This is the first a 5-part series of of iPad app reviews I'll be composing. In each case, I'll discuss a little background about the app, its strengths and weaknesses from my perspective, ideas for its implementation, and any success/horror stories from my attempts. If you have an educational app you recommend or one you'd like reviewed, please submit your suggestions. The first app is:
Toontastic!
Price: FREE with option for in-app purchasing
Availability: iPad iOS5 or later
Availability: iPad iOS5 or later
Summary: Use scenes and characters to create stories. You can create your own drawings of backgrounds or character/objects or use some of the items made available to easily design a story. While the app is free on the iTunes App Store, there is the option to purchase sets of characters and scenary to add to your story-telling collection (jungle set, U.S. Presidents, etc). In addition, Toontastic records your characters' actions, records child's narration, and provides music selections to apply a mood to the scene. The program is very intuitive. I briefly demonstrated to a four-year-old child (3-4 minutes) how to use the program. For the next 40 minutes, he was completely engaged in creating story after story. This was a great application that allows you to easily create digital stories and engage students in learning.
ToonTube: It's essentially a private YouTube within this app that lets you publish your story to be viewed by other users around the globe. All videos are geographically sorted and can be rated by others. ToonTube has an easy-to-navigate "global view" that allows you to search the world for exciting tales.
How to Use in Classroom: While children as young as 4 will enjoy, this app is probably best suited for 1st grade (late in year) to 3rd grade. Introduce the application first, let students play around with it, goof off, and experiment with creating backgrounds, characters, and props. (15-20 minutes). Teach a series of lessons of parts of a story (problem, climax, resolution, etc), and have students develop a short story with 2-3 characters. Go through writing process to develop story (brainstorm, draft ideas). Work this application in as the final part of a creative writing (publishing). Allow students to publish work (with school/parent permission first) to ToonTube (or external site if this is an option) to share work and let students view others' stories.
How to Use in Classroom: While children as young as 4 will enjoy, this app is probably best suited for 1st grade (late in year) to 3rd grade. Introduce the application first, let students play around with it, goof off, and experiment with creating backgrounds, characters, and props. (15-20 minutes). Teach a series of lessons of parts of a story (problem, climax, resolution, etc), and have students develop a short story with 2-3 characters. Go through writing process to develop story (brainstorm, draft ideas). Work this application in as the final part of a creative writing (publishing). Allow students to publish work (with school/parent permission first) to ToonTube (or external site if this is an option) to share work and let students view others' stories.
Weaknesses: Does not "teach" or scaffold the process of creating a story; however, the Toontube site may have good examples of story development for students to view. Publishing methods are limited. I want a way to save my work and view it through other mediums, such as save off the device or upload to a website. I believe the iOS5 update improves upon these capabilities.
My Score: 4.5/5
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