FluencyFinder

FluencyFinder the popular iOS app for Reading Assessment/Comprehension has just gotten better w/ their recent update.  The latest update allows for educators to now search through the 1st-8th Grade Reading passages, bigger buttons on the assessing screen, easier exporting features to share assessment/comprehension reports via email, and a new sleeker redesigned look for iOS 7.  To update FluencyFinder's data is simple, just update the app, and tap the migrate button which will transfer over all students and assessment data.

FluencyFinder has been getting lots of praise from educators all over the world on how easy it is to assess a student's Reading/Comprehension level.  All a teacher has to do is find a Reading passage on FF's website and print out which one they want to test their student on.  Then it's just a tap o
f a button to start timing as the student reads while the teacher taps (+) or (-) as they make or correct mistakes.  When the student is done reading, the teacher stops the time (or choose to move on to Comprehension questions) and gets instant real-time results.

I highly recommend checking out FluencyFinder by clicking here.

Here is more about what others are saying about FluencyFinder...

"I just assessed my entire 4th grade class in half the time it usually takes.....it was so nice to not watch my stopwatch and finally be able to focus more effectively on the student's reading. My scores are right at my fingertips and I will be able to track them throughout the year. A true time saver with accurate and trackable results!! A MUST HAVE for all teachers!"
– iTunes App Store Review, 5-Star rating 

"As a lifelong advocate for a parent's role in their child's education and success, I very much appreciate this app. It gives parents a great tool for helping their child at home while supporting the role of the teacher at the same time. Thank you so much! Parents will find this very helpful!"
– iTunes App Store Review, 5-Star rating

*FluencyFinder is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Nabi

This Christmas the kids were lucky enough to receive a Nabi 2 from Santa ;-)  I was very excited about this as we are predominately a iOS family and I have little experience w/ Android devices.  It's unfortunate that after spending a ton of time w/ the Nabi, I have lukewarm feelings at best.  The reason for this is simple, the user interface for the person setting up the Nabi is incredibly frustrating while the child interface is great.

Perhaps, it's because I'm used to working on iOS devices and the iPad but I expected the Nabi to be a lot easier to setup.  My first mistake was using the Nabi before I did any updates.  I highly recommend doing all updates before beginning to get familiar w/ the Nabi.  The reason for this is that the user interface changes once the updates are done and it will require time to get familiar w/ the new controls.  Also, while the Nabi does have a lot of great parental controls that other devices, say the iPad doesn't have, it would take a wizard to figure out how to use them.  For example, I set the default browser in the parental control as a kid safe browser.  This is not what I wanted, I thought it was for the browser my kids would be using not me.  I could not figure out how to switch it back, even after using Google.  (After searching the web, this is one of many issues people are having).

Besides the big learning curve to setup, my other big issue was the misleading information the Nabi gives out.  One of the big selling points of the Nabi is that "Good Morning Red Bird" time setting animation as well as other "goodies".  While I'm sure this works fine, I wouldn't know because what the Nabi doesn't tell you, is there is a fee to "unlock" that feature.  And while that fee might be minimal, on principal alone I don't want to pay for it as it was supposed to be included w/ the Nabi.  This goes for some of their educational curriculum as well.  For example, my 8 yr old son wanted to look through some of their Science apps and when he tapped on the Science button it asked for my password as well as another minimal payment to access it (I will pay in time to "unlock" all features of the Nabi).

As for the good stuff, my kids absolutely love us the Nabi.  We have plenty of iPads and iPhones in this household but all they want to play w/ is the Nabi.  I love how I was able to find them some Android apps that are not available on the iPad and they really like using those.  Also, the size, rub
ber protector case, and camera work nicely and make it easy for my kids to have fun and learn.

All in all, I'd have to say, I do like the Nabi, there is a big learning curve, but once you get passed that, it really is a fun/safe device for kids, and definitely worth the money.

I highly recommend checking out Nabi by clicking here!!!

Mathtastical

Mathtastical is a fun little iOS app for practicing basic Math skills (i.e. multiplication, addition, etc etc).  It has users try to solve problems while collecting gems/power-ups in as fast as time as time as possible.  Not only is this a game w/ high replay value but students can tap the hint button to help them solve a problem.

I recommend checking out Mathtastical by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.

30hands

30hands is a wonderful iOS app for digital storytelling.  This is a perfect mobile learning tool that can be used in any curriculum for all grade levels.  It has a very easy to use drag-n-drop interface and allows students record their audio on top of images to create a digital story.  Once a story is created it can then be exported to a camera roll or published to 30hands educational website for sharing.

I highly recommend checking out 30hands by clicking here!!!!

For my Pinterest board on Digital Storytelling click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Digital Storytelling click here.

*30hands is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.