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iTooch Elementary School App Review

App Info

Price: Free In-App Purchases

Overview

iTooch Elementary School provides practice for language arts, math, and science concepts in grades three through five, as well as fifth grade Health. There are ten packages of subject- and grade-specific questions that can be tested for free on two levels, and expansion packs that can be acquired as in-app purchases to add additional levels of difficulty and new concepts in each area. Every item offers a problem with hints explaining the concepts and multiple choice questions to assess student mastery.

Features include:

  • Based on National Common Core Standards
  • Virtual blackboard for notes and diagrams
  • Game Center Integration
  • Thousands of problems available as in-app purchases
  • Lessons for each concept included

 

iTooch Elementary School offers comprehensive practice in language arts, science and math at grades three through five, as well as practice with fifth grade health if users can purchase all of the relevant modules. Additional question sets are $4.99 each. Questions are well-written and the lessons provided are informative and clear.

Users do need to be aware that some questions and information extends beyond the active window and there is no indication that some content is hidden unless the user touches the screen. The scroll bar is only visible when the screen is touched. An inexperienced user might miss important information if they were unaware of how to produce the scroll bar when needed. Also, there is no confirmation of selections on the test, so students who are careless, or those with motor impairments can accidentally choose an incorrect response and have that affect their score.

iTooch Elementary School offers over a hundred sample questions with the free version of the modules on the app, and thousands more with purchase of additional modules grouped by grade level and curriculum area. Teachers can also design and submit their own question sets to add to the library. Each section offers a lesson over relevant concepts as well as a practice and a test mode. Practice mode is untimed, while test mode allows about one minute to respond to each item. There seems to be no way to turn the timer off for students who need that, so that feature would be a nice addition. The app does keep accuracy and usage records for a single user and can be reset to accommodate the next student.

The lessons are clear and well-designed to address the Common Core Standards. Examples are included. The questions are also well-written, and assess the CCS in a number of different formats, including multiple choice, fill-in and highlighting formats. There is a virtual blackboard for drawing diagrams or taking notes, as well. Teachers and parents can easily get sample questions for free to decide if the grade and subject matter is a good fit for their students.

There are three types of Progress Reports: task completion, percentage scores, and letter grades. Users can choose which type of report is generated. One drawback is that the app can only keep records for one user at a time. This makes it somewhat limited for classroom use.

iTooch Elementary School is not as flashy with its rewards for accurate work as some applications for this age group, but the small animations of the mascot character are engaging and varied. The app does connect to the Game Center for more competition among users, but this may or may not be a desirable feature depending on the rules for connection to the broader world. It would be nice to have a way to disable the Game Center feature if the adult mentor did not want a child to access it.

Users can unlock awards and achievements throughout the application as they make progress through the tasks. The animated mascot is very entertaining, and gets increasingly funny as new levels are attained. Learners will also appreciate the interactive nature of this application, with its instant feedback and visual presentation style.

The free version of iTooch Elementary School will provide users with a comprehensive experience that is more than enough to assess if the software is right for the situation. It is good that users can sample curriculum at all levels and subjects, and nice to be able to try out the game itself to see if it appeals to the learners. Once users have purchased the libraries they would like, there are literally thousands of questions and dozens of concept lessons to use. iTooch Elementary School is fun and educational.

Additional modules are priced at $4.99 per subject at each grade level. To purchase an entire grade level of questions will cost about $15 for third and fourth grade, and $20 for fifth grade.

This program contains no outside advertising. It does have optional in-app purchases of modules of questions for the library, as well as connection to the Game Center. These features may be troublesome for younger users or those who need more guidance in such matters. There is also an option (in the Setting section) to provide feedback on individual questions to the authors. It would be better if these connections to the outside electronic world were more difficult to access, and users will need to supervise students, especially at the younger ages.Available on the App Store

iTooch Elementary School
iTooch Elementary School App
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Where to Buy