by
Dr. Gary Bitter
Arizona State University
1
Outline
• Part 1 – The APP’s Phenomenon
• Part 2 – APP Development and Awareness at
ASU & my APPs class
• Part 3 – APPs
• Part 4 – Last Words
2
A Viral Video
Watch Dutch girl age 12 years
in 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
http://vimeo.com/40448182
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PART 1 – THE APP’S PHENOMENON
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What is an APP?
• An APP is a small, self-contained computer
program that provides value or engagement to a
mass or targeted audience in a community,
marketplace or platform.
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Why Mobile Technology and APPs?
• Mobile devices are pervasive. Keeping in mind the ubiquity of
smartphones, eventually most everyone will have access to mobile
APPs. Hundreds of thousands of mobile APPs have been developed
in the past three years and the forecast for APP development is
only expected to increase.
• Mobile devices are personal. The user experience of a mobile APP
is reason alone for companies to consider developing their own
APPlication. Because people automatically consider their mobile
phone to be a key personal possession, APPs become part of that
personal element.
• Mobile devices offer perfect proximity. As mentioned earlier,
mobile phones and smartphones are a daily engagement. It
wouldn’t been too far off to assume most people keep their cell
phone within arm’s reach at all times, including while sleeping.
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The Major Mobile Operating Systems
• In the mobile space, there are five major mobile operating
systems:
–
–
–
–
Symbian (Mostly Nokia Smart-phones)
RIM (Blackberry)
iPhone OS (Apple)
Android (Numerous handset manufacturers have adopted this:
HTC, Motorola, Sony Ericsson)
– Windows Mobile (Microsoft)
• If you wanted an APP to run on all these devices, software
would have to be rewritten for each OS.
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Major APP Categories
• Mobile APPs: Designed to leverage the unique characteristics
of mobile audiences and smart phones, such as the need for
location-based information or lightweight, portable versions of
larger, more complex services.
• Community- or platform-based APPs: Those that are
developed exclusively for and can only be used on a particular
site such as Facebook.
• Widgets: Portable APPs that can reside on multiple third party
sites and blogs.
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Worldwide SmartPhone Market
Shares (2011 – 2th Quarter)
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APP Revenues Over the Years
Source
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APP Downloads Over the Years
Source
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Worldwide Smartphone Sales
Source
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Worldwide Smartphone and Tablet Sales
Mobile-device
sales (millions)
Source
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IPad Sales Over the Years
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Major APP Categories
Source
15
The APP Explosion
• Mobile APP revenue is expected to generate
$38 B by 2015
• There are over 500,000 APPs available on
iTunes and over 300,000 on Android
• The APP Store has paid out over $2.5B to
developers
• Two out of the four top holiday trends
according to Toys R Us require children to
have an iPad
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Flash News…
• Apple hits 25 billion APP Store downloads
• Updated 3/5/2012 4:26 PM
• Announcing today the winner of its 25 billion
APP Store downloads 'countup', which saw
Chinese iOS device owner Chunli Fu of
Qingdao, China gain a $10,000 iTunes gift
card, Apple's latest figures have given us a
good overview of how well its iOS ecosystem
is performing.
17
New Functionality to IPad: The IBook
Phenomenon
• With the book reader function on the IPad,
download the IBooks APPlication and use your
iTunes account to search for your desired
reading material.
• Read digital books conveniently on your IPad.
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Key Findings of a Recent Study
• Over 80% of the top selling paid APPs in the
Education category of the iTunes Store
target children.
• In 2009, almost half (47%) of the top selling
APPs targeted preschool or elementary
aged children. That number has increased
to almost three-quarters (72%).
Source: Ilearn II
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Key Findings of a Recent Study
• The percentage of APPs for children has
risen in every age category, accompanied by
a decrease in APPs for adults.
• APPs for toddlers/preschoolers are the
most popular age category (58%), and
experienced the greatest growth (23%).
Source: Ilearn II
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Key Findings of a Recent Study
• Most children's APPs cost $0.99 (36%) or
$1.99 (38%). The average price of an APP
has risen by $1 since 2009.
• 14% percent of the APPs mentioned school
usage in their descriptions.
Source: Ilearn II
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PART 2 – APP DEVELOPMENT AND
AWARENESS AT ASU
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Who Are We?
• Technology Based Learning and Research (TBLR)
center at Arizona State University is an integral part
of the university’s innovation and research initiatives.
• TBLR focuses on research and large-scale delivery of
educational materials as well as technology training
and integration using computers and other
information and communication technologies.
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APP Development Efforts at ASU
• Arizona State University’s Technology Based
Learning and Research (TBLR) has initiated an
APP development streamline.
• An APP development class is offered where
students conceptualize and develop the APPs of
their own, without the need for programming
skills; TBLR does the programming for them.
• Here are the Android, IPhone, and IPad APPs
developed at ASU.
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Here are Some of Our APPs
IQ Tester
IQ Tester is a fun, short 25-question test that
estimates your IQ based on answers. The
questions are similar to real IQ tests questions
and can stimulate your brain. Try it before
taking an exam or going into a job interview to
get your critical thinking skills in top gear!
This APP has been downloaded more than
600,000 times to date.
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Here are Some of Our APPs
Teaching with Technology Video Library
The NETS video library is a collection of video of
actual classrooms, enriched by additional
material such as lesson context, teacher
handouts and even student work, accessible
alongside the video.
Each lesson has a pre-lesson interview, the lesson video itself
(most an hour long), and then a post-lesson interview with the
teacher. In addition, most lessons also include guiding questions,
context, the teacher lesson plan, identified standards,
commentary, and student handouts & work.
The APPlication includes twenty-two lessons currently, and will
have more added as we are able to get them online.
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Here are Some of Our APPs
Teachers’ Professional Development APP
Teachers’ Professional Development APP is a
series of courses specifically designed for the
training and professional development of
teachers on how to make use of technology in a
classroom environment.
There are a total of 20 courses that span the five
disciplines of Mathematics, Science, EnglishLanguage Arts, Social Studies, and
Multidisciplinary Studies, at the following grade
levels: PreK-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.
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Here are Some of Our APPs
Data Capture: Assessment of Teaching Practices
This is a teaching standards assessment instrument; it
serves as a formative or in-progress assessment system
to measure competency in the in the teaching
standards over time and/or a summative measure of
teacher performance.
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My APPs Class
EDT 494 – EDT 594
Conceptualizing, Creating &
Marketing Mobile APPs
Tuesday 4:30 –7:15
Fall 2012
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EDT 494 - 594
• The course requires every student to come up with a
final product, which could be a mobile app for an
IPhone, IPad or an Android device as well as an
IBook.
• With the programming support from TBLR, a shear
number of apps on a variety of topics have been
produced this semester; here are some of the topics:
Multiplication tables, game portals, social
networking, sustainability, test prep, sports and tax
management are only a few of these.
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PART 3 – APPS
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APPs
• APPs can range from flash cards to calculators to
graphing.
• A mobile device can be potentially textbook, a
calculator, a source of review work sheets., and
valuable reference materials that contain formulas
and the like.
• There are literally tens of thousands of educational
APPs available; most of them are free and waiting to
be used by teachers!
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How to Find the Right APP
1.
2.
What is the main focus of the APP, i.e. what need does it address?
How do you characterize the APP, i.e. educational, game like,
informative, practical, etc.?
3. How is the APP relevant to your area and address your needs?
4. What is the target audience of the APP?
5. What stands out about the design of the APP?
6. What stands out about the content of the APP?
7. How innovative is the APP?
8. How easy is the APP to navigate and use?
9. Is the APP free or is there a fee for using it?
10. How popular is the APP; how many times has it been downloaded?
11. How about the ratings of the APP?
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Top 10 Sites for Educational APPs
The wave of the future is here, especially for
education. Terms like 21st Century Computing, BYOD (Bring
Your Own Device), and Cloud Computing are mainstream.
The introduction of mobile devices, iPods, netbooks, and
more specifically, the iPad, has brought technology to more
students than ever before.
A one-to-one computing environment is not only a possibility,
but also a reality in more school districts than people
realize. With all that being said, below are 10 sites for finding
educational APPs.
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Top 10 Sites for Educational APPs
APPitic - Great site with over 1300 reviews done by Apple
Distinguished Educators. These APPs have been tested in different
grade levels with different instructional strategies.
Mind Leap - Excellent site with reviews built on a five-star
scale. Reviews are done on a wide range of subjects and offers a nice
breakdown of statistics such as educational quality, engagement factor,
and shelf life.
Best Kids APPs - Site with great reviews on iPhone, iPad, and Android
APPs. These reviews have a basic age rating and a nice image to go
along too.
Mac APP Store - Probably the most comprehensive list of APPs
around. This APPlication from Apple is the ideal place to find and
purchase APPs. Works on Snow Leopard OS and above.
Fun Educational APPs - Ideal place to find reviews of APPs for the iPod,
iPhone, and iPad. This is one of my favorite sites to find in-depth
reviews with lots of pictures of the APP.
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Top 10 Sites for Educational APPs
Smart APPs for Kids - Designed by a dad on a journey to find the best
iPhone & iPad APPs. These APPs are reviewed on a four-star scale and
offer a nice "bottom line" for those who don't want to read the whole
review.
Best APPs for Kids - Wonderful site that does a great breakdown of an
educational APP, with reviews done on a scale of one through
five. Offers readers advice on whether they should purchase the APP
or not.
Teachers with APPs - Great site with reviews of APPs that include
videos and images. Ideal for teachers looking to find that perfect APP
for the classroom.
APPs in Education - Nice collection of iPad APPs that are reviewed by
subject. These reviews are brief and to the point.
I Education APPs Review - Designed as a community effort of reviews
posted by a variety of users. There are even student reviews to give a 38
Educational Apps
• Personal/Organizational
• Collaborative/Visualizing
Thinking
• Creativity/Multimedia
• Arts
• Mathematics
• English
• Science
• Humanities
• News
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Civics and Citizenship
Design and Technology
Economics
Geography
Health and Physical
Education
History
Languages
Students with Disabilities
ANDROID APPS
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How to Find APPs – ITunes (Apple, i.e.
IPhone and IPad)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Install ITunes
Select ITunes Store
Search for Keywords (i.e. “Math”)
Filter by “APPs”
IPhone Math APPs
IPhone Math Practice, Drill, Exercise, Test,
Assessment, Exam APPs
• IPad Math APPs
• IPad Math Practice, Drill, Exercise, Test,
Assessment, Exam APPs
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How to Find APPs - Android
•
•
•
•
Go to Google.com
Select Play
Scroll down to Android APPs
Set Your Search Criteria (i.e. keywords such as
“Math”; price such as “All”, “Free” or “Paid”)
• Android Math APPs
• Android Math Practice, Drill, Exercise, Test,
Assessment, Exam APPs
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Number Recognition and Writing
•
There is an incredible range of APPs
relating to pre and early school number
sense development (e.g. counting,
recognizing and writing numbers).
• Learners as young as three years old can learn to draw the
numbers following the touch screen prompts,
• they can play games that match numbers,
• they can count various objects shown to them and then
select the correct number,
• then move to basic addition and subtraction.
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Games
• While most mathematical games
are available online, packaging of
these games as “APPs” simplifies
the experience and makes the
games available at the touch of an
icon.
• The ability to play these games on
a touch screen has the potential
to enhance a learner’s enjoyment
of these games.
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Drill & Practice
• There are of course a range of APPs
dealing with math drills, multiplication
tables and so on.
• Here one gets pretty standard math
questions (you get to select from
addition and subtraction,
multiplication or division or mixed and
at various levels).
• While this is drill type Math there is
something about the touch screen that
seems to draw learners in.
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Spatial and Number Puzzles
• There are numerous puzzles
available which include spatial
puzzles, moving through mazes and
so forth.
• Content puzzles and challenges
encourage out-the-box thinking (for
all ages).
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Tools
• One can also freely download some
useful tools such as a scientific or a
graphical calculator, compass,
clinometer, 3-dimensional graph
generators and fantastic fractal
generators.
• For these tools, it suffices to simply
type the name into the search box
and choose from a range of APPs
available.
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Illusions
• There are a range of wellknown and some less well
known mathematical
illusions to engage
students.
• A typical one is this
“missing square puzzle”.
(Hint: This is a
mathematical illusion).
Same area?
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Fun Facts
• These APPs show some wonderful
“tricks” for young learners where
they challenge others to “think of a
number” and at the end of
performing some operations on the
numbers they can say what the
number was.
• Algebraic representation reveals
the trick in each beautifully.
• The fun math facts reveal some mathematical facts and
patterns such as Pascal’s triangle, multiplication by 11 and
some Proofs without words.
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References
• Here is a video that shows
an APP for math reference:
Math Ref 2.3.2
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Math APPs by Strand
• Math Number and Operations: IPhone, IPad,
Android
• Math Algebra: IPhone, IPad, Android
• Math Geometry: IPhone, IPad, Android
• Math Measurement: IPhone, IPad, Android
• Math Data Analysis and Probability: IPhone,
IPad, Android
• Math Process: IPhone, IPad, Android
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Math APPs by Kind
• Math Number Recognition and Writing: IPhone,
IPad, Android
• Math Games: IPhone, IPad, Android
• Math Puzzles: IPhone, IPad, Android
• Math Illusions: IPhone, IPad, Android
• Math Fun Facts: IPhone, IPad, Android
• Math References: IPhone, IPad, Android
• Math Video Clips: IPhone, IPad, Android
• Math Tools: IPhone, IPad, Android
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Common Core Standards
• Common Core Standards APPs
– IPhone
– IPad
– Android
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PART 4 – LAST WORDS
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Addressing the App Gap
• Teachers want apps that teachers can input their own “curriculum”
into the app in some fashion. The majority of apps are locked down
with regard to content and they can not be manipulated enough to
meet the teacher’s specific needs.
• Teachers want the ability to pull “data” from the apps in some
fashion. They want to see progress, chart trends, or see areas of
need that the students might have. The trick is to make sure that
data that gets pulled is easily manipulated by well known tools
already in existent as they don’t want a new format to have to
convert in some fashion.
• Educational apps in general are too focused on “drill and practice”
and there needs to be a greater emphasis upon “constructivist”
types of activities. Additionally, there needs to be a convenient way
to port over content that is created on these devices to other
devices.
Source
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Addressing the App Gap
• The greatest area of need for a creative app would be in the form of
“programming”. For whatever reason, Apple has disallowed apps that
have functionality like MIT’s application “Scratch”. Apps like a “Scratch”
app would allow students to learn the foundations of programming by
scaffolding the ideas and techniques in grade appropriate ways.
• There is a growing trend for apps to allow multiple mobile learning devices
to work in conjunction. This needs to continue. For example, teachers
want to use a central app on their mobile device such as an iPad that
allows them to connect with students individually on their mobile learning
devices. The trick is that these applications need to connect seamlessly
without a need to troubleshoot the connection regularly.
• Teachers want to feel in control of their students “freedom” to provide a
safe and secure learning environment. Teachers would like to provide
more access and allow their students to learn independently more but
within a “safe and guarded” environment as well.
Source
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Addressing the App Gap
• Apps need to continue to be developed that allow
students and teachers to access their cloud computing
resources. Specifically, Google Education Apps are
making a big impact in schools and yet mobile learning
devices struggle with accessing that information
effectively and efficiently.
• As new initiatives come online, they need to work well
with multiple platforms.
• Finally, teachers and district technology coordinators
need better systems in place to control school owned
mobile learning technology from a management
standpoint.
Source
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Recommendations for Industry, Policy
and Academia
• Address the APP gap
• Create standards for products marketed as
educational
• Protect children from digital age commercialism
• Consider emerging market dynamics in an update
to COPPA (The Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act)
• Enable sustainability and profitability
• Set a research agenda
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What is Next?
• Desktop computers, laptop computers, notebook
and netbook computers, as well as textbooks, will
soon be replaced by a mobile tablet device.
• Soon, there will be an APP for every educational
endeavor.
• Developers have to get ready!
• Academia has to get ready!
• Schools have to get ready!
• Teachers have to get ready!
• Students have to get ready!
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Thank You
For more information please contact:
Dr. Gary Bitter: bitter@asu.edu
www.garybitter.com
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