Mobile Apps
for K-12 students
Kid In Story Book Maker
This app would be fantastic to help prepare a child with autism for the new and very stimulating experiences they may encounter on a field trip. For example, perhaps your class is going on a field trip to the bowling alley where there will be lots of lights and sounds, and the children will be expected to learn to bowl. You could select the bowling alley template in the Story Book Maker and insert a picture of your student who has autism into the bowling alley scene. You can add images of a bowling ball, of a lane, maybe a video of the multi-coloured lights that will be flashing in the dark bowling alley. Your student will be able to prepare themselves for the new experience by using the storybook to predict the experience and visualize themselves participating in bowling.
Below is an example image of a doll added to a background of the San Francisco landscape.
iTrace - Handwriting for Kids
This app could be used in a kindergarten classroom as children are learning to grip a pen, tune their motor skills, and write the correct shapes of letters. It could also be used for older children who have limited fine motor skills and need more practice manipulating a writing tool. In many ways, this app is merely a substitution for tracing letters on paper. However, using the app makes the tracing activity less wasteful, includes fun games to help motivate, and may encourage older students who need motor skill practice to persevere because using an iPad is more novel and enjoyable.
Below is an example of some traced letters. Note that some of them include a label identifying things to work on.
Bob Books #1 - Reading Magic
This app could be used with children as early as kindergarten, or at any age where they are still learning simple phonetics (there are also more advanced levels of the Bob Books for more advanced students). This app is better than a phonetics booklet, because the app can read the sounds aloud to students. The app also allows students to work at their own pace, and provides motivation for them to continue through the activities with fun illustrations and graphics; as children complete parts of the activity, the illustrations are coloured in, and when the whole illustration is coloured it becomes animated. I can picture a whole class using this app, each on their own device with headphones on. The app can read and repeat the sounds to each individual student and work towards building words and phrases at their own pace in a way that a single teacher cannot.
Below is an image of a coloured illustration in a Bob Book.
Avokiddo Emotions
This app could be used by a student who as autism or has difficulty reading facial expressions and body language. The student could use it in class when they have free time or as part of an IPP.
Below is an example of some characters and props found on this app.
SoundingBoard
A child who has difficulty speaking can use this to communicate their needs in class. The child can use this to participate in class discussions to say if they agree or disagree with something, or to share a reason for an opinion. The child can also communicate with other children in their class using the app. The child, at minimum, can use the cards to say basic congenial phrases like "excuse me" and "thank-you".