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Type Defender - An Educational Spelling & Typing Game For Kids

Mindprint Rating

Tags

ELA: Writing Elementary School iOS App

Skills

Fine Motor Skills

Mindprint Expert Review

Pros

  • The moving critters make this game more fun than other typing apps.

Considerations

  • Students will not learn correct typing skills or spelling and could be detrimental by developing bad habits.
  • The typing skill is made more difficult by needing to type moving words and overlapping words.

Mindprint Expert Review

This app claims to help students with typing and spelling but it is effective at neither. The student must stop the many moving critters from entering the castle by typing a critter's word correctly on an on-screen keyboard before the critter follows the path to the castle entrance. A student can make 10 typos or missed critters before the game is over. Correct spellings win coins to purchase extra lives or obstacles for the critters. This app offers no instruction for proper typing, so students may figure out how to type faster but they will not develop the correct skills. The moving critters have increasingly difficult words to spell, but the student is simply copying the text and not hearing the word, figuring out its spelling or learning a definition. Furthermore some of the "words" are not even real words which could confuse good spellers. While the moving critters help the game's fun level, typing is a difficult skill and should not be made more difficult by the moving and, sometimes, overlapping words. Overall, this game has more potential to develop bad habits than good ones.

Academic Benefits

Improves academic skills

  • Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
  • Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
  • Presents educational concepts accurately
  • Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
  • Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
  • Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
  • Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

Fun

Engaging for the Mindprint recommended age range

  • Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
  • Subject matter and problems are relevant, interesting and authentic to students
  • Visually appealing to children in the target age range
  • Provides virtual rewards or incentives after meeting specified goals or objectives
  • Provides a "break activity" between academic problem sets
  • Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
  • Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

Easy to Use

Understandable for children in the Mindprint recommended age range

  • Has a free or trial version
  • Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
  • Provides an age-appropriate tutorial/first time users can work independently
  • Student should be able to use independently after first use
  • Has a multi-player option to foster in-person collaboration or cooperation
  • Multiple users can save a profile
  • Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
  • Can play without sound and not distract others
  • Students can save work between sessions
  • Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
  • Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
  • Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
  • Overall - Easy to use

Cognitive Concerns

May not be advisable for students with the following cognitive needs

  • Anxiety
    • A player's success depends on speed
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
  • Fine Motor Skills
  • Processing Speed
    • Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
    • A player's success depends on speed
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
    • Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
  • Reading Basics
    • Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
  • Spatial Perception
    • Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
    • Requires remembering and completing a sequence of visual steps
  • Visual Discrimination
    • Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
    • Words used during activity can be too small or difficult to read
    • Visually distracting with too many pictures, problems or moving objects
  • Visual Motor Speed
    • A player's success depends on speed
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
  • Working Memory
    • Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
    • Requires remembering and completing a sequence of visual steps
    • Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own

Manufacturer Description

Who says spelling and typing can't be fun?!

Using a sharp mind and fast fingers, defend your castle against the invasion of cute little critters determined to steal your honey.

Great for at-home fun or in the classroom, type and spell to defend your castle against the invasion of deceivingly cute critters determined to steal your honey. Increase your no-miss multiplier and earn even more gold with a correct-spelling streak. Then use all of that gold to buy spells, moats, and other power-ups in Ye Old Shoppe ... or, better yet, add it to your loot pile and earn a place in the Type Defender leaderboards!

Additional Features:

* Create custom word lists to practice your spelling words
* Select from 3 difficulty levels to suit all ages
* Play Express mode for non-stop spelling fun
* Purchase hexes, scatter bombs, extra lives, and more in Ye Olde Shoppe
* Unlock fun achievements by becoming a master Type Defender
* Enter custom word lists on TypeDefender.com to share with others

****

"For educators and parents teaching spelling and typing skills, this is an app to use!" – One-by-One-Education.com

"Type Defender is a fun fast-paced spelling and typing game that will really give your mind and fingers a workout." – iHeartThisApp.com

"My sons really enjoy Type Defender, it's great to help with their typing skills and has helped with their spelling accuracy! Graphics are great! I highly recommend Type Defender for any child!" – AByteOfThis-N-That.com

"Type Defender is an addictive app helping kids to learn typing. Best part is you can create custom lists so kids can be practicing their spelling words in the app." – KinderTown.com