Welcome Back

Since starting this blog several years ago my life has taken on a few changes, nonetheless, my views regarding the importance of early childhood technology education have not wavered. In fact, they have gotten even stronger than ever.

In the fall of 2012, I was blessed with my 1st grandchild and he is amazing. I doubt anyone who knows me will be surprised to hear one of the 1st gifts my grandson received was an iPad. In fact, the iPad was a shower present from my son…. DGS was still in utero at the time.

You might say, the Apple (literally and figuratively) doesn't fall far from the tree. :)

Over the last couple years, I have watched this newest member of our family connect his physical world and his digital world in ways I could never have imagined. One of the most mind boggling examples of this, is DGS (dear grandson) can identify all of his ABCs and he is not yet two years old. Previously, this ability might have been classified as some form of hyperlexia, but I assure you DGS is quite the social butterfly. I have seen many, many other examples of these technology learning shifts in my DGS that I cannot recall seeing when my own children were little, and I hope to share some of these future posts.


For now, I wanted to take a moment to reconnect with those who have followed my journey since the start and welcome those who are just joining me.


My goals are to still share the great apps I come across, but I feel the need augment my reviews and share my experiences; how I see technology may be shaping the minds of the youngest of learners. Additionally, I have invited others to share their experiences of how they see technology shaping the early childhood learning environment. I promise it will be an exciting journey and I hope you will share it with me.


Thank you,

Keri

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

App Review: Baby Pad's ABCs and Animals (lite version)

I decided today is free app day, there are so many great free apps it is hard to know where to start. But start I shall. So my review today is of Baby Pad's ABC's and Animals by Mezmedia. Since my main tester is two and a half years old, some of the apps I test are too advanced for her. This is not the case of this app by Mezmedia. One of my favorite features of ABCs and Animals is the exit icon. The icon is in the top left corner of the screen, the user must press and hold the icon before being exited from the activity. So many app developers put this feature in the bottom left corner of the screen and little ones seem to accidently tap it with out meaning to. This accidental interaction can lead to tears and frustration from these eager learners. So when I saw the clearly marked icon in the top left I was impressed! Now, about the actual app. ABCs and Animals Lite is a basic app with some good features. I would classify this app as a nicely digitize set of interactible alphabet flash cards. Each card has the target capitalized letter in blue, and a word for that letter. The sound effects are an added bonus. The letter  "A" has the word Apple. The child can tap on the apple and bites will disappear.  This pattern continues as the child progresses through each letter. The game is easy to use and understand, Amber had no trouble moving throughout the different screens. I would have liked a free play feature where Amber could explore which ever letter she wanted but I definitely think the app is worth the download. I experienced no issues with this app freezing or loading, I do feel the $1.99 price for the full version is a bit inflated in comparison with other similar apps.
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