AppCraver » Education

MonsterABC Wraps up Entertainment and Education in One App

Barbara Holbrook — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:42:30 +0000

MonsterABC – Keeping your little tyke occupied on long car trips and boring waiting rooms has gotten easier in the AI-era (after-iPhone). The App Store holds lots of fun and educational apps made especially for little hands still learning how to swipe and tap.

One of the newer edutainment apps to hit the marker is MonsterABC, an alphabet primer with a monstrously cute theme. The schtick is simple and well rehearsed: A is for Apple, B is for Bunny and so on. What MediaBrand does differently is the real story.

MonsterABC is an app that can grow with your child (or be shared by siblings in different age groups). The app has two flashcard-esque learning modules. Letters is the “A is for Apple” side and Words is a fill-in-the-blank game for the over-k crowd. A child’s voice sounds out letters and words to combine auditory and visual learning and reinforce new information.

MonsterABC uses an easy tap control system so it’s easy for kids to play alone and doesn’t require any shaking — or dropping — that might cause parents to second guess a decision to let a three year old handle such an expensive device.

MediaBrand knows that they’re not the only kids on the block when it comes to iPhone apps. The company website offers a couple value-added features that tie in with the game and make it more than just another app. Anyone, not just MonsterABC owners, can visit the website to download free coloring pages to match the Monster theme. In addition, MonsterABC users can download a free desktop version of the game (PC or MAC) with ”enhanced features.”

The “iPhone for Kids” department continues to grow — especially as families trade up to newer gadgets and have an extra phone available for young fans. MonsterABC is a well-designed app that does a good job of combining learning and fun. It’s a game that tiny tots and grown ups can both agree on, for different reasons of course.

app_name: MonsterABC
rating: 8/10

Sign4Me is a 3D Signed English Translator for iPhone and Touch

Jennifer Beam — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:30:53 +0000

I would like to preface this review of Sign4Me for iPhone and iPod touch by saying that I am not an expert in Signed English or American Sign Language (ASL), but am aware there are differences. My understanding is that while the signs for individual words are the same in both formats, the overall signing of a sentence or phrase is different because Signed English focuses on signing each word individually while ASL focuses on signing to convey an entire thought or concept.

While ASL is recognized as a foreign language study by some universities and even though advanced deaf studies in translation and interpretation may be the only way to grasp the syntax of ASL, Sign4Me by Vcom 3D Apps is a Signed English translator that was developed by ASL experts, so is a presumably accurate resource for making the correct signs of certain words.

Sign4Me does a superb job of demonstrating the formation of individual signs by utilizing a 3D signing avatar that can be viewed from any angle, at any speed. For people who are looking for a way to develop basic communication between themselves and the deaf or hard-of-hearing in their life, Sign4Me may help break down communication barriers by demonstrating how to make the sign for over 10,000 words.

To utilize Sign4Me, users type in a word in the upper field and then tap the sign icon at the bottom. To control the viewing angle, use your finger to rotate the signing avatar. You can also tap the screen to pull up a sliding speed scale to slow down the signing, turn looping on or off, or return the avatar to his default position and viewing angle. In many cases, in the event that the intended meaning of a word is subject to clarification, such as with the word “can,” Sign4Me will ask which meaning of the word you want to sign.

There is no doubt that Sign4Me puts users in control of viewing and allows your own preferences to take precedent. In terms of accuracy, the few words I do know were accurately represented as I have learned them, but their could be discrepancies. As for using Sign4Me as a study aid if you are taking a deaf studies or ASL class, I am not sure whether it would be helpful, but it could likely be used as a dictionary for individual words. The developer states it is intended to be useful to beginners interested in learning to sign to aid in communication between themselves and the deaf or hard-of-hearing.

If you are interested or have the need to learn basic signs, Sign4Me is definitely capable of demonstrating the signs with a strong visual impact. The ability to rotate viewing angles to see the signs from both the front and the back are extremely helpful. Controlling the speed to view exact finger position for the more complex signs is equally helpful.

Obviously Sign4Me is not intended to replace extensive studies and classroom instruction for those pursuing ASL certification or any other advanced form of deaf studies and communications, but could be a useful tool for those with limited or no knowledge who have the need to learn basic translation.

app_name: Sign4Me
rating: 8/10

Pocket Universe is Astronomy Made Easy

Jennifer Beam — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:30:33 +0000

Summer is a great time for stargazing and of course your iPhone can aid in that endeavor. Pocket Universe – Your Astronomy Guide by Craic Design is an astronomy guide for iPhone and iPod Touch that has a few good features that utilize the unique capabilities of these devices. Though there are a plethora of astronomy apps available, like Star Walk, Pocket Universe is thankfully uncomplicated and friendly enough for novice star gazers.

Since I aptly consider myself a ranking somewhere below a novice on the astronomy scale, I typically need help finding even the Big Dipper. What makes Pocket Universe helpful is the way it displays the constellations with or without the horizon line and the “show me” feature supplies you with directional arrows to help you find them based on the time and your current location.

In fact, there are several optional settings that allow you to use Pocket Universe to your own benefit, such as turning the horizon line on or off, eliminating or displaying constellation lines and object names, and several other functions. To access these options, tap the information icon from within the Planetarium viewing mode.

Pocket Universe also gives users access to astronomy news and information available from various web sites and also features a constellation quiz to test your knowledge of the night sky. Information such as viewable objects, sun rise and set times, and moon phases are also included. With the “auto-tilt” function on, you can also try matching up the stars to your current location. It’s difficult to say how accurate the positional function is, but I’d have to say it gets you close and you can always speed up the time if things aren’t matching up.

At the end of the day, which is when you’ll likely find this app most useful, Pocket Universe proves to be a pretty user-friendly educational tool and the addition of the quiz and news links only enhance this aspect. The best part is that even kids can use it. Trust me, if I can use it to figure out where Orion is, so can anyone.

app_name: Pocket Universe
rating: 8/10

iBird Explorer Western: A Beautiful View From Above

Keith Lewis — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:30:02 +0000

Whether you are a wilderness junkie who can’t get enough of the outdoors, a city dweller that loves the urban lifestyle, an agoraphobic that hates both or a card-carrying member of the Audubon Society. At some point in your life you hear the sweet or annoying sounds of a bird yet to be identified. If you love birds and the sounds they make, and live or travel in the Western Region of North America, iBird Explorer Western iPhone app by the Mitch Waite Group is a wonderful resource to have available.

iBird Explorer Western includes more than 700 species of birds throughout the western United States. It is simply loaded with much information more than I can include here. Some of what is in store for you include photographs of each bird, a range map that identifies the complete region where a species can be found, notes that help identify a species, a list of birds similar in type to the species you are looking at, interesting facts of each bird, a Wiki page and recorded sounds of each species. The only thing that would come close to iBird Explorer Western, would be having a professional field guide walking alongside of you while bird watching.

The developers claims that iBird Explorer Western contains unique features that allow you… to play bird songs and calls to attract birds right to your iPhone.

I put that claim to the test. While I didn’t have my local sparrows landing on my phone or any terrifying moments a la Tippi Hedren in The Birds, I did hear responses from the local birds every time I played the sounds from my iBird Explorer Western app.

The Mitch Waite Group has assembled several iBird iPhone apps that include birds from a variety of regions. If your interests include all of the birds of North America, including all of the United States, Canada, and the islands and costal waters of the Pacific and Atlantic, you’ll want to get iBird Plus or iBird Pro.

iBird Explorer Western has and continues to be a source of great entertainment and education for me. I’m sure for those that have even the most remote interest in birds that iBird Explorer Western will be a welcome addition to your app library.

rating: 9/10
app_name: iBird Explorer Western

Improve Your SAT® Score and Build Your Vocabulary with SAT® Vocab Challenge

Jennifer Beam — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:00:15 +0000

SAT® Vocab Challenge – I am now and will remain a proponent of “edutainment” until I am no longer capable of independent thought. Regardless of the stance some educators and parents might take, there is absolutely nothing wrong with making learning fun and if a student can learn something from playing a game, then why not take advantage of it?

It’s been a long time since I’ve had to really and truly study for a big test, but one thing’s for sure, the only study help I ever got was in the form of a friend drilling me over a book and a bowl of doritos. In the ever-growing app category of education, Modality has coupled with the Princeton Review to create SAT® Vocab Challenge.

While it’s designed around 250 total words, 100 of them have been identified by Princeton Review as the most frequently appearing words on the SAT®. SAT® Vocab Challenge proves to be a simply entertaining way to build advanced vocabulary skills. The intention of course, is to help prepare students for higher SAT® scores, but anyone interested in boosting their vocabulary skills could also benefit.

Features of SAT® Vocab Challenge include four games that focus on definitions, connotations, synonyms, and antonyms, a word index with definitions, pronunciations, and parts of speech, and a word tracker that keeps track of the words that have been mastered in all four games. SAT® Vocab Challenge is designed to be quick so that spare time can be more productive and uses a process of elimination type of format, which is a helpful skill for test-taking.

In each of the four word games, a word is given followed by three answers. Users eliminate the two incorrect answers by swiping the virtual index cards off screen. There is also an option to touch and hold the correct index card and shake your device to remove the remaining incorrect answers. I found this option to be a bit cumbersome and would have preferred a tap-to-select format, but some people may prefer it to the elimination process. Either way, SAT® Vocab Challenge should prove useful no matter your preferred study method.

Even if flash card-style studying is not your thing, using the alphabetical word index you can study the words individually and hear their pronunciation, view the definition, connotation, an antonym, synonym, part of speech, and an example sentence. When you do play the games, your progress in all four SAT® Vocab Challenge word games are recorded within the app so you can view the words you’ve mastered by game category within the word index.

By taking an advanced approach to vocabulary study skills, SAT® Vocab Challenge is intelligently designed to help build vocabulary mastery. Will it help you get a better SAT score? I can’t say. But it certainly could be a useful tool for those who would like to try.

rating: 8/10
app_name: SAT Vocab Challenge

Touch Karma

Michael Alexander — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:36:25 +0000

Touch Karma (Parenting), from Karma World LLC, is for moms and dads who like to keep a record of who has been naughty and who has been nice in the past year.

With Touch Karma input the names of children, other family members and friends, along with a few “behavior benchmarks” and what comes out of Touch Karma could be either a hit list or a gift list, Actually, Touch Karma is three apps in one.: Karma for Kids, Karma for Friends and Piggy Bank.

Parents can use Karma for Kids to keep a record of each time the sweet little darlings make them laugh like lottery winners, whimper like a lonely pups or growl like grizzlies.

Your tracking system consists of positive and negative karma points. When you add them all up, you’ll see to whom you’ll pay forward and to whom you’ll pay back.

Set up Touch Karma by entering names, titles and goals into the fields as indicated. For example, a child named Junior could be assigned the task of cleaning his room every Tuesday.

Then, adjust the Karma Meter, a sliding menu, to set the number of points—between 10 and 100–to reach the objective. On the Kids’ home screen, you’ll be able to see just how far along Junior is to acting like a good little boy. If Junior dyes the family’s dog Fido blue, you might want to give subtract a few karma points, for example.

Run the numbers and well-behaved children get prizes, poorly behaved children get paddled and the parents get jail time for assault.

The Piggy Bank mini app is intended to help parents encourage their kiddies to save their allowance, money for mowing lawns and so own. Coins are added and subtracted from the piggy bank depending on each child’s behavior. Karma for Friends is conceptually similar as Karma for Kids. What’s different here is that you can keep track of your positive and negative interactions with your friends. Tally the pluses and minuses and you can decide who are and who aren’t your BFFs.

I weighed the pluses and minuses of Touch Karma and concluded that it’s a toss up between utility and entertainment. It’s too much of a bother to seriously keep track of your meanies and goody-two-shoes.

On the other hand, it might be useful to motivate some children. My kids would have laughed at me if I had tried using Touch Karma, but yours might not. As for your friends, it’s not hard to recall who’s been naughty and nice to you without having to keep track in an app but what fun would that be?

rating: 7/10
app_name: Touch Karma (Parentlng)

My Schedule Helps Students Keep Up in Class

Michael Alexander — Fri, 08 May 2009 23:00:24 +0000

My Schedule is one in a very long list of time-management apps in the App Store. The truth is, there are so many capable apps in this category that it’s nearly impossible for me to recommend one over the other. My Schedule doesn’t stand out in any way, but it doesn’t have many rough edges, either. At $0.99, it’s also a good deal.

My Schedule from Something tries to differentiate itself by focusing more on being an app that students will find most useful, although it works perfectly well as a generic time keeper. It does pretty much what you expect of any app in this category: Set up busy times, get a view of your tasks by day, week and month and add notes to tasks. You can color code items on your schedule too.

I think most students would find My Schedule quick and easy to use. The interface is straightforward and you can be up and running without having to look at a Help screen or run a tutorial. That’s always a big plus with any app.

I don’t use time management apps because I lack the discipline to enter into an app times, dates, appointments and whatever else life demands that I do. I’m also a procrastinator, so I’d rather not know what’s on my calendar, thank you very much.

When I consider trying to get my affairs in order, my preference is without a doubt for an app that makes it very easy to enter information about my tasks, when I have to start and end them, and so on. If it’s not dead simple, I won’t use it.

My Schedule fits those basic requirements but it’s not as facile to use as other apps I’ve tried. For example, I reviewed iStudent Pro recently and that one uses scroll wheels to speed entering info. It’s also more stylish and flexible. You pay for the extra goodies, not surprisingly. iStudent Pro is $2.00 more than My Schedule but I think it’s worth the price.

If you want a quick and dirty student scheduler, go for My Schedule. If you want more flexility and features, go with iStudent Pro.

app_name: My Schedule
rating: 7/10

Today in History Explorer Cabral Discovered Brazil and It’s a Holiday

Michael Alexander — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:30:06 +0000

On Apr. 22, 1500, explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral first laid eyes on Brazil. I just learned this last week from Today in History, from developer Down-Shift.

There’s no mystery about Today in History iPhone app. The app informs you of the notable events that occurred on any given day, who was born, who died, and holidays that land on that day.

I’ll bet you didn’t know Pope Alexander VIII was born April 22, 1610. My wife claims I’m related to him because I always act so high and mighty.

What I really wanted to know was the events, who was born, who died and so on on Sept. 1, which is my birthday. I already know Sept. 1 is a national holiday, although unfortunately no one else knows that but me and my long-suffering wife. But what about the rest of the stuff?

The problem is, Today in History, only has information for March and April. Down-Shift says it’s working diligently to get the rest of the year’s notable events into the app by the end of April. Personally, I’d hold off buying the Today in History iPhone app until then, just to be on the safe side.

To select a date, scroll through the slot-machine menu—chose your month and day—followed by a tap of the Set button. On the bottom menu bar, you’ll see icons for Events, Births, Deaths and Holidays. Not coincidentally, given Cabral’s discovery, today is Discovery Day in Brazil.

Down-Shit says Today in History shows on average a list of 200 events, births, death and holidays per day. Add it all up and that means 73,000 entries a year, the company says. We’ll have to see about that when the app is fully populated at the end of the month.

All of Today in History’s content comes from Wikipedia, which means that you must go online to fetch more details about any given event.

I like the idea of the Today in History iPhone app, despite its currently shortcomings. I can see how it might take up long-term residence on my iPhone when it’s completed.

app_name: Today in History
rating: 7/10

iStudent Pro Might be the App For Your Dreams

Michael Alexander — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:00:19 +0000

iStudent Pro – I have this recurring nightmare that I’m a student and I’m very late for classes, or worse, I’m running up and down long hallways trying to find the right room. It’s apparently a common dream.

If you’re really a student befuddled by crazy schedules, too many assignments due and exams to prepare for, then iStudent Pro from Andriy Kachalo and Michael Balashoff will sort things out for you.

Launch iStudent Pro the first time and you’ll have the option of using it right away or taking a few lessons. I jumped right in because I wanted to see just how intuitive iStudent Pro is.

Along the bottom menu bar are icons for Today, Calendar, Assignments and Courses. All are self-explanatory, so no worries about a steep learning curve.

Step one is to input details about your student activities and requirements. To do that, tap the Courses icon followed by the Plus sign. Choose from among Regular Class, Single Class or Exam. Let’s say you’re about to set up a regular class, so you tap that button. Enter the day or the week the class is held, start and end time, instructor and location.

If you select Type from the list, you’ll go to a pair of scroll wheels that give you the option of selecting descriptions of your courses such as Practical, Lecture and so on. If you don’t see something you want, you can add it. Do that for all your classes.

Now, go back to the Course screen to look at your schedule. You can add or edit it. You can also assign a color to each class subject (say, red for Anatomy and blue for Math).

Tap the Assignments icon to view or add to what is basically a syllabus and a to-do list for each of the courses you entered earlier. You’ll get a look at when assignments are due, and if you have the misfortune, you’ll also get a look at the assignments that are overdue.

Tap the Calendar icon in iStudent Pro to get an overview of the month’s requirements and any special days, such as the date of an exam, which is red flagged.

There are other bits and pieces to iStudent Pro that I haven’t mentioned and the reason is that iStudent Pro is easy to use and it will be a quick study. It would be a nice addition if there was a place to add the email address of each professor and access to a browser that would take you to Web pages where professors often post assignments, syllabus, links and so on. Those are pretty common things you would want these days.

iStudent Pro is $2.99, which seems to be about right. iStudent Pro works well and looks good while it’s doing it. I haven’t been a student for a long time but I can easily see that most students would find iStudent Pro handy. Best of all, no more recurring nightmares.

rating: 8/10
app_name: iStudent Pro

Soar Through Space with a Pocket Planetarium

Jennifer Beam — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:00:40 +0000

Planetarium is an iPhone app that puts the solar system in your pocket. Developed by Core Coders, Planetarium features planets displayed in beautiful 3D along with features that allow you to fly across the solar system or watch the rotational orbit of the planets. The touch screen interface allows you to take control of your viewing angles and enlarge or minimize targets.

I can’t deny that Planetarium is cool or that it lacks educational benefits, but before I go any further, it should be said that the solar system is not something I have studied in any depth. Beyond trying to remember that mnemonic “My Very Educated Mother Just did something or other” to keep track of the order of the planets, I struggle with even basic astronomy and still don’t know why Pluto was demoted from planet status. That said, I can only state the facts about Planetarium and any part of my opinion on it should be taken with a grain of salt.

As far as the user interface of Planetarium goes, it is smooth. When Planetarium first loads, it targets Earth and displays the current Universal Time. By tapping the screen, a tool bar revealing all the planets in order will display at the top. You can tap on of the other planets to target and then watch as it zooms smoothly through the solar system to that planet. There are lots of lines and grids included, which I don’t thoroughly understand but know that some are the paths of the planets’ orbit.

By utilizing the touch function in Planetarium, you can create various views of the planets as well as zoom in and out. I have a hard time adjusting the views as it takes me several tries to get it just right, but more precise users will have little problem. In addition to viewing the planets, you can tap the screen to display an action tool bar at the bottom of the screen. You can then fast forward or rewind time and see the planets in motion. This particular aspect is neat regardless of whether or not you know what you’re looking at. When you watch Earth’s rotation and orbit, you can see when it will pass in front of the moon.

With an app such as Planetarium that is purely visual, it’s difficult to find words to explain it or even do it justice. Luckily, you can watch the video below to see it for yourself. As an educational tool or just to have a pocket-sized, interactive solar system, Planetarium seems solid enough to me.

app_name: Planetarium