FEBRUARY 2013 U P D A T E

Some time back, when I started my blog, I wanted not only to share resources but also help professionals

decide for themselves what resources were adaptable for use in interventions. I came up with the FIVES criteria as a model for these kinds of decisions, and

since then have presented it at various

conferences in addition to writing about it for ADVANCE’s Speech in the Schools Blog. When it was conceived

(made up!), however, it was meant to relate to my posts on interactive websites and web-based creation tools (Web 2.0), at that time, the only real

game in town for tech integration. Our

world has changed dramatically with the advent of the iPad and mobile apps, and the FIVES criteria has needed to do

so as well, chiefly with regards to the F, which has changed from “Free,” to “Free or Nearly Free,” and now indicates that our choices should be

“Fairly Priced.” (See next page...)

What are the FIVES Criteria?

PLAY WITH TRAIN SCHEMA USING FIVES-FRIENDLY APP TOCA TRAIN

PHOTO TABLE LITE ALLOWS YOU TO INTERACT WITH PHOTOS ON ANY

TOPIC

FIVES-FRIENDLY WEB TOOL DOMO ANIMATE- A SIMPLE WAY TO CREATE

LANGUAGE-BASED ANIMATIONS

THE F IVES CRITERIAFOR EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES IN

SPEECH-LANGUAGE (AND OTHER) INTERVENTIONS

BY SEAN J. SWEENEY, M.S. M.ED., CCC-SLP

All Rights Reserved. Sean J. Sweeney, CCC-SLP www.speechtechie.com

Why “Fairly Priced?”I have been really happy to be asked if SLPs and other educators could use the FIVES model in their own presentations

and training with their staff. Though FIVES is really geared toward understanding how to apply those “re-purposed” apps that were not specifically designed for speech

and language intervention, it can also be considered when making choices about purchasing dedicated SLP apps. In the case

of SLP apps, which can cost between $1.99-49.99 or more, it is even more important to be thoughtful about the issue

of pricing.

The initial trend of free apps

has created an expectation

about pricing that isn’t

always reasonable.

The Historical PerspectiveThe web has always been a free treasure

for our world; in some cases Internet access has been deemed a human right. When presenting Internet-based

resources to educators and SLPs, naturally we expect those to be free. However, there are a number of subscription or membership-based services on the web

that SLPs should consider, including Brainpop (though your school might have a subscription, making it free to you) and

xtranormal. When mobile apps came along, many of them were initially free too. Apps produced by large companies

naturally feed into other aspects of their services, so “free” is a reasonable price point. Unfortunately, this trend has created an expectation about pricing of

apps that isn’t always reasonable, especially with regard to dedicated speech-language apps. This is a topic that is frequently

discussed in speech-language circles; see this terrific post by The Speech Dudes.

CUSTOM BOARDSAt $39.99, this app is a perfect example of a (still small) investment that is fairly priced. Custom Boards provides you with a quick and simple way to make a visual for any context, utilizing its library of 13,000+ symbols or by easily adding images from the web. This app can serve the same functions as software costing over $300.*

KEYNOTEKeynote is Apple’s version of PowerPoint. Presentation tools such as these can serve as both productivity and therapy tools. Keynote can be used to create and display visuals during therapy, and as a creative tool, it can assist with helping students convey information and create books. With its powerful features and syncing capability (automatic sync to iCloud for use on Mac, easy export to PPT), Keynote is more than reasonably priced at $9.99.

SKITCHSkitch allows you to annotate any image or map, providing endless contexts for language therapy. All this for the price of $0! For this useful app, we should be willing to pay a few dollars. However, we shouldn’t expect to pay a premium as we are providing the therapy activity through our creative use of the app. Partly because it is distributed by a large company and linked to another service (Evernote), Skitch has a lower price. Bonus for us!

*Author has developed apps for Smarty Ears, publisher of Custom Boards, but does not receive any share in the profits of this app.

When considering whether pricing for any app is “Fair,” we can take a number of factors into account:

1. Design and Usability-What an app looks like strongly influences its function and how likely we are to use

it. The app’s overall “look and feel” and theme also impact how our clients will respond to it and its “engagement factor.” iTunes gives us a basic

overview of how an app will work, but I strongly recommend going beyond the iTunes app description page in

your consideration. Many SLPs review apps via blogging and other platforms, and these posts are easily accessed

with a Google search on “[name of app] app review.” Additionally, many video demonstrations, tutorials and

reviews are freely available on YouTube. Check there so you can get a visual overview of how the app works, in order to decide if it meets

your needs.

2. Content- The question of

content is really a consideration of how much mileage you will get out of the app, as well as the effort you will

need to invest to integrate it in your work. iTunes descriptions should indicate specifics about app content

(number of questions, language structures targeted, etc.) and if the app allows you to add your own content, this is certainly a plus.

Allowing users to add their own content to apps in the form of photos and text makes an app more costly to

produce, but pays off in happy users

who have limitless contexts for employing the app! Your content consideration should also include

whether the app is a dedicated and ready-to-go resource, or one which you will need to employ creatively. For example, an app such as Puppet

Pals (Free, with $2.99 Director’s Pass allowing you to add pictures from the camera roll for use as settings,

characters and props) requires some imagination on the clinician’s part. The app will not even remotely structure a

session, as some dedicated SLP apps do. Rather it is up to the clinician to guide the context, the process of creating an animation, and the

product, as well as the speech and language that can be elicited from the student as the app is used. Creation

tools such as Puppet Pals tend to be priced fairly in the neighborhood of $1.99-4.99, as you pay with your

creative efforts for their integration.

Let’s break down “Fair...”

SOME APPS, SUCH AS TACTUS’ LANGUAGE THERAPPY LITE, ERIC

SAILERS’ STORYPALS AND HAMAGUCHI APPS’

BETWEEN THE LINES LITE, ARE AVAILABLE FREE OR AT LOWER COST IN VERSIONS WITH LIMITED CONTENT AND FEATURES FOR YOU

TO TRIAL.

Go beyond the iTunes description to decide if an app is worth purchasing for your population.

All4mychild’s Bag Game is a great example of expandable

content. Not only does it provide a good amount of content for a

very cheap $1.99, but it also allows you to add pictures from the

camera roll to use in the game. This opens up a door to unlimited

vocabulary and content.

What is “Fair?” (cont...)3. Analog vs. Digital- A third price-related factor to consider when looking at apps is the “analog vs. digital” issue. I have seen colleagues spend tons of money buying books,

flashcards, games, or other therapy tools from catalogs and exhibit halls, then balk at an app priced at even half that of a similar “real object.” We should consider whether we would

spend the cost of an app on a similar analog book, game or toy, and that gets us in the ballpark of an informed decision. Analog tools are needed in our profession, and have some advantages digital tools lack, e.g. the ability to lend or share it with a

colleague. Some clinicians would never think an app could replace one of their tangible tools, and that’s a valid preference.

However, digital tools bring a bit more to the table in terms of

the potential for engagement.

We do worry about the permanence of apps in that they are software, and our previous experience with software is that it becomes outdated. This problem may be somewhere in the

cards as we move forward, but the current state of apps for the foreseeable future is that they are updatable software. Not only are updates pushed out to bring the app in line with operating

system and device upgrades, but app updates also provide us with new features. Our real objects never do that!

FILTER WITH FIVES

• APP ADVICE’S APP LISTS

• MOMS WITH APPS’ APP FRIDAY

SPECIALS

• APPS GONE FREE

• IEAR

• YAPP GURU

• SEARCH FOR WEBSITES

TAGGED “INTERACTIVE” (WITH

AN ADDITIONAL TOPIC TAG)

ON DIIGO OR DELICIOUS

• KINDERTOWN

• COOL TOOLS FOR SCHOOL

WIKI FOR WEB-BASED

CREATION TOOLS

FIVES is designed as a tool you can use to filter through all that is “out there” in the world of technology. Many resources list great educational (or re-purposable) apps and websites. Keep your eye on these and decide which are Fairly Priced, Interactive, Visual, Educationally Relevant, or Speechie (or all 5)!

THE S IS FLEXIBLE (NOT SILENT)Please feel free to spread the word about the FIVES criteria with attribution to me and my blog, as others have done. I have been happy to see educators outside the field of Speech-Language Pathology modify the

framework with respect to the s. I have seen it changed to “Special Education,” but in my own work have also presented it as “Specific” (i.e. specific to the goals and objectives you need to address in your

interventions). I have also changed it to “Social” for the themes of the Social Thinking® Providers’ Conferences.

Visit Sean’s growing FIVES-Friendly Resources on Pinterest.

Would you buy an analog (real, non-digital) tool that serves a function similar to an app? What would you pay for it?

I , V, E , AND S !

BBC SCHOOLS’ EARTH, SUN AND MOON WEBSITE

SEQUENCE DIRECTIONS WITH MOVE THE TURTLE

Interactive elements bring a technology resource beyond quiz or drill-style interfaces to tap thinking skills, decision-making, and creativity. Interactivity allows for many stopping points to elicit and scaffold language targets involving vocabulary, sentence structure, and narrative. Creation tools are also interactive, and the process of creating a comic, storybook, or other product is often a language process! Find interactive websites by Googling “[Topic] interactive.”

ROBUST COMIC-CREATING

WEBSITE PIXTON

Technology allows us to make abstract concepts and vocabulary Visual for our students who struggle with language in the classroom. Google Images and other topic-specific resources put visual supports at our fingertips, where previously we might have had to spend time tracking down paper pictures. Many apps also provide (or let us create) imagery that is specifically related to the curriculum. SEEK AND FIND SERIES

MAKES VERBS VISUAL

FOTOPEDIA APPS PROVIDE GREAT VISUALS

Why not use classroom topics to make interventions Educationally Relevant, and fun too? Apps and interactive websites can make this a snap! Technology can help us provide a context to use for developing key language underpinnings. See the work of Barbara Ehren on educational relevance. GEOGRAPHY DRIVE- TRIVIA

WITH A LANGUAGE TWIST

Apps that are Speechie target or can be used to target clinical objectives. Apps that provide a context to develop auditory comprehension, vocabulary and word retrieval, sentence, narrative and expository formulation, speech production and social interaction are Speechie.

LEAFSNAP-FUN, INTERACTIVE FIELD GUIDE TO TREES

TARGET TEXT STRUCTURE WITH BRAINPOP’S APPS TARGET ASSOCIATION, OTHER

SKILLS WITH KERPOOF WEB

APPS SUCH AS BAMBA BURGER ARE SEQUENCING CONTEXTS

THINGDOM- MIDDLE SCHOOL

KIDS PLAY WITH GENETICS

VIRTUAL-VISUAL FIELD TRIPS VIA GOOGLE EARTH

F IND MORE ABOUT THE F IVES CRITERIA AND TECH INTEGRATION AT

sean@speechtechie.comTwitter: @speechtechieFacebook: www.facebook.com/SpeechTechiePinterest: http://pinterest.com/speechtechie

WWW.SPEECHTECHIE .COM

About the Author: Sean Sweeney, MS, MEd, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and technology consultant working in private practice at The Ely Center in Newton, MA. Sean spent over a decade in the public school setting serving in the roles of SLP and instructional technology specialist. His blog was inspired by the combination of those complementary vocations and a desire to empower those in his field to employ technology in their work. Sean currently consults to and presents for local and national organizations on technology integration in speech and language interventions. He is a frequent presenter at ASHA and has participated as a speaker at the regional Social Thinking® Providers’ Conferences. Sean is a regular columnist for The ASHA Leader. His blog, SpeechTechie, won the 2010 Best New Edublog Award and was a finalist in the Best Ed Tech Blog category in 2011 and 2012. Contact him at sean@speechtechie.com.