Tech Tip #167–How to Evaluate Apps

In these 169 tech-centric situations, you get an overview of pedagogy—the tech topics most important to your teaching—as well as practical strategies to address most classroom tech situations, how to scaffold these to learning, and where they provide the subtext to daily tech-infused education.

Today’s tip: How to Evaluate Apps

Category: Pedagogy

Here are thirteen tips to evaluate the apps you’ll find useful in your classroom:

1. free or small fee
2. stand the test of time
3. positive parent reports
4. rated ‘for everyone’ or ‘low maturity’
5. no in-app purchases or billing
6. support the ‘4 C’s’–creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration
7. offer compelling content (this is subjective: ‘Compelling’ varies teacher-to-teacher and student-to-student)
8. are not distracting or overwhelming in colors, music, or activity
9. offer levels that become increasingly more difficult, providing differentiation for student needs
10. few ads–and those that are there do not take up a significant portion of the screen
11. intuitive to use with a shallow learning curve that encourages independence
12. easily applied to a variety of educational environments
13. doesn’t collect personal information other than user credentials or data required to operate the app

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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.