Evaluating Instructional Apps Using the App Checklist for Educators (ACE)

Abstract

The use of iPads and apps has become common in K-12 inclusive classrooms. Special education teachers frequently use this tool to support instruction. Data from electronic surveys were used to determine criteria that teachers identified as important for choosing apps for classroom use. Using this information, the authors developed an App Checklist for Evaluators (ACE) to assist teachers in reviewing apps. Areas included on the ACE are: Student Interest, Design Features, Connection to the Curriculum, and Instructional Features. Suggestions for choosing an effective app include determining user needs, assessing student interest, evaluating design features of the app, documenting the connection to the curriculum, and identifying instructional features.

Tools for evaluating educational apps for young children: a systematic review of the literature

“…For instance, the “App frequency” sub-criterion exists only in one tool. It is widely known that increased student engagement and enthusiasm are prerequisites of using apps for educational purposes (Lubniewski et al , 2018) and that children quickly get bored (Department of Education and Training, 2016). So, is this criterion necessary?…”

“…Instead, the study aims to make the community more aware of the available evaluation tools and focus on their strengths, weaknesses, and credibility. This study also highlights the need for a standardized app evaluation tool (Green et al , 2014), which will allow anyone interested to evaluate apps with relative ease (Lubniewski et al , 2018). Parents and educators need a proper, fast, and easy-to-use tool to evaluate educational apps more than general guidelines (Lee and Kim, 2015).…”

“…Therefore, teachers need to evaluate apps to ensure that their content is accurate and appropriate for young children’s specific educational needs (Harrison and Lee, 2018; More and Travers, 2013). They need evaluation tools that will help them judge an app’s educational quality quickly and easily (Harrison and Lee, 2018; Lee and Kim, 2015; Lubniewski et al , 2018; Marsh et al , 2018). It is already known that several app evaluation tools have been developed (Green et al , 2014).…”

“…Many educators and parents often make the error of not choosing developmentally appropriate apps (Cooper, 2012), and young children may not fully take advantage of the opportunity to use high-quality educational apps (Kucirkova, 2014). Educators must use evaluation tools to measure educational apps’ appropriateness in terms of the quality and relevance of the children’s educational, emotional and developmental needs (Lubniewski et al , 2018; More and Travers, 2013).…”

Developing an Assessment-Link Mobile Application: A Catalyst for Pre-service Biology Teachers to Analyse Cognitive Test

“…The ability of the application to increase the effectiveness of learning process depends on its supporting interaction feature [17]. An effective application has several criteria, including 1) the age range of the user, content and features presented must be in accordance with the chronological age of the user, not only their developmental age [18]; 2) feature design, application layout must be clear and consistent, easy to navigate, no distracting features, easy to understand information presentation, integrating various media (auditory, visual), and representation format (verbal, nonverbal) that aim to reduce the cognitive burden of users due to differently processed in various cognitive areas [19][20]; 3) the relationship with the curriculum, the application is developed based on curriculum standards, the content in accordance with the user's abilities, and improving academic abilities and certain skills [19]; 4) feedback, the application provides feedback in a simple, clear, and does not create a reinforcing effect that allows the user to intentionally make mistakes so that they can see the feedback [20]; and 5) student motivation, the application can increase user's interest in the topic learned [19].…”