Let’s take a closer look at the educational application Word Magic from anusen.com, which is available for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The application is currently on sale for 99 cents.
DESCRIPTION:
Word decoding is an important phonics skill for students to master. Effective teachers combine the use of context or picture clues when they provide instruction in this area. Word Magic applies this pedagogical approach to a skill based iPhone app that provides students of various skill levels to use multiple clues and problem solving strategies to figure out unknown words. This instructional component provides plenty of potential for classroom use.
Let’s take a closer look at the educational application Wheels on the Bus from Duck Duck Moose, which is available for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The application is currently on sale for 99 cents, but is regularly $2.99.
DESCRIPTION:
Wheels on the Bus is an interactive musical book for iPhone and iPod Touch, based on the familiar children’s song. Children can listen, sing and read along to the popular tune. The song contains eight different verses that allow children to touch and move objects and characters on every page. FORWARD ad BACK buttons are provided for easy navigation between each page and verse. Occasionally, children will discover fun surprises and sounds by touching an object on a page. Users can spin the wheels, open and close the doors, swish the wipers, make a dog bark and my favorite, pop some bubbles.
When I was working on my masters degree in the principalship, I was involved in a program that utilized a classroom walkthrough (CWT) tool. This methodology was employed as a means for educational leaders to collect data in regards to what type of professional practice they observed in their school building. From there, principals had a base of data to review and analyze as they made decisions about what type of professional development their staff needed. Since that experience, I’ve been thinking that designing a CWT for the iPhone/iPod Touch would be a great project to work on.
If there is anyone who is using a CWT on a handheld device currently (I know of one option, but I’m not crazy about it…) or if you are using a more traditional method of CWT, I’d be interested in talking about it with you here or on the IEAR NING where I have also cross posted this entry on the discussion board. I think this would be a great app to get started on. Any thoughts?
