So Many Educational A pps , But Which Ones Are T he Best ?

1. So Many Educational Apps, But Which Ones Are The Best? By: Todd Cherner, Ph.D. | Corey Lee, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Education Spadoni College of Education Coastal Carolina University

2. Presentation Overview • Context: The Emergence of Apps and Table Technologies in the Classroom • Impact on Teacher Education: Effectively Preparing Future Teachers • Conceptualizing Apps: Three Pillars for Selecting Apps • Presentation of App Ed Review: A Searchable Database of App Reports

3. Context • More than 20,000 educational apps are housed in the App Store (Earl, 2013; Rao, 2013). • The amount of choices can make teachers feel overwhelmed when searching for apps to use in their classrooms (McGarth, 2013; Walker, 2011). • iPads continue to be purchased in large numbers by school districts across the county (e.g. LAUSD, HCS, multiple LEAs in TX).

4. Glancing at the App Store’s Education Department

5. Impact on Teacher Education Education is continuing to experience a paradigm change in how technology is used, and we have an obligation to prepare our teacher candidates to use these new tablet technologies (Melhuish & Falloon, 2010; Murray & Olcese, 2011), which means we must: Deeply understand what apps are and how they can be used in their future classrooms 2. Provide our teacher candidates with authentic experiences using apps 3. Build our teacher candidates’ ability to identify and select effective apps

6. Conceptualizing Apps Classification: What is the function and purpose of the app? Quality: What is the app’s pedagogicalpotential? Instructional Implications: How can the app be used to increasestudentlearning?

7. Classification Skill-based apps use recall, rote memorization, and “skill and drill” instructional strategies to build students’ literacy and numeracy skills. Cherner, T., Dix, J., Lee, C. (Under Review). Cleaning that mess: A framework for classifying educational apps. CITE. Content-based apps give students access to vast amounts of information, data, or knowledge by conducting searches or through exploring pre-programmed content. Guiding Question 2 How should apps’ targeted audiences be defined? Guiding Question 1 Should apps be classified by subject area or function? Function-based apps assist students in transforming learned information into usable forms.

8. Classification Examples www.appittic > Themes > Subject Area > Social Studies > States & Capitals http://www.uen.org/apps4edu/ > Language Arts & 10th grade

9. Quality Instruction: What is the app’s educational value? Design: How does the app function? Engagement: What is the app’s motivational potential? Graphite (2013) Walker (2011)

10. Quality Examples www.graphite.org > How We Rate Walker, 2011

11. Instructional Implications Apps are no longer a “new” technology. We use them, and our students use them. However, the challenge is deciding how to effectively integrate apps into our “Common Core aligned” teaching practices. Key considerations that address the CCSS Anchor Standards are: How are students communicating using the app? 2. What learning artifact are students producing by using the app? 3. Which levels of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (2002) does the app engage? How does that engagement further develop students’ preparedness for college and beyond?

12. Defining Quality App Resources Essential for Quality Resources Findings from Review of App Resources Intended for General Audiences Lack of Original App Descriptions Ambiguous Evaluation Criteria Unclear Organizational Strategy Dearth of Instructional Implications • Effective Usage of Apps Conclusion: The existing resources are mudding the waters more than supporting teachers in using apps effectively

13. www.appedreview.org Core App Report Elements • A brief, original description of the app; • Three or more instructional ideas aligned to the Common Core Anchor Standards for how the app could be used in PreK-12 classrooms; • A comprehensive, 26-point evaluation of the app based on its instruction, design, and potential to engage students; • A classification of the app based on its purpose (skills-based, content-based, or function-based); • The app’s target audience (infant-pre-schoolers, kindergarten-2nd graders, 3rd-5th graders, 6th-8th graders, and 9th-12th graders); • Subject areas where the app can be used (Art, Early Literacy, English, Foreign Language, Math, Science, and Social Studies); • The cost of the app (free, paid, or trial membership)

14. Conclusion Questions Works Cited Buckler, T. (2012). Is There an App for That? The Journal of BSN Honors Research, 5(1). Earl, M. (2013). iPads in the social classroom, K-12 education. Instructional Technology Education Sepical Research papers, Paper 5. Graphite. (2013). How we rate and review. Retrieved from http://www.graphite.org/how-we-rate-and-review McGrath, N. (2013). Attack of the Apps: Helping facilitate online learning with mobile devices. eLearn, 2013(3), 4. Melhuish, K. & Falloon, G. (2010). Looking to the future: M-learning with the iPad. Computers in New Zealand Schools, 22(3), 1-16. Murray, T. O., & Olcese, N. R. (2011). Teaching and learning with iPads, ready or not? TechTrends, 55(6), 42-48. Rao, L. (2012, January 19). Apple: 20,000 Education iPad Apps Developed; 1.5 Million Devices In Use At Schools. TechCrunch. Walker, H. (2011). Evaluating the effectiveness of apps for mobile devices. Journal of Special Education Technology, 26(4), 59-66. Webb, N. (2002, March). Depth-of-knowledge levels for four content areas. Madison: University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research.