Screen Time

Can iPads be Kinesthetic? A Unique “Bumpy” Tactile Touchscreen Cover

Technology is evolving quickly. Currently there is a lot of debate about how best to use technology to positively enhance students’ learning experiences.

Most people can agree that too much screen time is detrimental for kids’ development. However, there are so many amazing uses of technology…

Apps that help students with learning disabilities
Assistive communication devices
Using iPads to create original videos & innovative student projects
Skyping with students from across the world

Today, I am very excited to be able to review a new multi-sensory product for the iPad – TacScreen.

Enter to win a free giveaway ($20 value) for a TacScreen at the end of this post!

What is TacScreen?

TacScreen is a tactile touchscreen cover for the iPad. It’s basically a thin plastic sheet with raised dots that you apply to the screen of your iPad.

The idea is that it adds the one multi-sensory component that is missing from the iPad – tactile feedback.

For this post, I am only reviewing TacScreen for the iPad. However, TacScreen is also available for other devices. Check out there product website here.

The importance of multi-sensory instruction

The more senses you engage when learning a new activity, the better your brain is able to retain and reuse novel information. This is why we work so hard with kids to sing songs, trace letters in sand and have plenty of engaging visuals.

For children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, multi-sensory instruction is the research-based intervention method (such as Orton-Gillingham) used to teach kids how to read, write and spell.

When I work with a child with dyslexia or another language based learning disorder, I have them trace letters in sand, shaving cream or on a chalkboard (tactile & visual), while they say aloud the letter name and sound (auditory) such as “A, apple, /a/.”

In addition, I provide them with the visual that represents the letter sound – an apple for A, a dinosaur for D, etc.

If you’re looking for more creative, tactile learning ideas check out one of my most popular how-to post of all time – Beyond Flashcards: How to Teach Sight Words Creatively.

Of course, research-based techniques used for children with identified learning needs are beneficial for ALL kids – it’s just best practice.

This is why I spent a lot of time making Ollie’s Handwriting & Phonics iPad app as multi-sensory as possible. Ollie mimics exactly how I would provide intervention for a student struggling to identify letter sounds.

Ollie the owl traces the letter in the correct formation while saying the letter name, accompanying picture and sound – “P, pirate, /p/”
Students repeat by tracing the letter on a chalkboard background (with chalk sound effects!) and again hear the correct phonics sound.

TacScreen is interesting because it adds a new multi-sensory component to the iPad. Instead of a smooth surface, students get the tactile feedback from the little bumps as they engage in their literacy and math apps.

Applying TacScreen to your iPad

At first when I received TacScreen, there were no instructions on how to apply it to your iPad. So initially I was a little confused.

However, when I contacted Susan Mon Pere, the founder and creator of TacScreen, she quickly sent me some instructions that she will now include with all TacScreens – talk about great customer service!

However, it’s fairly simple and quick. Basically you peel off both masks on either side of the product that are protecting it and lay it down over the iPad.

I soon realized the exact placement of the TacScreen does not have to be perfect and it goes on fairly smooth without an bumps or gaps – so you don’t have to worry about “messing it up.” You can easily peel it off and try again.

I would love to see more information in the packaging besides how to put it on such as what activities it’s best for and how to care for it.

What it’s best for

TacScreen seems to be most beneficial for learning apps – particularly letter and number tracing apps – this is why I was so excited to try it with Ollie!

This seems to be the purpose of TacScreen as it adds that tactile learning component to the iPad.

However, I’m not sure it would be enjoyable for everyday use. Swiping, typing and using other non-learning apps feels a little weird to me with the screen on.

I don’t think it would be an issue to leave on all the time in the classroom if you’re just using educational apps. But personally I would like to see that TacScreen was easier to store (it’s very easy to remove and put back on) since I don’t know if I would like to be using it for all apps.

Possible concerns

When trying out TacScreen I began to make a list of some possible concerns with the product.

How responsive is the screen? Does it make apps harder to do? Are letters more difficult to trace? Will it add more screen glare? What about durability? Keeping it clean?

I found out that most of these are not an issue. The screen is very responsive and apps seem to work as usual.

There is a slight glare with the TacScreen on, but nothing that really detracted from using the iPad. I didn’t notice it using the iPad, only when I was taking a photo of it.

Since I’ve only had TacScreen for a short time, I do wonder about durability and cleanliness.

Children’s fingers are dirty! Since it is textured, crumbs seem to easily collect in the bumps so you might want to enforce some hand washing before use. It does come with a cloth wipe.

It does seem fairly durable, but if you are dealing with small unpredictable children and potentially removing and replacing it from the iPad, it could start to show some wear.

What it’s like to use TacScreen

Unfortunately, I currently don’t have access to a large sample of children to test the product on. However, I was lucky enough to have my 3.5 year old nephew be my guinea pig.

In addition, his mother Marina Vaserman is the founder and director of an amazing inclusive school, Open Mind School, in Redwood City, CA. She also gave me some interesting insight into the product.

My nephew used TacScreen while tracing letters with Ollie’s Handwriting & Phonics iPad app, which he has used before and is familiar with – it’s great to have family to test your products on!

Here is a great video showing exactly what it looks like to use TacScreen.

He seemed to enjoy it at first but then after tracing a few letters asked for it to be removed.

Marina and I were a little perplexed. She was so enthusiastic about the product and thought it might be just the thing for her students – kids who really benefit from any additional tactile and sensory components added to the iPad.

Was it that her son – who’s having no difficulty learning his letters – just doesn’t need this extra tactile component?
Was it a personal preference of his?
Are we so accustomed to the way an iPad should feel that changing it just feels funny?

You never know how something will work out until you try it with real kids – but obviously, this is very small sample size so it’s hard to conclude much!

Marina is still excited to test the product with her students at Open Mind School because adding a tactile component to learning is so beneficial.

Cost

I would definitely consider spending $20 on this for my own iPad as a parent or tutor. I would use it specifically for letter and number tracing apps.

When thinking about using it in the classroom, I first began to worry that the cost could quickly get out of control. However, you can get 5 TacScreens for just $39.95.

I’m not sure if there are different discounts when buying in really large bulk such as a school or school district. However, when speaking with founder and creator Susan Mon Pere, she mentioned she just shipped 50 units to a school district in Arkansas!

So I would contact her directly from her website if you’re interested in TacScreen for your school.

Final Thoughts

Right now there is nothing else like this is on the market (that I’m aware of). It’s a simple easy solution to adding the tactile sensation to an iPad.

This potentially has huge benefits for students using iPads to work on literacy or math skills – especially students with dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD.

I would highly recommend TacScreen for teachers, parents, therapists and tutors. It’s true the only way to know if it works is to try it out with real students. However, based on brain and education research, I think it’s definitely worth the try!

TacScreen Giveaway!

Would you like to try out a FREE TacScreen with your child or students?

Leave a comment below answering the following question:

How (and with who) would you use TacScreen?

Be sure to demonstrate how TacScreen would benefit the particular child (students) you have in mind. I’ll select a winner that will benefit most from a TacScreen – and if everyone sounds awesome, I’ll choose someone at random!

Leave your comments below by midnight on Sunday June 7, 2015!

Just a few quick giveaway rules:

US only
You must be subscribed to Blue Mango
You must leave a comment!

I’m very excited for you to try TacScreen and hear about how it could benefit your kids!

Screen Time for Kids: Why I Created a Kids’ App but Won’t Let My Daughter Use an iPad

Screen time is a complicated topic for anyone trying to teach or raise a child today.

Technology is evolving so fast that we have no personal experience, advice from our mothers nor data on long term consequences to easily distinguish what’s right and wrong for our kids.

As the creator of a children’s app, I struggle with issue constantly. Am I a hypocrite for having my kindergarten students use my handwriting & phonics app during literacy centers, yet I don’t let my daughter near an iPad?

Perhaps, but I believe the issue has varying shades of gray. I think it’s naive to say that all technology and screen time is bad for kids – especially considering how rapidly things are changing – but at the same time I do think there is reason to be cautious.

How can we figure out what tech is good or bad? What will help our children learn?

Today I’m going to explore this tricky topic to hopefully give you some insight into how to make the best decision for your family, your kids and your students.

I look forward to sharing with you:

Why I decided to create a children’s app
The current research behind limiting screen time for kids
How tech can enhance kids’ learning & quality of life
My personal guidelines on screen time at home

Why I decided to create a children’s app

My experience as an early childhood specialist and a mother, as well as my personal beliefs, have led me to value under-scheduling, experiences in nature, physical activity and unstructured open-ended play that fosters creativity, curiosity and problem solving skills.

This tends to put me in an anti-technology camp, so what changed?

One day I realized I couldn’t fight the future. iPads were here and kids were using them. If students were going to spend 15 minutes in the car anyway playing on an iPad, why not have them work on skills that they really needed?

I also began to notice so many children were being referred to OT just to learn handwriting. In addition, I wanted to give my students who were showing signs of language disabilities and dyslexia the additional practice at home to learn their phonics sounds and letter formation – without expensive therapy.

Ollie’s Handwriting & Phonics was a way to bring an affordable tutor into the home. Based on research and using multi-sensory techniques, the app teaches children how to form letters correctly (and won’t allow them to practice bad habits) and reinforces phonics sounds.

It’s meant to be a teaching app, not a game and I was actually nervous that the app would not be super fun and appealing to children because of all the fast-paced, colorful and noisy games out there now for the iPad.

However, to my delight it’s been very successful – popular with school districts and special education teachers. I think Ollie’s Handwriting & Phonics app is a valuable tool for many students.

However, it is just that – a tool.

It does not replace the unstructured outdoor free play that is necessary to build the core, upper body strength and finger dexterity to develop strong fine motor skills. Just 5 to 10 minutes a day would be hugely beneficial to a child with dyslexia or dysgraphia.

Is screen time for kids that bad?

So what does the current research on screen time say? According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) children under age 2 should have no screen time at all and kids as well as teens should be limited to 1 – 2 hours of screen time a day – and this should be high-quality content.

Studies have shown that excessive media use can lead to attention problems, school difficulties, sleep and eating disorders, and obesity. – AAP

The AAP’s reasoning behind no screen time for infants and toddlers under 2 is that their brains are developing so rapidly that they learn best from interacting with people and not screens. Screen time replaces valuable learning time.

The AAP suggests that parents do not allow screens in children’s bedrooms, turn the TV off during dinner and try to be present with their child when engaging in media to help guide their experience.

So why should we take these recommendations seriously? Is 20 minutes a day of PBS’s Daniel Tiger really harming an 18 month old?

What does the research say?

The topic of screen time for kids is a lot more complex today than when it was first researched 15 years ago. The AAP’s original recommendations came out in 1999, well before an interactive tablet like the iPad was brought to the market in 2010.

When examining the research, I was careful to look at when studies were conducted (pre or post iPad), the age of the children in the study (screen time seems to have different effects on kids under 3) and the type of screen time engaged in (passive TV watching, movies, video games or interactive tablets).

The simple answer is – it’s complicated.

However, I compiled my findings here to help you understand my decisions around screen time as a mom and an early childhood educator and to help you make the best decision for your students and family.

Screen time affects attention & executive function

There is no evidence showing that screen time is educational for infants and toddlers, but there is some evidence that it may be harmful.

Children over age 3, however, can benefit from a limited amount of carefully monitored screen time experience with quality content, but excessive screen time harms healthy growth and development, regardless of content. (2012)

I wasn’t interested in unfounded claims that screen time causes ADHD (or obesity) – that oversimplifies things. However, TV viewing and playing video games do seem to have an effect on children’s attention, behavior and executive functioning skills.

TV viewing for very young children has been linked to attention problems.

In this study (2004), watching TV at a young age (1-3 year olds) was associated with attention problems at age 7 and was directly related to how many hours a day the child watched. Another study (2007) showed that viewing violent or noneducational, nonviolent TV shows (or movies) under the age of 3 was also linked to attention problems.

Screen time also has an effect on older children.

The amount of time watching TV as well as playing video games were both associated with increased attention problems in children. Kids who exceeded the AAP’s recommendation of 2 hours of screen time a day were twice as likely to have attention problems. (2010)

Children who spent more time using computers or watching TV had more behavior problems regardless of their level of physical activity. (2010)

Perhaps most concerning to me is a study (2011) that showed that viewing fast-paced cartoons, whether educational or not, significantly impaired 4 year olds’ executive functioning skills.

Screen time replaces other activities necessary for healthy growth & development

While these above studies are all slightly scary to me, I’m most concerned about the activities screen time often replaces – unstructured outdoor and imaginative play and human interactions.

Children benefit most from having a lot of time for hands-on creative and active play, time in nature, and face-to-face interactions with caring adults. (2012)

Kids today spend an average of 7.5 hours outside of school on a screen. (2010) What time does that leave for anything else?

Developing fine motor skills & imaginative play

Unstructured outdoor free play is essential for the proper development of gross & fine motor skills and ultimately handwriting. My research and interviews with experts emphasized this point time and time again in my 3 part series on The Unconventional Guide to Improving Handwriting Skills.

Set aside the electronics – the tablets, smart phones, video game systems, and remote controls. Just because they use the hands doesn’t mean they develop the hands. – Christie Kiley, pediatric OT, founder of Mama OT

Pediatric occupational therapists are seeing an increase in the amount of children today who lack the core strength, upper body strength and finger dexterity necessary for the proper development of their fine motor skills.

Their recommendations? Let kids spend more time in unstructured play outdoors.

The more time children spend watching TV, the less time they spend in creative play. Whether indoors or out, open-ended imaginative play is important for learning.

Kids need time to be curious and direct their own play by pretending, physically manipulating objects, experimenting and tinkering to figure out how things work.

Rachel Coley, pediatric OT and founder of CanDo Kiddo talks about the importance of unstructured play.

I personally emphasize “old school” backyard play and unstructured social play outside at early ages because they offer self-directed exploration through movement, foster curiosity and imagination, and promote social problem-solving – all key developmental tasks of the early years.

The ability of a child to turn a ball, a hula hoop, a rope and a cardboard box into an elaborate pirate ship or make up their own tossing game is a skill called ideation. It’s often overlooked but is very important to motor and cognitive development.

Communicating, connecting & interacting in person

Children learn best from real human interactions. Infants begin social learning from the moment they’re born through face-to-face interactions with parents and caregivers. Preschoolers and elementary students hone these skills as they negotiate conflicts in play and collaborate in groups to solve problems.

Even middle schoolers have a greater difficulty reading emotions because their screen time use is replacing interacting with real people!

Researchers at UCLA found that 6th graders who were sent to an outdoor education camp for 5 days (with no access to electronic devices) were significantly better at recognizing facial emotions and understanding nonverbal cues than 6th graders who were allowed continual access to their mobile devices and screens.

Interestingly, researchers advised educators to be aware that adding more computers and iPads to a classroom may inadvertently be taking away an important piece of social learning that should be going on in the classroom.

Even educational TV has its consequences

Many TV shows, videos and apps boast about educational benefits but there is little evidence to support most of these claims. Just because a company says something is educational, doesn’t mean there is any scientific research to base their claims.

Babies learn language through face to face interactions with their caregivers. If a young child is not interacting live with a person (this could be virtually), they do not gain any new vocabulary.

Children under 4 years old who either started watching TV at less than a year old or watched TV for more than 2 hours a day were 6 times as likely to have language delays than their peers!

So it’s no surprise that “educational” TV and videos marketed for infants and toddlers – like Baby Einstein – don’t do a thing to help kids build language skills.

Also, surprisingly, educational shows (and even well-meaning books like the Bernstein Bears!) can actually increase a type of aggression in children.

Coined “relational aggression” in the book NurtureShock – it’s when kids are manipulative and controlling of their peers such as telling kids they can’t be their friend if they don’t get their way.

The problem with many of these educational shows is that they focus on the problem and negative behaviors for so long that it’s all kids remember. The short wrap up at the end of the show where everyone is forgiven and friends again is forgotten. Children just end up learning new ways to be mean!

These researchers found that after watching an episode of Clifford the Big Red Dog – which focused on a 3-legged dog and was supposed to be about overcoming differences, friendship and kindness – actually resulted in kids being less tolerant!

Needless to say, “educational” is not always the answer.

How tech can enhance kids’ learning & quality of life

I think it’s pretty clear that using screen time as a babysitter, especially for children under 3, is detrimental to their growth and development.

In addition, passive TV or video watching does not seem to be helpful for kids’ learning and can be harmful. Even though children have more access to mobile devices today, television use is still what children engage in most.

However, most of the studies mentioned do not address interactive tablet or smart phone use or intentional computer use such as researching information, Skyping with family (more on this below) or playing creative computer games such as Minecraft – did you know kids can actually learn to code in the game?

“Screen time” prior to 2010 really means just watching TV and video games. What does screen time mean today in 2015 and can we lump all screens together?

More recent studies (from 2011 – 2014) recognize that tech is constantly changing and we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bath water. These studies advise caution around screen time but also emphasize the intentional use of technology for children.

Screen time is best when it’s interactive, has an adult engaging with a child and is of carefully chosen content.

Technology is amazing – just think about how it has positively enhanced the lives of students with special needs! Children with autism can communicate with iPads.

Little girls with Rett syndrome who are unable to speak and have no functional use of their hands are able to use a Tobii (an assistive communication device that reads eye gaze) to talk.

Before these kind of tools, people used to think that girls with Rett were cognitively impaired – I worked with a little girl for over a year and can tell you that is not the case!

In addition, there are also many cool ways to enhance learning in the classroom by using an iPad that build important skills like creativity and problem solving.

My current guidelines with my daughter

I believe there is enough information out there to be cautious with screen time and young kids. I don’t see there is enough evidence that watching TV or videos, even educational ones, is beneficial for the development of young children.

In addition, I see it as replacing higher quality activities that require fine motor skills, critical thinking, creativity, interacting with people and learning from experience. Lastly, there is no research that shows kids who are not exposed to electronic devices before kindergarten are at a disadvantage.

My daughter is currently 21 months and will turn 2 this June 2015. Here are my current guidelines:

1. Absolutely No:

TV watching – This is an easy one since we don’t have a TV!
Watching of any videos – YouTube, songs, stories, movies or educational shows
Playing with the phone or iPad

2. I Limit my time on my phone in front of my daughter.

Kids get their habits from parents. She knows my husband and I work on our computers and often check our phones (texting is addictive) or use them to take pictures.

However, we try to not use them too much in front of her – especially during mealtimes and family outings – mainly because it means we’re engrossed in Facebook instead of interacting with our daughter!

3. FaceTime & Skype are OK in limited amounts.

When you’re in Denver and the rest of your family is in Philadelphia, Boston, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Honolulu and the Netherlands – you can’t discount how amazing it is today to talk live virtually with your family.

I used to feel guilty about this “screen time” but this new study got my really excited and I’m learning to relax a little more as a mom.

I still limit this time because Reagan just gets really irritable. She wants to play with the computer or phone, it gets her all wound up and when we have to end the session she throws a tantrum.

Final thoughts

We're not perfect - Reagan's having a great time at the beach but notice Dad in the background! — We’re not perfect – Reagan’s having a great time at the beach but notice Dad in the background!

New research is constantly coming out and the world and the many uses of “screens” is changing fast. While I advise parents to be cautious, I don’t think we can still lump all screen time together and declare it evil. We just don’t know what the future might bring!

An educational iPad app that helps kids with dyslexia or dysgraphia learn their letters and sounds is very different from watching cartoons on TV – I hope you agree!

I look forward to giving an update on this article in the future. I know my views and guidelines may change in a year or even six months as technology, education and our world is constantly changing!

What does screen time mean for you?

My daughter is very young and currently the “only” so it’s easy just to keep her in the dark about a lot of cool things on screens. But I’m curious…

What do your family’s screen time habits look like?

Do you have screen time rules?

How do you use tech in the classroom?

Image credits: Wesley Fryer, Brad Flickinger, Sallie the Cape Lady, Lyn Lomasi, Arwen Abenstern – KWP, Hindrik Sijens, Olga, Lotus Carroll, Lars Ploughman, USAG- Humphreys, Clintus