K12 Inc. And Mobile Learning

I thought that I had posted a notice of this earlier, but I can’t seem to find it (so if there was an earlier notice, please forgive the duplication).  In following the K12, Inc. blog, thinktanK¹², I’ve noticed that they have joined the Florida Virtual School (FLVS) when it comes to mobile learning apps.  I suppose the first time I noticed it was with the entry:

Check Out K¹²’s Mobile Apps for iPhone and Android

This blog entry lists the following apps:

	K¹² Periodic Table (Free!) The K¹² Periodic Table lets you explore the elements and their key attributes in a simple, easy-to-use way. It’s perfect for working through your homework problems for Science courses. Works with iPad, too!  iOS and AndroidDownload (iTunes Preview) Download (opens Android Market)
	Counting Coins & Bills (Free!) Counting Coins & Bills lets you practice solving problems with coins up to quarters and bills up to $20 in 5 different activities. iOS OnlyDownload (iTunes Preview)
	Counting Coins (Free!) Counting Coins lets you practice working with pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters in 4 different modes. iOS OnlyDownload (iTunes Preview)
	K¹² Money (Free!) Very similar to Counting Coins & Bills (with an updated interface), K¹² Money lets you practice solving problems with coins up to quarters and bills up to $20 in 5 different activities. iOS OnlyDownload (iTunes Preview)
	Timed Reading Practice Lite (Free!) Adapted from our MARK¹² Reading Program, Timed Reading LITE lets readers in levels K-4 practice fluency (the ability to read smoothly and quickly) by reading short, timed stories. You can track words per minute read across a sample of 25 stories tied to the Flesh-Kincaid reading levels from 0.0 – 4.7. Allows you to track one student. iOS OnlyDownload (iTunes Preview)
	Timed Reading Practice FULL($1.99) Adapted from our MARK¹² Reading Program, Timed Reading FULL lets readers in levels K-4 practice fluency (the ability to read smoothly and quickly) by reading short, timed stories. You can track words per minute read across over 250 stories tied to the Flesh-Kincaid reading levels from 0.0 – 4.7. Allows unlimited students to be added! iOS OnlyDownload (iTunes Preview)
	Algebra I Study & Review Lite (Free!) Gives you access to one sample unit and some reference materials from our award-winning Algebra I: A Reference Guide on your phone, with dozens of practice problems, a diagnostic tool to help you figure out what you need to study, tests to see what you know, and lots more. iOS OnlyDownload (iTunes Preview)
	Algebra I Study & Review ($4.99) Gives you access to our entire award-winning Algebra I: A Reference Guide on your phone, with hundreds of practice problems, a diagnostic tool to help you figure out what you need to study, tests to see what you know, and lots more. iOS OnlyDownload (iTunes Preview)
	PowerspeaK¹² Spanish ($4.99) PowerspeaK¹² Spanish includes audio dictionaries, quizzes, videos, and more to help you brush up on your language skills. iOS OnlyDownload (iTunes Preview)
	PowerspeaK¹² French ($4.99) PowerspeaK¹² French includes audio dictionaries, quizzes, videos, and more to help you brush up on your language skills. iOS OnlyDownload (iTunes Preview)

This was followed by the addition of What Sid is Thinking About History?  Now I’ll be honest and say that I have not been able to find the two PowerspeaK¹² apps in the Apple App Store (and the links above don’t work for me, I get an error that reads: “Your request could not be completed. The item you’ve requested is not currently available in the US store.”).  However, I have downloaded all of the free ones and was also about to Get the K¹² Algebra 1 Study & Review iTunes app free last week (and I sent out a message on my Twitter when the deal was on).

Since I have been able to get one of their apps for free, I will review that one in the coming month.  If they were willing to provide redeem codes for their other pages apps (e.g., Timed Reading Practice FULL, PowerspeaK¹² Spanish, PowerspeaK¹² French, additional content for What Sid is Thinking About History? – as FLVS has done – I’d be willing to review all of their apps (free and paid).

In the meantime, the folks over at thinktanK¹² have also posted these two mobile learning entries of interest:

• 7 Educational iPhone/iPad Apps For Your Kids
• 7 Educational Android Phone Apps For Your Kids

I’ll keep an eye out and let you know when additional ones are posted.

Review – Swamp Forest Virtual Field Trip

Since I have started to review mobile learning apps in this space, I’ve been asked several times (particularly after my initial reviews of the Florida Virtual School apps – and note those initial reviews were before I came across the Emantras taxonomy of mobile learning apps) of what I would consider a good mobile learning application. One of the first apps that I was impress by were actually three apps created by the SC Life Project at Clemson University:

• Cove Forest Virtual Field Trip
• Salt Marsh Virtual Field Trip
• Swamp Forest Virtual Field Trip

All three of these apps are available from iTunes and are designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch, although they all run fine on the iPad.  For the purposes of this entry, I’ll use the Swamp Forest Virtual Field Trip as the example.  The app begins with a welcome screen that provides an introduction to each of the ecological areas.

Click on any of the images to see a larger version.

The content of the apps can be can accessed through a map that provides visuals for each of the items found in the swamp forest or through a list of all of the topics.

The content itself is kind of basic, at least in terms of presentation and design.  It is basically presented as as text with images.  At the end of each page of content there are a list of additional resources.

These additional resources can be more pages of text with images, but can also be videos.

The text has active links throughout and each of the linked pages also has a list of additional resources.

The app also provides guidance for teachers and parents/guardians that may be interested in taking their students or children to a South Carolina swamp forest.

The app concludes with credit and copyright information.

I have to be honest and say that I’m not sure why I think so highly of this app. It is basically a series of webpages contained in an app format. Something that could easily be created with any HTML editor (and something to create the image map). In looking at the the Emantras taxonomy of mobile learning apps, the apps doesn’t really fit into any of the seven categories.

But the way these three apps have been put together do speak to me.  As someone who has never been in any of these three types of environments, the content was descriptive and well put together.  It was informative and contained a good mix of text, images, and videos.  I just thought it was a good mobile learning app.

Review – 5 Steps To A 5: 500 AP US History Questions To Know By Test Day

Note that gWhiz provided me with a promotional code to download this app for free in order to write this review.

This is a review of the iTunes app 5 Steps To A 5: 500 AP US History Questions To Know By Test Day which was created by gWhiz on behalf of or under contract with McGraw-Hill. The goal for this app is to provide a mobile support or even supplement to the hard copy of McGraw-Hill’s book of the same name. The app is available for the iPhone and iPad in the iTunes store and it cost $13.99 to purchase.

Using the Emantras taxonomy of different types of mobile learning programs (see 7 Learning Models for Mobile Learning), this app is a test prep (i.e., “Mobile learning that can be easily adapted to design multiple choice tests and fill-in-the-blank answers. By constant review of test prep material, students can ensure better preparation for exams.”).

The app itself is structured in much the same way that the multiple-choice portion of the 5 Steps To A 5: European History I reviewed a month or so ago. The questions itself are divided into what I suspect are the chapters of the review book that McGraw-Hill has published to accompany the app.

The quiz can be scored as the student progresses or all at the end.

The questions appeared the same way they did in the 5 Steps To A 5: European History app:

And questions worked the same was as the other app, where correct responses were highlighted in green and when incorrect responses were provided the option the student selected is given in red and the correct response in green – and in both instances a rationale is provided to the student.

Overall, I liked this app for what it did – and suspect that I would have even more to say about it if I had the accompanying book that this app supports. The app was designed to provide test prep for the AP exam.  It does exactly that – 500 times over.

Note that I have two additional McGraw-Hill apps from gWhiz that they sent me to review: AP World History – 5 Steps to a 5 for $9.99 (which is formatted exactly the same as the 5 Steps To A 5: European History app) and then 5 Steps To A 5: 500 AP Psychology Questions To Know By Test Day (which is formatted exactly the same as the app reviewed in this entry) – so I’m not sure if I’ll get around to reviewing them.  I would suggest probably not, unless I gain some additional insights or a different lens in which to look at these final two apps.

Review – Frog Dissection

Note that Emantras provided me with a promotional code to download this app for free in order to write this review.

This is a review of the iTunes app Frog Dissection which was created by Emantras. The app is available for the iPad in the iTunes store and it cost $2.99 to purchase – please note that I had a laptop version to review.

Click on any of the images to see a larger version.

I began at the top and went to the START DISSECTION option.  If my memory from my junior high school science classes are correct, I had to do all of the steps electronically that Mr. Penny and Mr. Rowe had us doing with the real frogs back at G.C. Rowe Junior High School.

The functionality was quite good with each of the steps.  The tool had to be selected and you had to move the tool over the places indicated by the instructions.  One of the things I noticed was that you needed to grab the handles of the items.  For example, when you had to cut things with the scissors or knife, if you traced along the line exactly it didn’t go all the way to where it was supposed to cut, but if you adjusted your grip to where the handles of the scissors or knife was and then traced along this adjusted line it worked perfectly (and that may be a function of having to use the mouse with the laptop version, so the touch version for the iPad may be different).

Once you had the frog totally dissected, if you selected any of the organs inside you would get additional information about it (as shown below).

The next area in the menu structure was the HUMAN VS. FROG, where there were content-based items that discussed the various differences between human and frog anatomy, habitats, diets, etc..

While this was interesting, I wasn’t sure the purpose for this feature.  Possibly to allow the students to be able to draw conclusions about humans based upon their exploration of frogs.  This may be a useful pedagogical strategy with real dissections, but with a virtual dissection I was a little curious why we couldn’t just open up a human body and compare things for ourselves.

The next menu item was WET LAB PROCESSES, which essentially were step-by-step instructions for the dissection of a real frog.

The final menu item was INTERNAL ORGANS.

This area was similar to the features that you had upon completing the dissection of the frog, where you could click on organs and obtain more information about each (and I suspect both linked to the same information pages).

Overall, I have to be honest and say that I had been very much looking forward to playing with a frog dissection app and I wasn’t disappointed.  Using Emantras‘ own taxonomy of different types of mobile learning programs (see 7 Learning Models for Mobile Learning), I would have to say that this app fell into either the remedial or the supplemental categories.  With the exception of the minor glitch between where to cut and how to hold the tool, the functionality was quite good (and I suspect would have been better with the actual iPad version).

Review – 5 Steps To A 5: European History

Note that gWhiz provided me with a promotional code to download this app for free in order to write this review.

This is a review of the iTunes app AP European History 5 Steps to a 5 which was created by gWhiz on behalf of or under contract with McGraw-Hill.  The goal for this app is to provide a mobile support or even supplement to the hard copy of McGraw-Hill’s book of the same name.  The app is available for the iPhone and iPad in the iTunes store and it cost $9.99 to purchase.

Using the Emantras taxonomy of different types of mobile learning programs (see 7 Learning Models for Mobile Learning), I would have to say that this app is a combination of a test prep (i.e., “Mobile learning that can be easily adapted to design multiple choice tests and fill-in-the-blank answers. By constant review of test prep material, students can ensure better preparation for exams.”); guides (i.e., “Most educative materials comes with some memorization requirements be it formula, dates, or diagrams. Creating guides which can be revised separately before an exam, or reviewed in conjunction with learning material can enable better comprehension.”); and supplemental (i.e., “Supportive material inputs like examples, and case studies which supplement the main chapter can be introduced for further reading and better understanding of the key subject. Mobile learning delivers content in small nuggets making it ideal for supplementary content delivery.”).  Overall, there were many things that I liked about this app and then a couple of suggestions that I have for the developers.

Without having access to the book itself, I’m going to guess that the structure of the app mirrors the chapters or divisions of the book. As such, the app is divided into five different sections. Step one is an introduction, where the app provides text-based information about the app itself (and the five step process), the Advanced Placement program, the AP European History course, and the AP exam for European History.

The second step is really the meat of this application, at least in terms of being something more than simply a collection of information. Step two is the test preparation portion of the five step process, at least for the multiple-choice question portion of the exam. The multiple choice questions are divided into the different time periods (which I suspect probably correspond with whatever book they publish for this course) – with 8-10 questions for each subject area.

One of the things I like about the way in which gWhiz have done these multiple-choice questions – similar to what they have done with their more recent FLVS apps – is that students gets immediate feedback. In addition to being told right away whether they got the question correct or incorrect, the student receives a fairly lengthy/descriptive explanation as to why their response was either correct or incorrect. After reading the rationale, students have the option to go back and review the question again with both their response and the correct response (if the two were different) highlighted.

The next step in this five step process is some general test taking tips for all three types of questions students will have to complete during the AP exam: multiple-choice, document-based, and free-response. As someone who has graded AP European History exams for the past five years, the content of the tips provided are quite reasonable and ones that I would have been likely to tell my students when I was still teaching the course.

One of the things I like about this section was the fact that in the material related to the document-based and free-response questions used examples of actual questions – at least for things like how to write an effective thesis.

This was actually one of the areas where I thought the content could have been improved. For example, the document-based question requires that students use documents to build a case or argument that addresses the question. The content could have done a better job of providing examples of documents and how to use them effectively. In grading previous exams, students have a tendency to group do documents along the lines of social, political, and economic. Using a collection of documents and showing how they could be grouped together in a manner that would actually achieve the student the core point for grouping. The same could be said of how to describe bias in the documents, as students often just make attribution or simply state that a document is biased. I’d make the same suggestion about providing more specific examples for the free-response examples as well.

Step four are these flashcards where the students is given a term or a phrase or a name or an event and they can tap the flashcard so it flips over and provides a definition or explanation.

Students can tap on either an “I know it” or a “Don’t know” button. The know it ones become hidden, and the don’t know ones remain in the queue to appear later.

Step five is a timed practice test for the multiple-choice portion of the exam that uses the same format that I described above for step two.

The was one area where I thought the functionality of the app could have been improved a little. If the purpose of this step five practice test is to simulate taking the exam – or at least the multiple-choice portion of the exam – than having immediate feedback that provides a rationale for the response that immediately follows the question requires students one more click to proceed to the next question in this timed exercise. Essentially it slows the student down. This is one of the times where the feedback provided to the student could be done at the end of the activity, as opposed to as the student progresses. [Note the text in green is no longer applicable, as if I had clicked on the “Feedback Off” underneath the magnifying glass it would have addressed this concern.]

Another content-based suggestion I would have provided the publisher was to include a couple of samples document-based questions and three to five free-response questions. While the app would not be able to provide students with feedback on any responses they prepare, the act of having a question that they could respond to outside of their mobile device would likely be a useful test preparation activity.

Overall, I liked this app for what it did – and suspect that I would have even more to say about it if I had the accompanying book that this app supports. The app was design to do test prep, guides, and supplemental.  Although I would suggest that it does the test prep the best, the guides are still well done, but the supplemental is limited by lack of specificity for the document-based and free-response question examples.

Note that I have three additional McGraw-Hill apps from gWhiz that they sent me to review, which should appear in this space over the next few weeks.