Hi all,
I just came across and interesting article, "Cooney Center Report Surveys Language, Literacy Apps" which looks at language and literacy apps for children. While the apps in question were developed for children, some might be useful for adult education, and certainly a big component of the survey was on parents' decisions regarding which apps to download for their children and what digital devices their children have access to.
It would be interesting to hear from any family literacy providers or anyone else who has been using apps with parents and children. What are you seeing as the most popular or useful apps for parents and children? As is so often the case in adult literacy--what adult students learn in our programs has a direct effect on any children in their families.
Below is the introduction to the article. You can read the whole article at this link: http://www.gamesandlearning.org/2014/10/07/cooney-center-report-surveys-language-literacy-apps/
Cooney Center Report Surveys Language, Literacy Apps
Analysis by Anna Ly and Sarah Vaala
By Anna Ly - Oct 7, 2014
Apps for social communication, learning, and play are a prominent part of nearly every family’s life today. Are they having a similar impact on how families and educators help their children learn to read? And if so, what kinds of apps are they using?
As part of Seeding Reading: Investing in Children’s Literacy in a Digital Age, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and New America are analyzing the app marketplace to answer these questions. In 2012, we conducted a baseline scan (See Pioneering Literacy In the Digital Wild West). In this post and more to come, we will provide a sneak peek at our updated scan.
Uncharted Routes to Reading
A 2013 national parent survey conducted by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center confirms that the presence of mobile technologies in the homes of young children and families is on the rise. The study found that 71 percent of young children live in a home containing at least one smartphone, and 55 percent of children have access to tablet computers. The same survey indicated that 35 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 10 years use educational apps at least once a week. With these mobile apps, families now have opportunities to learn anytime and anywhere, whether in the car, on the subway, or waiting for prescriptions at the pharmacy. But most families are left to plot their own route, selecting app resources with very little guidance on the best digital resources for children’s language and literacy learning.