Karen+S.

Assignment 1

The definition of Itunes U - it's the place to go for curriculum courses video from academic institutions.

Assignment 2

10 content specific applications - wish list: 1. School #|Psychology Tools, good reviews - a #|complete school psych tool which helps keep evaluations straight and organized as well as behavioral observation tools, psych reports and keeping track of parents, students and teachers. $34.99 2. U Track Lite - Free and good reviews - a way to manage your everyday tasks school assignments and family obligations. This is a virtual wall. I wanted it to be "linked" to my entire family's obligations on their devices, but it doesn't look like it does that. 3. Behavior Lens and good reviews - a behavior observation tool created by school psychs. It helps to keep track of how often, how long and what the function of a behavior is. This is $29.99. Looks a bit complicated. I had a hard time finding reviews for this. 4. PAR Assessment toolkit - This is free with very good reviews. It helps anyone who gives standardized tests show the results in cool chart forms. It converts raw scores to T scores too. Definitely downloading this one! Age Calculator, stop watch 5. You can handle them all! - only $1.99 and good reviews to help any teacher or parent handle any kind of challenging behavior. This is like a desk reference of strategies to use on any behavior you are trying to eliminate. 6. VAST autism 1 - Core - $4.99 good reviews - This app helps autism and other verbally challenged students listen and repeat phrases. It seems like a simple app and some of the reviews indicate that students significantly improved their verbalizations even with the first lesson/session. 7. Behavior Tracker Pro - $29.99 mixed reviews - for people specifically working with Autistic students. Graph behaviors according to freq, duration and rate. You can email the data and put it right into an IEP (theoretically). One rater said it was horrible and not to buy it. Exporting data did not work. 8. Social Skills Sampler - Free with mixed reviews - 62 of the most common topics - greeting people, taking responsibility, being polite - all phrases that are preset in the Ap, but I don't see any great pictures or scenes where these phrases would be used. This doesn't seem like it is in a format that children would enjoy. Lots of words, not a lot of pictures. 9. Model Me Going Places - Free with very good reviews - Looks like an awesome App that actually shows kid friendly pictures of social stories such as going to the doctor - what the doctor does during the examination etc. It would seem to help children prepare for challenging locations in the community and help them know what to expect at these places. 10. A Little Book of Feelings - .99 good reviews, limited use - This is just a book but it's part of a series of other pieces that help children identify feelings. You would have to download the other pieces separately (shows, products other apps). Too bad they aren't part of the App. 11. Easy Behavior Tracker for Teachers - 1.99, excellent reviews for another version of this app (that I can't find) and low reviews for this version - This app allows a teacher to record a student's targeted behavior and notify the parents of the behavior right from the App. You can add as many classes and students as you want, it saves behavior history so you can recognize patterns, it also allows you to email other staff besides just the parent. 12. Fluency Finder - $6.99 - four excellent rating one bad one - This app allows teachers to assess reading fluency in half the time it takes typically. It eliminates the need for paper, pencil, stopwatch and a calculator. All information is stored right in the app. You have to press a button every time the child makes a reading error. I don't like that you have to stop the timer. The app should just shut down the screen the child is reading when the time is up.

Personal Apps - Wish List (and some I have downloaded through this exploration process) 1. Words with Friends - excellent review and free - I downloaded this App to see what all the "buzz" was about and I was disappointed. I don't like that the App was for Iphones so I can't turn it to the horizontal angle. In addition, I didn't realize I had to hook up with my Facebook or email friends to play. I don't want to bother my friends. I'll take a pass. 2. Snapchat - free and very good reviews - I downloaded this one too, and really didn't use it much this week. While my kids seem to love this, again, I don't like the vertical only visual that is used on Iphones. I wish it would turn. My kids seem to love it though. This App lets you take pictures with your ipad and send them to friends. You can also take a picture of a message that you create in "notes" - which essentially integrates many skills that we learned in our class. 3. Instagram - free and great reviews - another photo-sharing and social networking site that lets you take a picture and share it with others instantly. You have to "follow" people in order to share with them. 4. Flow Free - free and great reviews - This is a very addicting game of logic. You have to connect matching dots using all the spaces in a grid, without crossing any lines. I downloaded it and am using it when I have spare moments that I need entertainment. 5. Louvre HD - Free and excellent reviews - I downloaded this app and I love it! It has organized many of the amazing paintings in the Louvre and allows you to browse them while listening to classical music. You can even make a favorites list and run a slideshow of them. 6. Piano Free with Songs - free app, excellent reviews - I downloaded this app and it is very entertaining. I like the multiple features it has. It gives you the ability to learn simple songs in two different formats. It allows you to play and learn piano with keys right on your ipad! Very cool.