321 Learning

The application is easily accessible because it is web-based and only requires a free registration to access the “Word of the Week” section. This also means that the programme can be used on a number of different devices across different operating systems, helpful for both the end user and the developer. The web landing page is bright and colourful, which is immediately engaging, I particularly like the yellow submarine, but think this is more an indication of my age. The brief introductory text is packed full of ‘education speak’ which is sure to engage the committed teacher straightaway. Scrolling down reveals the selling point of the app which is simply illustrated and develops the theme that 30 to 40% of children are ‘Visual Learners’ 20 to 30% are ‘Auditory Learners’ and 30 to 50% are ‘Hands-on Learners’. Further scrolling displays an embedded short video, three minutes, that explains in full the reasoning and practice of ‘Word of the Week’. This clear and precise video will encourage you to register and begin using the programme. 

 

If you are still not convinced and want a bit more information you can click on the ‘Word of the Week’ tab and view two further videos one of which is a short version of one of the words in this case ‘facetious’, the second video is a very helpful guide that helps you understand the process. 

 

Once registered you can go straight to the “Word of the Week” tab and follow the instructions. Simply click on the ‘Animations’ button and choose one of the words and the embedded one-minute video will introduce the meaning of the word in context. Each video follows the same generic path. The word is written then the commentator spells the word out, then the word is categorised as one of a noun, verb, adjective or adverb. The word is then introduced into a story which is illustrated as the commentator speaks, then the commentator writes out the definition. The video then returns to the illustrated story to get the learner to embed the definition with the story and then the final scene is the definition of the word again, all this within one minute. 

 

Once the video has finished playing the user can return to the main “Word of the Week” screen and press the “Activity Guides”; listed on this screen are a choice of seven short, ten minute, lesson plans, these are all generically divided into the same headings: ‘Activity Description’, ‘Example Sentence’, ‘Implementation Steps’, and ’Differentiation’ which includes enrichment. 

 

Overall, this app is excellent, all the ingredients are in place to make planning a minilesson much easier. The quality and thought that have gone into producing each video is outstanding. I would thoroughly recommend this app in a teacher toolkit. This is a developer to watch, they are at the start of a journey that I am sure will prove successful, they will have to find out the best revenue stream to ensure that it can become sustainable in order for them to grow and reach an important sector of

the market.