Reviewing the Popplet App

My first attempt at using the popplet app on the iPad involved creating a study guide for my students. Initially, I was impressed with how easy it was to create any graphic organizer with the app. It didn't take long to understand/use the different tools provided by the program.

However, as I started to create the study guide I realized that my screen had become somewhat disorganized despite the links between each topic. I had to track back and move some "popples" around in order to maintain some sort of order in the study guide. Changing the colors to keep track of different parts of the guide definitely helped.

I have not yet asked students to work with the app itself. I believe results will be a mixed bag based on my own experience. Visual learners and highly organized students will benefit from the functionality of the app. It will provide an easy to use tool for connecting different ideas. On the other hand, students who struggle with organization and do not necessarily learn visually can struggle with this app. Several students in our population consistently need help organizing their folders, notebooks, etc. and I can see how Popplet could be a real challenge for some of them. Likewise, students who are less visually inclined can lose the main ideas from the content as they struggle to utilize the graphic organizer.

Overall, I believe the app is geared towards more established learners (i.e. high school, college) who already have strong organizational skills. For middle school, I think the teacher will have to take the lead in creating a template for a specific topic/lesson before handing it off to students who can then make it their own. I can see the draw feature being especially helpful for a group of students who like to show off their talents. I was not able to find an "undo" button and wish it was available so that any unwanted changes can be fixed. Lastly, the app can create very useful study guides for students who struggle with their study skills. That is probably how I will be using the app for my math students the rest of the year.