iOSDev UK: Design Considerations for Educational Apps

Fraser Speirs, Head of Computing & IT, Cedars School of Excellence, @fraserspeirs

http://speirs.org

• last year gave every child an iPad
  • only 100 pupils
  • had 220 people come to visit the school…
• when you give people the internet the whole time, you sometimes get unexpected results
  • Fraser showed a slide of coursework on cell nuclei, decorated with a background showing the Statue of Darth Liberty
• sitting around iPads — everybody faces each other rather than all facing the screen at the front
• avoiding the ceremonial computer lab — moving to casual computing
• beautiful artwork created by kids on iPads, within a month of receiving them
• it’s not just the iPads, it’s the 1:1 — the 1:1 is more important
• Fraser’s daughter is 4.5 — just started school
  • will graduate from university in Summer 2029
  • “we are already teaching the citizens of the 22nd century”
• looking at investment as kids’ chairs & tables
  • not as a guarantee that scores will go up

Do’s and Don’ts for apps in schools

• don’t assume the internet works correctly
  • schools change what internet is available through frequent policy changes
  • youtube is often turned off
• teaching fashions come and go regularly
• in-app purchase doesn’t work in schools
  • central purchasing or gifting
  • e.g. PCalc has a full version that can be purchased at once
• don’t assume your users can (will) read
  • use conventions wisely (keep the back button in top left corner)
• use push notifications sparingly
  • no good advertising to kids in school — they don’t have the app store password anyway
• watch out for number of devices nearby
  • could be 20-30 devices around
  • infrastructure may cope, but leave room in your UI
• limit or prevent app store interactions
  • no good in schools
  • confuses kids; annoying for teachers
  • that goes for “review me now” too
• teachers need access to content
  • support the photos app
• don’t promote facebook
  • facebook can be a major source of anxiety for many children
• watch out for shaking gestures — not good for
• don’t use bad language (and try to avoid double-entendres and local slang too). Some examples:
  • Rasterbator
  • Procreate
  • Little Snapper
  • hardware growler
  • mental case
  • FlashToPass
  • http://gojobby.com
• be very careful with user data — especially with location
• talk to teachers and test with actual children
  • Fraser’s school does not have the scale to be a beta tester…
• watch out for different curricula in different countries
• walk through guide in the app
  • see toontastic
• kids can use loads of apps to edit graphics, passing the image through the photos app
• use sharing effectively
  • use “Open In…”
  • avoid huge sharing option lists
• show proof of completion
• avoid (penalise) random hits
• structure + headroom = creativity
  • app idea: make toontastic for creative writing
• show user activity
  • e.g. Brushes lets you record all your strokes and play them back as a quicktime video
• localisation is useful even if your app is UK-specific
  • e.g. Iraqi boy with a 1:1 iPod touch switched it to Farsi and used Google Image Search to show pictures of what he wanted to the teacher
• support projectors & AirPlay
  • don’t offer resolutions for external display — just pick one and do it well
• there is a control to turn off Game Center at a policy level
  • so go ahead and put it in the app but make the rest of the app work without it
• gap in the middle for 7-10 year olds
  • need more apps like toontastic — structure provided, but space for creation
  • older kids can use general content apps
  • younger kids don’t need so much freedom
  • using iThoughts HD for mindmap, then writing in Pages

example apps

• preschool memory match
• the history of jazz
• slice it — but gets too hard too quickly
• DrawRace 2
• Real Racing 2 HD — but uses up huge amounts of battery
• toca tea party — not a game but a digital toy
  • have a virtual tea party around the iPad
  • lots of other other toca “games” available — see http://toca.com
• math bingo
  • gather “bingo bugs” and then use them in a breakout game
  • 15 year-olds were saying “why do we not have math bingo?”
• penultimate
  • write on a project as you walk around

Q&A

• research?
  • study with university of western scotland
  • two lessons back to back: one with iPad, one with paper & pencil
  • same teacher, same children
  • with paper & pencil, boys and some girls had less emotional engagement
  • with iPad emotional engagement of all pupils was brought up to same level as best kids
  • being submitted to BJET, but may not be published yet
• separate educational version of an app?
  • kids want the real thing
  • universal design is best
  • Fraser tries to buy things off the shelf rather than waiting for educational specific versions
• damages?
  • only had one — parent ran it over with Land Cruiser!
  • kids are careful — the iPad has their name on it
• teachers adapting to technology?
  • about half of the teachers had iPhones/iPod Touches before the programme started
  • the iPad is significantly more approachable than other computers
• how do you find apps?
  • school subscribes to Tap! magazine…
  • more popular than the TES :-)