Mobile Apps for Education Evolving

Mobile Apps for Education Evolving: But perhaps not as many as you might think
By Ian Quillen
If more than 300,000 mobile applications—or apps—are available from the Apple App Store alone, with hundreds of those focused on education and hundreds more on educational gaming, how many are useful for the classroom?
Perhaps not as many as you might think.
While the world of mobile applications—tabbed as the new Wild West by developers and consumers alike—continues to explode with everything from games to online books to interactive tutorials, there isn’t a lot of content designed to fit the face-to-face classroom, say analysts of the educational app industry.
Most apps—which basically are software programs designed to run on smartphones, cellphones, and other hand-held devices— don’t allow teachers to monitor student progress or garner student data in the same way that’s typically possible with educational programs operated through a laptop or desktop computer. Apps are often developed narrowly, and by themselves may meet no more than one or two specific standards within a given course. And with the intuitive nature of the iPhone, the iPad, and other mobile devices, app developers are gearing more of their educational content toward the parent-child dynamic than the teacher-student construct.
“There aren’t nearly as many apps that fit in both arenas,” says Scott Meech, the founder of the online I Education Apps Review, or IEAR, and a school district technology facilitator at District No. 38 in Kenilworth, Ill. The site features reviews of educational apps on its blog, provides how-to tips on app usage, and offers a weekly podcast, all with the goal of educating teachers about the world of apps.
Teachers “want to be able to control the content, if it is a drill-and-skill type of activity,” Meech adds. “They would like to see more apps where you can pull out the data and see how well kids are doing.”
Developing Teacher Controls
Because apps don’t allow teachers to use their own computers to access a student device while it is in use, a teacher who wants students to use apps on mobile devices in class must, in most cases, trust that either the app is engaging enough to keep students on task, or that the teacher will be able to halt any misuse of the devices by monitoring the classroom.

App Makers For the Ed. Market
Even though few software applications for iPhones, iPads, Android-compatible devices made by companies like HTC, Motorola, Samsung, or Sony, and other mobile devices are designed specifically for classroom use, some app makers are gaining the respect and trust of tech-savvy educators.
But the technology might be evolving to give teachers more oversight. LanSchool Technologies, a classroom-management-systems maker based in Orem, Utah, has developed its EdApp Certification that lets app makers embed code to give teachers, via their own computers, classroom-management control of a student’s mobile device while he or she uses the apps. Since unveiling the feature in June of last year, LanSchool has given only five apps the certification, with four coming from the same designer, PalaSoftware.
As far as rating an app’s engagement level, groups like Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based online-safety advocate, offer online reviews of educational apps.
By December, Common Sense Media had reviewed more than 600 apps since starting the reviews in May 2010. But like much of the educational app world, many of the reviews focus on applications designed for consumption by parents and small children, rather than students and their teachers.
Still, that doesn’t mean teachers can’t gain value from the resources, says Jinny Gudmundsen, Common Sense Media’s executive editor of apps, Web, and video games.
“Teachers, of course, are always held accountable for making sure they are fitting within standards,” says Gudmundsen, who adds that apps that appeal to a more specific hobby or other interests—like those that teach guitar lessons, navigation, or astronomy—are often of better quality than apps focusing on core high school subjects.
“I think that’s where you start,” she says. “So I bet if you’re looking at constellations, you can find something tremendously interactive relating to constellations.”
But how do teachers more fully integrate apps across a course curriculum?
Even the most respected app designers say they’re not entirely sure how to answer that question. As the field grows, experts hope the industry will become more organized, with some companies gaining industrywide respect and others merging to create the possibility of app suites, or a series of apps designed to give reinforcement to key concepts throughout the school year.
“Just like any teaching tool, [apps] are there to provide an example that helps reinforce what is being done in the classroom,” says Benjamin L. Grimley, the senior director of game and app publishing at PBS Kids, an arm of the Public Broadcasting Service that focuses on educating preschool and early-elementary children.
“Where we see that being more useful to educators,” he says, “is being able to line up a series of apps that fits together in a larger picture that doesn’t just say, ‘Hey, it’s math,’ but goes through a specific skill sequence. … We can get more granular, and it can map the standards.”
What’s a Good App?
And while the app landscape can look daunting for an unfamiliar newcomer, app makers who are gaining the trust of IEAR and Common Sense Media are actually in favor of a more organized environment that fosters discussion and collaboration between educators and designers.
IEAR hosts a Ning social-media site aimed at encouraging those discussions, says Meech, who adds that correspondence between those groups is growing. And because most designers come from a software background, Rick Richter, the chief executive officer of Norwalk, Conn.-based Ruckus Media, says it’s in the best interest of good app developers to allow for more oversight.
“What I crave is people steeped in child literature to start talking about what constitutes a good app,” says Richter, whose company specializes in apps that are virtual interactive books for young readers. “What we need in this space are better curators.
“Over time, I think brands will emerge that are trusted brands,” he says. “But the challenge, of course, for parents and educators is to make that leap, and try to figure out who is to be trusted.”
Vol. 04, Issue 02, Pages 16-17
Published Online: February 4, 2011
Published in Print: February 9, 2011, as Apps for Ed. Evolving

http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/02/09/02apps.h04.html

About Apps In Education, Development and Implementation

About Apps In Education, Development and Implementation

Apps in Education has caused a large shift in education and in the publishing industry. Everyone is taking notice of this benchmark in education technology, teachers, administrators, business personnel, and publishers.  With so many apps in the App Stores, (Android and iPad) it has become a chore and hardship app buyers and  app developers. Teachers were surveyed about which types of Apps they would find useful in teaching. After analysis, researches found many parallels with past technology innovations.

http://www.appsineducation.com/index.php?/item/about-apps-in-education.html

10 of the best apps for education

As iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches become more integrated in classrooms, educators and students are looking for new ways to apply them to the learning process. Applications on all of these devices can help automate current classroom processes or present new ways to learn that previously had been unexplored.

In this special feature, we’ve assembled a list of education “apps” for Apple devices that we think are noteworthy. Five are free, and the other five range in price from $0.99 to $9.99. What do you think of these apps? And, which apps for Apple devices are you using now that aren’t on our list? Share your thoughts in the comments section of this story.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/01/07/10-of-the-best-apps-for-education

22 Best Apps for Education;  May 24, 2011. Posted by Lorie Vela

I recently knew that some schools and high-schools are encouraging students to use iPads and iPhones in and out of the classroom. There is no doubt that they are perfect tools to engage students: kids and teenagers find it very easy to use and love gadgets, plus it is much easier to get students doing homework when they feel comfortable with the tool. We already have plenty of tools, platforms and apps that can help students and teachers collaborating and working together, real time even, but when it comes to assignments, most of them find it hard to get related to those activities, and here is where PCs, tablets and mobile phones simplified the job and even make it more attractive to the youngsters. So, if you want your students to get more involved in their learning process, you can suggest them one of these 22 best Apps

http://www.collaborationideas.com/2011/05/22-best-apps-for-education/

Texas Computer Education Association

The Texas Computer Education Association is the largest state organization devoted to the use of technology in education. Founded in 1980, the organization has been very active throughout supporting instructional technology. Our primary focus is on integrating technology into the PreK-12 environment and providing our members with state-of-the-art information through conferences, workshops, newsletters, the Internet, and collaborations with higher education and business. TCEA is affiliated with the International Society for Technology in Education, which provides a two-way channel of information throughout the world.
TCEA is divided into twenty areas across Texas so that the needs of our members can be more easily met. These twenty areas are defined by the Regional Education Service Centers. We encourage our members to stay in touch with the area directors so that everyone will be an active member. There are numerous area conferences and activities in which educators and students can participate, as well as our large annual state conference. The conferences and contests will link you with other professionals in your geographic area as well as across the state.

 http://www.tcea.org/

Building Apps for iPhone and iPad

Training Session'

Topic: Building Apps for iPhone and iPad
Host: Ryan Hope
February 2, 2012, 2:00 pm ET/11:00 am Pacific
Event number: 751 484 794
Event password: maas360

To join the event, click here OR copy and paste the following link into your browser: https://fiberlinkcorp.webex.com/fiberlinkcorp/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=751484794

Copy and paste this URL to share this event with others at your organization: http://bit.ly/shareAppBuilding

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