What Makes a Great App?

I have an iPad, and I have learned to love it. When I first was given the iPad by TBS, I had many complaints - the digital keyboard chief among them - and I didn't see how it would be a useful or relevant tool in support of my work to improve student learning. It was more like a toy, with a few useful features to my work as an administrator, including the Camera app (which allows me to easily shoot video in class) and the Notepad app (which allow my notes to instantly become digital, instead of having to retype them later).

I still have many questions about the iPad's effectiveness as a teaching tool for students. There are several good apps that help develop early literacy skills for PreK-1st grade students, and there are several good apps that develop problem solving skills, such as TinkerBox (choice quote from this app's homepage: "TinkerBox is more than just educational!"). However, the majority of the "educational games" apps I have come across targeting 2nd-6th grade students seem more geared towards rote memorization; an example is Math Ninja, which is basically for practicing operations and math facts.

That's why I was extremely excited to stumble upon Toontastic this week. In this app, players build stories one scene at a time, following the classic pattern of Setup, Conflict, Challenge, Climax, and Resolution. They add in characters, settings and actions to create the narrative arc, record original narration and/or dialogue to move the story forward, and select from the type and intensity of background music to reinforce the emotional force of the plot. The program is pre-loaded with many character and background options (with more available for purchase), and a drawing program that allows students to create their own as well. It also comes with a Parent Guide, which is basically a teaching guide that includes questions to pose to children as they work on their stories.

I was intrigued enough by this app to go online and check out the website, which did not disappoint. There is a page on the site called "Learning Goals", which has perfect resonance to the idea of understanding goals in the Teaching for Understanding framework for unit creation we have learned about from Project Zero. What made me especially excited was the combination of ideas that the developers of this app are drawing upon; play, constructionism, social development, and story structure. I am excited to see developers looking for ways to leverage the iPad technology in service of learning, rather than simply trying to come up with more palatable ways for children to learn math facts than flash cards and pencil-and-paper repetition.

Do you/your child have a favorite educational app that fits our goal of providing a constructivist approach to teaching and learning? If so, please tell me about it in the comments field.