Category: edci337-app

 

Epic! is a teacher, student and parent-friendly digital reading application designed for readers under the age of twelve. Teachers working with this program have the ability to track their students’ reading progress, provide at home reading assignments, and tailor reading to the student’s reading level. Teacher salaries do not support the investment of fancy technology and expensive applications; therefore, Epic! being offered as a free application makes it accessible for any educator with access to a school laptop or iPad cart. In Chien-Chuan Ko, Chun-Han Chiang, Yun-Lung Lin and Ming-Chung Chen’s article, “An Individualized e-Reading System Developed Based on Multi-Representations Approach,” (2011) they state that many “disabilities prevent students from meeting the challenge of the general curriculum” (p.88). This evaluation aims to prove that Epic! can be used to break down barriers for most students and provide easy and effective access to learning. Throughout our evaluation, we will identify how this application utilizes principles of multimedia learning, several reviews based on the application’s success in classroom situations, research supporting the use of Epic! in multimedia learning and how we plan to use this application in our future teaching practices. 

 

Epic!’s vast content includes many of the multimedia learning principles such as multimedia, signaling, segmenting and guided discovery. The multimedia learning principle is where “people learn better from words and pictures than from words alone” (McCue, 2020). Epic! contains countless picture books for children to enhance their knowledge and understanding as they read. The signaling principle is where “people learn better when cues are added that highlight the key information and its organization” (McCue, 2020). There is a collection of Read-to-Me books that offer a follow-along word highlighting feature. This helps students to focus on each spoken word and to make connections between written words and their corresponding pronunciation. The segmenting principle is where “people learn better when a multimedia message is presented in learner-paced segments rather than as a continuous unit” (McCue, 2020). Readers can work through books at their own pace and can choose to complete quizzes on certain topics to test their knowledge or after they read a book to develop their comprehension. The acts of listening to read-alouds, testing for comprehension, discussing books with others and reading authentic literature “are not only engaging aspects of literature-based classrooms across grade levels, but also essential aspects of learning to read and respond to literature in the early grades and beyond” (Möller, 2015, p. 55). Lastly, the guided discovery principle is where “people learn better when guidance is incorporated into discovery-based multimedia environments” (McCue, 2020). Although this app is very open and learner-centered, teachers can create multiple-choice quizzes and book collections from the various books on the app to assign to their students in order to guide them in a certain direction in order to enrich their learning process. 

 

The reviews and responses regarding Epic! are overwhelmingly positive. This application contains over 35000 different types of books such as audiobooks, educational videos and quizzes. The app is to be user friendly, accessible and adaptable for each student (Chandler, 2017). A local kindergarten teacher stated that she has found Epic! to be the best way to interest her students in reading and to introduce them to a wide variety of material that can interest each child (Sarah Fiorentino, personal communication, June 24, 2020). Also, she appreciates how this application allows for individual exploration of books for her young readers as well as whole-class lesson options to practice various early reading skills (Sarah Fiorentino, personal communication, June 24, 2020). Variety and books that will interest each learner were common themes throughout numerous reviews as well as the ability to move towards a paperless classroom (Chandler, 2017). Teachers can also create assignments and use Epic! as an assessment tool (Michelle, 2019). Another teacher said that Epic! has increased the reading motivation of all her grade 3 students because of the reading badges they can earn. He stated that his students “love earning badges, and so [does he], because the more time reading leads to better fluency and comprehension” (Devlin Coleman, personal communication, June 24, 2020). There is also an online guide available for educators “which has allowed for so many interactive lessons that students love” (Devlin Coleman, personal communication, June 24, 2020). 

 

With classrooms continuing to focus on individualized learning and the increasing amount of technology available, applications such as Epic! ensure that teachers have a resource that can be effectively used to promote literacy in elementary classrooms. There have been many studies done on the effectiveness of eBooks and digital reading on tablets with beginning and emerging readers. Frequently, children are more engaged and are able to find enjoyment using apps similar to Epic!. Interactive elements within the application, such as quizzes and videos, can increase children’s autonomy as a reader and enjoyment of activities (Aliagas and Margallo, 2017). Additionally, eBooks and reading using a digital format was found to boost engagement and motivation to read for pleasure (Galebandi and Noorhidawati, 2019). 

 

Epic! is a valuable resource that we will be using in our future teaching practices. This application has multiple features that can help enhance classroom experiences for both the teacher and the student. There are many ways to use Epic! in the classroom. Below we have attached a link to a Prezi where we share several ways in which we plan to use this application in the future.

 

https://prezi.com/view/0Wkfx75hhTybUEXT4ell/ 

 

Through research on the Epic! application, we have discovered the diverse content developed to support teachers and students. Epic! allows teachers to create individualized reading plans for students

, provide multiple copies of the same picture books and create a larger library for students’ research projects. Additionally, this application is easily accessible and engaging for all students. Ko, Chiang, et al. (2011) state that “reading skill is essential to a successful learning activity” (p. 88). As strong believers in this statement, we conclude that Epic! will support our future students in becoming more effective and comprehensive readers. By enhancing and developing our students’ reading skills, they will be able to better contribute and engage in classroom reading activities and therefore, gaining more knowledge from reading activities.

 

References:

 

Aliagas, C., & Margallo, A. M. (2017). Children’s responses to the interactivity of storybook apps in family shared reading events involving the iPad. Literacy, 51(1), 44-52. doi:10.1111/lit.12089

 

Chandler, A. (2017, July 15). Smart Review- An Epic! Review from a teacher and a parent. Retrieved from https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/07/getting-smart-review-an-epic-review-from-a-teacher-and-parent/

 

Ghalebandi, S. G., & Noorhidawati, A. (2019). Engaging children with pleasure reading: The E-reading experience. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 56(8), 1213-1237. doi:10.1177/0735633117738716

 

Ko, C.-C., Chiang, C.-H., Lin, Y.-L., & Chen, M.-C. (2011). An Individualized e-Reading System Developed Based on Multi-Representations Approach. Educational Technology & Society, 14 (4), 88–98.

 

Learning at the Primary Pond. 2019. Five Ways To Use Epic! In The Classroom (That You May Not Have Thought Of!) – Learning At The Primary Pond. [online] Available at: <https://learningattheprimarypond.com/blog/epic-for-teachers/> [Accessed 25 June 2020].

 

McCue, R. (2020). Principles of Multimedia Learning—A summary. Google Docs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TGVFG_iCc3iSz3aX3j8UC-YC63V__6tKFJQ4FtAsH4o/edit?usp=sharing&usp=embed_facebook

 

Michelle, E. (2019, February 25). Common Sense Education- Teacher Review for Epic! Kids books and Videos. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jewk2MM8scHUEW08dFDXqMxqeWh3vYtItFVlzSxLqxw/edit 

 

Möller, K. J. (2015). Apps in literature-based classroom instruction: Integrating reading and response through traditional and digital media. Journal of Children’s Literature, 41(1), 54. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/docview/1683975342?pq-origsite=summon

Wohlwend, K. (2017). The case of the iPad: Mobile literacies in education. Singapore: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-4364-2

The multimedia application that we have chosen is Epic! Epic is a digital reading application that is tailored to children under the age of 12 to use on a tablet or computer. Educators can access Epic for free, and then gain an “access code” to share it with their students. On this app readers can track their reading progress, and since Epic is compatible with Google Classroom, this progress can be shared with the child’s teacher. Classrooms will need individual tablets or computers in order to use this app, but in our experience, we have noticed that most schools offer iPads or tablets that students can borrow.

We have chosen this app because it is a resource we all believe that we would like to use in our future teaching practice. Compared to the other apps our group reviewed, we decided that Epic has the most student and teacher friendly features, and this makes it more applicable in a classroom setting. We also thought that the layout of Epic was unique, and provided teachers and students with a lot of valuable resources. Furthermore, there are many fantastic reviews about Epic from parents and educators who use this app. Many of these reviews stated that the titles on Epic are popular, teachers can manage student’s profiles, encourages students to engage in reading activities, and many more. Another exciting feature Epic offers is “10 Creative Ways to use Epic! in the Classroom”. This list has many examples that we can definitely imagine incorporating into various lessons.

Overall, we have chosen Epic because of its user-friendly approach and we believe it is a valuable resource that follows many of the multimedia learning principles. We hope that by researching and learning more about Epic, it will help us feel more confident using this application in our future classrooms.

I chose to evaluate an app which marries the fun of iPad and the importance of spelling. Letter School is an app designed for young students to practice their letter writing skills in a fun and independent way. The app gives students the chance to work on drawing and identifying shapes, letters, and numbers.

Design wise, the app follows many of Richard Mayer’s multimedia principles in the Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. The app opens and exemplifies both the multimedia principle, “people learn better from words and pictures than from words alone”(Mayer, 2014) and the spatial contiguity principle, “People learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the screen or page or in time”(Mayer, 2014). To do this, the app presents the first three options in a clear and precise manner with the images and text located parallel to each other, as shown in the below picture.

The app also follows the coherence principle by only presenting what information is necessary on the screen at a time (Mayer, 2014).  I believe young students may find it confusing if lots of writing was present on the screen directing them what to do; therefore, by simply presenting the singular letter, number, or shape on the screen at a time and having it spoken to the student, I believe the students will find success with the app. Below is a screen recording of a simple example of how the app works.

Moreover, by adding animation and sound effects to the app, the creators fostered the personalization principle. This principle states, “Learners better comprehend text when presented in conversational styles opposed to formal”(Mayer, 2014). For younger students, conversational text is best understood when oral. Because of this, the spoken text is very valuable for students using this app. Using fun animation additionally promotes the personalization principle by communicating with the students in a way they understand and enjoy.

To use this app, it is important for educators to follow Mayer’s “pretraining” principle which states, “By providing students with key information prior to the animation, learners will be able to better understand the concepts they are learning” (Mayer, 2014). In the case of this app, teachers will be required to provide students with both knowledge of the app, as well as, knowledge of the content. For the content to have meaning to the student, they must be made previously aware of all the letters, shapes, and numbers they will be working with.

Finally,the ease of functionality and accessibility when using this app are promising toward making it a powerful multimedia learning tool at the primary level. It is important for students to not become frustrate with learning in order to fully immerse in it and this app allows learners to do so, simply and quickly. I believe this app would fit well in a classroom or for at home learning.

Anstey, L., & Watson, G. (2018, September 18). A Rubric for Evaluating E-Learning Tools in Higher Education. Educause Review. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2018/9/a-rubric-for-evaluating-e-learning-tools-in-higher-education

Theory of Multimedia Learning: http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/Cognitive_Theory_of_Multimedia_Learning