Tablet-Based Apps for Phonics and Phonological Awareness: Protocol for Evidence-Based Appraisal of Content, Quality, and Usability

Background The use of mobile apps to manage and promote health is becoming increasingly popular. Mobile apps are gaining popularity particularly in educational and interventional settings owing to their perceived advantages including support for and engagement of individuals with reading difficulties. In the context of COVID-19, the need for technology-based tools has increased. For practitioners and educators who wish to use apps in their practice or recommend apps to individuals with reading difficulties, it is challenging to identify high-quality apps in app stores. Objective This protocol describes a systematic search, selection, and appraisal process for tablet apps targeting phonics knowledge and phonological awareness skills. This protocol aimed to (1) provide a systematic method for identifying tablet apps targeting phonics knowledge and phonological awareness skills in the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store and (2) describe an evidence-based approach for quality appraisal of these apps by using structured tools. Methods This protocol describes an evidence-based method guided by the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework to systematically search, select, and appraise apps targeting phonics knowledge and phonological awareness skills, present in Google Play and the App Store. We intend to perform a systematic and comprehensive search and a 2-step process for screening: (1) broad screening (app titles) and (2) narrow screening (marketing descriptions). Quality appraisal of the included apps will involve two structured appraisal tools: (1) the Mobile Application Rating Scale and (2) the Appraising Apps for Reading Checklist. Results This method will help determine the number of apps targeting phonics knowledge and phonological awareness, present on the Android and iOS platforms. The content, quality, and usability of these apps will be determined using structured appraisal tools. We have planned to conduct searches on Google Play and the App Store in January-March 2021; broad and focused screening, from April 2021; and data extraction and quality appraisal in October 2021. Conclusions This protocol provides a basis for locating and evaluating apps targeting phonics knowledge and phonological awareness skills. This protocol will support practitioners, educators, and families to make informed decisions when purchasing apps for instructional use. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/23921

Tablet-Apps zwischen K.O. und O.K.

Das Thema Digitalisierung erfährt sowohl in formellen als auch informellen Settings seit einigen Jahren immer größere Aufmerksamkeit. Dabei sind es vor allem Tablet-Apps, denen vor allem im Grundschulbereich besondere Lernchancen für das Lernen im Fach Mathematik beigemessen werden. Die Auswahl passender Apps ist dabei zumeist eine erste Herausforderung für die Planung digital gestützten Unterrichts. Daher werden im Beitrag zunächst Kriterien zur Analyse von Apps vorgestellt, bevor einerseits marktführende und andererseits weniger stark verbreitete Apps entlang der beschriebenen Kriterien analysiert werden.

Smartphone and Tablet Software Apps to Collect Data in Sport and Exercise Settings: Cross-sectional International Survey (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Advances in smartphone technology have facilitated an increase in the number of commercially available smartphone and tablet apps that enable the collection of physiological and biomechanical variables typically monitored in sport and exercise settings. Currently, it is not fully understood whether individuals collect data using mobile devices and tablets, independent of additional hardware, in their practice. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore the use of smartphone and tablet software apps to collect data by individuals working in various sport and exercise settings, such as sports coaching, strength and conditioning, and personal training. METHODS A total of 335 practitioners completed an electronic questionnaire that surveyed their current training practices, with a focus on 2 areas: type of data collection and perceptions of reliability and validity regarding app use. An 18-item questionnaire, using a 5-point Likert scale, evaluated the perception of app use. RESULTS A total of 204 respondents reported using apps to directly collect data, with most of them (196/335, 58.5%) collecting biomechanical data, and 41.2% (138/335) respondents reported using at least one evidence-based app. A binomial general linear model determined that evidence accessibility (β=.35, 95% CI 0.04-0.67; <i>P</i>=.03) was significantly related to evidence-based app use. Age (β=−.03, 95% CI −0.06 to 0.00; <i>P</i>=.03) had a significant negative effect on evidence-based app use. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that practitioners show a greater preference for using smartphones and tablet devices to collect biomechanical data such as sprint velocity and jump performance variables. When it is easier to access information on the quality of apps, practitioners are more likely to use evidence-based apps. App developers should seek independent research to validate their apps. In addition, app developers should seek to provide clear signposting to the scientific support of their software in alternative ways. CLINICALTRIAL

Educating Patients by Providing Timely Information Using Smartphone and Tablet Apps: Systematic Review

Background Patient education is a crucial element within health care. It is a known predictor for increased engagement in shared decision making, improved medication and treatment adherence, higher levels of satisfaction, and even better treatment outcomes. Unfortunately, often patients only remember a very limited amount of medical information. An important reason is that most patients are simply not capable of processing large amounts of new medical information in a short time. Apps for smartphones and tablets have the potential to actively educate patients by providing them with timely information through the use of push notifications. Objective The objective of this systematic review is to provide an overview of the effects of using smartphone and tablet apps to educate patients with timely education. Within this review, we focused on patients that receive their care in a hospital setting. We assessed the effects of the interventions on outcomes, such as patients’ knowledge about their illness and treatment, adherence to treatment instructions and to medication usage, and satisfaction with the care they received. Methods A comprehensive search of MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online), Embase, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and Web of Science was conducted. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between January 2015 and November 2019 were eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers independently searched and screened articles, assessed study quality and risk of bias, and extracted the data. Due to the heterogeneity of populations, interventions, and outcomes, a meta-analysis was not deemed appropriate. Instead, a narrative synthesis is presented. Results A total of 21 RCTs with 4106 participants were included. Compared to usual care, overall effectiveness of the interventions was demonstrated in 69% of the outcomes. Effectiveness increased to 82% when the intervention had a duration shorter than one month and increased to 78% when the intervention provided at least one push notification per week. The interventions showed the highest effects on satisfaction with information, adherence to treatment instructions and to medication usage, clinical outcomes, and knowledge. Conclusions This review demonstrates that educating patients with timely medical information through their smartphones or tablets improves their levels of knowledge, medication or treatment adherence, satisfaction, and clinical outcomes, as well as having a positive effect on health care economics. These effects are most pronounced in interventions with a short duration (ie, less than a month) and with a high frequency of messages to patients (ie, once per week or more). With the knowledge that patient education is a predictor for improved outcomes and the fact that patients have obvious difficulties processing large amounts of new medical information, we suggest incorporating the delivery of timely information through smartphone and tablet apps within current medical practices.

Mobile Communication in Organizations

Mobile information technologies within organizations shape the way work is conducted. Equally, working practices and organizational arrangements shape the specific technological configurations. Whereas much of the research into mobile communication emphasizes peer-to-peer voice and message communication, the organizational use of mobile communications has for much longer engaged in more complex configurations of mobile technologies. As such, the organizational experiences precede the widespread consumer use of a diversity of smartphone and tablet apps. This chapter explores, based on a review of the related literature, the broader role of mobile communications where peer-to-peer mobile voice and message connectivity is only one aspect among several. The chapter discusses in detail and exemplifies through cases the impact of mobile communication on interactional barriers, the degree of individual discretion and centralized control, and the possibilities to exercise algorithmic agency. Portfolios of data services shape the possibility for redesigned and complex collaborative patterns.

Forschung zu und mit digitalen Medien

Nachdem in den vergangenen Bänden der Reihe zum „Lernen, Lehren und Forschen mit digitalen Medien im Mathematikunterricht der Primarstufe“ vor allem das „Lernen“ und das „Lehren“ in das Zentrum gestellt wurden, widmet sich der vorliegende 6. Band der Forschung mit und über den Einsatz digitaler Medien im Mathematikunterricht. ‚Forschung mit‘, da digitale Medien vielfach forschungsmethodisches Potenzial für die Beantwortung von Forschungsfragen bieten. ‚Forschung zu‘, da Fragen des Einsatzes digitaler Medien derzeit notwendiger denn je zu untersuchen sind. Das Ziel des Bandes besteht darin, den aktuellen Stand der vielfältigen Forschungsprojekte des deutschsprachigen Raumes aus der Arbeitsgruppe PriMaMedien und darüber hinaus darzustellen. Auf diese Weise werden aktuelle Erkenntnisse gebündelt dargestellt, beispielsweise zu Schülervorgehensweisen bei der Verwendung von Tablet-Apps, zur Entwicklung virtueller Arbeitsmittel und auch zur Wirksamkeit digitaler Settings für den Mathematikunterricht. Darüber hinaus werden innovative Technologien, wie der 3D-Druck in den Blick genommen. Nach einem Überblick über die Entwicklung im letzten Jahrzehnt folgen insgesamt 14 Beiträge die entlang zentraler Inhaltsbereiche der Grundschulmathematik gegliedert sind: der Arithmetik, der Geometrie, dem Sachrechnen sowie dem Umgang mit Daten, Häufigkeit und Wahrscheinlichkeit. Dabei bewegen sich die Beiträge nicht nur auf der Ebene des Unterrichts, sondern adressieren auch die Aus- und Fortbildung (angehender) Mathematiklehrkräfte der Primarstufe.