Miss Speechie asked me if I would consider writing a holiday-themed post, and I was most happy to do so! However, one of my main interests is empowering SLPs and other professionals to make thoughtful choices on app integration. Additionally, I like to let people know about all of the resources “out there” that let us know about the abundance of apps that were not designed for us as SLPs, but that we can “re-purpose” for use in our therapies. So, I thought I would gear a post around these resources and processes rather than a specific app.
A quote I always like to present to groups when doing app integration trainings was contained in the ASHA Leader, in a great article written by SLP Jessica Gosnell. In one of the first features on apps in the Leader, Jessica described apps not only dedicated to SLPs, but also potentially adaptable apps, and espoused a philosophy that I absolutely love: “A search focused only on a specific profile of dedicated apps (speech production, targeted language goals, augmentative communication) could miss many well-designed apps that offer motivating and fun learning opportunities. Using creativity, clinicians can reach beyond an app's intended target audience and purpose and adapt it to support interventions.” (Gosnell, 2011) The issue is that the App Store can be overwhelming, and clinicians need tools to begin to sort through it and think about what can lie beyond that “intended target audience and purpose.”
Some years ago when I started my blog, I wanted to present not only individual resources but also a framework for evaluation. Since I like acronyms a lot, I created the FIVES criteria, which I like to say is “very scientific and totally made up.” FIVES is a set of criteria that SLPs and other educators can use to consider potential resources, even before you download them, and make our best guess as to whether they have the following features:
F-Fairly Priced: Based on the resource’s usefulness, is the price right? Will it have enough content to make it comparable to an analog resource?
I-Interactive: Is it likely to engage our students through interactive or creative processes?
V-Visual: Does it make good use of (in this case) the iPad’s visual potential, and provide visual scaffolding to our students that so benefit from imagery?
E-Educationally Relevant: Does it relate in some way to skills or contexts the students are needing in the classroom?
S-Speechie: Does the app have potential to be used to address speech and language objectives? I often say that the app does not have to do that on its own, it’s more a matter of what you as a clinician can do with or around the app.
With those being our criteria, let’s look at an app information resource that I really like: App Advice. App Advice is a blog but also a series of apps that provide wonderful information about iOS apps. One of the best features of the site is its “applists,” and look, they just happen to have one entitled Christmas Apps for Kids.
This applist contains 10 apps with descriptions of the apps’ functionality, as well as links to the iTunes link or App Store, depending on whether you are viewing on your computer or iPad. Using a list like this, you can do a quick FIVES analysis and see whether you’d want any more information on the app or to download. I won’t do all ten, but here are a few examples:
A Charlie Brown Christmas:
F- A little steep at $6.99 but a quick click through shows that it is on sale for $4.99 (and I happen to know it was an App of the Week for free at Starbucks this week and, ahem, grabbed a few codes for Miss Speechie to give away. Believe me, I give Starbucks enough money). Seems like a possibility, price-wise. I’d buy a book that costs that much.
I, V- The description states “With its high production value, interesting in-app interactions, and narration by the original voice of Charlie Brown, the app is a fantastic way to introduce this beloved Christmas story to a whole new generation of children.” Sounds like it might have some nice interactive elements and visual appeal. I also can see from the screenshots that there is a piano activity in which one can make the Peanuts characters do their famous dance.
E, S- Any interactive storybook app is potentially Educationally Relevant and “Speechie”, with opportunities to pose questions, target sentences structures and story grammar.
Verdict: Looks worth a shot if you don’t mind the potentially religious elements, or can balance with content regarding other religious holidays.
Santa’s Christmas Village
F- $1.99 for minigames, not sure...
I- “This app applies holiday packaging to classic games, such as Checkers, Sudoku, and Memory, while allowing you to explore a wintry campus.” While exploring always has potential (V), I am not sure about straightforward board/video games. It can be hard to work on specific language targets in the process (E,S).
Verdict: Probably a pass.
Toca Hair Salon- Christmas Gift
Not really fair for me to judge in this way as I already know this app is a FIVES home run. It’s free, allows you to cut Santa’s hair and target concepts, turn-taking, facial expressions, etc.
Verdict: Get it, if you haven’t already.
Picture Me® Christmas Cutie
OK, that title makes me want to brush my teeth with its excessive sweetness. However, it’s nicely priced at $1.99 (F) and described intriguingly: “Children love to see themselves as the stars of the show. This e-book makes that happen.” Any app that utilizes the iPad camera or photos app as a creative resource is a personally relevant and very Interactive option. Using the language in the book again is a conceptual/formulation task, and it sounds like this app uses its interactivity as a scaffold to those goals. As I read in a recent review of Speech with Milo: Verbs, “It is a lot easier to get kids to say 'chicken' when they look like they are in a chicken suit.” Brilliant Quote!
Verdict: I’d go for it, particularly if I have younger students.
I sincerely hope that this sleigh ride with the FIVES criteria will yield you many gifts throughout 2013. On, Download!
References:
Gosnell, J. (2011, October 11). Apps: An Emerging Tool for SLPs : A plethora of apps can be used to develop expressive, receptive, and other language skills.. The ASHA Leader.
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