Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll be well aware that educational apps (applications) are becoming increasingly widespread and popular…in fact, chances are you’ve probably used one already!

Now that we have an incredible amount of amazing technology at our fingertips, it always amazes me how schools and the teachers who work at them are like dinosaurs, with many so resistant to change.

Embracing ed-tech is something that schools have found consistently challenging and more often than not because they simplify learning and aim to replace tried and tested, written teaching methods with digital alternatives that actually don’t truly challenge students, especially those in primary school.

For example, a client of mine was less than happy that their daughter’s school had switched from written weekly spelling tests, where students also had to explain the word they were being asked to spell, to an online, multiple choice alternative (which did not require an explanation to be given).

He lamented this change as he felt that it wasn’t truly testing his daughter’s ability with vocabulary and that it did not help her commit new words to memory!

I have similarly found that there are flaws in other educational apps I use, with Duo Lingo being the standout example.

I actually think Duo Lingo is an amazing application and has helped my Spanish learning immensely as I have rapidly learnt a lot of new vocabulary.

Where it lacks however, is tenses.

One of the things I look back on in learning French in school was how rigorous our teacher was with getting us to commit past, present and future (amongst other) tenses to memory early on.

This then gave us a core building block with which to apply new vocabulary and meant that we advanced in the language at a much quicker pace than we would have done without tense familiarity.

I believe that educational apps such as Duo Lingo can certainly be used to enhance learning, however, in combination with written learning and committing other core building blocks of languages and other subjects to memory in addition.

Further Reading: Ben Nancholas – Technology in education: an overview of the latest resources in teaching and learning (Keele University)