Makego

Makego is an app created by Chris O'Shea, a British artist and designer. He uses  "technology to make the unimaginable come to life. Inventing new approaches that explore play, human behavior and engagement through interaction design and the visual arts." What does that mean in terms of Makego?  Price: $0.99 (on sale right now).


Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness:  So this app does not really have any "educational" content, at least not in the way that the apps I've been reviewing do. But what makes this app so interesting is the innovative way it's blurring the line between virtual play and "real world" play. I at first didn't get what Makego was about - until I saw the picture and video below. Ohhhh.... I get it, the iPhone becomes the toy - (and this does seem more fitting to be used on an iPhone rather than an iPad because of the size). Without "real world" toys coming into play, the app really doesn't come to life on its own. But when used as intended - to augment the traditional sense of pretend play - that's when it gets interesting. Research has shown that pretend play is important to children's cognitive development, so if this app helps to get kids engaged in it, that's a win. It currently provides three premises - race car, ice cream truck, and boat. So it gives kids an easy start to create their own world and story. Further, it brings in a sense of realism - so rather than the kid making the vroom vroom noise, the app does or rather than pretending there are customers for the ice cream truck, the app provides them. While this added sense of realism is nice, is it taking away from the pretend play aspect that helps cognitive development? The child is now taking on less roles mentally, they are not the car nor the customers. But on the other hand, maybe it encourages the child to develop a richer pretend environment by adding on details and providing some interaction that the child may not otherwise have had on their own. I don't know the answer. Maybe like with almost all research, it's a little of both - this will lead some children to run away with their imaginations, and lead other children to get less creative because they are using the app as a crutch. But I do like this app as it opens the door to viewing digital devices in different ways. And maybe in the least, buying this app is way cheaper than buying a toy car, ice cream truck and boat (of course assuming you've already purchased the iPhone for yourself). Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 5 years).

Balance: Some of the interactive features are nice, like actually being able to sell virtual ice cream. Some might be a little limiting in terms of creating a world outside of the app. For example with the boat, the boat develops so many holes that need patching (why does the boat break so much in the first place?!) and ducks keep coming up for bread that it might keep the child from creating his or hers own world around the boat. Rating: 3.5/5


Sustainability: Pretend play can be endless. And I think kids will really enjoy the novelty of using the iPhone as the toy itself. I can't wait to see what new vehicles are next. Rating: 5/5


Parental Involvement: Parents may have an added incentive of keeping an eye on their device to get involved in the pretend play. ha. A goal of this app is to create an opportunity for cooperative play, and I think this app successfully does so, at least for the beginning when the idea of this type of device usage is so novel to children and adults. Rating: 5/5


Total: 17.5 out of 20 = 5 stars

Freddi Fish and the Stolen Shell

Freddy Fish and the Stolen Shell is a game from Atari. Many of you may recognize Freddy Fish and even this particular story as this is a "reboot" of a series from the 90's from Humongous Entertainment. Let me first say that this app is not marketed as an "educational" app on iTunes, but it does on the press release say that it helps critical thinking, problem solving, and memory. After my post on how to define an educational app, I've had a couple of conversations about skills that are important, but may not be as explicitly taught - like critical thinking. I think most will agree that critical thinking is something important that kids have to learn to do well, particularly for standardized tests and college entrance exams - the new SAT no longer has a "Verbal" section, but rather a "Critical Thinking" section. But, at the same time, it's not like there is critical thinking class like there is math class. When I think of how to measure critical thinking, I think of the horrible passages you have to read, like in the SAT, and then answer endless questions by inferring/deducing/interpreting from the passage. But how do we measure and teach critical thinking to beginning readers? Do games like Freddy Fish really help teach critical thinking skills? Price: $2.99 


Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.0 or later


Developmental Appropriateness: I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game, and I think elementary school kids will too. It does actually require critical thinking skills, some parts more than others, and maybe I need to improve mine as I feel like it took me a long time to solve the mystery! Overall, it's pretty intuitive to navigate. Getting Freddy to use a found object can be a little tricky though so maybe Freddy could give some more directions on that. Some parts are less obvious than others, and some tasks are harder than others. So there seems to be a bit of a range. While Freddy Fish does provide some critical thinking prompts and clues, they are usually as secondary conversation (i.e. you have to click on the Freddy a few times). It would be nice if Freddy reinforced the critical thinking more. For example, after solving a specific problem, Freddy could say, that's right, if you did (blank), it would (blank)! This way, even if you by chance stumbled upon the answer, you would think about what just happened. Making strategies and thought processes explicit helps the learning process. There's also a lot of other implicit lessons that range from bullying to music and a touch of math spread throughout the story. While I like that this is not marketed as educational, I think it is safe to label this as "edutainment." Kids will have fun and in the process, maybe pick up a few things. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 8 years)

Balance: There's a lot to click on in the game, but it is after all a game. Part of it is as distractors for finding needed objects. But even so, I could do with a few less just for fun hotspots. There are also screens that don't really forward the plot very much, but that may just be because you can go through the same mystery with different clues and so sometimes some screens are more useful than others. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: Since you can go back and resolve the mystery with different clues and different outcomes, this game gets an A+ for sustainability. It will be easier to solve the more  you do it, but the characters and humor in the game make it worth going back. There are also games that could be pretty independent of the plot that you can play repeatedly. One being the organ where you can record your own songs. Rating 5/5


Parental Involvement: This is for the most part a one-player game and it's almost like watching a mini-tv show with interactive parts. Parents can watch along and help in terms of usability and reinforcing the critical thinking skills. Parents may even be surprised if their child solves something before they do, so it might be a fun activity to do together. But given the older target age, kids may want to solve the mystery on their own. Rating: 3.5/5


Total: 16.5 out of 20 = 4 stars

Wheels on the Bus

Wheels on the Bus is an app from Duck Duck Moose and has received "best app" awards and high marks from folks ranging from Parent's Choice Foundation to the New York Times. It's based on the "Wheels on the Bus" song that almost every kid learns at some point, and that is now stuck in my head. Price: iPhone - $0.99, iPad - $1.99, Android - $1.99

Device Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad; Requires iOS 3.0 or later; Android 2.1 and up

Developmental Appropriateness: This well-known preschool song is definitely appropriate for little kids, especially those who ride a school bus. For each verse, there are interactive features that illustrate the new phrase (wheels go round and round; wipers go swish... etc.) It's pretty fun. OK, this app may not be the most "educational" in the sense that it's not trying to drill a specific skill and I almost did not write this review. However, I thought that this app is a great example of how to use animation in an effective manner. Research has shown that at least with adults and older kids, animation can be more effective for learning than static pictures. This is of course if the animation is directly related to the to-be-learned information. Picture trying to teach verbs and adverbs like "gallop", it would be easier to show a video of someone or an animal galloping than to try to describe it with or without pictures. However, we often see animation used in frivolous ways, and not directly linked to teaching anything. While it may be only a handful of words or phrases, this app could be a good tool for teaching those specific vocabulary. Rating: 5/5 (aim for around 3 years of age)

Balance: For the most part, the animation is directly related to the lyrics. There are a few instances where 
they are not. Rating: 4.5/5


Sustainability: Some cool features are that the song can be heard in five different languages and played in a variety of instruments ranging from the violin to kazoo - a nice way to expose your child to different languages and instruments. You can also record you and or your child singing along. So if you don't mind hearing this song over and over again and having it stuck in your head, I can see playing with this app for more than just a few times. Rating: 4/5


Parental Involvement: The extra features (recording, languages, and instruments) is a nice way to involve the parents. The recording feature encourages parents to sing along and then allows them to share the recording with other loved ones who may have missed it. It would be nice to see a "blank" verse so parents can add on other verses and also so they won't OD on the same ones over and over again. Rating: 4.5/5


Total: 18 out of 20 = 5 stars