As you can see, our sidebar is filled with app ideas from developers. As 2010 comes to closure, I wonder where the industry will head next year. Some developers who have tried their luck may venture on to new endeavors, figuring that 10 downloads per day just isn’t going to cut the cost of development. Some developers will have found a niche, and march forward. Some developers will team up with others, forming larger companies so they can focus on their core competencies.
Whatever the case, if we want to continue creating and improving “educational” apps, developers will need to engage with the front lines: the teachers in the classrooms.
As the mother of two grade school daughters, I volunteer in the classroom at least six hours per week. My tasks include grading homework, helping the teachers with computer tasks, helping kids focus, and managing parent/teacher communication. Faced with 30 students per day, the teachers in our local public school are forced to do more with less. They have more students with more needs, and less staff, budget and time. They barely have energy to pull off a parent-teacher conference, let alone be bombarded with new technology to process and implement. So as I sit there with my iPad in my purse, I still hesitate to bring it out and show it to the teacher, for fear of giving her just another thing to digest.
But in 2011, I’m going to bring it out, and I’m going to ‘sponsor’ an hour from my daughters’ teachers by getting feedback on many of the apps that have been working so well in our home. I want their assessment on apps for math and reading, how it could fit in their classroom, and which types of kids would benefit. I want their opinion on how many iPads they would need to set up productive ‘workstations’ for free time or focused time. Would they need headphones as well? What about a list of apps to try out, and iTunes cards for purchasing the apps?
It’s time to loop in the teachers. As parents, we might have a good, solid intuitive idea. But what is really effective for the classroom? Do those apps already exist? If so, let’s identify them. If not, let’s create them.
As I browsed through the email subscriber list to this blog, I was amazed at the number of email suffixes with “k12” in them, meaning they are from school districts. So if you are there, if you are reading this far, I have a proposal for you.
Please feel free at any time to write me directly with your thoughts on apps & technology. What are your needs? What apps have been working? What apps do you wish were out there that you are having trouble finding? I’m in contact with 150+ developers on a daily basis. I’m open to ideas. Once the communication is started, then we can start some real world assessments on which apps make a difference for which kids.
Here is my email address: lorraineakemann@gmail.com
Teachers – you are on the front lines with limited resources, and whatever I can do to support you will be a key initiative in 2011. Thanks for being such an inspirational part of our readership & audience.
Lorraine Akemann | Moms With Apps
Great post Lorraine. Really like your initiative. If teachers and developers communicate then more great apps can be developed. Mobile technology can just offer so much to our kids and if we as developer can create apps that brings additional tools for the teachers to support our kids learning then I am up for the challenge.
Hope 2011 will bring many apps that support our kids learning. Keep us posted on your results .
Great idea! I am an autistic support classroom teacher and use an IPad, Iphone and ITouch every day in teaching. The students enjoy the educational games and do not even realize they are learning while they are having fun! I would think if teacher and developers communicate that there would be even more usefull apps.
Very interesting Lorraine. Our application “The Bird with the Rainbow Tail” (produced by Mobile Children’s Books) was created by myself and my husband who is an English teacher. Unfortunately creativity is only part of the picture, marketing is important too and websites like yours are so important in spreading news about educational apps.
I am a K-4 Technology teacher. In our 2-4 grade building we have a mobile ipod lab. Many of our teachers have iPad’s purchase by themselves. I have one that I use with my 6 and 4 year old sons. I have found a wealth of math games for early learners. I have not found as many reading ones. I wish there were more stories that would read the words to the students and more basic sight word apps. I am very impressed with what I have found already some free and nominal fees.
Thank you for your work that you do!