How to Choose the Perfect Learning App

Image from iTunes.

“We are raised in a culture that values expertise over exploration.” ~ Nina Wise

Which apps best help children learn to read? Which are good for problem-solving skills? And which ones just waste time?

When I was little, I remember spending hours and hours playing Humongous Entertainment games, like Spy Fox and Pajama Sam. They were quite enjoyable, but what did I learn? These were a series of point-and-click adventure games, where children would progress through a story by solving simple puzzles; while fun, the educational content was low.

With all of the games, iPhone applications, virtual worlds, and digital toys available, it's hard for parents to know which make the best educational tools for their children. Though I'll make recommendations throughout this post, with thousands of digital products available on our vast global market, it's more important to know what to look out for, instead of which ones rank the highest now.

1. In the same vein, digital products should teach children how to think, not what to think. In our increasingly automated world, the ability to quickly learn new skills is critical. In addition, the wicked problems future generations will face – global climate change, mass poverty, food shortages, explosive population growth, healthcare systems unable to support increased lifespans, to name a few – necessitate original and inventive solutions.

We should teach children design thinking skills.

As a quick refresher, design thinking is a process for creative problem-solving. When children gain confidence in their creative abilities, amazing things happen. For example, through experimenting with new ways of doing things and contemplating new answers to problems, children develop social-emotional skills that they can use when interacting with others.

Look for applications like Wizard School, which pairs open-ended tools creativity tools with highly engaging content. Avoid games like Tetris and Farmville, where successful outcomes rely on rote learning and memorization. (Those games can improve focus, but I think they create unhealthy neural pathways in children.)

2. Because children have higher levels of neuroplasticity than adults, and thus can absorb new information more quickly, the games they play with should adapt to their knowledge levels. In addition, children are equipped to learn languages faster because the prefrontal cortex of their brains, where working memory is stored, is less developed than in adults.

Duolingo (one of my favorite learning apps) is a great app for children, as it gives continually evolving instruction in 85 different languages. Not only can children learn at their own pace, the app adjusts its difficulty level to the ability of the user. Avoid educational products like Motion Math Zoom, which don't evolve with the learner.

3. Because of this development of the prefrontal cortex, adults experience functional fixedness, a cognitive bias that limits a person to see an object exactly as it is. Adults will look at a cardboard box exactly as it is, while children will look at it as a time-traveling machine, a performing stage, a spaceship...

The best digital products allow children to create and explore new worlds. One of my favorite apps, Fuzzy Numbers, lets children wander through a fairy-tale realm while practicing foundational early math skills. For older students, educational tools like Engaging Congress and 3rd World Farmer (outdated name, great game) encourage the investigation of complicated challenges.

If the above feels overwhelming, these two questions should help guide your assessment of educational products:

Does the app keep your child's developing brain hooked with rewards like silly sound effects and force specific paths and outcomes? Or does it put the child in the driver's seat, allowing them to learn and explore at their own pace?

(There seem to be only two categories: digital candy and learning experiences like Metaverse.)