Stanford Educational Technology Students Create Apps for Learning
Students in the Learning, Design and
Technology (LDT) program at Stanford University's Graduate School of
Education will present their master's projects at the LDT Expo
taking place on July 31 at the university.
Students in the program identify and analyze a learning problem and then
work on a year-long project to tackle the problem using technology. This year,
18 master's projects will be presented at the annual LDT Expo. In the past,
some of the projects have gone on to become popular apps, classroom teaching
aids, Web sites or educational toys, according to information from the
university.
One of this year's projects is Nomster Chef, an iPad app developed by Ashley
Moulton, who worked on the preschool math show Team Umizoomi before pursuing
her LDT degree at Stanford. Nomster Chef is designed to encourage parents and
preschoolers to cook together as a way of helping children establish healthy
eating habits. The app includes educational videos about the foods they will be
working with, and it provides "visual, step-by-step recipes designed for
kid-friendly meals," according to a news release. Moulton said parents who
tested the app noticed differences in their children's eating habits.
Another project is FeelingTalk, an iPad app developed by Karen Wang to help
children with autism learn to recognize facial expressions. The app uses the
concept of contrasting cases to teach emotions. "By comparing a couple of very
close cases, we're helping children identify the key features in each emotion
that they may otherwise overlook," said Wang. In the first level, the app
presents children with four faces, three of which show the same emotion. The
child must select the face that shows a different emotion, and the app then
labels it. In the third level, parents can upload their own photos to replace
the illustrated faces, so children can practice identifying emotions on real
faces. The app is still being tested, but Wang said she hopes to make it available in the
App Store eventually.
Nomster Chef and FeelingTalk are only two of the 18 master's projects that
will be presented at LDT Expo. Further information about the event can be found
on Stanford
University's site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].