I appreciate the fact that technology can easily support education. There are many arguments for and agains the use of ipads by young children. I fall into the camp of 'in moderation' Ipads can be a useful learning tool when kids are playing appropriate games/watching educational shows. And, yes they are a wonderful diversion in the doctor's office waiting room! I was happy to learn about a few new apps including the following:
Advanced English Dictionary and Thesauraus
This seemed like something that would be very useful to have on my ipad. This dictionary/thesaurus is unique in that is has auto-complete to assist you in spelling the words you are looking up. Fantastic!! The definition shows whether the word is a noun, verb, adjective, adverb and links to 'hypernyms'. I tested this out by looking up 'pachycephalosaurus' the name of a dinosaur that my three year old nephew can pronounce, and which I was curious how to spell correctly. I was most impressed with the hypernyms that related this term to other scientific names and common names for dinosaurs. A great tool which I will use again in the future!
Bill Nye the Science Guy
For fun, I installed this app simply because it reminds me of hours spent watching the tv show when I was young! This starts off as a totally impressive app with the intro, then leads into many possibilities for experiments in the book on the corner of the desk and mini-lessons when you tap on the other objects found on Bill's desk... Can't wait to try some of these experiments at home! I think the key here is that despite the fact that I could check out a book on experiments, the visual stimulation and simple fact that we are using the ipad will act as an attention grabber for young children. This is certainly a keeper!
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