View a detailed iPad App Evaluation ranked according to Learning Goals

Features
Price FREE
Age Range Lower Primary
App Type Learning App
Version Reviewed 1.0
Android Available?
Lite Version Available?
Help Provided?

Bloom's Thinking Process
Creating
Evaluating
Analysing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering

Adaptability
Includes recorded voice
Includes text
Includes images

Review Comments
My Word Wall includes many activities for phonic spelling, sight words, sound- letter association and onset-rime. Writing abc: Sound-letter association. Students select a letter from the alphabet. They match the letter to the shadow form of the letter. Then they hear both the letter name and its phonic sound. They are also shown a picture using that word e.g. "r is for rat". Writing Words: Onset-rime. The student selects a word family. All words use short vowels in a consonant-vowel-consonant format. At first, the student drags and drops the rime e.g. "et" Then they drag the onset letter or letter blend e.g.. "wet, pet, set". An added bonus is provided. Then they can read (and hear) the word used in a sentence with a picture cue e.g. "Let the wet can in". Australian speakers will find the ar section difficult as these sounds are treated as separate sounds e.g. "c_a_r". Whereas in Australian English, there are only two sound in car i.e. "c_ar". See and Find: Matching words to pictures. This is a memory game. This game has two levels of difficulty, easy (6 pictures) and hard (8 pictures). Hide a word: Matching words to pictures. This is a fun game. The student drags a bubble around the screen to find a hidden word. Then they see the picture. Bubble Words: Spelling. The student sees letters in a word (and several distractor letters) flying around. They need to drag and drop the letters to spell the word. It would be useful if the word was spelled phonetically when it was completed. This is quite tricky. Jigsaw Words: Spelling. The student sees a picture of a word and it's letters broken into jigsaw pieces. This could be very useful as a phonemic awareness task. The student could blend the sounds together to form a word. My Wall: Play. The student selects their words or sticker. Then they cover the wall with these. They can take a photo of their wall. This took me ages to work out. A help section would be useful. Onset- rime. Students drag and drop the letters into the blinking spot to spell the word. Then they can read (and hear) the word used in a sentence. Sometimes the letters don't go in the word.. In "My Word Wall" the student gets to see the words they have spelled.

Review Comments

My Word Wall includes many activities for phonic spelling, sight words, sound- letter association and onset-rime.

Writing abc: Sound-letter association. Students select a letter from the alphabet. They match the letter to the shadow form of the letter. Then they hear both the letter name and its phonic sound. They are also shown a picture using that word e.g. "r is for rat".

Writing Words: Onset-rime. The student selects a word family. All words use short vowels in a consonant-vowel-consonant format. At first, the student drags and drops the rime e.g. "et" Then they drag the onset letter or letter blend e.g.. "wet, pet, set". An added bonus is provided. Then they can read (and hear) the word used in a sentence with a picture cue e.g. "Let the wet can in".

Australian speakers will find the ar section difficult as these sounds are treated as separate sounds e.g. "c_a_r". Whereas in Australian English, there are only two sound in car i.e. "c_ar".

See and Find: Matching words to pictures. This is a memory game. This game has two levels of difficulty, easy (6 pictures) and hard (8 pictures).

Hide a word: Matching words to pictures. This is a fun game. The student drags a bubble around the screen to find a hidden word. Then they see the picture.

Bubble Words: Spelling. The student sees letters in a word (and several distractor letters) flying around. They need to drag and drop the letters to spell the word. It would be useful if the word was spelled phonetically when it was completed. This is quite tricky.

Jigsaw Words: Spelling. The student sees a picture of a word and it's letters broken into jigsaw pieces. This could be very useful as a phonemic awareness task. The student could blend the sounds together to form a word.

My Wall: Play. The student selects their words or sticker. Then they cover the wall with these. They can take a photo of their wall. This took me ages to work out. A help section would be useful.

Onset- rime. Students drag and drop the letters into the blinking spot to spell the word. Then they can read (and hear) the word used in a sentence.

Sometimes the letters don't go in the word..

In "My Word Wall" the student gets to see the words they have spelled.

Use	Rank (*)
Spell with Phonics		Ranked 13th of 44

(*) This app has been ranked according to its' effectiveness to achieve the learning goals and strategies listed. Some apps may rank highly for achieving a specific use and lower for other uses. Some students will learn and engage with one app more than others, because of the individual nature of us all.

Learning App
Learning apps are designed for a specific purpose. The authors claim to teach a goal, skill or concept.

Bloom's Thinking Process
Bloom's Taxonomy is classification system used to explain the behaviours important in learning. Apps range from simple memory tasks such as flashcards apps through to creative apps which ask students to create an original story or video.

Bloom's Creating
The student creates new ideas, products or ways of viewing things. Activities include making, animating, designing, constructing, planning, producing and inventing.

Bloom's Evaluating
The student justifies a decision or course of action. Activities include counting to check, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting and judging.

Bloom's Analysing
The student breaks the information into parts to explore understandings and relationships. Activities include explaining, ordering, inferring, comparing and organising.

Bloom's Applying
The student uses the information in a new situation. Activities include implementing, carrying out, using, illustrating, classifying and categorising.

Bloom's Understanding
The student comprehends the new information. Activities include describing, predicting showing understanding use a multiple choice.

Bloom's Remembering
The student recalls information they know. Activities include matching, 'fill in the blank', making a choice, answering using a multiple choice, naming a group.

Learning Connection
How well does the app teach the targeted skill or concept? This is the area where we refer to current research and pedagogy to evaluate the efficacy of the app.

Authenticity
Authenticity looks at the manner in which skills are learnt. Authentic apps use real life or genuine activities. Students learn in context rather than in a contrived or rote fashion (such as flashcards).

Feedback
Feedback needs to be specific and result in improved performance. Feedback should be supportive and encouraging rather than negative. Data should be available to support decision making.

Differentiation
Differentiation is the ability to customise the app to suit the student. The ability to record you voice, customise text, add pictures and alter settings enables individualisation of the app.

User Friendliness
User friendliness is a measure of how well a student can use the app independently. Some apps are simply intuitive to use. Others include audio or visual prompts which support the student.

Motivation
All apps are engaging the first time they are played. However, students with diverse learning needs may need to return to the app many times. Motivating apps offer rewards,games or incentives.

Spell with Phonics
These are apps that spell words using letter sounds in a word (as opposed to spelling the word using letter names). There are 44 phonemes or letter sounds in the English language, including letter combinations such as /th/.

Domain	Score	Details
Learning Connection	4	There are enough activities in this app to reinforce phonic spelling of words. It would be great to see these words put into a sentence context.
Authenticity	2	Students drag and drop letters to spell phonetically. They also make a jigsaw out of the letters of a word.
Feedback	2	Throughout the games, the student hears praise, stars twinkling and receives start rewards. There are no punitive sounds or crosses in this game.
Differentiation	2	You can choose the easy or difficult level in "Hide a Word". Students can select the letters to play.
User Friendliness	4	This app is easy to use. However, I would still like to see a help section to work out the "My Wall" game.
Motivation	4	When the student receives 10 stars they see stickers in the sky. These stickers and the words they have spelled, are available in the "My Wall" section. My students like making their word wall and taking a photo of it.

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Disclaimer: The evaluations and rankings information provided here are based solely on the opinion of the author and are for informational purposes only. Families should seek professional advice before making decisions regarding interventions for their child.