[Hidden-tech] educational iPhone apps

[Chris Hoogendyk]

Tom,

Rather than providing her with a list of apps that are educational, you could ask her find apps that 
she can convince you are educational. Then you have her thinking about it and exploring things that 
engage her and that she can defend as educational. That makes her an active participant in the 
process and also puts the the dad and daughter in a dialog regarding what it means to be educational.

I never had the smart phone app issue with my daughters, but on computers/internet in general I took 
the approach of talking to them about safety and responsibility. I did introduce them to games and 
activities that were both engaging and educational, but it was a two way street. They explored on 
their own as well and would talk to me about things.

Personally, I think that things that are interactive and make the child think in the process of 
playing an engaging game are typically better than "officially" educational software designed by 
"educators" to teach or train children. You need to have the "buy in" on the child's part for things 
to really work. The best games are often written by people who are pretty close to being kids 
themselves (at least in spirit). Worst are reflex games that are just how fast can you do this. Some 
of our favorites from days long ago were https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/The_Manhole 
and https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Glider_PRO. I actually built/programmed a pretty 
extensive glider house for my daughter's birthday that was a sort of treasure hunt interactive with 
the real world and ended with a piñata in our garage. The glider house was filled with personalized 
graphics and music particular to each girl attending the birthday party.

By 12 they're hitting the rebellion phase, so you should have the foundation of trust and 
responsibility already built. Otherwise, it's difficult times ahead (more so). 8th (and/or 9th) 
grade is typically a turbulent transitional time, though every child is unique and experiences can 
vary all over the map.


On Oct 16, 2011, at 5:30 PM, Tom Adams- Reelife Productions wrote:
>> I'd love to hear your recommendations for: a 12 yr old girl that has been told that she needs to 
>> download one educational app for every silly game that she downloads to her new iPhone or her 
>> daddy will dramatically limit its use as a toy :)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Tom Adams

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Chris Hoogendyk

-
    O__  ---- Systems Administrator
   c/ /'_ --- Biology&  Geology Departments
  (*) \(*) -- 140 Morrill Science Center
~~~~~~~~~~ - University of Massachusetts, Amherst

<hoogendyk at bio.umass.edu>

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Erdös 4