Amazing app
Response from developer
Hi, Roroem1, thanks for your comments - I do appreciate them. Previously the curriculum did have a consistent scheme of work, setting out what should be taught in each year, and it was possible then to easily divide the content into separate years. The current curriculum is only a list of what should be taught. As a result, though year 7 is fairly consistent, different schools teach the curriculum in different orders, often depending on which teachers or textbooks are available. It's no long possibly to usefully divide work up in that way. However, each section of 'Key Stage 3 Science Review' is titled in such a way that it's easy to match it to what's going on in school. One advantage of having the content ordered in the same order as the national curriculum means that even if school doesn't have the time to complete the whole course, it's possible to spot what's missing, and for your children to fill the gaps in, making making sure that they have a solid basis for GCSE.
From a teacher‘s point of view.
Response from developer
Hi Martin, thanks for your comment. I'm not sure I fully understand? Review isn't intended as a 'single-use' resource, and it's normal for students to repeatedly use a set of questions. Moving through the questions and getting them wrong doesn't count against you. Constant and instant feedback helps learning, in the way that a textbook can't. The app only records your best score, so students can repeat sets of questions until they get 100%. Review is as it is because, having used various versions of it with pupils myself in the last 20 years it has evolved into it's present, fairly full on, current state. Why not try using the free year 7 version with your own pupils, and see how they get on? Not every pupil is able or prepared to use it, but most, when they realise that it's not just a game but a serious learning tool, are only too happy to take advantage.
A comprehensive curriculum based app at last
The full KS3 app really is amazingly cheap given everything it offers (3 years of content). As a parent, I have done quite a lot of research into educational software and our devices are used 80% of the time for education. Maybe if schools had a greater take up and promoted curriculum matching apps for their students (or more importantly to PARENTS) then there might be a good future for this type of software.
I have two children that attend a top grammar school and although teaching is great and students are bright I really feel that schools are missing a trick by not making the best use of Computer Based Training (CBT) or modern-day apps. The ability for a student to follow the curriculum at their own pace and feel like they are making progress all on their own is hugely important in my view. It also means that the parent doesn’t need to help much with the child’s revision. Every topic is mapped out exactly where it should be with help at the push of a button should an explanation be needed.
A small nice-to-have feature that was missing in my opinion would have been the ability to log a child's results against a user-id and to be able to synchronise these results between devices. These would be great additions but the true value is really the content provided in the same categories that the child studies at school
I feel that the apps represent huge value, are a huge time saver and I for one would pay more to have my children access this content.
This software is not another waste of time like a lot of the education apps out there. Parents and students alike need to start using tablets and phones as tools to help them progress rather than gadgets they fiddle with.
I would now like to see more CGSE apps for examining boards like AQA delivered.
