a way that can take learning to a more meaningful level.

However, despite all of the benefits technology can bring to the classroom and students, it is ultimately the teacher-student relationship that allows authentic learning to take place. Hobbs stated that, “many school leaders mistakenly believe that simply providing children and young people with access to digital technology will automatically enhance learning” (Hobbs, 2011). It is the job of the teacher to partner with the student and create opportunities that will produce critical thinking and real-world learning. As a teacher of primary students, many children start to believe at an early age that because they don’t read as well as another child, or do math as quickly, that they are not as smart. It is in these circumstances that I can work on something with that child, whether it be a project or something similar using technology, and I can see real learning and critical thinking happening. This helps to give that child confidence and encouragement to continue the learning process. Fullen and Langworthy said it this way, “Teaching shifts from focusing on covering all required content to focusing on the learning process” (Fullen & Langworthy, 2014).

It is important for teachers to continue to use technology to reach all of our students. We do need to make sure that we are using it in meaningful ways and not just as a way to fill the time. “The goal is not only to master content knowledge; it is to master the learning process” (Fullen & Langworthy, 2014). In using technology to do this, we can develop critical thinking skills in every student. It can be more difficult to do as we try to come up with new ways to incorporate technology, but the results are much more fulfilling as a teacher. “Even the least experienced teachers can provide more depth and learning-style differentiation if they effectively use educational technology to teach" (Kuhn, 2008).

Resources
Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/about-pearson/innovation/open-ideas/ARichSeamEnglish.pdf 
Hobbs, R. (2011). Empowering learners with digital and media literacy. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 12-17. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Kuhn, M. S. (2008). Connecting depth and balance in class. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(1), 18-21. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.