Day 6 ipod Touch Apps Assignment

In class 6 I attempted to connect to the app store for the purpose of evaluating the usability or usefulness of my chosen apps to the student I am considering. The Internet connection was not good so I could not evaluate the apps. Later I will share what I was able to find from other online sources. First I want to talk a little about our dollar Store shopping. It was a blast! We met several groups there scanning the shelves for treasures. We found a few of our own which you can take a look at on my blog.

The student that I had in mind when I was looking for apps is a sixteen year old boy with autism. He has worked on an alternate educational program for all of his school career and will be going into grade twelve next year. The student is very cooperative with no behaviour concerns. Oral and written communication is very limited. When asked a question, the student takes a great deal of time to answer and may need several leading prompts to uncover the answer. He needs lots of structure and routine to feel comfortable and finds interaction in social settings difficult. The student needs to be prepared with clear expectations and a limited number of sequential steps to follow. The student has worked on alternate courses in the areas of communication, social and life skills. His courses have been designed to assist in the transition to work and with a view to independent living when the time comes. The student is a hard worker and has held a job as a stock boy at one of the local grocery stores for the past two summers. He comes from a very supportive family who have advocated for him all of his school life. The planning of the student's program for next year is geared toward transitioning him to home and work. The applications that I chose were chosen because the name and description suggested that they would be useful for that purpose.

The first app that I chose was Model Me Going Places. This program is described on the app store as "A Visual technology tool for helping children learn to navigate challenging locations in the community. Each location contains a photo slide show of children modeling appropriate behaviour. Places such as the mall, grocery store,playground and others. Reviews indicate that it is a good simple app. especially for the price. (free) The next app I downloaded is titled Social Skills sampler, made by the Conover Company. It is designed to teach and reinforce basic skills and words critical for independent living. It contains information on warning signs, work skills, and shopping trips. The app. contains 80 videos, is password protected, and makes assignments based on individual needs. It has human quality audio and can be locked to the individual user. The third app. that I chose is by the same company and is titled life skills sampler. This application is described in the same way as the previous which makes me think that both may be accessing some of the same videos etc. Whatever the case they seem to me to be a great deal.

I chose these applications because the student is in the process of transitioning from school to work. I would like for him to have as many tools in the area of social and life skills as possible. The student and I have worked on modeling behaviours and videotaping scenarios for him to watch and practise.For that reason, I think This software will fit in with what he has already done and give him much more variety to choose from when he is at home or at work. I think that his parents may be interested in him purchasing an ipod touch out of the money he makes in his summer job. I think the student might be very interested in that. I have seen many apps that I feel would be useful to him. I am looking forward to exploring more. Again, I can't believe that I am just becoming aware of how this tool can be used with the students I work with. These and other apps will be Keys that I will take home with me to use next year and beyond.