Magical Concepts: This app, by Virtual Speech Center, is similar to their Auditory Workout app that I reviewed in August, 2011. It has a database that holds the date, time, and score for each session for each student. Reports can be accessed by activity or date and time. One has the option of emailing reports. Overall the app is colorful and the pictures easily recognizable even though there are some slight picture distortions, like what happens when an image is copied and then made longer or wider on the screen.
The app focuses on the comprehension of more than sixty quantitative, spatial, temporal, and social-emotional concepts. Any number of concepts can be selected for each student. The screen clearly indicates the concept being worked on, the name of the student and the accuracy of responses in percentages. Each screen offers three answer choices. The student listens as the narrator says, “Show me_______,” after which the previously opaque choices change to vibrant colors, indicating that it is time to tap on the one of the choices. One taps on the repeat button to hear the instruction again. If the student’s selection is correct, a star appears. The narration for this app is excellent. The Settings screen allows one to select a number of features such as automatic paging, and scoring. If one turns off automatic paging a Go button needs to be tapped after the student has tapped on his answer. A third button, Next Page, appears at the bottom of each screen after the student’s response has been determined to be correct or incorrect. This button allows the student to proceed to the next page. The app allows for there to be multiple users during a session by changing the User Alternate Count. This option is great when there are two or more children in one session who are working on the same goals. The reward for earning a set number of stars (determined by the adult in Settings) is the Magic Show. In this app, the student is an observer of a magician doing a short magic hat trick. I would have preferred a reward where the student is an active participant as is the case with Auditory Workout.
Ages: 4-8
Ratings: +++1/2
Developer website: www.virtualspeechcenter.com
Costs: $9.99; available for iPad/iPhone only
Magical Concepts — Not Magical but a Good App
About the Author: Mirla G. Raz
I am an Arizona licensed speech pathologist and am certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. I have been in private practice for over 30 years working extensively with children who have speech and language problems. I received my Master’s degree from Seton Hall University in New Jersey. After graduation, I decided that I need sun and warmth and so headed south to work for the Volusia County Schools in Daytona Beach Florida. The next year I moved to California where I was offered a job working for the Los Angeles Unified School District in the severe oral language handicapped program. My next move was to UCLA where I worked in the department of Clinical Linguistics at the Neuropsychiatric Institute. In 1981, I moved to Arizona where I went into private practice. It gives me tremendous satisfaction to know that I have helped hundreds of children gain normal speech and language skills.
