Auditory Workout – App Review

Developer:  Virtual Speech Center

Price:             $19.99

 

 

 

 

Processing of Auditory information is a difficulty that affects so many aspects of language development and the ability to address this difficulty in an authentic learning environment is an ongoing challenge for therapists working with these children. All too often, the child performs well within the therapy context, but is unable to transfer these skills to the classroom setting.

Auditory Workout is an App that addresses this need.

Auditory Workout app includes hundreds of audio instructions and a BACKGROUND NOISE Feature that allows users to set background noise (classroom noise), so that learning is authentic.

The App allows children to follow increasingly longer and more complex directions which are divided into four categories

• Basic Directions: 15 levels within this category ranging from “one-step directions with object” to “one-step directions with size, color, object, action, preposition, and object.
• Quantitative and Spatial Directions: 12 levels ranging from “concepts and/or plus an object” to “the concept of first, second, third, and last combined with size, color, and object.”
• Temporal Directions: 18 levels ranging from “the concepts of before plus an object” to “concepts of before/after combined with size and object.”
• Conditional Directions: 15 levels ranging from “conditional directions with object” to “conditional directions combined with size, object, action, preposition, and object.”

Children accumulate basketballs as a reward for each correct response and are rewarded with a game when they accumulate enough balls.

App Review Checklist & Rating Chart: Total Score   /20

Speech/Language/Education Apps

GENERAL INFORMATION & OPERATION	5/5
Content is appropriate	1
No in app purchases required for use	1
Help/tutorial Available	1
Students can launch and navigate in the app independently	1
App is fairly priced and/or comparable to other similarly priced apps	1
FEATURES	4/4
App can be customized for different users	1
App can be used for single user or groups	1
Content/data can easily be exported	1
User data is saved from session to session	1
APP DESIGN	2/2
Design graphics/sounds are appealing	1
App is interactive, engaging & motivating for user	1
SPEECH/LANGUAGE USE	6 ½ /9
App is designed to target speech/language skills	1
App is designed to target auditory processing – phonemic awareness	1
App can be adapted to target speech/language skills	1
App encourages critical thinking and higher level language	0
App has good potential for interaction between user and therapist	1
Response to errors is specific and results in improved performance	0
Targeted skills are practiced in an authentic learning environment	1
App offers complete flexibility to alter settings to meet students needs	1/2
App can be used across a variety of age/developmental groups	1
TOTAL SCORE	17 ½ /20

 

 

Star Rating

5 stars             17 – 20 points

4 stars             13 – 16 points

3 stars             9 – 12 points

2 stars             5 – 8 points

1 star              0 – 4 points

 

I Like:

• Instructions can be repeated as many times as necessary and if a child fails on a task then the item can be re-done. You must turn the Automatic Paging Feature to OFF in the settings menu in order to do this.
• The app is easy to navigate and can be used by parents with their children for extra practice.
• The Background Noise Level can be turned off or on and adjusted with differing intensity levels.
• The App is very detailed and is well graded so that the child can progress through increasing levels of complexity.
• Reports are specific and you can select a report based on the activity that the child completed or by the time/date that each task was done.

 

Areas for improvement:

• It would be nice if the Background Noise Level could be adjusted without “ending the session” particularly if the child is having difficulty or there is “sensory overload.”
• Although the incorrect answers are displayed (if this setting is selected), it would be nice if the response to errors was more specific. For example, when targeting the concept “BEFORE”, (Show me the candle before you show me the phone), and the child taps the phone first, both items are shown simultaneously and the concept of BEFORE is not highlighted.
• A record feature would add an additional Expressive Language Dimension to this App.
• It is quite expensive but I cannot find a comparable App and so at this stage it is good value for money.

 

Thank you to Virtual Speech Center for providing me with this App.

The views expressed are my own.