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For this Top Five Apps, I am putting on my “speech hat”. As a practicing speech & language pathologist, I am constantly on the lookout for apps that are appropriate for my older students (ages 9-14). These apps must be directly aligned to their IEP goals, but they can’t be babyish or boring. Over the past year, I have found some really unique apps that may not be considered traditional therapy apps, but they have given me excellent results, so I wanted to share them with the community of SLPs who follow us here at Fun Educational Apps. Fun Educational Apps "TOP 5 Apps for … " Series! |
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RRP - $1.99 / £1.49 / €1.79 |
Have you seen this app? Spy Tools for Kids is a iPhone app (that can be adapted for iPad) from Thinkamingo. This is my go-to app for drawing out the most reluctant talkers. With minimal written content, it appeals to even my lowest readers. Spy Tools for Kids has five separate activities included in it: There is the Disguise Creator. You take a picture on your iPhone or iPad and the student is able to change his look by adding different hats, glasses, beards, etc. One student ended up looking like a French artist, using a beret and a goatee. It was a fantastic session! There is also the Voicechanger 2000. If you record the student’s voice, it can be pitch altered to sound like either a grown-up (lowering the pitch) or a chipmunk (raising the pitch). There’s also the Passport Creator and night vision goggles. All in all, Spy Tools for Kids gives a student so much to talk about that it’s easy to collect data on everything from stuttering to articulation to grammar to utterance length. |
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RRP - $1.99 / £1.49 / €1.79 |
#2 Word Mess Word Mess (by Masala Games) is an odd name for an educational app, I’ll grant you that. I recommend this app only for students who have a competitive streak in them, because the game is played against a time clock. This app is an adaptation of the wordle concept. For those who have never heard the term before, a wordle is an arrangement of random words put together to make a design. In Word Mess, the student searches for 10 duplicates of the word before time is up. For QuickPlay mode, the target can be either a specific word (like foxes or street), words that rhyme (band, sand, stand, land), or words in a particular category (number words, mountains, cakes). If it sounds easy, trust me, it’s not. What I like about Word Mess is that it gets energy flowing in a therapy session. |
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RRP - $3.99 / £2.49 / €3.59 |
Anyone who has even seen a Kids Discover magazine knows how rich the content is in this series. Recently, Kids Discover has begun adapting their magazines for the app market. My current favourite is Kids Discover: Sun (for the iPad only) because it is quite possibly the best science-themed app I’ve seen. My husband, an amateur astronomer, was blown away by the content of this app. He liked the high quality video simulation of solar flares and the time-lapse photography showing how solar panels work. Kids Discover relies on respected sources like NASA and the Smithsonian for their information. Science and nature are topics that appeal to many older students, so I use Kids Discover: Sun to enrich their science vocabulary and practice summarizing non-fiction information. Other apps in the series include: Galaxies, Washington, D.C., Cells, Space, Ancient Greece, Extreme Weather, Simple Machines, and Antarctica. |
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RRP - FREE! |
Dragon Dictation- Lite (by Nuance) is a new app for me, but my preliminary results show that it can be a powerful speech to text tool for older therapy students. I am currently using a lite version because I want to see what capabilities it offers; I may very well upgrade to the full version for the coming school year. Educators recognize how difficult it is to develop an older student’s communication skills when their writing skills are poor. Dragon Dictation simply allows the student to dictate a sentence or a paragraph, and see it transcribed immediately. The technology is not yet foolproof, and some interesting substitutions pop up occasionally. Note: Students with moderate to severe phonological/speech production issues are not good candidates for this app, for obvious reasons. I find that a period of training with students makes them much more successful users. Also, keep in mind that you need a wi-fi connection to use this app. |
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RRP - $9.99 / £6.99 / €8.99 |
Inspiration Maps (developed by Inspiration Software, Inc.) is the app equivalent of the Inspiration Software commonly used in schools. After a short training, students can create graphic organizers for virtually any subject. Templates are available for compare/contrast, character analysis, essay brainstorming, persuasive essay outline, scientific classification, lab report outline, lab report diagram, cause & effect, thinking strategies (the 5 Ws), and note taking from a lecture or a textbook. Because it is a productivity app, it requires a wi-fi connection to print or share the student’s work. Most (but not all students) are able to use Inspiration Maps independently, but I like to observe my students as they use it, so that we can deal with any stumbling blocks they may encounter. |
As I look at my list, I realize how much I rely on my iPad for therapy. While it will never totally replace books and paper/pencil activities, it offers such a variety of tools that it has become indispensible. I would encourage every SLP to observe a colleague using one during a therapy session. You will be amazed. Don’t be intimidated by the technology, embrace it.
This Top Five post was written by Julie Peterson, a speech/language pathologist (SLP) who is currently working in a school setting, serving children with special needs ages 6-14. Her iPad is her favorite therapy tool, and she is excited about new advances in both tablet technology and app design.
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