Learn everything from sight words to French vocabulary with this versatile study app. While the material that comes pre-loaded on the app is mostly based on learning how to read and spell, the app has the potential to be useful for any subject that you happen to be focusing on.
Concepts
Additional Tags
App Overview
Features:
- Includes over 20 games to play as well as a feature called Genius that blends together several games into one
- Comes pre-loaded with a set of boards that you can try out and use if applicable
- Quickly organize your boards into collections for easier navigation
- Create your own boards complete with words, images, and audio recordings
- Import boards from Dropbox and Quizlet
- Just tap Catalog to view collections and packs that you can download to your app (free packs have a cloud icon next to them)
- Track progress for individual students by game and by board
- Have users to e-mail a PDF of their scores to you at the end of any given game; you can view and send scores for that game only or for all attempts at that game (averaged for that user)
- Search for a board or collection by tapping the magnifying glass
- Customize each individual's experience by:
- Changing the success screen from scores to stickers
- Setting up restrictions
- Altering the accessibility settings
- Turning individual games on or off if desired
- Changing the settings for each game
Curator Rating
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Adherence to task
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Worth the money
While the app itself is free, there are many in-app purchases, and it's not always clear how much each one costs. Also, there will be a large time investment when you first download the app. It will take some time to figure out all of the included features.
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Fun factor
This app comes with plenty of games to play. Some are very straightforward (like matching or spelling), but the tablet environment makes them more engaging.
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Scaffolding of learning
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User safety
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Control and feedback
Bitsboard allows for individual profiles and progress tracking and provides many options for customizing each pupils experience.
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How techie do I need to be?
Intermediate
Instructional Ideas
- Use the decks of images and words provided on the app or create custom boards that go perfectly with your instruction
- Have kids make their own boards when researching so they can easily share information with the class
- Collaborate with your grade level group or PLC to create boards that you can share with one another
- Set up stations in your class with a small set of tablets; learners can practice their vocabulary or other topic in shifts
- Invite pupils to play these games as extra practice or for homework; you can easily track progress and even have individuals e-mail you their scores
Classroom Considerations
- When you first start out with the app, it may feel a bit overwhelming because there is so much you can do with it; you may wish to take some time to just play around and familiarize yourself with all of the available features
- There are many in-app purchases available for this app (along with plenty of free features), but it's not always clear how much something costs. If, for example, you want to unlock unlimited users, the app doesn't tell you right away how much this costs, so you may need to use some caution
- The user experience is not the smoothest for Bitsboard, but there is so much offered that you may find it easy to overlook the quirks
Pros
- Comes with over 20 different games to help reinforce the material
- Allows for multiple users on the same device
- Tracks the progress of individual users with particular boards and games as well as overall
Cons
- It's unclear how to go back after finishing a game; you can click the screen behind the scorecard, but it restarts the game just after you reach the home page. However, from the new game you can click the home button with no other consequences
- It is not always clear how much an in-app purchase costs