KinderTown Highlights Advancements in Educational Apps for Children

This guest post is written by Brennan Knotts and Carolina Nugent of KinderTown. If you are not familiar with KinderTown, it’s an educational app store that vets, sorts and rates apps by subject area. Carolina is their Education Director and spent five years teaching Kindergarten. Together Brennan and Carolina describe the exciting advancements they’ve seen in the marketplace. 

A recent article in Forbes published an app developer’s opinion about the “lack of innovation in educational technology for children”. The perspective that the children’s app space lacks innovation didn’t sound completely accurate to us at KinderTown. The author raises some valid points about the obstacles, but we’re seeing a different story play out in educational technology for kids. This is the most exciting time ever for the children’s edtech industry. Just consider that before Apple’s mobile devices introduced touch screens to the masses, it was rare for our youngest children (those who are too young to operate a mouse and keyboard) to even have access to educational technology.

This access has created all kinds of opportunities for innovation, and developers have responded. According to the Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s iLearn II report, apps that target toddlers and preschoolers make up more than 58% of the App Store’s education category, by far the largest segment. Not every app can be described as innovative or progressive, not even the majority. Nevertheless, developers are experimenting and trying new things, including many in the Moms With Apps community, and we’re beginning to see some truly remarkable innovation.

Having looked at thousands of apps in building the KinderTown educational app store, we wanted to take a moment to shine a spotlight on all of the exciting advancements we’re seeing in educational apps for children.

Features

Customization – Developers are enabling parents to tailor experiences specifically to their children, which improves the experience for the child and extends the usefulness of the app. The customization goes beyond setting the difficulty. For example, with Freefall Spelling, parents can upload their own words for their children to practice.

Advanced Progress Reports – Developers are helping parents by exploring data capabilities (and bravely navigating the COPPA regulations) and delivering useful insights into children’s learning behaviors.

Encyclopedic-style Exploration –  The best learning rarely occurs in a linear fashion, yet it’s often presented that way because of the limitations of traditional learning environments. What we’re seeing in this new world of technology are vast resources being collected in one place and being linked, allowing children the ability to explore, which more closely mirrors how we naturally explore our interests.

Group Play – Not too long ago, before Facebook and Twitter, technology was mostly a solo experience. It’s exciting to see developers of kids’ apps find new ways to use technology to encourage kids to play together. The imaginative play encouraged in many of the Toca Boca apps, for example, are simple concepts with successful execution.

Educational Innovations

Collaborative Storytelling – Apps are giving children more opportunities to be heard. They’re making it possible to get feedback from those they love, instead of just completing assignments that get little notice or response. For example, with The Traditional Storyteller, children can record a retelling of a story and then email the audio file to friends and family.

Adaptive Learning – Apps that can adjust levels and content based on how a child is answering and interacting in the games are showcasing some of the best of what technology can do. The analytics built into the app can give parents and teachers information, but the most important thing is that analytics can keep kids at the appropriate “zone” for learning – just challenging enough to keep them stimulated, but not so challenging they get frustrated.

Perpetuating New Teaching Techniques – There is more to learning than what is often happening in mainstream classrooms, but classrooms are where new methods reach the mainstream. In other words, if you want to put a new method into practice, it used to take awhile for it to trickle down. Not anymore. Developers like Motion Math are creating games with advanced problem solving techniques, and are putting them directly into the hands of teachers and parents.

Innovations for the “Teachers”

Anytime and Anywhere Learning – Sometimes lost in the conversation about mobile apps is the meaning of the word mobile; however, some developers have recognized when and where we have an opportunity to learn is changing, and have built apps that take advantage of small moments in the day and time away from a desk or classroom.

Increasing Efficiency – Does anyone even remember how tests were administered in classrooms before photocopiers? Apps are creating similar efficiencies, reducing the amount of time it takes teachers to prepare amazing lessons and activities. Better yet, look at how an app like Reading Raven allows parents to administer activities that previously only teachers had the knowledge to prepare.

Teaching the “Teachers” – I put teachers in quotes because more and more we’re all developing abilities to be teachers. Just as ebooks have made it easier for anyone to be an author, apps are making it easier for anyone to be a teacher. It’s remarkable to see developers seize this concept and to provide adults with helpful tips and specific pages for parents right in the app.

This article comes at a great time, because it underscores how the ongoing conversation about children’s online privacy needs to incorporate emerging potential in the educational space. Thanks Carolina & Brennan.