Assignment # 2 Questions and Answers

Ben R, Breanne Q and Jane J What is the overall driving force when selecting an app? Student engagement should be at the top of the list. When getting them to use an app for learning, if they are not engaged, is it worth it? Obviously things like learning outcomes being covered and critical thinking skills being utilized are big but they are secondary to engagement. The app should not just being used for the sake of using technology but rather it is being used as it adds to the learning experience of the student(s) and/or it is the learning experience that best meets the learning needs of the student(s). Kharbach states One thing I should underscore about the use of iPad in the classroom is the importance of knowing how to select educational apps to meet your students learning needs.

Three key points: Purpose, Design and Content From: Evaluation of Apps by Kay Cantwell: Does the app serve a quality purpose? Choose a framework to assess this: Blooms Taxonomy, November's Digital Learning Farm, Gardner's Multiple Intelligence, Puentedura's SAMR model (view frames 4-8) Is the app well designed and functional? (view frame 9) : User -friendliness, Ease of management, Security and safety, Technical Quality, Limitations, Value for money Is the app built on quality pedagogical principles? (view frame 10) Authenticity, Curriculum connections, Differentiation and personalisation, Opportunities for self direction, Feedback

It can also be helpful to look at what educators should not be looking for when selecting apps. Karen L. Mahon outlines a couple key points to keep in mind when selecting educational apps: 1. Dont judge the effectiveness of an app based on its companies reputation in other media. 2. Dont assume that apps that cost money are better than a free app. Karen actually ran a study that shows there is no correlation between an apps price and its quality. 3. You cant rely on user reviews in the app stores. Problems with objectivity in terms of positive reviews from friends, and negative reviews from competitors means that you should be taking whatever you are reading with a grain of salt. 4. Dont choose an app just because it is top of the charts or someone recommended it to you. Make sure that your selection process is based on relevant criteria. * At this point in the article Karen starts to talk about what we should be looking for - how to judge a rubrics effectiveness, relevant criteria etc, very similar to the 3 key points listed above.

What should be considered in the big picture regardless of the type of device or operating system? If you look at the picture mentioned by George Couros in his blog, it helps to answer this question. Anything on the list on the left under right answers is a great way to address this question. The device doesnt matter, the outcome does. Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration is if the app is meeting the learning needs of your students. The SAMR model (referenced at the top of the page) can be useful in determining if the app you are using is effectively meeting your students learning needs and bringing about transformational learning opportunities

Robert Pronovost talks about technology being used to give students options to show their thinking. In the greater context of the classroom, the more choice the students are allowed, the more engaged in the work they'll be. Technology should allow our students more opportunities to create and express, not simply be a new media for everyone to use in the same way. No one form of new technology is going to be the magic ingredient that magically transforms the classroom. These are tools that we can use, just as pencil and paper are. The trick is to have a number of effective tools on hand that will help foster student engagement with their work, and allow creative and differentiated means for students to express themselves.

Explain / justify why your group chose the categories that were used in your rubric. In looking at the rubrics shared with us in Required Readings, Videoclips, Presentations section Evaluation of Apps and looking at others on the web, we came to realize that the one developed by Tony Vincent met our needs and had us then question, why should we reinvent the wheel as this was a well created rubric. What we felt we needed to do was adapt/ add to some of the language in each category to take into account not only game based apps but also presentation apps. We moved two categories, sharing and feedback, to a separate section titled options. The reason for this is that we were asked to create one rubric but through our discussions we came to see that we could easily create two rubrics for the apps we had chosen, one for games apps and one for presentation apps. Our rubric now meets both the assignment expectation and relates directly to the two different types of apps we shared in part 3.

References: Cantwell, Kay.(n.d.) Evaluation of Apps. Evaluation of iPad Apps. retrieved from http://www.pearltrees.com/#/N-p=54270059&N-s=1_5822585&N-u=1_616553&N-fa=5822585&Nplay=0&N-f=1_5822585 Couros, G. (2013, July 10). What do you want kids to do with technology? Retrieved March 8, 2014 from http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/3980 Kharbach, Med. (2011-2014). 4 Great Rubrics to Help You Select Educational Apps. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning . Retrieved March 9, 2014 from: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/4-great-rubrics-to-help-you-select.html

Mahon, K. L. (2013, November 11). The worst ways to select education apps. Connect learning today. Retrieved March 10, 2014 from http://www.connectlearningtoday.com/the-worst-ways-select-educationapps/ Pronovost, R. (2012, February 16). Technology for Technologys Sake. Education Week Teacher. Retrieved March 10, 2014 from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_ahead/2012/02/technology_for_technologys_sake.html

SAMR Model. Retrieved from http://ictsit.global2.vic.edu.au/files/2013/04/SAMR-flow-chart-1ds6px2.pdf