Evaluation Rubric for Educational Apps

Harry Walker is the principal of Sandy Plains Elementary School in Baltimore County, Maryland. Fourth and fifth graders at the school are piloting one-to-one computing with iPod touches. In addition, Harry is a doctoral student at John Hopkins University. He's investigating the impact of iPod touch on student achievement.

One of his challenges is wading through the huge number apps available. He's crafted a rubric to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of an app in terms of how it may impact student achievement. His criteria include curriculum connection, authenticity, feedback, differentiation, user friendliness, and student motivation. Click to view the PDF.

Harry is looking for feedback about his rubric. Please offer any suggestions or compliments in the comments below. The feedback will help Harry improve the rubric and make it more useful. You're welcome to use the rubric yourself (just email him for permission).

Don't forget there's a great app review community at iear.org where educators review educational apps.