Links:
https://monkeypreschool.com/portfolio/monkey-word-school-adventure/
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/monkey-word-school-adventure
https://www.bestappsforkids.com/2012/monkey-word-school-adventure/
https://www.appysmarts.com/application/monkey-word-school-adventure,id_24235,path_0.php
The Scenario: You are a kindergarten teacher who has been given a new iPad and a $50 iTunes gift card from the PTO. You are interested in purchasing as many apps as you can that support your curriculum and are fun and engaging for your students. You dont want to waste money purchasing apps and then realizing they do not meet your needs. You can certainly ask around to find out what other parents and teachers like, but you still prefer to see the app before you buy it. Hopefully your app has a lite or preview version that will let you play with it first hand to determine if it will work. If not, reading app reviews is a great way to gather information. Most app reviews are not specific to students with disabilities, so you need to keep our student and teacher features in mind when reading reviews and determine if this app has the features that will best support students with disabilities.
The Activity: For this activity you will investigate whether Monkey Word School Adventure would be a good app for your classroom. To determine this, you will need to gather information from:
The developers site for the Monkey Word School Adventure app
Purchasing sites: iTunes, Google Play, and/or Amazon App store to read customer reviews
Visit app review sites: Common Sense Media, AppySmarts, The IPhone Mom, and Best Apps for Kids
Read a review from a media review journal: Childrens Technology Review. You can see previews of their reviews on their website, but you need to go through the GMU library to access the full printed review.
After reading the app reviews, you will 10 answer questions about your experience and determine whether or not you would purchase this app for the kindergarten class.
Please answer the following questions:
Q1. From the reviews, what have you learned about the teacher features?
Q2. From the reviews, what have you learned about the student features?
Q3. Which app review source(s) did you find the most helpful and why?
Q4. Which app review source(s) did you find the least helpful and why?
Q5. Which app review source(s) did you find most comprehensive and why?
Q6. What other app review source(s) do you use to gather information about apps?
Q7. Which app review source(s) are you most likely to recommend to parents or other colleagues?
Q8. Which app review source (if any) specifically addressed the needs of students with disabilities?
Q9. After reading the reviews, how likely would you be to purchase the program for the kindergarten classroom?
Q10. After reading the reviews, how likely would you be to purchase this program for your own device?
