With the announcement today that Best Buy is giving away the iPhone 3GS (with an $80/month AT&T subscription, of course), it is time to say “so long” to a historic device, before it slides down the Moore’s Law graph, toward obscurity. It joins the ranks of the Kapro, Apple IIe, Sony 8mm Camcorder, Nintendo NES, PS2 as having served us well. But Moore’s law waits for no device. The time is at hand. Good bye, old pal. This announcement is evidence that the iPhone 5 (which will have faster web abilities, more iPad attributes, and undoubtedly better batteries) is at hand.
- Dust or Magic 2011 Sunday Evening Speaker Announced!: http://t.co/OzPuPKf #
- Oregon Trail's co-creator Don Rawitsch will share artifacts from the game at #DustorMagic 2011 on Oct 6-8 http://t.co/ZUQlSds #
This animated music app looks good but could become costly, because of the way it asks children to buy more songs using the in-app sales feature. Each additional song costs $.99 each. There are two challenge levels, including a Training Mode that gives cues to the child to tap the right keys on the piano, and the recording feature allows them to sing their own tunes.
The Show Musical Notes feature overlays the piano keys with the notes to give the amateur user a chance to play around with the keys more confidently. There is also a Forgiving mode that lets the child tap keys anywhere on the app, and still create in-tune melodies. Teaches: music, notes. Bubulu Labs. www.bubululabs.com, $0.99. Best for ages 2-up.
Rating: 
or .66%
Turn your iPad into a talking alphabet/language generator. To build a word, you drag it from an alphabet strip onto a 44 letter grid, where it snaps into place, pronouncing any word that might be created, including nonsense words. The main menu offers two choices: Moveable Alphabet, for free exploration of word combinations; and Spelling Quiz, a talking spelling ten word test with 173 built in word lists (e.g., nature words, or 1000 most frequently used words). In the spelling tests, you hear the word, and must spell it using the same alphabet strip used in the Moveable Alphabet. Options include a spell checker that highlights unrecognized words, American and British voices, the ability to change the speed or tone of the voice, uppercase or lowercase letters, and two backgrounds. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
These twelve ingenious activities marry logical thinking with body motion, further establishing the Wii system as the leader in the kinesthetic interface. Note that you’ll need to have one of the newer Wii Remote Plus controllers (or an older one with the Remote Plus attachment) to make the games work. Fortunately a new black controller comes in the box. In Wind Runner, the controller becomes an umbrella handle that you must tilt to ride gusts of wind along a race course. In Spooky Search, you hunt for invisible spirits using the controller as a ghost detector. And in Veggie Guardin’, you use the Wii Remote Plus to swat away pests. The game features multiple difficulty levels for up to four players, and all the games can be played in both single player and multiplayer modes. The game comes bundled with one Wii Remote Plus controller. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This app contains 32 high quality, transportation-related photos. Each contains a printed label (e.g., “race car”), simple animation with sound, and pronunciation. To change between the pictures, you swipe. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Touch a cartoon-ish farm-related object or animal to hear a sample sound, and hear it labeled, animated and described. For example, if you touch the donkey, you might hear “the donkey has big ears,” along with a donkey sound and an animated routine. Content includes 300 sentences, along with moving pictures and sounds. This is the first of a planned series. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This Wii-only, follow-along dancing program is based on the movie, The Smurfs. Content includes 20 dances, each with different sets of moves illustrated by a small squad of strange looking Smurfs. Using a Wii Remote in each hand, you can dance alongside your favorite characters and heroes from the film, including Smurfette, Pap Smurf, Clumsy, Brainy, Gutsy and Gargamel. Songs include both popular tunes such as One of the Boys and Higher and original songs from the The Smurfs incluidng Smurfberry-licious and Gargamel. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
There are six games that can be played through as a game show, or individually for practice: Saving Choices (sort items according to four categories — saving, spending, donating or investing): Earn It! (decorate cup cakes to earn money); Rainy Day Fund (a confusing but fun fortune cookie game); Spend Avoidance (a maze game where you try to avoid wasting money in the mall); Wealthy Habits (decide whether to buy a new book, or visit the library by tilting the screen left or right); and Kids Earn (make cups of lemonade). It is easy to jump right to a game or play through each activity in sequence to see how much money you can make. Created by award winning designer Daren Carstens for Susan Beacham of Money Savvy Generation. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This I SPY-like ebook starts each page with a rhyming poem, and then lets you tap around nine pages of hidden objects. There are 50 items, some hidden rather cleverly — for example there’s a small cabinet in the cabin of a sailboat, requiring that you open the door to find it. The view changes slightly if you tilt the screen, adding a realistic effect. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This maze game (search “A-Maze-ing” in the app store) lets you navigate through 16 detailed, hand-drawn scenes by dragging vehicles through a map. As you explore the connected maps, you find 85 hidden items embedded in the pen and ink maps. Your mission is to find them all, a task we stopped at around 11. Because up to five player profiles can be stored at once, it is possible to sign in or out and continue progress at a later time. Hidden items include stars, letters, penguins, numbers and ice cream trucks. Created in the Netherlands. The free version limits the number of levels and the amount of fuel for your car. See also Roxie’s Doors. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Designed to help you memorize names and facts about the 44 US Presidents? Combining flashcard-like facts with a “break-out” game mechanic, the app doles out multiple-choice questions like “Which President succeeded Thomas Jefferson.” To answer the question, you touch one of four labeled portraits. Correct answers give you a chance to fling a President, in ball form, at a set of aliens, until no more are remaining. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Good facts and illustrations are combined with Oceanhouse Media’s excellent labeling techniques to create an excellent early literacy experience that can enhance a child’s emerging reading abilities. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Peekabook: Find Hidden Fun UFO Characters consists of 10 scenes (Deep Forest, Blue Lake, Country Road and so on). Each scene has aliens tucked behind trees, rocks or other background items. To find the aliens you tap around the screen. After all the characters are found, you get a round of applause, and a new level. Created by PopApp, Bright Colors and Visualizes.com.ua. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Let’s say you suddenly lost your voice. How would you communicate? There’s an app for that — several, actually and they range greatly in price and quality, due in part to the growing diversity in the app store. The reality is the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch — which comes with a microphone, camera, clear speakers, text to speech software, and is a ready made Augmented Alternative Communication (AAC) device. Created by Boise-based Legend (www.thinklegend.com), OneVoice 1.1.2 served up a starter set of 100 icons; each associated with a common phrase like “I want” and “breakfast.” To speak, you just tap an icon, and you hear the words spoken, in clear, synthesized speech, available in one of four voice choices (two per gender) and adjustable in speed. Phrases can be built, by touching more than one icon, and it is easy to create your own icons using the iPad 2 camera, or simply type a phrase using the standard iOS keyboard. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Your challenge is to spot the “odd one out” from a set of moving fruit, shapes or colors in this app. You start with a challenge, e.g., “spot mango” (with a picture of a mango). As the mangos fly across the screen, mixed with other types of fruit, your job is to tap just the mangos, and not the strawberries or bananas. The shapes and colors present harder levels. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Comic book super heroes meet math facts, in this iPad version of the tabletop card game of the same name: Numbers League. Your goal is to rid Infinity City of villains by making a super hero that has a mathematical value. To do this, you use a spinner which generates a hero with a random value. Your job is to add up that value, and pick a bad guy with the same or less value to defeat. When all the bad guys are locked up, you win the game. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Like the Incredible Machine, this physics puzzler let’s you try to unite two cats — Milk and Coffee, by dropping different widgets and gizmos such as balloons, pins, speed boost and speed brakes onto a game board. There are 100 levels (and progress is saved automatically), offering plenty of content. Created in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The iPhone or iPad game uses the OpenFeint leaderboard system, and requires iOS 3.0 or later with 16.8 MB. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This ebook app is based on the children’s book of the same title (by Eric Drachman). In the story, Leo — the littlest lightning bug of all, can’t make his own light. The other lightning bugs tease him, but eventually Leo learns to light up the night. Features include professional narration, background audio, and enlarged artwork for each scene. There are three presentation modes available from the main menu — Read to Me, lets you listen to the narrated story with words highlighted as they are read; Read it Myself, lets you read the book in its traditional form; and Auto Play, which plays like a movie, automatically reading and turning pages. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This talking story construction activity is designed to let young children experiment with sentence construction. There are two modes: Edit and Write. In Edit, you see a page of print, from the Three Little Pigs. It is possible to touch select words, marked with an underline, to toggle between different options. So, for example, you can change “there were three little pigs” to “there were three smelly hippos.” In Write, there are 10 blank pages with “word drop” zones. Made with GameSalad. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This iPad edition of Jack and the Beanstalk has 18 screens and is told with a modern twist. In this case, Jack is addicted to video games, when his mother asks him to go to the market. Content includes 18 screens or pages of content, each with zany story-related hot spots. Text is both highlighted or you can touch and hear individual words, making this a viable language experience. There is both Read to Me and Read to Myself modes. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Based on the book by William Joyce, this is an interactive edition of a short animated film that nicely tells the story of a man (Morris Lessmore) who loves books. Each of the 27 pages weaves interactive features with the storyline. For example, you help scatter the books during a windstorm by circulating your finger on the screen, spell words using alphabet cereal, or tilt the screen to fly Mr. Lessmore through a tunnel of words. Programmed by Twin Engine Labs, created by Moonbot Studios. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This unique game uses two styluses at once. You start by creating and customizing your own own avatar. Content includes seven “sports,” including Home-Run Challenges, Archery, Soccer Penalty Kicks, and more; Rank Match – Play to be the best and earn points in each sport; Score Try – Practice each sport with specialized trials and challenges; Today’s Challenge – different sports challenges every day; and Tap Exercise – Hone your touch senses with these activities requiring you to perform feats of dexterity using both hands. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This collection of 42 dot-to-dot puzzles can be used to practice counting, the alphabet, or times tables. For example, to connect the dots, you might be asked to follow a number pattern that increased by 1 at the easy level, to 8s or 12s at the harder levels. Other options include the ability to keep records for one child at a time, and a leaderboard feature. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This ten room doll house lets you drag and drop three people (a man, women and girl) into place for role play situations. The rooms include a backyard and a basement, plus the ability to peek beyond the walls of the room. Some rooms have items, like balls that bounce or a tire that swings, and the girl’s outfit changed depending on which room she is in. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This Dinosaur app lets you peel back the skin of nine popular dinosaurs, shown with a person to put the size in perspective. You can drag a slider bar across the image to gradually unveil the skeleton. You can also touch five or so hot points to explore features. Facts are presented in blocks of text. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Here’s an interesting new angle on sequencing/counting games, designed to provide playful, auto-correcting practice with counting and alphabet abilities. The numbers appear as colored magnetic beads (that look a bit like M&Ms) that you connect by dragging into order. When you successfully connect, say, the 7 bead with the 8 bead, they stick together, forming a chain. You can also move the bead chain by holding the device face-up parallel to the floor and tilting it slightly to let gravity roll the leading bead downhill. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This 60 level physics game from Singapore lets you try to launch a kitten to catch fish. In order to advance to the next level, you have to calculate the angle correctly. Enemies include Flying Pirate ships, falling missiles, rain drops and castle guards. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This set of personalized stories for small screen (no iPad) lets you put your child’s name and favorite color into three different stories. You can also record the narration for each page. Content includes two stories: Book of Goodnight deals with the bedtime routine. A child can choose to explore space as an astronaut or protect the city as a superhero during the night. Book of Food covers four food groups. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
- http://lnkd.in/R-WfFy Oh Fran, you're such a rabble rowser! But this is a good question, and this is certainly now in the mainstream… #
- Two 12 year olds fly the Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic in current weather. See the landing http://goo.gl/mXMSD #lindbergh2011 #
- http://lnkd.in/R-WfFy Oh Fran, you're such a rabble rowser! But this is a good question, and this is certainly now in the mainstream… #
Blue Hat, Green Hat is another interactive adaptation of a toddler board book, by author Sandra Boynton. Each page lets children combine colored hats, shirts, shorts or shoes on fun animal characters, using art directly from the book. There’s an “oops” button on several pages, that causes something to go wrong. For example, it might make a rain cloud fill up a page with water, or flip a character upside down. This successfully creates a hidden surprise on each page. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This newest Ben 10 game (based on the television series) lets you take control of Ben Tennyson and up to 17 alien forms including Armodrillo, WaterHazard and AmpFibian, as you jackhammer through enemies, unleash water blasts, and emit explosive radiation beams. You will journey to Paris, Tokyo, China and Rome in search of an ancient alien artifact that will help save humanity from a mysterious cosmic storm. You will use the power of the new Ultimatrix, an upgraded alien watch that transforms Ben into the most powerful, hyper-evolved alien forms ever in the game. The new Quick Switch feature allows you to transform from alien to alien quickly, and create custom alien combos, and the new Upgrade System lets you enhance your alien’s strength, speed, defense and special attacks by gaining experience from defeating enemies, collecting rare sumo slammer cards, and crushing cars, forklifts, furniture, and various objects throughout each level. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Sometimes an app is good because of what it doesn’t do, instead of what it does. Consisting of nothing more than three rows of five brightly colored musical squares, this app turns your iPad screen into a colorful music exploration. The red squares (the top row) make drum sounds, yellow squares (the middle row) play whole-tone piano notes, and blue squares (the bottom) play whole-tone guitar notes. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
While light on “fun” (the “game” consists of a multiple-choice letter matching activity), the most valuable part of this app is the ability to trace a letter and get real-time feedback. A free Lite version is available that features only the first six letter sounds. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
- Two 12 year olds fly the Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic in current weather. See the landing http://goo.gl/mXMSD #lindbergh2011 #
- Boys will simulate Lindbergh's historic flight at Flemington's Mediatech center | NJ.com – http://goo.gl/bueoD #
- Just posted — a true story — College Prep for Your Child's Laptop – NYTimes.com – http://goo.gl/NuqoF #
Deep Sims: A Case Study
At precisely 8:52 AM, Saturday, August 6, 2011, two 12-year-old boys will open the throttle of the Spirit of St. Louis, try to stay on the runway, and get off the ground. If the takeoff is successful, they’ll bank toward the open ocean and land — the next day — in Paris, France. Seem extreme? Possibly. But given the flexibility of an independent non-profit operating in a small town library, and the power of an aging flight simulation, the real time exercise has proven that it can bring a spark of authenticity to learning that is rarely found in a traditional classroom setting. It also keeps children, and the public, interested. See page 5 or visit www.mediatech.org
You Say Software, I Say App: A Look at the Twisted Language of Educational Technology
Last year, NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) became the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). Why the name change? It seems that nobody knows what to call the stuff we review. Over the years, our own publication has morphed from Children’s Software Revue (1993), to Children’s Software & New Media Review (1998) to Children’s Technology Review. In this issue (page 11), I make a noble attempt to take a closer at the language of this space.
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- Boys will simulate Lindbergh's historic flight at Flemington's Mediatech center | NJ.com – http://goo.gl/bueoD #
- Just posted — a true story — College Prep for Your Child's Laptop – NYTimes.com – http://goo.gl/NuqoF #