When you look at the majority of app reviews done through the IEAR community, there are some very common trends that stand out. The problem with the majority of educational apps is that they are created are created by non-educators to make money. The vast majority of apps are really "drill and practice" apps. The educational value of these apps is very debatable. As a result, some of the very best apps that have made an impact in education are not even within the education category. They might fall in the gaming, productivity, lifestyle, and navigation categories.
Educators are clamoring for the following types of apps:
- 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 existant 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.
- 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.
- 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. LanSchool has an Edapp initative that has been rolled out but it is still early. Additionally, Apple themselves are trying to clean up the educational volume licensing but at first glance, there are more questions than answers at this point.
These are the areas that I have heard most from the IEAR community. While the IEAR community is growing, it is very difficult to keep up with the growth of the new app paradigm. The app paradigm is an example of how technology is changing and reinventing itself faster than schools can keep up with. We need more educators to share their thoughts about apps, what makes a good one and how to improve the existing ones. Please join our community and think about becoming an app reviewer.
The last question I have for you all is, "Are there other areas of need?" Am I missing an area of need or trend? What would make the "app paradigm" more educational for education? Your comments are greatly appreciated!
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Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 8:38PM 
This week's App of the Week is VoiceThread. This free iPad app is a great way to view and create multi-media albums about any topic in any subject area! We had a lot of fun coming up with ideas on how to use it in the classroom, but we would love to hear your thoughts too!;)
