Blog #6

 In my life, there have been many apps that help the education process. Apps quite literally give users the opportunity to apply learned skills in a “See-Hear-Do” platform. There are three applications that come to mind that instantly bring me to my childhood or my adolescence that has sparked my education in a positive way. As a child, we used Leap Pads for short stories to read, pronunciation, grammar and reading components. Some students have tablets and websites that are similar to LeapFrog, with the same enthusiasm for learning as a child. Interactive activities such as LeapFrog seem to make reading or answering comprehension related questions a fun learning experience for children to continue to carry throughout school. 
Another way of learning is watching Ted Talks. In college, most of the lectures I remember that may have sparked an idea or gave greater depth of information on a topic usually came from a Ted Talk. Ted Talks are effective for sparking an idea to a topic that you may not be thinking of or never had a chance to form a personal opinion on. Both of these are effective because the applications serve as a guideline on what to expect when reading, researching, or teaching yourself something new. 
       These applications serve as a learning tool that can be used at the own pace of students to learn. In a classroom setting, I’ve observed educational sites used for learning such as ABC Mouse and Starfall. I like the apps that make for tracking users learning and progress such as No Red Ink. Leap Frog has applications and tablets that are able to help a young student create sentences and speak in full sentences as well. It also encourages the young students to speak with other students to ensure they are taking in the information. Ted Talks serves as a writing prompt for students, to spark their own ideas to put on paper relating to the topic. They also spark the idea of an in-depth opinion of their own, making it a segway to write a clear statement. The only downfall I can see of these applications is the idea of relying solely on an outside source to have an idea. All students should be able to curate and control their own opinion, but the app can help define or reiterate why their opinion is meaningful.

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