I was initially drawn to this app because of the word “game”
in its title, however I had very little fun playing it, and I suspect most high
school chemistry students would agree after playing for more than three
minutes. Chemistry Game HD Lite is an educational application for
balancing chemical equations created by iTech Developers Inc. In a market where many chemistry apps relate
to subject matter beyond that of a high school classroom and are more suitable for
one learning college level organic chemistry, this app looked like it might be
something beneficial for my 10th -12th grade students.
While it has its benefits and I would consider
recommending it to my chemistry students for some extra independent practice,
it is not something that I would find to be suitable in a classroom lesson or
unit plan. Unfortunately the app does
not provide benefits that significantly outweigh the traditional, paper and
pencil method of learning and practicing balancing chemical equations.
The app allows the user to pick 1-3 equations to balance at
a time, and also allows a choice of difficulty level ranging from one to three,
with three being very challenging equations to balance. I found the application to be rather one
dimensional in the fact that there is no actual instruction provided to the
user, without a significant amount of background knowledge in chemical
reactions and the concepts of coefficients and their meaning in an equation, a
user would have very little success using the app.
It offers nothing over paper and pencil
practice other than young students might be more engaged using the technology,
but I think this engagement would fade quickly as the novelty of the app wears off. In addition, because of the one dimensionality of the app,
in order to balance more challenging equations, a student would still need to
use a pencil and paper to successfully choose the correct coefficients.
On a positive note, however, this app could serve as a good
review tool for a student who is preparing for a cumulative exam who has
already mastered balancing chemical equations, but may be a bit rusty. The app is fast, clean in appearance, and
user friendly if one has the background knowledge in chemistry, but lacks the substance to really provide any meaningful learning experience.
Scott, I like that you include what you like and don't like in this app. Many app reviews focus only on the positive but that's not realistic because a user should know what they're getting. Like you mentioned, some apps are good for supplemental instruction rather than primary instruction.
ReplyDeleteScott, your review was really good. It would have been nice if your app had space for the students to draw, so that a paper and pencil was not necessary. I agree with you and can see where the novelty would wear off fast.
ReplyDeleteScott, it is ashamed that more background information was not given to students who where unclear about chemical equations. I know most of the students I teach really struggle with this section, but I am glad that it can be used as a review once we get over the hump of learning the material. Sometimes even though pencil and paper are the best way, it can be boring and this will give another way to practice the material on occasion
ReplyDeleteI agree with Priscilla in that I was happy to see that someone else also had "dislikes" about an app they were reviewing. I find it interesting that the "game" does not provide pop-ups providing more information or details to help those who are not answering the questions properly.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree it does not seem like it would be suitable for a classroom lesson or unit, but more for independent study. I think that this app had a good idea, but just needs to fine tune it's features and how it present information to students. It seems that this app would work for some, but not for all learners.
ReplyDeleteGreat report on the app. I have often made the same mistake and tried apps because I like the name or thought they offered something they did not. Trying an app and sharing your experience both positive and negative was a refreshing change from the standard reviews I have read in the past.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed reading your review because it was obvious you didn't just pick an app you liked from before, or made sure you liked before you reviewed it. You took the app and gave a fair and honest (and much more helpful) review of it because of that. Sorry the app didn't live up to expectations, but there is always another app on the way if it doesn't exist already.
ReplyDeleteScott
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for picking an app and then being brutally honest about it. Many times as teachers we really want to love every new gismo and gadget that comes our way. But we have to remember that nothing will every really be good old fashioned paper and pencil for some tasks