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Magnispies

Mindprint Rating

Tags

ELA: Reading Elementary School iOS App

Skills

Auditory Processing

Mindprint Expert Review

Pros

  • Students could be initially attracted to the espionage theme.

Considerations

  • This app uses negative sounds and the word "failed" when a student is unsuccessful.
  • The app is ineffective as a teaching tool.
  • The app is not fun.

Mindprint Expert Review

Magnispies is a free app designed to strengthen phonemic awareness, but it is ineffective and difficult to use. The game begins with trenchcoat-wearing men with briefcases emerging from the shadows of a dark city street. Each briefcase has a three- or four-letter word written on it. The student aims the laser beam with the vowel matching that on the briefcase to eliminate the enemy spy. If the user is correct, a voice pronounces the vowel sound. If the user is incorrect, there is a negative sound, the screen darkens, and the enemy spy continues his approach. The game ends with the message "Mission Failed" after three incorrect answers. While some students may like the theme, the app is not at all intuitive to use, the images are crudely-drawn, the laser beam can be challenging to navigate, and the words on the briefcases are difficult to read. Most importantly, there is no explanation of incorrect answers so students are unlikely to learn from playing this app. Overall, this app is an ineffective instructional tool and not much fun to use.

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
    • Themes that might disturb sensitive students (death, blood, slime)
    • Student cannot take as much time as needed to read text
    • Gives negative feedback (red X's, buzzer)
    • A player's success depends on speed
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
  • Auditory Processing
    • A player's success depends on speed
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
    • Audio cannot be repeated
  • Fine Motor Skills
    • Requires challenging finger movements, motor precision or physical manipulation
  • Organization
    • Directions may be confusing for students using independently
    • Students might need support with navigation
  • Processing Speed
    • Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
    • Student cannot take as much time as needed to read text
    • A player's success depends on speed
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
  • Reading Basics
    • Student cannot take as much time as needed to read text
    • Directions may be confusing for students using independently
  • Reading Fluency
    • Student cannot take as much time as needed to read text
    • A player's success depends on speed
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
  • Self-regulation
    • Themes that might disturb sensitive students (death, blood, slime)
    • Gives negative feedback (red X's, buzzer)
    • A player's success depends on speed
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
  • Spatial Perception
    • Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
  • Spelling
  • Visual Discrimination
    • Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
    • Student cannot take as much time as needed to read text
    • Words used during activity can be too small or difficult to read
    • Visually distracting with too many pictures, problems or moving objects
    • Students might need support with navigation
  • Visual Motor Speed
    • Requires challenging finger movements, motor precision or physical manipulation
    • A player's success depends on speed
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
  • Vocabulary
    • Directions may be confusing for students using independently
  • Working Memory
    • Requires scanning in multiple places for words, objects or numbers
    • Student cannot take as much time as needed to read text
    • Directions may be confusing for students using independently
    • Turn or quiz abruptly ends when timer runs out
    • Audio cannot be repeated
    • Students might need support with navigation

Manufacturer Description

Aim your trusty magnifying glass and quickly eradicate the spies on the page by matching the secret code (the vowel in the word on their secret spy folder). Stop spies with the same secret code in a row to increase your score.

This reading game is recommended for people with dyslexia who want to improve fluency and accuracy in recognizing the vowel in words, which is one of the core reading skills necessary to fluid reading.



Works on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.