Flashcards for iPad App Review by SMeech
Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 9:48AM App Title: Flashcards for iPad
http://www.inkids.com.au/ ... Video developed by inkids.com.au themselves.
Grade Level: Toddler to 1st Grade
Purpose: A-
My toddler has enjoyed practicing with this flash card app a lot. She has used this for quite awhile without losing interest and that says a lot about the app. While there are many apps that have similar functions as this app, this one is very well done. There are many stacks of cards including animals, transportation, body parts, things, alphabet, shapes, colours (spelling is in British English), numbers, word matching, spelling, and a shuffle feature for them all. The visuals used are high quality cartoon artwork and this makes the app visually appealing. Please be aware that their doesn't appear to be an American English version available at this time.
Program Functionality: B+
The main negative is that the app can be slow to open the different stacks of flash cards. My daughter has shown frustration over the slowness at times which causes her to hit several icons to see if the app is working properly. This ends up causing the app to be even slower because it doesn't know what she wants.
One of the nicest features is the ability for kids to touch each individual letter to hear what it is. Additionally, each item has a sound along with the voice telling you what each item is. The voices and sounds are very clear.
Based solely upon the flash card app category, this is a very good one. I should probably go further by saying it is the best that I have come across for this age group. There can certainly be a lot of debate over the value of flash cards for kids learning and I don't want to be accused of overstaing the value of these types of activities. I do know that my daughter likes to go to this app on her own when she turns on the iPad and that says a lot to me. She continually amazes me by knowing her letters, colors, and shapes and I do think this app has made an impact upon her memory. Please be aware that their doesn't appear to be an American English version available at this time.
Recommendation: I would recommend this app at this time but I am still not sure this is cost effective for schools at this time. There is more functionality for students to work independently with this app than they would get with simply using a stack of paper flash cards. Interest level is greater when using this app as well but does it make a long term impact that justifies the cost of the equipment, energy and app? I am not so sure. Once again, if there was a way for teachers to manipulate the app in some fashion to add stacks and to use it for assessment than that would greatly increase the app.
Classroom Use Examples / Ideas: The obvious use is for drill and practice. This could be a center activity or it could work well in a one to one environment. When I began to think about the classroom application though, my thoughts turned to the teacher more. At first glance, I didn't give it enough benefit because the customization features are not obvious. There are some interesting additions under additional information that include additional languages in French and Spanish (have to pay for them though), customize the sounds with your own voice, and the ability to turn off the auto say words (important for assessment use). I can definitely see a teacher using this app for individual assessments as they work with their students one on one. The teacher doesn't have the ability to collect data within the app though if that was the functionality that this app was used for. There could be some interesting possiblities if the teacher could though.
Developer Website: http://www.inkids.com.au/
iTunes Link: Click Here
Reviewer Name: Scott Meech
Reviewer Blog: SMeech.net
Hey, check out our Ning (Online Community) devoted to helping teachers utilize these devices to the their fullest. Please leave a comment if you agree, disagree, or have other creative uses for this app in the classroom, etc.
Flash Cards | in
Early Elementary,
Toddler 



